Lottery funding supports innovative ways of attracting new audiences for films
Films about monsters, motorcycle races, and mountains build new audiences with UK Film Council Lottery funding for digital innovation in distribution
London – 18 November 2010
A number of exciting new films to be released in UK cinemas in the coming months, including Monsters, Chalet Girl, TT3D and Chatroom are using interactive digital media to reach out to new audiences with the help of Lottery funding from the UK Film Council.
Distribution companies are increasingly turning to online social networks and interactive digital marketing to build new audiences in the run-up to a film's release. Examples include, interactive trailers with behind the scenes footage and gossip, promotions using location-based social media, video games, live satellite Q&As beamed to cinemas across the country, as well as helping audiences to stage their own screenings. Films that have been supported in this way include:
Monsters - Gareth Edwards directs this low-budget British indie sci-fi film. Six years ago, a NASA probe holding samples of alien life crashed over Central America. When evidence of a new life form appeared, half of Mexico was quarantined and designated an 'infected zone'. American press photographer Andrew Kaulder finds himself escorting his boss's daughter to safety across the US border after she is injured in a monster attack. Vertigo Distribution received £153,875 to expand the release from 80 to 150 screens, increase promotional activity, and build awareness of the film through location-based social media. A number of 'infected zones' will be created in bars, restaurants, shops and cinemas, along with the chance for people to win prizes and tickets when they 'check in'. To be released on 3 December.
TT3D (working title) – an independent 3D feature documentary about the TT, the world famous motorcycle races that take place on the Isle of Man every year. With speeds hitting 200mph on bikes just inches apart, drama, tension, triumph and tragedy all combine to thrill the audience and tell a very moving human story. CinemaNX Distribution received £30,000 to create a free Facebook, iphone and ipad game of the TT which will target motorcycle fans and gamers to go and see the film. To be released in April 2011.
Chalet Girl – the new British comedy about pretty tomboy Kim Matthews who used to be a champion skateboarder. She's stuck in a dead end job trying to support her dad when a job opportunity in an exclusive Alps' chalet comes up, plus the chance to win some much-needed prize money in a snowboarding competition. Momentum Pictures received £30,000 to create an interactive trailer using facebook technology. This will reveal a goldmine of information on the film including fashion, music, locations and stars that fans can also share with their friends. To be released on 18 February.
Chatroom - when jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Revolver Films received £200,000 to widen the release of this indie British film from 50 to 100 sites and increase promotional activity. This includes the creation of an innovative website hosting a large volume of viral content for the film, a social networking campaign spanning Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and FourSquare to engage and excite users, plus homepage takeovers of various relevant sites including FindAnyFilm.com, increased online advertising, including Facebook ads. Chatroom will be released on 22 December.
Other films that received funding to help widen their distribution include:
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest – the third and final part of the Swedish thriller trilogy based on the best-selling novels by Steig Larsson, to be released on 26 November. Momentum Pictures received £200,000 for extra prints, promotional activity to build the mainstream/multiplex audience for the film, and for free screenings of the prequels, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* and The Girl who Played with Fire*.
We Are What We Are – when the patriarch of an impoverished family dies unexpectedly, his bereaved wife and three teenage dependents must decide on who is going to look after the family and put food on the table. But this is no ordinary family: they live as cannibals. Artificial Eye received £104,212 to expand the release to 50 screens and to boost promotional activity. The film, which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, was released on 12 November.
Another Year - Mike Leigh writes and directs this observational comedy drama depicting a year in the life of a contented middle-aged London couple, Tom and Gerri. The film received rave reviews at Cannes and was released on 5 November. Momentum Pictures received £150,000 to increase the number of prints and promotional activity which included a live satellite transmission of the London Film Festival premiere to selected Cineworld cinemas throughout the UK.
Africa United – an adventure drama from first-time feature director Debs Gardner-Paterson. Young Rwandan Dudu goes on a monumental journey through seven countries in the African continent to reach the football World Cup in Johannesburg. Pathé Productions received £120,000 to widen the film's release from 150 to 250 sites and increase promotional activity. Released on 22 October.
Restrepo – documentarychronicling the year that American journalist Sebastian Junger and British photographer Tim Hetherington spent in Afghanistan on an assignment for Vanity Fair magazine. Embedded with an army unit in the treacherous Korangal valley, the pair live in close proximity with the men as they defend an outpost called Restrepo. Dogwoof received £50,000 to support increased promotional activity including giving people the opportunity to create their own screenings as part of their Ambassadors programme. Released on 8 October.
Mr Nice is based on Howard Marks's best-selling book and is an entertaining trip through his career as an international drug smuggler with Rhys Ifans in the lead role. Entertainment One received £30,000 to support an online media campaign.
The Illusionist - Sylvain Chomet directs this hand-drawn animated feature based on an unproduced script written by French comic Jacques Tati in 1956. Pathé Productions received £65,000 to take the film into 40 cinemas and for extra promotional activity.
Why Did I Get Married Too? - Tyler Perry writes, directs and co-stars in this romantic comedy drama sequel about four couples who reunite for their annual holiday. Lions Gate UK received £102,200 to widen the release to 60 sites and increase promotional activity.
Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky - a French drama based on the love affair between fashion designer Coco Chanel and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. Soda Pictures received £103,345 to double the number of screens playing the film and to increase print and online advertising.
Gainsbourg - the biopic of notorious French singer-songwriter and provocateur Serge Gainsbourg. Optimum Releasing received £100,000 to double the amount of prints from 30 to 60 and increase advertising of the film.
*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire both received funding of £30,000 for online promotional activities earlier this year.
For details of where to see these films, visit www.findanyfilm.com. A list of the UK Film Council's National Lottery awards can be found on our website at www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk.
For more information contact
UK Film Council press office
Tel: 020 7861 7508
Email: pressoffice@ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
UK FILM COUNCIL
The UK Film Council is the lead agency for film in the UK, supporting the UK film industry, celebrating UK film culture and nurturing UK film talent at home and abroad. Since its creation in 2000 the UK Film Council has backed more than 900 films, shorts and features, which have won over 300 awards and entertained more than 200 million people around the world. Its support develops new filmmakers, funds exciting new British films and gets a wider choice of films to audiences throughout the UK. It also invests in training British talent, promoting Britain as an international filmmaking location and raising the profile of British films abroad. In addition, it funds the British Film Institute. www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk
The Prints & Advertising Fund
The Digital Innovation in Distribution strand is part of the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Fund which allocates £4 million a year to helps distributors gain broader exposure for films that might otherwise have a limited distribution, thereby giving audiences greater opportunity to see a wider range of films.
Monsters, Chalet Girl, TT3D, Mr Nice and Chatroom all received funding through the P&A Fund Digital Innovation in Distribution pilot scheme. These are the final awards to be made under this scheme. For case studies please visit www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/digitalinnovation All the other films were awarded funding through the main 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.
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.
