The distribution and marketing of a film is a crucial element of the film industry, and yet unfortunately it is the British industry's biggest weakness. As it stands, the amount of money within the British film industry is already limited and spread thin, tending to focus more on the production and exhibition of films, and less so on the advertising. This is because widespread distribution can be extremely expensive, and the British industry simply cannot focus enough money into it to rival the distribution of films from industries such as Hollywood.
When we take into consideration the fact that we are making a very arthouse and perhaps niche film, the addition of an ailing industry could be consequently detrimental to the success of our product. Our film is far from a Hollywood blockbuster - much towards the other end of the spectrum, and it is not created with a vast target audience or mass appeal in mind. Although we are aim to target this film at 2 separate audiences, the probability is that the overall nature and indie feel will limit the intended recipients somewhat.
There are many different ways in which a film could be distributed in way which would reach its intended target audience as effectively as possible. For example, you could use posters, billboards, television and radio advertisements and magazines etc. Seasonal marketing is also brought into play, as in the summer, more people are likely to be outside and therefore more money is concentrated on outside marketing, whereas in the winter more televisual adverts are used. Additionally, as the Internet phenomenon expands, it is increasingly utilised in the distribution of films - particularly for films with a younger target audience. Viral marketing such as pop-ups, banners and online games are used to spread the word in both a time and cost effective manner. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are used to reach as much of the target audience as is possible. Internet marketing is likely to be the primary source of distribution for our film, as it is much cheaper and in some ways more effective than more expensive marketing.
The distribution companies for our film would be likely to be UK based companies, specialising in more arthouse films. On company we could approach is Metrodome Distribution, as they specialise in more low budget, independent films. Previous films they have distributed include 'Shifty' and 'Fifty Dead Men Walking'. They have a reputation for releasing films which are known to "challenge our audiences and provoke the critics", meaning they could be a suitable option for a film like ours. 
Another company we could approach would be Optimum Releasing, who were one of the distributors for 'This Is England', which is one of the main influences on our film. It also distributes many low budget British films, although it is perhaps best known for foreign language and anime releases. 
Depending on the development of the storyline in our film, we could also use Icon Film Distributions UK, which specialises in "slightly off-centre indie pics", and has been the distributor for films, such as 'Nowhere Boy' and 'Starter For Ten'. It is a subsidiary of the American company Icon Productions, and so could potentially be beneficial to our film in the way that the American industry would have more money to offer to distribution. If our film were developed into a real, full media product, it is likely that almost if not the entirety of the cast will be unknown, or emerging to the scene. The director and crew are also likely to be unknown or unestablished, or taking inspiration from 'This Is England', could be directer by the likes of Shane Meadows, or similar 'indie' directors. Our production budget would be likely to be very limited - possibly £1 million maximum, if that at all. As it is a very British film, is is likely that the majority if not all of the funding would come from UK sources - and the fact that funding is hard to come by, coupled with the low budget would probably result in using multiple funds from numerous production companies. One company that we may be able to approach would be the UKFC, as they specialise in funding the production of emerging and unestablished talent in the film industry. We could possibly make use of the Development Fund or the New Cinema Fund, which are aimed at films working outside of the mainstream.
We may also be able to approach the UKFC for the Prints and Advertising Fund, as the indie nature of our film and the low budget would probably result in a limited number of prints being made. 35mm prints are quite expensive, and so it would probably be more cost effective for us distribute our prints digitally, as a cheaper alternative - similar to low budget films such as 28 Days Later. Our film is likely to be shown in more arthouse and independent venues, such as the Bristol Watershed.
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