Distribution: The Facts

For our Friday morning sessions we have been looking at all aspects of television/film making and so it is essential that we look at what happens after a programme has been made, not just all the stages before this. This is the process known as distribution.

One definition of the word distribution is "the process of moving a product from its manufacturing source to its customers", so in the context of the media it is getting the finished film/television piece out there to its audience. To do this there are several different routes you can take.

An independent film maker has the choice of going down the profit or non-profit routes.
Non-profit can include:

• The Internet (Own website with showreel, YouTube, Vimeo etc)
• Film festivals (Sheffield, Brief Encounters etc)
• Put up for Award/Specialist Award 

To make a profit you can look at doing the following:

• Sell to a channel via editing commissioner
• Sell to a distribution company

There are dozens and dozens of distribution companies in the UK (though of course their work can cover worldwide), however, the top players in the UK are:

• BBC Worldwide: Top Gear, Life, Planet Earth (£240 million profit 2009-2010)
• Fremantle Media: Merlin, American Idol, Hole in The Wall (£152 million profit 09-10)
• ITV Studios GE: Hells Kitchen, The Prisoner (£131 million 09-10)
• Outright (run by Shed): Supernanny, Waterloo Road, Who do you think you are? (£11 million 09-10)

It is important to remember there the sale of programmes worldwide covers both English speaking and non-English speaking countries. The arrangement of subtitles to sell to non-English speaking countries is known as packaging and is one of the other things distribution companies do. On top of this they also develop ideas and have their favourite producers e.g. Simon Cowell, and also try and establish successful 1st series of programmes.

As we can tell from the massive turnover of just the top 4 companies in the UK it is not surprising that through direct sales only, the revenue in distribution is around £525 million. There is plenty more to be made though in selling formats worldwide.
A format  is the structure of a programme, the most successful worldwide formats include:

• Strictly/Dancing with Stars (sold to 27 countries)
• Britains Got Talent/Americas Got Talent
•  Millionaire
• Big Brother
• The Office
• Footballers Wives

It is important to remember is is not just non-fiction formats that are marketable worldwide, it is also dramas!

"Do I Really Need..." Proposal

This is my proposal for my television programme "Do I Really Need..."

Everyone wants to be up to date with the latest technologies, they want to have the newest, fastest most powerful peices of equipment. To an extent they are all just fashion accessories but effectively they aid how we live our every day lives. As quickly as something is released, something newer comes along and in this day and age its important to keep up with the changes.

I propose to make a consumer show which will in each seperate episode will take a certain piece of technology, for example the iPhone. It will take a look at the brief history, the pro's and cons of it, the alternatives and a conclusion as to whether you do really need it. The production will take both expert opinion as well as vox pops from the public to find out what people truly think of the technology in question.

Not only will my production aim to inform which technologies are best to have and where the future lies for them but it also provides decision making. In the current economical climate people dont want to be wasting thier money on flashy technology that will go out of date within a couple of months.

The programme is aimed at anyone from teenagers up to late 40's, the main consumers of technologies. It aims to be informative and will be delivered in a way that can be understood by all ages and isn't just filled with technical jargon aiming to impress/confuse.

From my production I hope it can help people of all ages looking to invest in technologies make an informed decision about which products they will go out to buy. It will be delivered in a relatively light hearted tone to keep it entertaining but will include all the facts and information required to keep it informative.

Vox Pops

According to Wikipedia, the definition of a vox pop is:

Vox populi (pronounced /ˈvɒks ˈpɒpjʊlaɪ/), a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".

 So put simply, a vox pop involves having several interviewees, often in a public place (perhaps relating to the news story/question itself) giving a spontaneous opinion on a given topic of concern or question.

To make this explanation a little clearer here is an example of a vox pop from a northern news programme:




As we can see, from a  technical perspective they are often shot with a medium close up shot with there being no evidence that there is an interviewer (though in this case there was an introduction) as each person is asked the same question there is no need for one.

The aim is to get a variety of responses and is particularly used on the news particularly on local stories in order to gauge a range of opinion.

A good checklist on making sure your vox pop is well filmed can be found on the BBC Training Website.

A vox pop isn't purely restricted to television though, radio interviews can also be structured in a vox pop style. The presenter of the radio programme may introduce the question and then peoples responses are edited together in the same way as is done on television. There are different things to take into consideration for example whether you want background noise or not, but in terms of content the two are very similar.