Question 3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

First of all, I would consider our media production 'Framed' as an alternative thriller but still have the a mainstream audience appeal. One of the main reasons for this is because the use of the actors in our thriller are all 16-17 years old which would attract a niche audience of similar ages. 

Cinema distribution

In 2002, 15-24 year olds were the age group that made up the biggest audience of cinema-goers (42 percent of all age groups). This figure fluctuated up until 2010, then, from here it steadily decreased up until 2012. Now, the largest age group of cinema goers is now 45+.

These figures suggest that less and less 15-24 year olds are going to the cinema nowadays. Disregarding this, cinemas in the UK such as Vue and Odeon appeal more a younger audience for their wider selection of mainstream films and more reasonable ticket prices (around £8-9 for a student ticket). On the other hand, at Cinema City student tickets are £10+, therefore by having our thriller shown to a mainstream cinema such as Vue or Odeon, makes it is more affordable to our target audience.

What's on at Odeon Cinema:

Action-thriller film 'London Has Fallen' is being shown at Odeon cinema after school/work times which fits around a younger audiences' schedule. This could imply that action-thrillers are popular for younger audiences supporting my decision that a mainstream cinema would be a viable option for distribution of our film.

Cinema city is another cinema that could be explored for distribution of 'Framed', although younger audiences (our target audience) are generally not the typical audience of Cinema City. Cinema City focus their screenings mainly on art-house, classic, independent films but sometimes as well as mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, which generally attract an older audience of around 45+.

Digital distribution

As said earlier, less and less 15-24 year olds are going to the cinema nowadays, so as a result of this we could take advantage of digital distribution to appeal to our target audience.

Netflix is the hugely popular streaming app/website, as of January 2016, it reported a total of 75 million subscribers worldwide.

This graph shows the share of internet users who use Netflix by age. This is beneficial because it indicates that Netflix would be a good way to target our younger audience.

Netflix offers a browse function of genres and even sub-genres:

This will make it easier to find our thriller if it was on Netflix; I would say it would be under 'Independent Thrillers' and/or 'Mysteries'.

TV

BBC and ITV are well known for frequently airing very popular thriller/crime/mystery TV series, some recent examples include BBC One's 'The Night Manager' and 'Happy Valley' and ITV's 'Marcella'. 

The second series of Happy Valley had an average audience of 9 million people per episode, which signifies the potential our media production could have being aired on TV for being a similar genre to Happy Valley, and thus the potential mainstream audience appeal.

Also, ITV's Marcella is set to be released worldwide on Netflix after the airing on ITV. This just shows the benefits airing on TV can result in.

Lastly, The Night Manager has finished being broadcasting on BBC One (and gained similar viewing figures to Happy Valley) and is soon to be released in U.S. on AMC.