R+P Post 3: Our production and distribution institutions

The Company Credits page of the IMDB profile for Attack the Block, a film we looked at to influence our ideas, both for the film itself as well as the institutions. The institutions we have chosen, which we share with this film, are highlighted. Click to enlarge.

Our chosen production company is Film4 Productions, for a few reasons. These include the fact that they are British production company, which fits with our target audience, as well as the fact that they are known for producing successful indie films of varying genres. These range from famous drama 'Slumdog Millionaire,' to more niche yet still fairly successful films that we actually looked at to inform our ideas, such as 'Attack the Block,' because of the British setting and similar age group and ethnicities in relation to our target audience. 

The poster for 'Attack the Block.' Prominently featured are the young diverse cast, as well as the large flat on the titular block, typical of British cities. Click to enlarge.

Film4 also produced 'The Inbetweeners Movie,' a film aimed at and starring people of our target age, and 'In Bruges,' a film with a similar narrative focus and genre to ours, that being crime drama.

Film4 Productions' logo. Click to enlarge.

Our chosen distributor is Screen Gems, a subsidiary of Sony and more specifically the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group branch of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It came up when we were researching 'Attack the Block,' and it turns out it is known for picking up indie films of various genres, such as the comedy 'Friends with Benefits' and the action-adventure science fantasy film 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,' which turned out to be useful to our research due to it's young adult cast and target audience that was similar to ours.

The poster for 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.' After finding out about Screen Gems through 'Attack the Block,' we found that they distributed this film too, and it ended up helping us choose Screen Gems as our distributor as well as influencing our ideas, due to its young adult cast, and similar target audience. Click to enlarge.

While we were at first slightly concerned with what seemed to be a focus on horror, after more research we found that it still catered to our needs quite well, due to its tendency to branch out into various genres, and the fact that it often distributed British films like 'Attack the Block.'

Screen Gem's logo. Click to enlarge.

Reflecting on our choices, it seems we have chosen quite well. Our initial doubts at Screen Gem's focus having been dismissed, it now seems we have quite a free reign, but through all later decisions we will always know that we have institutions that should work with our British indie film quite well, and allow us to reach our young adult target audience.