10 research outputs found
Report: Distributing films online: The Farm Group, London, 27 April 2017
No full textReport of a workshop which brought together nine academics and nine industry professionals from UK universities and film companies to discuss the changing nature of distribution. The workshop focused on capturing the perspective of producers, distributors and VOD platform providers who operate at the specialist, indie end of the UK market. We explored the challenges and opportunities that this range of different actors currently face in terms of enabling film access in the online market and reaching UK audiences. The workshop was organised as part of a research scoping project supported by the University of York, which focused on examining how on-demand culture influenced the businesses of films and high-end television drama
Film distribution: A changing business
No full textThis chapter reveals the importance of the video market to processes of change and growth in the film distribution business. Film became a newly lucrative business because the demand for films in the video market grew dramatically in the 1980s. With the recent development of the digital and on-line video market, in which distributors are replaced by new gatekeepers such as digital platform providers and what are called content aggregators, the market share for on-line revenues is also growing year on year. The chapter considers: how do distributors respond to the growing on-line video market? Will digital platform providers and content aggregators become more dominant in the near future? And how does this affect film distribution processes
Tournaments of Values at the European Film Market
No full textWith film sales markets becoming increasingly popular events where the film business gathers several times each year, I argue in this paper that they should be understood as events where important gatekeeping process are taking place. That is to say, sales markets are the point where important decisions about films are made, where sales agencies negotiate access to international markets, and where they exert influence over the sort of access given to specific films. Drawing on qualitative methods such as participant observation and interviews, I develop a case study of the European Sales Market (EFM) in Berlin. I analyse value creation processes at the EFM, focusing specifically on the disposition of exhibition space and the importance of film screenings. Drawing on literature about tournaments of value, I demonstrate that sales markets endow films with significant values, exercising a powerful role over the process of enabling cultural flow. I also demonstrate that there is a symbiotic relationship between the EFM sales market and the Berlin International Film Festival, providing a context from which films can generate attention. I provide new insights into film sales processes within sales markets, and the role of sales agents in influencing such processes. I argue that sales markets exert an important influence over gatekeeping by creating social and cultural hierarchies that impact on the sales process of films
Gatekeeping and networking arrangements:Dutch distributors in the film distribution business
No full textGatekeeping studies in the cultural industries increasingly draw attention to transnational networks, revealing that decision-making is decentralised through gatekeepers operating from different levels in the marketplace. This brings into focus a new line of enquiry revolving around the nature of such relationships. This paper situates an analysis of transnational gatekeeping and networking arrangements within the longstanding tradition of neo-institutional and Bourdieusian theory. Through a typology of the search and selection strategies developed by distributors in the Dutch film market, it explores their decision-making practices, demonstrating how institutional factors, taste judgements and networking arrangements work together in specific transnational contexts. This reveals that networking arrangements serve the purpose of information sharing, but, more specifically, also act as a social influence through which decision-making is evaluated and confirmed. It therefore becomes clear that reliance on transnational networks adds significant weight to decision-making processes
Disruption in times of COVID-19? The hybrid film festival format
No full textThe first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic had unprecedented implications for cultural sectors. With film festivals, music concerts and other cultural events being postponed or even cancelled, there was an urgency to respond to changing circumstances. Cultural events increasingly relied on hybrid or online formats to remain accessible for audiences. Because such formats caused controversy about programming and release strategies, they were easily conceived of as having a disruptive impact on cultural sectors. This paper puts such assumptions about disruption into question. It focuses on the film festival sector, which is increasingly invested in strategies of online accessibility and audience reach. The research is specifically based on the hybrid festival format. Drawing on case studies of hybrid film festivals such as London, Ghent and Rotterdam, it argues that their strategies and operations should be understood from the perspective of cultural change rather than disruption
Circulation patterns, abundance and scarcity: Film availability in the Online Era
