The Role of the Production Company

Production companies play a highly significant role towards the distribution and eventual success of a film. Production companies are part of an very competitive field as they have to work to keep a film appealing to its target audience so that it remains a success on the market. Also, there are so many different forms of entertainment on the market nowadays, therefore watching a new film isn't the only option. Well organised production will help prevent a business from fluctuating. I read recently that there are over 500 new film releases every year, therefore a producer needs to work very hard to make their film compete with the other films being produced at the same time. It is very important, when putting a new movie on the market, to take into consideration the release date to make sure other films of the same genre aren't brought out at the same time. In order to sustain in the market, producers need to build a release strategy.

The production company is primarily responsible for marketing the film. They create and organize advertisements such as posters and teaser trailers, making it possible to eventually get the film into cinemas. There are a number of stages within production- It starts off with the pre-production stage which a high number of productions don't even manage to get to due to lack of funding. Within this stage, the actors who are going to be starring in the film begin to learn their parts and study the script, they decide on where the film is going to be shot and create all of the different props and scenery. After all of this, they begin to actually shoot the film. Following all of the filming, the next stage is known as post production where an actual post production company takes over from the original production company. This is where all of the editing for the film takes place and where they start releasing details about the film to the public with the posters and trailers and advertisements in magazines. It is then the job of the distributor to release the film out into cinemas. The biggest choice a distributor has to make is when and how it is going to issue a new film to give it the best possible success in the industry.

Secondly, a production company deals with the budgeting of a movie for it is responsible for picking up the bill at the end. Obviously, like any other business, it is vital that film producers make a substantial profit from their new releases and don't end up losing out on money and becoming unsuccessful. This has unfortunately been the case with a variety of movies out there and the name given for this is a "box office bomb". This is usually due to the hype of overproduction and spending too much money before the actual release of the film.

Here is a table of a select few films which ended up losing out on money after the distribution-

Film	Year	Total cost (production + marketing) (USD)	Worldwide theater gross (USD)	Net losses (USD)	Net losses inflation adjusted (2012USD)
Cutthroat Island	1995	115,000,000	18,517,322	96,482,678	147,157,681
The Alamo	2004	145,000,000	25,820,000	119,180,000	146,644,313
The Adventures of Pluto Nash	2002	120,000,000	7,103,973	112,896,027	145,877,124

A production company or distributor is in charge of making a marketing plan before the creation of each film to ensure that it is going to be a big success and appeal to its target audience. They have to think about statistical research  and market research and knowledge. This is all vital to think about when producing the marketing plan as it contributes to making the plan successful. Producers have to create a budget for what they are going to spend on a movie. When doing this they have to estimate how much they think the movie is capable of earning so that they make a profit. The most important goal in marketing is for them to raise awareness and spark up interest in viewers. Film distributors obviously attempt to gain as much audience attention as possible when creating new campaigns; therefore they use the publicity methods of posters, trailers, the web (used to grasp more audience attention to get the film talked about more).

One of the most important things for the production company to consider when releasing a new film is that of the audience. they need to take into deep consideration the target audiences interests and views. This will give them a better understanding of their target audience. If they know what interests them then they can advertise the film in a way which is appealing to them. To fully understand their target audience, they look closely into the gender and different age groups. They also focus on different standards of living- the way people lead their day-to-day lives and what they enjoy getting up to. Lord Richard Attenborough CBE quoted "It is clear to me that films only achieve their extraordinary potential when they are able to reach global audiences, week in. Week out."  which I fully agree with, therefore it is vital that they understand audience interests worldwide. The UK has a number of main production companies who are linked up to the Hollywood studios and extra distributors who work autonomously. During the creation of a new movie, any film producers will find new ways to sell their new production to the target audience. Therefore they focus heavily on who the target audience is going to be and who the film mainly speaks to. They also review the film to see if it justifies the price of the actual release. They look to see if it will be gripping enough for the audience. 

The publicists of producers and distributors set up premieres once filming has finished to properly launch a film and get it out there on the market. This is where they typically have the first official showing of the film, providing opportunities outside of the premiere for red carpet interviews and numerous photographs being taken of the important starts involved in the creation of the film. This gets it out there and spoken about in the newspapers, magazines and online. These premieres are also attended by fans of the actors so that they can get autographs and photographs.