Film Distribution

I have created a flow diagram to show how film is distributed. It goes through many stages before actually becoming a released film for people to see. I used the website How Stuff Works to help me with this research.

As we see it first starts with an idea where they use an outline to help promote an interest. A studio or investor then decides to purchase rights to the film and people are then bought together to make the film e.g the producer, actors etc. The film is then sent to the studio and they make a licensing agreement with the distribution company. The company then decides how many copies they are going to make and shows the movie to prospective buyers representing cinemas. The buyers then negotiate with the distribution company on which movies they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement. The prints are then sent to the cinemas a few days before opening day and the movie is shown for a specified amount of weeks. The customer buys a ticket to watch the movie. At the end of the engagement, the cinema/theatre sends the print back to the distribution company and makes payment on the lease agreement. Some more steps may be added or some combined for different films if necessary. 

I have learnt that there is a lot more parts to in the film distribution process then you may think from the first idea to when you watch it and it is interesting to know how it all happens.