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Film release
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A film release is the stage at which a completed film is legally authorized by its owner for public distribution.
The process includes locating a distributor to handle the film. For example, a film may be shown at a film festival or tradeshow in order to attract distributor attention, and if successful in that regard, may then be released through the distributor best meeting the owner's requirements and expectations for a profitable handling of the film, following a period of negotiation leading to a release contract.
The term "release" is sometimes confused with "distribution" because major studios distributed their own product and the separate legal step involved to formally release a film was simply a paper formality, not noticeable to the general public. Casually languaged major trade journals, such as Variety, have added to the confusion by using the terms interchangeably. The existence of the separate release process is usually most noticeable as regards foreign films, where an export and/or import company act to "release" the film for the production company of one country to a distributor in another, which may involve adding subtitles and preparing advertising compatible with the country in which a distributor is sought.
Day and date refers to a release strategy where a movie is released in theaters the same day as DVD or broadcast (cable, television, video on demand). This strategy, spearheaded by productions such as Bubble and Ten Items or Less[1] (released VOD 2 weeks after theatrical release), seeks to maximize economies of scale on marketing and distribution on films that either won't fare well in theaters (due to a limited audience or limited release) or it seeks to experiment with new models of release which have not yet been explored. This stems from the history of releasing larger budgeted films which enjoy the financial power of larger budgets but which had to rely on tiered release strategies (theaters, then DVD, then broadcast) in order to maximize profit in a world before digital distribution. Since this traditional distribution infrastructure (including the entire physical film distribution industry) is interwoven into the larger studios business strategies, it will neither change overnight or continue into the foreseeable future.