I really enjoyed Saturday’s  tour (/discussion) of Cinemapolis! I was particularly interested to learn about the difference in film distribution models between chain commercial cinemas (i.e., AMC, Regal) on the one hand and independent or not-for-profit cinemas like Cinemapolis on the other. For those who weren’t at the tour, the director explained to us that commercial cinemas tend to play big Hollywood blockbusters (the example the cinema he gave was the new Superman v. Batman movie) and make huge amounts of money in ticket sales in the first few weekends, after which point interest in the movie and revenue quickly drop. To raise such interest for the opening weekend, the film distribution companies, which own the rights to show the movie, have to launch an extensive marketing campaign for the film many weeks or months in advance. To cover these marketing costs, they charge the theaters showing the movie a higher percentage of their sales. Smaller films, on the other hand, tend to be produced by smaller production companies, bought by smaller distribution companies (often just arms of larger companies), and less heavily advertised. Rather than their own internal marketing, these films rely on media coverage by newspaper and magazine critics, word of mouth, etc. To allow time to generate this kind of buzz, the distribution companies introduce the films over a longer period of time – say, several months – starting in large cities like New York and L.A. (where there is a thriving media scene to give coverage) and then trickling down to smaller cities. Because this approach requires less marketing effort and thus lower costs, the distribution companies charge the independent theaters a lower percentage of their ticket revenue. I haven’t given that kind of thought to the movie industry when I’ve gone to see movies in theaters in the past. It was really interesting to hear about the process that brings the movies to us and it was particularly relevant to me this semester because I am currently taking a marketing course, so much of the framework was familiar. I wonder if there is a similar distinction between how the different types of movies (blockbusters vs. smaller indie films) are marketed online.