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blinded by the light

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Original Blinded By The Light (2019) movie poster in c8 condition for $30.00
  • From writer/director/producer Gurinder Chadha
  • medium to low 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.
  • bend it networks: “The company has a track record of appealing to diverse global audiences around the world with award-winning films that are moving, inspiring and commercial. With over 20 years of filmmaking experience, Bend It Networks has the ability to develop original ideas to create bespoke Films, TV Series and Stage Plays, as well as working with top-level writers in the U.K. and U.S.“
  • blinded by the light is a low budget film possibly having a large effect on production, distribution and circulation
  • Bruce Springsteen’s music’s serves the roll of marketing and financing for the film.
  • the film can be bought/rented online on Apple TV, google play, prime video, vudu, movies anywhere, Microsoft, fandango now, YouTube
  • Identification of how Blinded by the Light is characteristic of a low-mid budget release, considering production, distribution and circulation
  • The role of the use of Bruce Springsteen’s music in getting the film financed and in the marketing of the film
  • • 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
  • • Regulation of the industry through BBFC (British Board of Film Classification).
  • • Regulation including Livingstone and Lunt
  • film festival stuff – “it has acquired Blinded By the Light after its big Sundance Film Festival bow”

David Hesmondhalgh

  • Went to the university of Leeds.
  • Wrote books like The Cultural Industries, Media and Society and Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour. Which all focus on the idea of the working world and what people expect in certain businesses and popular culture. For example expecting really happy, jumpy and creative people in a media job, whereas that isn’t the truth.
  • Hesmondhalgh argues popularity results in a large amount of product production and selling to make a large monetary game.
  • This is implied in the quote “the distinctive organisational form of the cultural industries has considerable implications for the conditions under which symbolic creativity is carried out’”
  • Furthermore, Hesmondhalgh displays in this quote “there must be serious concerns about the extent to which this business-driven, economic agenda is compatible with the quality of working life and of human well-being in the creative industries.” that it must be difficult to have both a working life and a good life and them being compatible with each other where you are enjoying work and therefore creating a more enjoyable and happier person when out of work.
  •  “cultural industries are risky” 
  •  “All business is risky, but the cultural industries constitute a particularly risky business” 
  • Funding
  • Blinded By The Light cost around $15m to make. Key points:
  • Bend It Films developed the film with support from Levantine Films and Ingenious Media.
  • Levantine Films is an independent production company that had a major success with Hidden Figures in 2016 which grossed $230m at the worldwide box office.
  • The Ingenious Group is an investment company that invests money in projects that have the potential to deliver future profits.

Production
Key points for making Blinded By The Light:

  • Adapted from a book called Greetings From Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor (a play on ‘Greetings From Asbury Park’ – a Bruce Springsteen album). The memoir outlined his experiences growing up in Luton in the 1980s and discovering the music of Springsteen.
  • Co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha who had a smash hit in 2002 with her film Bend It Like Beckham (Bend It Like Beckham made over $100m at the worldwide box office).

DistributionBlinded By The Light was picked up by New Line Cinema at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival after a bidding war with various other major film distributors. The film had been well received by audiences at the film festival. 

  • The all-night auction following the world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 guaranteed the film a major global cinema release which many films never achieve.
  • Previously offered for sale at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival but did not attract a buyer at that point although UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment, a Canadian media company.
  • New Line Cinema are an American production studio owned by Warner Brothers Pictures Group.
  • The film was released in cinemas worldwide in August 2019. The DVD release followed in December 2019 distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment – a Viacom company.
  • Deal with Amazon Prime secured in early 2020 for streaming in the UK.

Reception and box office

  • Positive word-of-mouth marketing but poor box office figures – just $18.1m box office against a $15m budget which means the film almost certainly lost money when factoring in the global marketing campaign.
  • Rival studios argued that Warner Bros. should have begun with a limited release to build audience interest, and that the film’s August date was too close to that of Yesterday, a film with some surface similarities. [Source: Deadline Hollywood].

Promotion and marketing

Blinded By The Light was backed by a major international marketing campaign: 

  • Traditional marketing: trailer, film poster with review quotes etc.
  • Premieres – London, Luton and Asbury Park, New Jersey (attended by Bruce Springsteen).
  • Heavy social media presence – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.
  • Interviews with writer, director and stars across TV, radio, newspapers and magazines (see below).

key words

  • Cultural industries  – An economic field concerned with producing, reproducing, storing and distributing cultural goods/services. 
  • Production- The act of producing an output, goods or service which has value and contributes to the utility of people.
  • Distribution-  The methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign
  • Exhibition / Consumption-The sum of information and entertainment media taken in by an individual or group. It includes activities such as interacting with new media, reading books and magazines, watching television and film, and listening to radio.
  • Media concentration-
  • Conglomerates-a thing consisting of a number of different and distinct parts or items that are grouped together.
  • Globalization (in terms of media ownership)-The production, distribution, and consumption of media products on a global scale facilitating the exchange and diffusion of ideas cross-culturally.
  • Cultural imperialism-the imposition by one usually politically or economically dominant community of various aspects of its own culture onto another non-dominant community.
  • Vertical Integration- Vertical integration refers to the process of acquiring business operations within the same production vertical. A company that opts for vertical integration takes complete control over one or more stages in the production or distribution of a product. (distribution company buying a production company)
  • Horizontal Integration- Horizontal integration is a business strategy in which one company acquires or merges with another that operates at the same level in an industry. Horizontal integrations help companies grow in size and revenue, expand into new markets, diversify product offerings, and reduce competition. (Production company buying another production company)
  • Mergers-The voluntary fusion of two companies on broadly equal terms into one new legal entity
  • Monopolies- The exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.
  • Gatekeepers- Gatekeeping is the process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the internet, or some other mode of communication
  • Regulation- The process by which a range of specific, often legally binding, tools are applied to media systems and institutions to achieve established policy goals such as pluralism, diversity, competition, and freedom.
  • Deregulation- The removal of regulations or restrictions, especially in a particular industry.
  • Free market- A system in which the prices for goods and services are self-regulated by buyers and sellers negotiating in an open market.
  • Commodification – The transformation of things such as into objects of trade or commodities. (charging people for things)
  • Convergence  – Transforms established industries, services, and work practices and enables entirely new forms of content to emerge.
  • Diversity – The condition of having many different elements.
  • Innovation –  The practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services.

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