UK Film Council announces further support for digital innovation in film distribution
Further funding is allocated to support digital innovation in distribution.
London – 24 March 2010
The UK Film Council will allocate further funding to support digital innovation in distribution, following a positive response to a trial that has helped rights holders harness the internet to transform the way British audiences discover and engage with films.
The Digital Innovation in Distribution strand has so far supported five UK distributors using innovative digital and online tools to market films and develop audiences over a longer lead time. It will now go on to make seven further awards of up to £30,000.
Pete Buckingham, Head of the UK Film Council's Distribution and Exhibition Fund said: "We've had a great response to this scheme, which suggests that rights holders are keen to find new ways of connecting with filmgoers using the internet. We're looking forward to supporting more inventive digital campaigns that tap into the appetite for cinema in the UK and help audiences discover film online."
The Digital Innovation in Distribution strand is part of the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising (P&A) Fund which helps gain broader exposure for films that might otherwise have a limited distribution, thereby giving audiences greater opportunity to see a wider range of films.
For more information contact:
Tara Milne, UK Film Council press office
T: 0207 8617901
E: tara.milne@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Digital Innovation in Distribution strand has so far made five awards of £30,000 to:
- Metrodome Distribution for Motherhood (UK release 5 March). A competition, promoted through social media sites, for mums to win 200 house party screenings on a new calendar date, 'Mother's Day Eve'. With official partners Mumsnet.com and ASDA, prizes included DVDs, ASDA vouchers and voucher packs. This is the first time house parties have been used in any major coordinated way for a UK film campaign. www.motherhoodthefilm.com
- Momentum Pictures, for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(UK release 12 March). Fans competed through Facebook using a downloadable widget, completing tasks to win a trip to the film's locations in Stockholm. The campaign implemented wireWAX technology (which had never before been used on a movie website) - clicking on embedded video opened pop-ups of information to help fans unlock clues. www.thegirl.co.uk
- Revolver Entertainment for The Infidel, selected for the Tribeca Film Festival(UK release 9 April). An online competition where fans submit (strictly moderated) video jokes about religion to the Facebook site. Users vote for the funniest joke, and the winner will perform it live at the Hammersmith Apollo for the UK premiere. www.infidelmovie.com
- CinemaNX for The Disappearance of Alice Creed (UK release 30 April). Fans have the rare opportunity to win the film's UK premiere for their local cinema by voting on a Facebook application, where they can view an interactive map and cinema leader board showing activity hotspots across the UK. www.facebook.com/AliceCreedMovie
- Lionsgate UK for Heartless (UK release 21 May). An interactive Facebook campaign asking fans to capture the 'darker side to your city' by uploading photography and artwork, to be judged by the film's cast and crew, and for the chance to win camera equipment. www.heartlessmovie.com
The Prints & Advertising Fund
The UK is one of the most expensive countries in the world in which to release films, and this can lead to limited choice for cinema-goers. While blockbusters such as Harry Potter are often released in the UK with more than 1,000 film prints, the average number of prints for a foreign language specialist film is under ten.
The UK Film Council has created a single fund, the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Support Fund, also known as the P&A Fund, with an annual budget of £4 million. This fund also offers support to more commercially focused 'British' films that nevertheless remain difficult to market.
This fund is not intended to substitute pre-existing investment but rather is seeking to add value to the investment already being made by distributors in each film.
The fund aims to benefit audiences by:
- widening access in terms of the range of films available;
- widening opportunities to view such films across the UK; and
- widening audience awareness of the range of films potentially available.
