Media is a risky buisness
Blinded by the Light is a low-mid budget production ($15m) co-funded by New Line Cinema (an American production studio owned by Warner Brothers Pictures Group) and independent
production companies including Levantine Films. Bend it Films and Ingenious Media.
• Identification of how Blinded by the Light is characteristic of a low-mid budget release, considering production, distribution and circulation.
Production: Merger between 3 movie companies. Films do this gain more control of market as well as maximise profit.
• The role of the use of Bruce Springsteen’s music in getting the film financed and in the marketing of the film
As Bruce is a global figure his name and songs give the film support across the globe. This is called globalisation.
• The use of film festivals in finding distribution deals for films.
• Use of traditional marketing and distribution techniques; trailers, posters, film festivals etc.
• Marketing techniques such as use of genre, nostalgia, identity, social consciousness
• Distribution techniques – reliance on new technology; VOD, streaming
Directed by | Gurinder Chadha – she previously worked on film Bend it like Beckham |
|---|---|
| Written by | Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Sarfraz Manzoor |
| Based on | Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll by Sarfraz Manzoor |
| Produced by | Jane Barclay, Gurinder Chadha, Jamal Daniel |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
|---|---|
| Production companies | Levantine Films, Ingenious, Bend It Films, Cornerstone Films |
| Distributed by | Entertainment One Films |
| Release dates | 27 January 2019 (Sundance)9 August 2019 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 117 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[2] |
| Box office | $18.1 million[3][4] |
The director of Bruce Springsteen-themed movie Blinded by the Light told how a chance meeting at a red-carpet event led to the Boss granting permission for his music to be used in the soundtrack.
Springsteens wife loved the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ and the director, and so she persuaded Bruce to get involved,
Quotes from newspapers –
The Guardian –
Javed, the central character in my film, is a teenage British Pakistani Muslim. Blinded By the Light is being released at a time when that community is regularly demonised as the other – both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have sought to gain political capital by mocking Muslims.
The number of hate crimes per year has risen from 42,235 in 2012 to 103,379 in 2018, with 77% of those hate crimes being race-related.
The Hollywood Reporter –
Over the Aug. 16-18 weekend, New Line’s Blinded by the Light — a coming-of-age tale inspired by Springsteen’s music — bombed in its nationwide debut, earning a mere $4 million at the box office.
Marketing techniques such as the use of genre, nostalgia, identity, social consciousness
Previusly established fans from film ‘Bend it like Beckham’ + Bruce Springsteen fans. This helps to establish hype, as well as media coverage of the film, and brings in more bodies to the cinema.
Bend it studios – indie film company (small)
they had to get help from more major companies such as:
Levantine films (small company – however had major success with film – Hidden Figures) and Ingenious media (investment company – had major success with film Life of `Pi)
The film is based on the existing successful book. This maximises profits and reduces risk, as fans of the book are more likely to watch the film.
The movie is left wing –
it used social media to promote film.
Hashtagged BLM + other tweets to raise awareness.