No full textOnline circulation, diversity of content in video-on-demand (VOD) catalogs, and access to markets are increasingly relevant research subjects. Netflix, Amazon, and many other VOD platforms have an important role to play in making content available, but little is known about circulation patterns that have developed in the online market. This paper draws on an empirically rich analysis of online film availability on nineteen VOD platforms in Germany to develop discussions about circulation patterns. The study finds that the market for VOD platforms has become fragmented, with the effect that some VOD platforms have changed business models, distribution strategies, and content selections, and therefore reshaped circulation patterns. Analytically, the study argues that it has become challenging to think about online availability through binary logics of scarcity and abundance
Theatrical distribution or online dtreaming? Release strategies in Europe in times of disruption and change
No full textThis chapter provides insight into the development of streaming-related release strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic, with particular reference to the European market. I am particularly interested in the relationship between streaming platforms and theatrical cinema exhibitors, a relationship that is often described in terms of conflict and tension. For some in the industry, streaming platforms are perceived as a threat to the theatrical cinema sector. For others in the industry, streaming platforms are symptomatic of the way that the modern era of film exhibition is taking shape, with different distribution systems co-existing to enable different routes to market for different films. This chapter draws on trade press and news coverage to analyse how the relationship between streaming platforms and cinema exhibitors developed during the pandemic. What sort of release strategies for films became common when lockdowns and other policy restrictions were imposed on cinema exhibitors? How did changing circumstances impact release windows for films, and in particular the theatrical cinema window? And has the pandemic brought about structural changes to the film distribution and exhibition businesses in Europe and beyond
Beyond the Multiplex - Audience Member Interview
No full textIn this article, we discuss an innovative audience research methodology developed for the AHRC-funded ‘Beyond the Multiplex: Audiences for Specialised Film in English Regions’ project (BtM). The project combines a computational ontology with a mixed-methods approach drawn from both the social sciences and the humanities, enabling research to be conducted both at scale and in depth, producing complex relational analyses of audiences. BtM aims to understand how we might enable a wide range of audiences to participate in a more diverse film culture, and embrace the wealth of films beyond the mainstream in order to optimise the cultural value of engaging with less familiar films. BtM collects data through a three-wave survey of film audience members’ practices, semi-structured interviews and film-elicitation groups with audience members alongside interviews with policy and industry experts, and analyses of key policy and industry documents. Bringing each of these datasets together within our ontology enables us to map relationships between them across a variety of different concerns. For instance, how cultural engagement in general relates to engagement with specialised films; how different audiences access and/or share films across different platforms and venues; how their engagement with those films enables them to make meaning and generate value; and how all of this is shaped by national and regional policy, film industry practices, and the decisions of cultural intermediaries across the fields of film production, distribution and exhibition. Alongside our analyses, the ontology enables us to produce data visualisations and a suite of analytical tools for audience development studies that stakeholders can use, ensuring the research has impact beyond the academy. This paper sets out our methodology for developing the BtM ontology, so that others may adapt it and develop their own ontologies from mixed-methods empirical data in their studies of other knowledge domains
Using mixed-methods, a data model and a computational ontology in film audience research
No full textThis paper discusses a methodology that seeks to address one of the challenges in working with a range of data in mixed-methods audience research, which is how to sort, order and categorise different data so that it can be systematically combined and interrogated. The methodology was developed as part of the ‘Beyond the Multiplex: audiences for specialised films in English regions’(BtM) project . This project sought to explore the richness of audience experiences and the broad audience trends in the context of regional film policy. This required a mixed methods approach using surveys, interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The project utilised a data model approach that uses the principles of a computational ontology in order to sort, order and categorise data for systematic interrogation. The paper discusses methods, data, coding, and the use of a data model to support data analysis. We argue that this approach enables the cross referencing of data that provides a rich, multi-layered and relational understanding of film audiences but it requires time and attention to data management and coding. Although, additionally it also forms the basis of an open access data resource for future research
