R&P Post 5: Looking at Different Production Companies

As our film falls into the category of an independent low-budget movie, we have decided to research different production companies who produce these types of films, as these companies are best suited to our chosen style of film. Here are the production companies that we looked at:


Film4

Film4 is a television channel available in the UK which allows people to watch films for free. It is owned and operated by Channel Four and primarily co-produces low-budget UK films but also shows already-established films. In recent years, FIlm4 has co-financed and developed some of the UK's most successful films which have gone onto win Academy Awards, such as Ex-Machina (2015), 12 Years A Slave (2013) and The Iron Lady (2011).


Film4 would be a suitable choice of production company for our film because it primarily focuses on independent films. As we are ourselves independent filmmakers, our film would fit this company's main criteria, allowing it to fit in with the other films that it shows.


Vertigo Films:

Vertigo films is an independent UK film distribution and production company who's aim is to "create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema". It was founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson and the following year two others joined, Rupert Preston and Nick Love, and became its partners. Since it was founded, Vertigo Films has produced 28 movies and distributed 35 movies.

Some of the films that this company has produced in the past include:

                                                                                                   

Vertigo Films would be a rather ideal production company for our film because they are a wide supporter of independent films and since our film will be independently produced, Vertigo Films would be a good choice. As well as being a production company, they also distribute films meaning that we could also use this company to distribute our film. This is a double benefit  for our group because we will be able to simplify the process of producing and distributing our film by just having one company to do both.

BBC Films:

Taking on the role of the BBC's feature film-making arm, BBC Films was founded in June, 1990. It is one of the UK's most successful independent film production companies and co-produces on average eight films every year. Recent productions include I, Daniel Blake (2016), The Lady In The Van (2015), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Swallows And Amazons (2016) and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013).

BBC Films may be a suitable choice of production company for our groups' film as they are a supporter of many independent films, such as The Lighthouse (2016) and My Scientology Movie (2015). On the other hand, they also produce and distribute more mainstream and already well-established films, for example, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016) which was mainly produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures whoa re a sister company of 20th Century Fox who are one of Hollywood's 'Big Six' film studios. This shows that our film does not fully fit into the overall range of films that BBC Films show as they do not just show independent films.

BBC iPlayer:

BBC iPlayer is an internet streaming catchup radio and television service available in the UK. It is owned and operated by the BBC and it is what BBC Films use to distribute their films. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including laptops, smart televisions, smartphones and tablets. This would be very useful for my groups' film project because our target audience is generally aimed at the younger generations who are big users of these types of devices. Consequently, more people within our target audience will be able to see our film, hopefully enabling people to 'spread the word' about this new film in order to give it a good critical reception. Due to these features BBC iPlayer would be a very suitable choice to distribute our film.