In today’s world, the modern day distribution practices have had an enormous change. Instead of going out and trying to sell whatever you have in stock to whoever was the closest to you and wanted what you had, there is now digital technology that allows consumers to buy anything or businesses to sell anything around the world right from the comfort of their own homes or work places.People don’t even need to use cash anymore, nor is it popular to use cash. Things can be purchased by using NFT’s or Bitcoins, or just an online banking app that seems to have a person’s complete trust and allows them to go paper free. But how is this affecting the film industry and the way films are distributed?
The distribution of films has had a total renovation since the beginning of the film industry. We currently have social media platforms, smart televisions, and streaming platforms that were not available at the very beginning of it all. The way films used to be distributed was set at random where movies would be sent to different theaters and then if one theater didn't do well with a certain type of film, then that type of film would not be sent to those theaters. To simply put it, the film companies based their distribution off of profit. Currently, films that go to theaters are distributed very similarly except typically most films are at every theater and it just depends on the amount of times it is played in a day. It is a lot easier to send out films nowadays since everything has become digital and rolls of film tape are not required in order to play a film. Another thing that goes into play when deciding how a film should be distributed is where more people are viewing their entertainment. Obviously films are not meant to be viewed on social media platforms like Tik Tok or Instagram, but they are good for trailers and getting people hyped up about a film through discussions.
In this current digital age, streaming services come hugely into play for film distribution. I myself prefer to watch a lot of films and series on Disney+, Netflix, or whatever else is available to me. Sometimes I may actually prefer those services to cable television or even a movie theater to some extent and I feel like a lot of people can agree with that. Some films the theater makes the whole experience with all of the advanced technology with things like speaker systems, 3D or 4D effects, or even just a nice cushy seat that you can put your feet up on if you don’t have that at home. When deciding on whether or not a film should be released in theaters or on a streaming service taking into consideration the feel of the movie and what types of movies do people watch in each of those separate environments can heavily influence whether or not a film will be successful upon release.
When I think about the type of film my production is going to be, I might want to consider whether or not I want someone to watch this movie most likely alone in their houses, or at a theater where a bunch of people will be there having the same exact emotions. The last thing I could want is for someone to get possibly too scared because they look at the screen and then turn their head to where a creepy doll could be lurking in the corner and scar someone for life. For the initial release I would probably want my film to be in theaters so that there are other people surrounding them to comfort them when they turn their heads and help them realize that they are not alone. I think having films released in theaters first is beneficial to the company so that they know what type of audience is actually enjoying their film compared to the hypothetical data given during their pre production survey and where it is selling better.
Distributing films to a theater is a good way to examine how popular a movie is before adding it to a streaming service. If the film does not do so well it might not be a good idea to distribute it anywhere besides the theaters it originated at or just on a very small scale with maybe some less popular streaming services or the classic DVD’s. A film that does exceptional with box offices or even just at the medium stage, should be examined for the more popular streaming services and nicer DVD/Blu Rays because it is higher in demand.
Overall, when looking at modern distribution practices, everything becomes more detailed and complicated because there are more things to take notes of such as how people are buying and viewing the products.
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