Institutional Context - Exhidition

Exhibition

Cinema exhibition is still the primary channel for films to reach their audiences and box office success equals financial success.

High profile premieres are usually held in all corners of the world. They usually include massive stars; this helps sells the film. Mega stars have fan bases that follow them religiously regardless of marketing. These people are going to bring a huge audience in its opening weekend. Even smaller stars will bring publicity and a huge hype but once people have seen it and the movie is dreadful then word of mouth will destroy it.

It is not only high profile singers and actors that attract an audience. Directors, writers and even production companies such as Pixar can bring a massive audience as they retain popularity
The UK has over 3,500 cinema screens. This ensures that the film reaches to all corners of the country and even films with a niche market can reach their audience.

The more screens the cinema is showing the film the more films they will need. Hundreds of copies are produced and distributed and then these films are rented by the exhibitors who are screening the film. Special companies have special departments for this the transportation of the film

Making prints of the film for the world is very expensive which is why they make a smaller number of prints and releasing the film in waves. As a result films appear in the UK a few months after the US as they need to be transported.

Box office performance is recorded and continuously used by the cinema to see which films are doing well. Films which are popular will be prolonged. If a film is under performing the cinema cannot ‘wait for it to become popular’ as it is eating into their profits. Box office gross is the money made by the film. Producers can check how much roughly they will make but most of the money will go back to exhibitors who screen the film.

Most big hit films will make a profit but in reality if a film is a hit the cost of marketing and exhibiting it means that the producer is unlikely to see a large profit. Instead the profits will come through other distribution ‘windows’ such DVD selling and TV broadcasts. This means there will be no huge overheads for the exhibition meaning the profit margin is much greater. The growing piracy rate is forcing these windows closer and closer together.