Production, Distribution, Marketing and Exhibition

Production
Before any type of production, distribution, marketing and exhibition, there's got to be an idea for a film, whether it's a basic idea or a full-blown detailed idea, at least there's something to be filmed. As every good filmmaker/director would do, they would storyboard all their shot ideas, to make it easier to refer to when filming (pictured is a Hunger Games storyboard). Whilst storyboarding, it's good to have an idea how you want your film to look like: sharp, Hollywood type of filming or roughly, free-handedly filmed. Now, without a crew, there'd either be no film or it'd take you a long time to shoot the film. It's always best to have a crew that are on the same wavelength (creativity wise), so you all want the same end product. Once you've got the ideas, storyboard and crew, it's time for the most important part - actors. Casting is obviously a major part of film production because you want the best actors who understand what you want them to do/portray. 

Without a location, there's no film. Whether it's an already built location (e.g. outside) or a set, this should've been considered during the ideas stage. After a location has been decided on/set has been dressed and decorated, it's time to gather all types of equipment, from cameras and its accessories to lighting and costumes/props. 

Now it's time to film!!

After filming, it's time to edit your shots and put the film together. You can put transitions in, graphics in, and music over the scenes - it's your movie, you can do what you want. To make your film complete, you've got to add opening and closing titles (with credits). Create a small teaser/trailer, and film production is done! Here's the trailer of Hollywood blockbuster, The Hunger Games.

Distribution
After the film has completed production, it is sent to a studio where they make a licensing agreement with a distribution company. The company watch the completed film and decide how many copies/prints of it. After this stage, the company screen the film to different potential buyers who represent different cinemas and theatres (e.g. Picturehouse, Vue, Odeon, Cineworld, etc.). The potential buyers will talk with the distribution company on which films they want to release and show in their cinemas/theatre. Once agreements and contracts have been made, the company will send the film copies/prints days before the opening day. Whilst all this is going on. marketing is happening....

Marketing
Marketing is an important stage, especially money wise. Without marketing, how would you know when a film is out, or that it exists? Marketing has expanding a lot over the years.

Before, there used to be film posters everywhere: outside cinemas, inside telephone boxes, billboards on the street, on buses. But now, with the help of social networking, films are marketed throughout the internet whether it's through a tweet, or a viral trailer, the teenagers of today are more likely to know about a film because of social networking rather than finding it in a newspaper. And let's face it, most of the money the film industry make is from teenagers.

Exhibition
This is where your film can either be very successful or not. If your film is in the hands of a good distributor and good marketing, the exhibition stage will be successful also. Films are mainly shown online (which doesn't really benefit the moneymakers of the industry) or in cinemas (which benefits everyone, besides the people buying the tickets). There are two types of cinemas: national chains and independent exhibitors. National chains are the cinemas that everyone goes to and are the more well-known ones. A few examples are Vue, Cineworld and Odeon. These are the 'rich' cinemas, that make 40% of their profits through food sales (which tend to be overpriced) and where most of the Hollywood blockbusters are shown. If your film is shown in one of these cinemas, you know it's successful and you'll make money from it. The independent exhibitors are the less-known ones, therefore they make less money from it. Hollywood blockbusters usually do get shown here, but most people would go to the bigger chains of cinemas. Most British and foreign films get shown at independent exhibitors, but they are usually unknown or not of a mainstream taste, and wouldn't do very well if shown at a big chain. 

The Film Value Chain
So, what happens after your film is shown in the cinemas? Well, it is often shown at a non-theatrical place, such as hotels, airplanes, coaches. If that's proven successful, it will be released as 'Home Entertainment' which is everyday language for DVDs and Blu-Rays. and also for legal downloads. Again, if this is proven to be a success, it will move onto being shown at a Pay-Per-View stage where it will be shown on TV, but viewers would have to pay for it. Sky and Virgin Media are good companies and examples for this. Sooner or later, it will be free to watch as it will start appearing on TV on channels such as Sky Movies and Film4. The final stage is merchandising. If your film is really popular, you will have licensed merchandise, which can make a lot of money!

So that's how major films like Harry Potter and Hunger Games go from small ideas to big time movies.