Low-budget film and Production/Distribution

A low-budget film is not specific because it depends on certain countries and can vary upon different genres; for example, when an action film has a budget of £15m it would be considered a low-budget, but if the same figure were for a comedy film it could be considered a high-budget. In comparison, an action film is more expensive to produce because of special effects, the need to be story driven and marketed in mainstream films, whereas a comedy film requires less work in post-production because it relies on the actors' performances to deliver the comedy. If an action film was on a budget of £15m, is not story driven, requires visual effects and is not good quality, it may not perform well in box-office.

However, some low-budget films gain a cult following which could lead to a wide-release. An example of this is the 1988 film 'Heathers' and although it was a box-office failure it became a cult classic. The film is story-driven by its dark subject matter on teen suicide, and the film is an inspiration to our own project.

Production and Distribution

Originally, we wanted our film distribution to be handled with Columbia Pictures, however, after some more research I felt that Fox Searchlight Pictures and Screen Gems' film catalogues are best suited for our film.

Screen Gems is an American film production company, its parent company is Columbia Pictures, which is also part of the conglomerate Sony company. The majority of its films are commercially successful, most notably 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' (2010), 'Easy A' (2010) and 'Snatch' (2001). The film 'Easy A' being in the same genre as our film and was an instant hit attracted us to Screen Gems to help with the production because of its modern outtake on films released today. I felt that Screen Gems is able to cater the need of our modern target audience.

Fox Searchlight Pictures specialises in independent and British films' production and/or distribution. As the company distributes British and American films, amongst others from different countries, I believe with them we are able to reach out to many of our target audience around the globe and because we are creating a British film. Amongst Fox Searchlight Pictures' film catalogue includes critically acclaimed and commercially successful films such as 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008), '127 Hours' (2010) and 'Bend it Like Beckham' (2003). The film 'Napoleon Dynamite' (2004), which has since developed a cult following, is a low-budget comedy at $400,000 but grossed $46m worldwide, which is impressive for that budget in comparison to similar films i.e. 'Superbad' (2007) which had a $20m budget.