What Made Animal Kingdom a Marketing Success?

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was shown mostly by small, independent cinemas. It is categorized into the thriller genre, which at first thought you would think it would only appeal to a small minority audience. The Australian Film was being created on a budget of only $5,000,000, yet took in a staggering $6,793,982. Part of the success was because before the film was even released, there was a viral wave, promoting the film, thanks to the Producer of the film. She did a majority of the promoting online. Another contributing factor to the films' success could be because of where it was shown. It England, it was shown in independent cinemas, rather than mainstream cinema's. Independent cinemas, for example Cinema City in Norwich. Picture House owns this cinema, and for it to receive the full amount (£16,000) Picture House offers cinemas like this, 35% of their screenings have to be European, so that is where a lot of funding comes from in order to screen this type of film. Cinemas like cinema city are often placed in towns and cities that hold a university. Because they are cheaper, students from the university are attracted to the cheaper ones, which often screen some of the same movies, however it also influences them to go and see something a bit different, much like Animal Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom also attracted a lot of attention was that because there were no A-list actors in the film, people had no pre-judgments or the film, depending on who was in it. For example, if Hugh Grant was it in, we may associate it with his role in Love Actually, and many of his other Rom-Com characters. The only recognized actor in it would be Guy Pearce, however not everyone knows about him and his acting career so the film's actors were still kept pretty anonymous. I think this created a mystery about the film.
On IMBd website, the user ratings turned out to be an average of 7.4 out of 10, which for a low budget, foreign  film with no a-list actors in it, is pretty impressive.
The people who gave it the highest rating on this site were under 18 year olds, males in particular. I think this is highlighting the target audience.

Overall Animal Kingdom was a success because it relied on internet marketing and advertising. If the online marketing had not have taken place then it would not have been such a success.
I will be ordering this film online, I thought it was fantastic.

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How has Working Title adapted to changes in the film industry?

Working title is one of the biggest names in film. It makes sense that they would market their films adapted to what people want to see on their screens, this is a clever way of bringing in a large amount of money as the film is in demand. 

Working Title markets films differently to the US then it would to the UK. America stereo typically likes British Rom-Com films. They are something the US has yet to master. For example the trailer for 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' is different to the one shown in the UK. The one for the US may have had actors in it that they might have not heard of. However the last image on the US trailer is of Rowan Atkinson, this implies he is a big name in America and someone they enjoy watching.

The films they target the US with, would have award winning directors, a-list actors, sometimes they are based on a best selling novel, much like 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' and it would be a popular genre that would do particularly well. Often the locations play a big role in films being so successful, American audiences really take to films like 'Hot Fuzz' because it is filmed in the British Countryside with British A-List actors. Also the films must have a strong target audience, however for a film like 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' it appeals to a pretty wide range of people. 

Film packages often appeal to DVD sales, more often than not usually before the film is released, part of the marketing of the film is to have advertising for it before hand. For example many films release merchandise to put in McDonald's happy meals for children, or to sell the soundtrack before it reaches our home screens. This is a subtle way of promoting the film and making people aware that the film is to come. Another method is a prequel/sequel, for example the Inbetweeners movie, they had three Television series before the movie came out, so it built up a strong target audience who were loyal to the programme, this guaranteed that it would make profit in the cinemas, and repaying the budget of £3,500,000. They are clever ways of subliminal advertising and recognition of the film, before it is in the cinemas. However more recently 3D films have been progressing into cinemas, films such as 'Avatar' was one of the first 3D films in cinemas. Therefore many people have not bought the DVD because the 3D film is not compatable with their Television software. However, there are such things as 3D televisions. This was targeted at people going to the cinema, and to make lots of profit from the big screen, not so much on DVD sales. 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been marketed very cleverly, it targets the older audience, possibly middle aged, or people who are interested in the Cold-War and spies etc. I went to see it and I don't think it was appropriate for my age group (16-17) It was difficult to follow and very complicated. Working Title spent $30,000,000 on creating the film and marketing it to it's appropriate target audience. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has an award winning director, Tomas Alfredson. The A-List actors, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong etc. It is also based on a bestselling book 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. The film also have fantastic screenplay. Part of it was filmed in Hungary so the attraction of different locations was there. Seeing as though Working Title was founded by Brits, it was very important that they made a film with many British actors in it. So Colin Firth and Mark Strong etc must have been very important. To promote this film, they didn't really create a synergy, more of a symbosis, different companies working together to promote the same product. Vivendi Universal owns Vue and Odeon cinemas which are the main multiplexes in Britain, they dominate the film consumption industry in Britain so they control how much of one film is promoted etc.Vivendi has horizontal and vertical integration.

Even though the trends in the film industry are constantly and rapidly changing, Working Title will continue to produce timeless films. For example, people still watch films produced in 1994, 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'. Working Title will advertise films differently to individual countries, as said earlier, the film trailer was cut differently for the US market to how it is marketed to the UK audience. Working Title has shaped and created trends for film producers to follow, I think they can continue being an individual British Film company.

Working Title Film Trailer

Paul
The first line spoken in this film is "you're going on a road trip?" which instantly establishes what the characters have set out to do, go on a road trip. You are the shown the main characters who are A-List actors, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, who have previously worked together in the films 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead'. Fans of these films would expect 'Paul' to be a comedy too. Another factor that is obvious is that they are really into aliens and outer space, this establishes where they are going on their road trip. Suddenly and quite bluntly, and alien appears. This entrance sets the rest of the film in place, it also gives the characters a challenge to deal with this alien. They have to get this alien back to where it came from. The may have made the link that Frost & Pegg work in comedy films and this is one of their finest. There is also a love interest in the film which also attracts film-watchers. Income the bad-guys so the audience know that conflict will break out. If you have an interest or not, that does not matter. If you like the film director, and the actors then that is enough for somebody to go and watch this film. Everyone knows that Pegg & Front work well together and the outcome of their films is always of a high standard. This films leaves you wanting to watch the rest of it and to find out what happens to Paul, for that reason people would go and pay to see this film.

Working Title Film Trailer

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

This film trailer tries to do many things. The first thing you instantly recognize is that it is showing you all the A-List actors in the films straight away, to the audience it must draw them in, for the actors are re-nound for being great. A majority of people go and see films because of the actors in them, also through sexual magnetism, if a specific age group of gender find an actor attractive,t he chances of them going to see the film is very high. The second factor you recognize whilst watching this trailer is that it sets out the story line very clearly. It explains what the main character has to do, "there is a mole at the top of the circus, he has been there for years", so ultimately he has to find out who the mole is.  But for people who don't know what that means, it could prove to be a very confusing film. The other thing this trailer does to its audience is leaves longing for the questions to be answered. At the end of the trailer you find there are many ends which need tying up, so the audience may feel compelled to go and watch the film for that reason. Other factors such as, when it was set, are clear in this trailer because of what they are wearing and the props, for example, the typewriter. It is a well crafted film as it shows some of the most important aspects from the film but does not let out too much information however it does showcase the genre of the film which is just enough to keep the audience going until (what the trailer is trying to achieve) they go to the cinema and watch it for themselves.