Distribution Research- Escape Room

Escape Room, a 2019 film, was released by Sony Picture Entertainment in the United States on January 4, 2019 and quickly became a high grossing film. The film started out with a small budget for a tent pole film of  $9 million that would then gross $118.6 million. While my partner and I do not wish to release our film in theaters across the world, we do want to release it for a short time in Sarasota, Florida were our film is set. We hope this stunt will add to the buzz of our film before we release the film to be seen on the streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu to attract more audiences. Hopefully, because we would already be marketing by ourselves and working with the streaming services on marketing we would be able to attract an audience.

Distribution Research- Bird Box

Bird Box, a 2019 film, first premiered at the American Film Institution (AFI) Fest on November 12, 2018. The film would then begin its limited release on December 14 before being released on Netflix on December 21, 2018. This big hit that trended on Twitter and led to both memes and a challenge being created from it is mainly known because of Netflix. This tactic of using Netflix as their film platform rather than theaters is what my partner and I want to do just that. Bird Box was a worldwide hit as it reached more people than the film would have if it played in theaters because the trailer and film in general received bad reviews online. Even if people do not find our marketing to be that great they would be likely to still watch it on Netflix.

Distribution plan

One way films are distributed is rather than going playing in theaters go straight to streaming services. For our film we will release our film on big streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Because our film's target audience is 15-25, we believe it would be more profitable to just release straight to the services as there has been a drop in that age group going to theaters. Using Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime we will be able to maximize the number of people we can cater to rather than just using Netflix and someone not having it. We want to not only make the film a direct release to streaming services ,but also have a limited release in a theater in the town which the film is set in. We hope this would create extra buzz for the film to make viewer anxious to watch it on streaming platforms.

Marketing of our film

For our film, we will use three main types of marketing. We will partner with the ice machine company, Ice-O-Matic, start an official twitter page for the film, and create movie posters to promote the film.

By partnering with Ice-O-Matic, we can reach our audience by creating a funny commercial that would be aired around a month before the film's release. The commercial idea would be a middle aged couple that owns a small diner talking about how they are so happy they bought an Ice-O-Matic ice machine and the ice machine did not end up like Sharon's. Then it will cut to our movie when Sharon is dragged into the ice machine. It will cut back to the couple then end showing when the film's release date.

By having an official twitter, fans would be able to keep up with all the buzz of the film leading up to the release. Our target audience is the age that they use social media religiously, so by being on twitter we would be able to reach a wider audience as people retweet, post, and share things revolving the film.

By having movie posters, we can get people who didn't see the trailer to be intrigued by poster to research the film and hopefully go and see it. The poster will have a dark ominous feeling with a single shot of the ice machine with a hand reaching out. The coloring will all be darker and the tagline of "In the icebox no one can hear you scream" will be featured below.

The Marketing of The Nun

The Nun is about a Roman Catholic priest and nun in her novitiate as they uncover a terrifying secret set in 1952 Romania.

YouTube:

 YouTube played ads for the nun before and/or during videos. However, one ad that came out of nowhere was taken removed for violating their "violent and shocking content" policy. After a viewer upset when unto twitter warning others only for the tweet to go viral. This ad and tweet would only add buzz to the film. 

Virtual Reality: 

For the upcoming film, Warner Brothers Co. created a VR experience through both headsets and platform such as YouTube 360, Facebook 360, LittlStar, Samsung VR, and Oculus. "Escape the Abbey 360" allowed people to journey through the dark hallways of the abbey and confront the malevolent force Valak in the form of a demonic nun. 

Poster:

At the San Diego Comic Con in 2018 the first official poster for the film was released. The film only featured the nun a demonic presence that was featured in The Conjuring 2 to emphasize in the scare of the film. 

 

Franchise:

The Nun is part of the Conjuring franchise meaning there would already be fans to watch the film. The nun was featured in The Conjuring 2, so fans were understand the presence better. 

The Marketing of Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2 is a sequel to The Conjuring as the Warrens travel to Britain to help another family experiencing paranormal activity.

Virtual Reality:

This virtual reality experience allows viewers to experience first hand the horror's of the Hodgson's house of the Enfield haunting. The lights flicker on and off, crucifixes spin on the wall, and the idea that anyone or anything can sneak up on you adds to the terror as you feel unwelcome.  

Real Footage:
Warner Brothers Co. a few weeks prior to the films release the 55 seconds of the actual recordings of the demonic possession that inspired the film. The sound clip was released over the already released trailer adding to the fear factor.  

Website:
The website allowed people to buy tickets and keep up with the release date of the film. By having the Rotten Tomatoes' logo above the movie's title on the website, it allowed people to feel that because the movie was rated by a big platform it was bound to be a hit. Warner Brothers Co. also allowed features; such as allowing people to create their own gifs relating to the movie, demonize their voice, and to view the Warren's case files.

Posters:
A main factor among all the posters is the coloring and smoke creating a dark ominous feeling. The smoke highlights the paranormal aspect of the Warren's experience. The posters capitalizes by signaling out one character of the film showing their fear to try to maximize the terror in the viewer.

  

The Marketing of It

It is based on the Stephen King IT novel where a group of children in Derry, Maine fight a dark clown entity.

Nostalgia-
This movie was not the first adaption of Stephen King's IT as Lawrence D. Cohen adapted it in 1990. It brought nostalgic feelings for those who loved King's original novel and watched Cohen's version. By releasing IT between Stranger Things two seasons allowed them to bank on Finn Wolfhard's popularity from the Netflix hit. The movie included typical of era items adding to the nostalgia such as movie posters form the time, arcade games, Trans Am Pontiac, and running jokes about the New Kids on the Block.

Virtual Reality-
A few weeks before the release of the movie, IT - FLOAT: A Cinematic Virtual Reality Experience was released. The VR experience was able to be viewed on a headset or desktop through YouTube 360, Littlestar, Samsung VR, Jaunt, and Facebook 360. The experience allowed a teaser of the film using audio and visuals to keep you on edge.

Public Stunts-

In the movie, the house at 29 Neibolt Street is rather important. This lead to Warner Bros. building a life size version of that very house in Los Angeles for fans to tour. They were led by a person in a yellow trench coat and red balloon resembling the character Georgie. The house popped up around 8 weeks before the movie release adding the buzz of the film.

Red balloons were a big symbol of the movie. In Sydney, Australia, marketers took full advantage of this creepy symbol of Pennywise by attaching red balloons to storm drains. 

Australia did not just tie balloons to storm drains, they went a step farther painting mural of Pennywise in the big cities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The film's management did not allow the artists painting the murals to depict Pennywise as he was depicted in the film leading the artists to paint him how they imagined him. Some murals were more sinister while others were more cartoon like.