From Hollywood blockbusters to art films, distributors play an important role in getting films in front of audiences and thus in shaping the nature of film culture. Of central concern to Reaching Audiences are the distribution practices developed to counter Hollywood’s dominance of the marketplace, designed to ensure audiences have access to a more diverse moving image culture. Through a series of case studies, the book tracks the inventive distribution and exhibition initiatives developed over the last forty years by small companies on the periphery of the United Kingdom’s film industry - practices now being replicated by a new generation of digital distributors. Although largely invisible to outsiders, the importance of distribution networks is widely recognized in the industry, and this book is a key contribution to our understanding of the role they play.
Contents: Acknowledgements Foreword by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith List of Abbreviations Introduction: So Much More than Meets the Eye Chapter 1: DIY, Counterculture and State Funding: The London Film-Maker's Co-op Chapter 2: Exhibition, Political Agendas and Access to Audiences: The Other Cinema and Cinema of Women Chapter 3: Technology, Television and Seeking Wider Audiences: London Video Access/London Electronic Arts and Albany Video Distribution Chapter 4: Promotion, Selection and Engaging Audiences: Circles, Film and Video Umbrella, London Video Access and London Film-Makers' Co-op Chapter 5: Changing Conditions, Under-Resourcing and Self-Sustainability: Cinenova Chapter 6: Questions of Strategy, Policy and Agency: The Lux Saga Chapter 7: Understanding Distribution Appendix: Research Sources Select Bibliography Index
About the Authors: Julia Knight is a reader in media and cultural studies at the University of Sunderland. Peter Thomas is an independent scholar, visiting lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, and a member of the Exploding Cinema collective.
