Film distribution media: what's next to retain customers?

Film distribution media: what's next to retain customers?

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Film distribution remains inefficient and not user-friendly enough, despite the many disruptions caused by online piracy and the advent of film streaming. Is the outcome of the streaming wars going to bring more consolidation in film distribution? What about aggregating film streaming services together, to make them more affordable to end-users? Let’s explore.

1. Which distribution media exist for films?

Film distribution (also known as ?film exhibition” and ?film distribution and exhibition”) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience.

This is usually the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing and release strategy for a movie, the media by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing.

The film may be exhibited directly to the public through movie theatres, television or personal home viewing (including physical media, video-on-demande, download, television programs through broadcast syndication).

1.1. Movie theatres

The film industry was invented, at the end of the 19th century, when the Lumière brothers organised the first ever commercial and public screening of their ten short films in Paris, on 28 December 1895, which took place in the basement of the ?salon indien du grand café” with Louis and Auguste Lumière’s ?cinématographe”.

After that, and during the first decade of motion pictures, the demand for movies, as well as the amount of new productions and the average runtime of movies, became such, that it became viable to have theatres that would no longer program live acts, but only films.

Claimants for the title of the earliest movie theatre include the Eden Theatre in La Ciotat, France, where ?L’arrivée d’un train en gare de la Ciotat” was screened on 21 March 1899.

In the United States of America (?USA”), many small and simple theatres were set up, usually in converted storefronts. They typically charged five cents for admission, and thus became known as nickelodeons. They flourished between 1905 and 1915.

The design and technical sophistication of picture theatres developed and expanded, offering consumers more and more different types of venues in which to watch films, such as multiplexes and megaplexes, drive-ins, outdoor movie theatres, 3D movie cinemas, IMAX and Premium Large Format cinemas. Moreover, a new classification by the type of movies these theatres show was set up, as follows:

• first-run theatre:?a cinema that runs primarily mainstream film fare from the major film companies and distributors, during the initial new release period of each film;
• second-run or discount theatre: a movie house that runs films that have already shown in the first-run theatres and are presented at a lower ticket price (also known as ?dollar theatres” or ?cheap seats”);
• repertoire/repertory theatre or arthouse: a theatre that presents more alternative and art films as well as second-run and classic films (often known as an ?independent cinema” in the United Kingdom (?UK”));
• adult movie theatre or sex theatre: a cinema that specialises in showing pornographic movies, and
• IMAX theatre: this theatre can show conventional movies, but the major benefits of the IMAX system are only available when showing movies filmed using it (IMAX movies are often documentaries featuring natural scenery, and may be limited to a 45-minute length of a single reel of IMAX film).

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Crefovi's live webinar: Film distribution media -?what's next to retain customers?

19 October 2022 | 15:30pm London time

Join live webinar here

Crefovi's live webinar will begin on Wednesday 19 October at 15:30pm London time (UK), and will provide an in-depth analysis of the film distribution business model and ecosystem.

You haven’t yet secured your free place for our upcoming webinar on film distribution media - what's next to retain customers?

Here is your chance to join?Annabelle Gauberti?on Wednesday 19 October 2022, 15:30pm London time (UK) as she explores the key features of film distribution ecosystem and business model.

In this webinar, our expert speaker will discuss:

• ?which distribution media exist for films;
• which contractual models are used to distribute films;
• how streaming changed the game in film distribution, and
• a need for consolidation and aggregation in the film distribution business model.

Join live webinar here

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