HONEY TRAP!

Who directed the film?

Rebecca Johnson

Why did the director choose to tell this particular story? where is the story or idea from and why is it topical?
Inspired events- news report. Samantha, 16 was in an ambush where he was murdered by her boyfriend. Honey trap uses it as a point of departure to delve into the mind of the young girl. Young people get involved in gangs/ violence, conflicting emotions.

Who produced the film?
Sarah Sulick and Amy Ricker

What was the budget?
Independent film makers tend to not have high budgets, Honey traps was initially under £1 million, an approximate of £73,000 was used.

How did they raise the funds?
By donations via crowd fundraise

How did they find the film's cast?
Honey trap will use the same casting process as Top Girl searching for young people via agents, threatres, schools, community centres and street casting.

What technology has been used to make the film?
Camera

Where was the film made? Why was it important to the director? 
It was made in Brixton with local young people in front of and behind the camera.

Who is the distributor for the film?
The UK distributor for Honey trap is Anchor bay which it would be released in 2015.

What other films have they distributed?
Top Girl

Who is the target audience/s?
Urban adults (25+) who were out critically well- reviewed
Urban young people (15-25) both sexes

List the different marketing tools that have been used to promote the film to different audiences?
Posters, trailers, print outs, social media( Twitter, facebook)

How has the 'social inclusion' aspect of the film helped to promote and market it to audiences?
Changing the lives 30 young people from Brixton, raising awareness of gang culture

Why would this film appeal to a National audience?
British movie, national audiences could be interested in the culture, especially south London.

Are there examples of synergy with other products/ merchandise?
Bucks music group made the sound

What is the role of the BFI Film Festival in promoting the film and the film- maker?
Advertising Honey trap where it will be sold to independent distributors around the world. Rebecca has ties with Berlin, Rotterdam and Los Angeles.

What examples of technological convergence can you find relating to the film's production, distribution or exhibition?
Crowd fundraising, market researching

Where is the film being released (locally, nationwide, worldwide)?
Nationwide around England

When is the film being released (locally, nationwide, worldwide)?
Released on 17th October in the UK by BFI Film Festival, however, it will be released generally in Feb 2015

In which cinemas is the film being released?
Picture house

How many cinemas are screening the film?
30 film festivals; world spread

Honey Trap

Who directed the film?

Rebecca Johnson

Why did the director choose to tell this particular story? Where iso the story or idea form and why is it topical?

Because it was based on the case of Samantha Joseph, it uses her point of departure to delve into the mind of a young girl like her

Who produced the film?

Sarah Sulick

What was the budget?

The budget was under £1 million.

How did they raise the funds for the film?

They primarily raised it through donations via crowd funding platforms and grants/corporate social responsibility funding.

How did they film's cast?

Via agencies, theatres, schools, community centres and street casting

Who did the director collaborate with to make the film and why was this important?

Music artists- Russo, producer- Skwilla, Kilo P- it was important to have these types of collaboration as the target audience would be able to relate to it a lot better because of the background of the music produced.

What technology has been used to make the film?

HD Video Cameras.

Where was the film made? Why was this important to the director?

It was made in Brixton and it was important to Rebecca because she wanted it to relate back to the case of Samantha Jones and also, to raise awareness of the amount of girls that are being introduced to gang lives.

Who is the distributor for the film?

Anchor Bay/ Starz

What other films have they distributed?

Top Girl

Who is the target audience/'s?

Teenagers both female and male, who can relate  to the story and the location

List the different marketing tools that have been used to promote the film to different audiences?

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.); BBC interviews, Trailers and posters

How has the 'social inclusion' aspect of the film helped to promote and market it to audiences?

They chafed the lives of 30 young people that were from brixton. They also raised awareness of gang culture.

Why would this film appeal to a National audience?

It's a British movie, so national audiences may be interested in the British culture - especially the South of London.

Are there examples of synergy with other products/ merchandise?

Bucks music group produced the sound trace for the movie

What is the role of the BFI London Film Festival in promoting the film and the film-maker?

People who are familiar with the festivals they hold will be introduced to Rebecca's work. Advertising Honey trap it will be sold to independent distributors globally as she has ties with Berlin, Rotterdam and Los Angeles.

