MEST2: Arthouse film institution research

Production: Independent film studios

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Produced by: Anonymous Content (Steve Golin) and This is That Productions.

Anonymous Content: Babel, Winter's Bone, The Revenant

This is That: Super, Adventureland, 21 Grams, Nothing is Private (Towel Head)

Drive

Produced by: Marc Platt Productions

Marc Platt Productions: Mockingbird

Hero

Produced by: Beijing New Picture Film Co., China Film Co-Production Corporation, Elite Group Enterprises, Sil-Metropole Organisation and Zhang Yimou Studio.

Beijing New Picture Film Co.: House of Flying Daggers

China Film Co-Production Corporation: Fearless, Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Pan's Labyrinth

Produced by: Estudios Picasso, Tequila Gang and Esperanto Filmoj.

Tequila Gang: Chronicles, Rage, The Devil's Back Bone

Esperanto Filmoj: Gravity

Old Boy

Produced by: Egg Films and Show East

Distribution: Independent film distributors

• Before any film is made or even pitched, an idea has to be produced, this idea can be from anything, but recently it's most commonly based on books or other literature. 
• The target audience must be identified and then that should be developed so the film should be developed in a way that it appeals to your target audience.
• Do the research to find out the potential budget, and work with other institutes such as cinemas who could possibly screen your film and find a distributor who would be in charge of creating the sales of your film and marketing it.
• A lot of pre production work must be done before actually making the film such as a script and title, a list of finances, i.e. the budget and potential profit.
• A contract of the rights to release the film needs to be made and signed by the appropriate people.
• The release needs to be planned, in terms of what format it will be released in and which countries will get the film and when.
• The release date needs to be decided, it  is essential to try and find a time that'll enable a large profit to be made, such as during the summer where most people are on holidays and are much more likely to go watch your film. This would be greatly dependant on your target audience and its demographics.
• The film needs to be advertised through trailers, interviews, conventions if possible or film festivals and social media. Merchandise such as posters could be developed or competitions could be held with the prize being tickets which could help to create more interest in your film
• Things that are associated to your film need to be properly licensed to prevent illegal copies being made.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Distributor: Focus Features

Budget: $20 million

Box office: $72.3 million

Drive

Distributor: Film District

Budget: $15 million

Box office: $76.2 million

Hero

Distributor: Miramax, Quentin Tarantino

Budget: $31 million

Box office: $177.4 million

Pan's Labyrinth

Distributor: Warner Bros Pictures, Picturehouse

Budget: $19 million

Box office: $83 million

Old Boy

Distributor: Show East, Tartan Films

Budget: $3 million

Box office: $15 million

Curzon Artificial Eye

Curzon Artificial Eye is a British film distributor. They mainly specialise in independent, foreign-language and art house films for the cinema and home entertainment. Since 2006, Curzon Artficial Eye has been part of Curzon World, a group of companies in the film entertainment industry which also includes the Curzon chain of 11 cinemas.

45 Years
What was very intriguing and eye catching for me with this trailer was the magnificent and beautiful use of cinematography, the camera work is very unique in the sense that there is a variety of things in focus and out of focus which helps to create a very unique depth. I think this is something that I would love to incorporate into our production.

Kiss of the Spider Woman
This was a very unique trailer as it used the bold and stylistics of a film noir genre. It also had unique colours and the stereotypical femme fatale as one of the iconic imagery of the entire narrative. I think using the noir style would be very useful for our production.

The Choir
The film's trailer uniquely showed a main character that a lot of people can relate to, someone who is faced with obstacles and has to figure out ways to overcome them. He's also a teenager who is faced with the challenges of "finding himself" as he grows up. I think the raw emotion of this narrative would be very useful as it leaves the audience feelings something.

Exhibition: Arthouse cinemas

Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Rd, London W11 2ED. This weekend, until Sunday, the cinema is showing the following films:

• Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
• Big Hero 6
• Bridge of Spies
• The Dressmaker
• The Wolfpack
• Sleeping with Other People
• The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay part 2
• Black Mass
• Carol
• Brooklyn
• Sunset

Most if not all of the films are either 15 or 12A, which suggests that they are attracting a younger target audience, possibly families with children. They have a specific event called Electric Scream! for horror movie fans and the Kids club aimed at parents with children. The cinema also offers seating and tickets for pairs which suggests that they want to attract young couples. The prices are a bit more expensive than the average cinema so it might be targeted for a much more middle class group of audience.

A case study in independent film production: Film London and Microwave Film

Film London

Film London is London's film and media agency and is one of nine regional screen agencies throughout the UK. It aims to ensure London has a thriving film sector that enriches the capital’s businesses and its people.

Film London’s objectives are to:

• Grow the film industry in London
• Maximise investment in London through film
• Sustain London’s film culture
• Promote London to the world through film

Microwave

Microwave is a unique funding scheme for UK feature films by Film London. The Microwave scheme funds films and give development and mentoring support to short-listed projects as well as production finance, distribution support to the final films.

London Calling

London Calling is a initiative by Film London that is a competition, for which the winners are offered production funding. Also, the winners are offered and recieve training, expert mentoring and distribution skills. This scheme is mainly targeted to new upcoming independent film makers and helps them to make their films.

Lilting

https://youtu.be/I8HhLd07fYY

This is an art house film because it focuses on a ethnic minority and explores the challenges and perspectives of a traditional cultural issue that is generally not often spoken about. It focuses much more on raw emotion rather than the actual drama or the conflict.

Borrowed Time 

https://youtu.be/sJZD3uGTjtg

This is an art house film because it has a narrative in which two unlikely characters bond due to an unlikely event. It's a very unique narrative that has characters which although are quirky and unusual, the audience can very easily relate with. The humorous tone of the narrative and it's cultural urban theme would be targeted at a young adult audience.

iLL Manors

https://youtu.be/1hfxWjUcbzs

This is an art house film because it explores and portrays the conflict and obstacles of an cultural and regional issues. It focuses greatly on urban environments and how the traditional culture of the area can affect the personalities and influences of different types of people. It portrays the significant themes of sex, drugs, violence and gangs. I think this is a very dramatic film with action themes targeted at a young adult audience with it's compelling narrative that revolves around urban culture.

Tips from Microwave

• Having too many things going on in the script will have strain on the budget. It's a good idea to generally deepen the story and focus on a few things for a long time rather than a lot of things going on for a short amount of time. This generally helps to give the story a lot of depth.
• Have passion and enthusiasm for your script, make something you would eventually be proud of. Also, be able to consistently and concisely explain your story which greatly helps in terms of pitching an idea and drawing your target audience in.
• Clear idea of who you are intending your film for from the beginning, to concept to production to eventual distribution. Not everything has to follow the stereotypical ideals of a certain genre, so always try to focus on what your audience wants, put yourself in your audience's perspective.