The Film Cycle

There are 3 steps in the film cycle, these are called:

1. Production
2. Distribution
3. Exhibition 

These words are also used in business and are together known as vertical integration. 

Production, refers to the making and creation of the idea for the film. Finding the right idea, writing the screenplay, casting the actors, filming and editing are all part of the production.
What a film really needs before being able to go into production is investors. Before the investors decide on wether to fund the film or not, they analyse wether the idea will be a success in order for them not to make a big loss.

They do this by asking themselves:

• Is the star or main protagonist popular?
• Has the director of the movie had previous success? 

These are key questions, which are very important for investors to analyse, before they make their final decision.
I got the information on the production phase from a powerpoint that had been uploaded to slideshare. (http://www.slideshare.net/robertclackmedia/productiondistributionexhibition-an-intro-final-for-media)

Distribution is a phase in the film cycle, that is about getting the film launched and how it should be marketed and advertised. Very single film, has it's own distribution plan to be sure that it reaches the right audiences.
The distributor buys the right to a movie to be able to show the movie around the world.
The movie Everest was distributed in 65 different countries. The distributor of Everest was Universal, which you can see on box office mojo.  Below, is a table (from box office mojo) where you can see in which countries the film Everest was distributed. As mentioned it was distributed by Universal International Pictures (UIP).


View: BY COUNTRY | BY WEEKEND

Country (click to view weekend breakdown) Dist. Release Date Opening Wknd % of Total Total Gross / As Of FOREIGN TOTAL - 9/17/15 $28,877,052 18.1% $159,943,235 1/28/16 Argentina UIP 9/17/15 $835,407 34.2% $2,445,099 12/13/15 Australia UPI 9/18/15 $2,304,162 31.3% $7,352,404 10/25/15 Austria UPI 9/17/15 $395,774 25.6% $1,547,719 12/13/15 Belgium UPI 9/23/15 $273,256 30% $909,628 11/22/15 Bolivia UIP 9/24/15 $75,269 29.5% $255,484 10/25/15 Brazil UPI 9/24/15 $750,626 40.8% $1,837,939 12/6/15 Bulgaria - 9/18/15 - - $484,926 11/29/15 Chile UPI 10/1/15 $232,653 35.8% $649,990 11/22/15 China - 11/3/15 $5,530,855 35.8% $15,446,746 11/15/15 Colombia UIP 9/17/15 $335,003 41.1% $815,252 10/18/15 Croatia UIP 9/17/15 $38,806 25.6% $151,513 11/15/15 Czech Republic CinemArt 9/24/15 - - $854,460 11/15/15 Denmark UIP 9/17/15 $191,198 33.6% $569,436 11/1/15 Ecuador UIP 9/18/15 $41,715 6.3% $667,132 11/8/15 Egypt UIP 9/16/15 $31,169 26.4% $118,024 10/11/15 Estonia UIP 9/25/15 $91,584 33.6% $272,584 11/8/15 Finland UPI 9/25/15 $171,178 32.4% $527,878 11/22/15 France UPI 9/23/15 $2,381,316 33.8% $7,050,663 10/25/15 Germany UPI 9/17/15 $2,557,819 27.3% $9,361,585 11/29/15 Ghana - 10/1/15 - - $742,102 10/11/15 Greece UIP 10/1/15 $331,288 33.4% $991,038 10/25/15 Hong Kong EDKO 9/17/15 $831,036 35.9% $2,317,978 11/8/15 Hungary UIP 9/17/15 $232,417 28.7% $811,224 10/18/15 Iceland UIP 9/17/15 - - $691,470 12/13/15 India UPI 9/18/15 $1,400,783 45.7% $3,063,683 10/18/15 Ireland - N/A - - $3,000,000 9/28/15 Israel UIP 9/24/15 $416,460 27.8% $1,497,241 11/22/15 Italy UIP 9/25/15 $1,753,390 34.3% $5,107,872 10/25/15 Japan Toho-Towa 11/6/15 $1,347,655 22% $6,133,397 12/6/15 Jordan - 9/17/15 $25,526 32.1% $79,463 9/27/15 Kenya UIP 9/18/15 $8,376 17.7% $47,341 11/8/15 Latvia Forum 9/25/15 $52,571 25.9% $203,103 12/6/15 Lebanon UIP 9/17/15 $85,767 41.1% $208,829 10/18/15 Lithuania Forum 9/25/15 - - $225,804 11/22/15 Malaysia UIP 9/24/15 $653,876 42.9% $1,525,677 11/15/15 Mexico UPI 9/16/15 $2,754,301 33.5% $8,232,318 11/8/15 Netherlands UPI 9/17/15 - - $1,377,529 10/25/15 New Zealand UIP 9/18/15 - - $1,555,533 11/15/15 Nigeria - 9/18/15 $2,783 41.2% $6,759 9/27/15 Norway UIP 9/18/15 $259,191 23.3% $1,111,048 11/29/15 Oman - 9/17/15 $25,716 47.2% $54,500 10/11/15 Peru UPI 9/10/15 $472,369 31.8% $1,484,490 11/22/15 Philippines UPI 9/16/15 $594,726 61.7% $964,062 10/11/15 Poland UIP 9/18/15 $635,514 20.7% $3,074,161 12/6/15 Portugal UIP 9/24/15 $234,437 35.1% $668,418 11/15/15 Romania UIP 9/18/15 - - $3,369,345 11/29/15 Russia UIP 9/25/15 - - $8,800,000 10/4/15 Russia - CIS UPI 9/24/15 - - $10,483,022 12/13/15 Serbia & Montenegro Taramount 9/17/15 $14,865 14.7% $101,224 11/15/15 Singapore UIP 9/24/15 $675,105 40.3% $1,676,596 11/8/15 Slovakia - 9/17/15 - - $332,083 11/8/15 Slovenia UPI 9/25/15 - - $257,396 11/29/15 South Africa - 9/18/15 $114,500 28.1% $408,083 11/8/15 South Korea UIP 9/25/15 - - $2,692,488 10/18/15 Spain UPI 9/18/15 $1,569,534 23.9% $6,575,707 12/6/15 Sweden UIP 9/25/15 $357,685 24.4% $1,465,820 11/29/15 Switzerland (French-speaking) UPI 9/23/15 $175,959 23.9% $735,368 11/8/15 Switzerland (German-speaking) UPI 9/17/15 $403,839 27.5% $1,468,147 11/1/15 Taiwan UIP 9/18/15 $941,113 29.5% $3,192,262 11/1/15 Thailand UIP 9/24/15 $289,432 47.7% $606,942 10/18/15 Turkey UIP 9/18/15 $174,007 20.1% $864,771 11/15/15 Ukraine UPI 9/24/15 $394,017 29% $1,357,145 11/8/15 United Arab Emirates UPI 9/17/15 $729,196 40.2% $1,812,752 11/29/15 United Kingdom UPI 9/18/15 $4,910,503 31.1% $15,794,142 1/17/16 Uruguay UPI 10/1/15 $29,493 37.2% $79,300 11/15/15 Venezuela UIP 9/25/15 $543,077 21.4% $2,538,157 11/15/15 Vietnam CJ Ent. 9/18/15 $112,856 46.3% $243,624 10/4/15

Why did the movie get so much success and get distributed? One main reason is because there were only big actors in the movie such as Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley. These actors have had big success in previous films. Moreover, there was a high budget of $55m for the production of this film. This means that the producers had good equipment to film and edit the movie. Hence, distributors want to distribute the film.

Exhibition, is about the public screening of the film. The exhibitor sells the experience of the film to the customers e.g. by selling tickets to the cinema.