What examples of technological  convergence can you find relating to the film's production, distribution or exhibition?

It has been crowd funded and they used marketing tools such as social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

Where is the film being released?

Nationwide around England.

When is the film being released?

It was premiered on 17th of october in the UK by BFI's  Film festivals, however it is now being generally released in February 2015.

In which cinemas is the film being released?

Picture house

How many cinemas are screening the film? 

30 film festivals - it's wide spread.

Honeytrap Research

The film was directed by Rebecca Johnson, who was the director of also the critically acclaimed film 'Top Girl,' which way of production was used very similarly with Honeytrap. 

This feature film is base on the case of Samantha Joseph, a true story. In july 2008, Samantha led a sixteen-year-old Shakilus Townsend into an ambush. This tragically ended in the murder of the young sixteen-year-old, by Samantha's boyfriend and his gang. 

The film was produced by Sarah Sulick, an american who moved to Britain to continue doing the thing she loved which was creating films. 

The budget of this film was under £1 million, which was primarily sourced through donations from the public (crowd funding) and corporate social responsibility. This was not such a big problem for both Rebecca and Sarah, as they have had a strong record for raising money quickly, they secured £20,000 grant from the Walcot Foundation.

The casting stage of the film was similar to the casting stage for 'Top Girl.' They searched for young people in agencies, theatres, schools, community centres and even did street castings.

Sarah is part of a company 'Bright Pictures' an independent company, she has also had one of her films 'The waiting room' sold to different companies in order for them to be viewed in different countries, (the film was sold to Lionsgate in order for it to be viewed in the Uk, IFC Films for the US and E1 for Canada.)
They used camera's and sound design was also very important.

The film was produced in Brixton, this was important because the director wanted to work with people in and around the community to be able to create a film that looks realistic to the actual idea of producing a film that reflects the actual reality of young adults in the society we live in.

The production team were first brought attention to Anchor Bay/ Starz, a distributor, who they found during their first campaign. This distributor will be in charge of releasing the film into cinema screens and then later DVD/ VOD in the UK.

Honeytrap's target audience for the film is :-

Urban adults (25+), who seek out critically well-reviewed films

Urban young aged around 15-25

Along with other traditional marketing tools like, posters, trailers, print ads on buses etc, and social media will be key to their marketing strategy as it is free and mostly everyone can access the sites. 

Facebook- 1,173 likes

Twitter- 297 followers

This film is a very good example of helping young adults to prosper in life, rather then commit crimes or just wonder the streets. This film changed the lives of 30 people, which is a impressing amount for an independent film. The production team also included a community Liaison, Julie Fawcett. This was the person who helped and supported the young people that were all involved in the film production and taking part in the Fierce projects.

This film will appeal to a national audience because it is a film based in the Uk and it focuses on young adults and their struggles in society which is topic that is highly known and many people can relate to this type of story or maybe just for others it allows them to see exactly the problems that engulf society and young people in it.

The role of the BFI London Film Festival is to get the movie seen and if it is liked by the festival it will give the film high ratings and recognition for the director and production team. 

Honeytrap's release is mostly national, begin released in the UK and Ireland. However it is also to be sold to Australia and New Zealand, these countries are some that are not so much giants in the film industry but the key idea is the film being distributed to a range of different audiences. 

The film is due to be released in UK cinemas in February 2015, the date is not yet confirmed which means that the distributor is planning out a release weekend that will get the most sales for the box office. 

The film has been selected by BFI as the 'Official Selection' and the director has been nominated for 'Best British Newcomer' Award.

BFI

What is the BFI?

BFI stands for -British Film Institute, established by Royal Charter. Created to develop the arts of film, TV and moving image only in the United Kingdom.

What are the BFI required to do?

The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and London IMAX cinema; they offer a range of education initiatives and run annual London Film festivals.

Part 1 Exchange

Exchange

How do audiences get to see films?


