Blog Post 8 - Distribution Practices

Hello, Everyone! Now that I've looked into the marketing practices of movies, The next important step is, obviously, distribution! Distribution is a very important part of movie-making. After all, it doesn't matter how well you make or market it; if you don't distribute it, then nobody can watch it.

The first step of distribution, for most movies, is a Theatrical Release. A theatrical release is when a movie premieres in a Theatre for about two weeks, where the bulk of the revenue comes in. Any movie's Theatrical Release is usually their "make or break" moment, and while revenue can be earned later through DVD or Digital releases, the big bucks are the Theatrical Release.

Sometimes, a Movie will get a Platform release. A Platform release is usually just a release taken by Indie films due to a lack of budget, and therefore only is featured in certain locations in few cities. A platform release does not usually get a digital release, and they are much more contained than a Theatrical Release. Platform Releases are also usually reserved for award contender. Platform Releases can expand into a full-blown theatrical release if reviews and box office numbers are higher than anticipated.

But, once the average Movie's theatrical is done, they move onto Digital releases, like on streaming platforms. Digital releases allow the movie to be watched and downloaded by subscribers and usually contributes the least to the movie's actual revenue. The Digital Releases are still important to draw subscribers to the platform, however, so they are usually staggered out by a few weeks after it's theatrical release to entice subscribers into seeing the movie anyways, so they don't have to wait until it's available digitally.

After a Digital Release is done, the Movie then can be transferred into Physical Media, although the popularity and widespread transition of movies onto Blu-Ray has become less prevalent in the movie industry nowadays. Physical mediums are usually either for International releases without the means to access digital copies, or for collectors and bonus content to be distributed and entice diehard fans to buy the movie.

Finally, through physical media or digital media, an International Release is performed with an accompanying dub. These international distributions are usually more measured and have seperate deals with regional distributors, and may also be edited in order to fit the culture of the area or to comply with regulations regarding film within the country.