Task 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Media Institutions and Audiences


A media institution is an established, often profit-based organization that deals in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertaining and information services. Largely trans-national in nature but can exist in a smaller/national form. While a media institution is similar to a media conglomerate it is not necessarily a commercial entity. An example of a non profit media Institution is the BBC as they are publicly funded. Every Media product, whatever it is, has to emerge from one kind of institution or another. Institutions can choose to keep their role in the production of an artifact of they can own the means of production and offer the rights of the product to other companies; this is because we as audiences like to think of our favourite products as individual rather than institutional efforts. Examples of British institutions are: Ofcom, BBC, Working Title, and Film Four. There are very few British film institutions. Examples of American Institutions are, The Walt Disney, Waner Brothers, News International, Fox Searchlight and many more.

A media audience is a collective group of people viewing any media text. Digital technology had led to increasing uncertainty over how we define an audience, with general agreement that the notion of a large group of people, brought together by time, responding to a single text, is outdated and that audiences now are ‘fragmented’. It is the relationship between the media and the audience. Audiences are made up from individuals and social/culture groups and are involved in the consumption of media texts and their responses to them.

As the budget of my media product is not very high, and we do not have high profile actors, I would think that a small independent institution would distribute my film, as large Hollywood institutions do not distribute small budgeted films.
If my product was being distributed by an American Institution It would be by Miramax, as they are a company well known for becoming involved in a low budget, violent thrillers. Although my product is not very violent it is still a thriller. Touchstone is a subsidiary of Disney Enterprises. Miramax, funded Quentin Tarantinos' film Pulp Fiction but it was distributed by Touchstone.

Miramax Films is the independent film division of The Walt Disney Company; it acts as both producer and distributor for its own films or foreign films. It was founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. They have headquarters in New York, Cambridge and Massachusetts. It was a leading Independent film motion picture production company and distribution before, Disney acquired by Disney in 1993.

I think my media product would be enjoyed by both male and female audiences, maybe more by males, but from an age group of 15 – 24, and the second audience may be 24 – 35. The reason this would be the range of audience is because, as it is a thriller, thrillers appeal more to an older audience, and would not be suitable for a younger audience. The reason I say that it may appeal more to males, is because it is stereotypically that males would enjoy thrillers more than most females, but this is not always the case, so I think it appeals to both male and females.

I think Miramax would be good for my film, because it is an art-house/Independent film production company. I feel they would heavily boost Paranormal Productions first film. I would trust Miramax with my film, as they focus very much on the audience’s reaction to the film as well as their clients. Miramax are a medium budget company, which would be good for 'Paranormal Productions' as they would advertise the film appropriately. The mainstream audience for Miramax films is the type of audience that we have based our film on, so it would make sense for our film to go through them. Although for Miramax to advertise an amateur like 'Five' would be a huge risk, as they would not be sure that it would be a success, and could lose them money. As our film fits in with the super-natural genre it makes sense for our target audience to be of the ages 15 - 24, as this genre is not particularly enjoyed but the older generation. We aim to make the film as realistic as possible, using appropriate props, make-up and acting skills. The age certificate is 15, as younger children may believe these actions, and it could cause them unnecessary fear. We believe that the male population would prefer the film, because of the strong stereotype that men have of control. But we also felt that both genres would enjoy the film, just more by males. We would like our film to be shown worldwide, as long as it is targeted at the correct audience and the correct movie screens.

We realise as a first time in making a film, we may need a lower budget institution for our film. Therefore we thought of using Warp, to aide us with our funding. We felt the British company would be more appropriate for our film. Warps have made films like Donkey Punch and This is England in previous years. Donkey Punch relates to our film, as the story line follows three girls, who are taken to Spain, and become seduced by three men, fitting the stereotype, of female vulnerability. This film is a good example to relate our film to as the plot is slightly similar. Our film would be well received by the audiences if we used Warp, as the company has a great reputation for itself. We would hope it would boost the campaigns for the advertising, promotion and increased the audience base. Being a low budget British film, we would not expect it to have an international release. It would be a platform release, so we would benefit from Warp producing our film, as when they released This Is England, it was done on a platform release, therefore they have experience.