RESEARCH: WHAT SETS A FILM APART

After watching Kezia Williams and Chris Besseling I had a very good understanding of what factors are needed to be focused in for a film to be set apart from others in the same genre. This will really help me when making my own film and will allow me to ensure mine is different from others in the market.

Kezia Williams is Head of theatrical distribution, and from her I learnt:

•  When developing the message, key themes and hooks must be picked out - What will excite the target audience?
• It can start at any moment of a film campaign, such as:
• From the script alone, you can get a sense of what it is about and its motivating and engaging aspects of the story
• When the footage is finished and they can watch it back
• It could even be as late as the final film itself and the team realise there is a important element of the film that was only just discovered.

This is when they would realise how important a specific part of a film really is as it helps develop the film and the hooks which will be shown in publicity and marketing.




Chris Besseling, director of marketing focuses on the market place and the different factors that need to be identified, including:

• Unique selling point 
• Target audience (as early on as possible)
• As well as this, identifying any challenges that may come its way is important to discuss and have responses too
• What are they key strengths that you're going to look to exploit over the cause of the campaign?

Once these strengths have been established and challenged you can then determine how you can position the film in the market as something unique and special come the week of the release. These selling points include:

• Cast
• Well-known director 
• Quality of the performances 
• Reviews 
• Awards 
• Films source material - based on a true story, a real person, a book or part of a franchise/sequel 
• When making a sequel you automatically have a built in audience that you can cash in on 

Selling points for a block buster would include:

• Cinematic spectacle- the visual effects, CGI, 3D

Non-blockbuster films need to find a way to position themselves as a must see movie for your target audience in the week of release, this could include: 

• An important or thought provoking message that you can use to try and communicate through your campaign
• The films powerful and emotional resonance