From screen to shelf : perspectives on independent distribution

Abstract

Of the three broadly defined sectors which make up the British film industry, the academy has tended to focus its attention on production and exhibition, giving comparatively short shrift to matters of distribution. Certainly, the current role of the independent distributor in the UK is, to say the least, under-examined. Academic interest in the work of the distributor tends to stop at their marketing campaigns and, as an extension, their attempts to connect with and sell a film to the public. The relationship between the distributor and the exhibitor, and the process of negotiation which takes place between them, have been largely ignored. Since around 1999, with the burgeoning of the DVD market, UK distributors have gradually expanded their home entertainment divisions, becoming as invested in the retail sector as is the music industry and devoting as much energy (if not as much money) to a film’s release on DVD as to its theatrical launch. Again, academic material on the video and DVD industries is scant, with those studies which do exist, such as Paul McDonald’s Video and DVD Industries (2007), focusing primarily on the US and the major studios