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A film release is the stage at which a completed film is legally authorized by its owner for public distribution.
The process includes locating a distributor to handle the film. For example, a film may be shown at a film festival or trade show in order to attract distributor attention and, if successful, may then be released through a chosen distributor.
Release date vs. distribution date
The term release is sometimes confused with distribution date or theatrical premiere. A release is the moment at which a film is available for consumption, but usually not wide consumption. It usually occurs at a film festival or other event in which distribution deals are made. On the other hand, a theatrical premiere or the beginning of distribution is the day in which a film is released into theaters for wider public consumption and often takes place after the film is actually released. Frequently, these terms are used interchangeably because major movie studios distribute their own product through subsidiaries and, therefore, they often don't have to go through the process of acquiring a distributor at film festivals and trade shows. (This is not always the case, though. Sometimes, a studio film will need to solicit distributors for foreign distribution or will present itself at film festivals for publicity.) The separate release process is most frequent in the handling of non-U.S. films, in which an export and/or import company acts to "release" the movie for the production company of one country or to a distributor in another.
Day-and-date
Day-and-date refers to a release strategy in which a movie enters theaters on the same day as it begins its presentation in home video or broadcast (cable, television, video on demand) formats. This strategy has been exemplified by the releases of films like Bubble (2006), directed by Steven Soderbergh, a noted champion of the day-and-date. The movie Ten Items or Less (2006) was released in a near day-and-date manner, with its video on demand release occurring two weeks after its theatrical one. Historically, the reason for day-and-date was to maximize economies of scale in the marketing and distribution of films that aren't expected to fare well in theaters (due to a limited audience or limited release). Currently, though, the strategy has been used to change the landscape of movie exhibition and distribution entirely. As viewers increasingly turn to the internet for the movie and television entertainment needs, some members of the film industry have argued that, in the future, all films will be released on the internet and on home video formats at the same time as they are exhibited in theaters. Supporting this, a number of music albums have been simultaneously released on the internet and in stores and have still climbed to the top of the top forty charts in their respective genres. A number of directors, producers and studio executives believe that the same model may work for motion pictures.
The day-and-date strategy diverges from the movie industry's history of releasing movies in a multi-tiered manner: first, theatrical release; second, home video release (disc formats only); third, pay-per-view release; fourth broadcast premiere; and so on. The multi-tiered strategy offers the benefit of exclusivity to each exhibition and distribution company in its particular stage of release. In essence, each tier operates as an exclusive window in which the exhibitor or distributor may present the film. Day-and-date, on the other hand, eliminates the exclusivity in exhibition and distribution, as more than one organization -- a theater chain and DVD distributor, for example -- may present the film at the same time. Furthermore, the theatrical release, which usually garners the largest advertising budget of all of the formats of presentation, no longer operates as a bona fide advertising campaign for releases in other formats.
See also
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