Research:Film Institutions - Introduction

In the following series of posts I will explain film institutions and examine their specialities in the film business.

Film institutions are very important as they provide the money for films to be made, and without them, no one would ever get enough money to make a decent budget film. These companies also own studios, which are useful as they are reusable and efficient, and are dedicated to filmmaking.

The major problem with film institutions funding a film is that they like to have complete control over the project, and this reduces the amount of creative input. They are all about making money, and this stops film advancing as an art form.

A production company essentially helps to create the film- its assists in the budgeting, scheduling, scripting, casting and more. The company usually looks over the film from when its just an idea to completion. They are responsible for finding a director and the majority of acting talent required. However they are also responsible if anything were to go wrong on the film, for example and actor being injured or property being damaged.

A distributor basically sends the film out into the world for the waiting audiences to watch. They decide where and when the film will show and they also promote the film. There are a number of steps that are followed in the process of distribution. Firstly they have to determine how many copies of the film to make. The film is then previewed to prospective buyers- e.g. cinema owners. The film is then sent to the cinemas shortly before it opens. The cinema then shows the movie and after people have seen it, it will get sent back to the distributors and payment is agreed. However in smaller budget films, more steps may be necessary.