Through: social networking sites, 
Youtube, 
TV, 
Internet, 
Cinemas,  
Posters
 and billboards, 
Mobile phones

What is the box office for a film?
      This is a place where tickets are sold to the audience that want to view the film. The tickets are usually available at the cinemas/ theatres or online. Box office can be measured in terms of how many people have viewed the film (bought a ticket) and how much revenue has been accumulated. Cinemas make their money by selling popcorn, food, soft drinks, snacks and ice cream. Also the cinemas earn money by screen advertising which occurs before a movie starts. To gain more audiences, cinemas try to offer the best commodity and assistance to the customer, they try to have a wide and variety of films to have more customers.

    Who receives the money from a successful film?

     Everyone involved in the movie making but especially the producers.

What are ancillary markets?

1. They are non-theatrical markets for feature films, like home video, television, Pay Per View, VOD, Internet streaming, airlines and others.

Distribution

Distribution

What does distribution mean?

Film distribution is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience, this is usually carried out by a film distributor; they would decide the type of marketing strategy for the film and the media by which a film is to be made available for viewing. They also decide the release dates.

How does the film get from the edit houses to the cinemas?

•  The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
• The distribution company determines how many copies of the film to make .
• The distribution company then screens the mvid to prospective buyers representing theatres 
• The buyers will negotiate with the distribution company as to which movies they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement 
• Then prints are sent tot he theatres a few days before the opening day
• After, the theatre airs the movie for a certain amount of weeks (engagement)

Who distributes the film?

A film distributor. If the distributor owns the cinema or theatre he/she would distribute it directly.

However, they may distribute it through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors. 

What is the traditional way of distributing a film?
The traditional way was through theatre and cinema distribution, it was well known but a lot more people are currently watching movies online either illegally or legally as its easy access. This means the traditional ways of watching new films is becoming less and less used.

Newer way of distributing a film:
Through the internet

What are film festivals and what are their role in film distribution?
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors usually in a single city or region. Depending on the festival's focus it can include international or domestic release.

What might make a distributor decide to release a film on one particular weekend rathe than another?
A film distributor will look to distribute the movie on a particular weekend when more people are likely to view it; such as the beginning of holidays. Also, they would distribute it closer to the date of the film's premier

Why is distribution essential to the film chain? What will happen to a film if it can't secure a distribution deal?
It is essential to the film chain as its on of the main parts to the chain itself. Distribution is the process of making the film available for the audience to view and without this stage, they wouldn't be able to make profits.
If the film can't secure a distribution deal then it will simply fail and the distributors will make a loss of money.

Production

PART 1


PRODUCTION:

What are the stages involved in producing a film -what do they include from the early idea to the final edit when the film is ready to be sold to cinemas and promoted to the public?

Pre-production-
This stage of production is where the planning for the project occurs. At this stage the props, casting members, costumes, special effects and location are identified and each part of production is broken down into individual scenes.

Production-
This stage includes filming all the scenes. The director controls how many times each scene needs to be redone/ reworked in order to achieve the best quality scene. All the necessary shots are taken and handled with great care.

Post production-
The editor assembles all the scenes into one film at this stage. They create a fine cut by getting every shot to flow effortlessly in a seamless story. Then trimming is the next fast that is carried out this is the process of shorting scenes by as few minutes or seconds. In addition, the editing of footage, music and graphics are added at this stage. Finally, the picture is then 'Locked' which refers to the directors approving of the final product and no more changes are allowed to be made after this point.

Who are the main producers of films in America?

                                                                                                                                   Michael Mann-

  

A student of London's international film school. He wrote the TV shows such as Starsky and Hutch. The first film he directed was the ward winning prison drama The Jericho Mile 

James Cameron

  In 1984, he wrote and directed The Terminator (1984), a futuristic action-thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton.

                                                                                                                                   Steven Spielberg

He gained notoriety as an uncredited assistant editor on the classic western Wagon Train (1957). Among his early directing efforts were Battle Squad (1961), which combined World War II footage with footage of an airplane on the ground that he makes you believe is moving.

Spike Lee

   In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for $175,000, and earned $7 million at the box office

Tony Scott

He was a British born film director His feature directorial debut came with the vampire movie The Hunger (1983) starring Susan Sarandon, David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. The film wasn't a critical success but it attracted attention from Hollywood.  

What is independent production?

An independent film is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. Independent film are also produced and distributed by subsidiaries of major film studios. Most of the time independent films are made with a much lower film budget than major studio films.