Blinded by the light case study

Blinded By The Light Case Study

Funding and industry contexts




1) What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?

Bend It Films which is the production company that made Blinded By The Light have received multiple big investments from investors to support the film. Blinded By The Light took 15m $ to produce and grossed globally 18m $. There are two main investors which invested for the production of the film. Levantine Films and Ingenious Group. The Ingenious Group is a investment company that invests into projects to potentially earn a profit. The Ingenious Group invests into Real Estate, Infrastructure, Education and importantly Media.

2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?

Bend It Networks has worked on 12 different productions including a musical. Their famous work is a film called Bend It Like Beckham(2002) which also got turned into a live musical. They produced Beecham House, Desi Rascals, Wonderful Afterlife, Angus Thongs, Mistress Of Species, Bride & Prejudice, What's Cooking? Bhaji on The Beach and I'm British But ... There content mainly centres around British - Asian, Inspiring story's targeted towards teenagers.

3) Research Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema on the Warners website here. Summarise the history of New Line Cinema in a short paragraph.

Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the leading company's in the motion picture industry. They were founded in April 4, 1923 and been working on different of 18 - 22 films each year. They help market and disturbed International films outside of NA with their parent company Warner Bros. Pictures International. They also help distribute 39,000 screens in NA through its second parent company Warner Bros. Pictures Domestic Distribution

New Line Cinema is another film production company apart of the Warner Bros. Entertainment group division. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye. New Line Cinema purpose was make films independently on creativity and ideas. They mainly focus on mainstream and alternative audiences. Some of their critically acclaimed work is The Mask, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Annabelle, IT, Elf. New Line Cinema joined Warner Bros Media in march 2008n 

4) Read the 'Get To Know Us' page of the Levantine Films website. What films have Levantine been involved in and what type of projects do they look to create?

Levantine Films is an independent film production company that helps finance and develop projects like Blinded By The Light. Thet have worked on films like Hidden Figures(2019) which grossed $230 million worldwide and receiving many awards for it.


5) Read this Variety interview with director Gurinder Chadha explaining how the project came about - including budget details. How did she manage to get the film made and what attracted her to the project?

The project of Blinded By The Light was based of a true story. Gurinder Chadha was born in Kenya then moved to London during Margeret Thatcher reign, so Chadha has been through immigrant experience of feeling out of place. Thats why her movies are mainly about adolescent teenagers growing up in a different environment trying to inspire teens in the same background. Chadha is a die-hard Springsteen fan

Production and distribution




Read this Deadline feature on the distribution deal for Blinded By The Light and answer the following questions:




1) Which company won the distribution rights after the all-night auction and for how much?

Warner Bros and New Line Cinemas won the distribution rights during the all-night auction at the Sundance Festival buying it for 15m$.


2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?

Other companies that was rumored to be bidding for the distribution rights were Lionsgate, Fox Searchlight and more.


3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?

The allure of Blinded By The light is the Springteen soundtrack and the story built around it. Using the music to brush away all your problems away and following your dreams. That's the main message of the story which brought a lot of attention for the production.


4) What does the article suggest about the significance of Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film?

The role of Springsteen's role was magnificent due to the movie is based around using Springsteen's music as the theme. When they land the rights to use the music that played a major role, that means less work then using parody's music. But also receiving a blessing from Springsteen motivated the cast which helped with the production.

5) UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment. Visit the eOne About Us page on their website - what do they claim to offer under the heading 'Passion meets possibility?'

eOne enables every step in the entertainment value chain from development and production to marketing and distribution. With the reach of a studio and the flexibility of an indie, they share bold stories with audiences around the world. 

Promotion and reception




Note: some of these pages may be blocked if you working in school - you will need to complete those particular questions at home. 



1) What does the trailer suggest regarding genre and the potential audience pleasures of Blinded By The Light?

When first watching the trailer it gives a lot of hints of being a musical, drama genre. But also the trailer gives the main message of a teenager that turns his life around with the power of music. The audience can seek inspiration and determination from this trailer, some audience can even relate to the trailer. Music is the main theme of the trailer and it could be seen as a musical but there for sure hints of drama and a main story involved in the background.

2) What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear?

The film poster shows a stiped orange background with the main character in the background wearing a 80s style inspired outfit. The poster also include quotes from different media companies praising the film to grab attention from the audience. Both the text and wallpaper is a bright and strong contrast of orange to catch the eye from the audience. This poster is a traditional film poster like any movie to hook the audience curiosity and make them focus on the poster. The poster appeared around London, Luton (which is where the film is based) and New Jersey.

3) What TV shows and websites did interviews with writer, director and stars of Blinded By The Light? Give as many examples as you can.

HeyUGuys

BBC One Show

Moviebill

BigFanBoy.com

SR Trailers and Interviews

Collider Interviews

Kinowetter

4) Why are interviews with newspapers, TV shows and websites a good way to promote a new film release?

It's an excellent way to expand to different type of audience. This brings more attention to the film making the audience aware of the film. Once people are aware of this film the process of sharing and word-of-mouth starts which means more audience are aware of the film which builds hype and more interest for the film.

5) How does the Blinded By The Light Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?

Their twitter consists of uploading quotes, clips, info on actors and trailers. Their Twitter is a campaign to expand their film to the digital age. Their Twitter account is mainly used for advertisement and trying to reach to a new audience. 

6) How does the Blinded By The Light Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film?

Blinded By The Light Facebook page has the same concept as their Twitter page, to campaign their film. But this is to reach different types of audiences. While Twitter has a younger based audience, Facebook has Old and young in the same place. Their Facebook page consists of more clips which help gives an insight into the movie to the newfound audience. 

7) Why do you think the Blinded By The Light Facebook page contains posts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement?

The Blinded By The Light Facebook page contains posts supporting BLM because they want to appeal to the audience but also to show that they care. This can help the film to get more attraction because to some audience it appeals to them and attracts them to explore more of the movie.

8) Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.

This post is a repost of a post by Warner. Bros picture talking about their new film "Just Mercy", which is a film about discrimination and racism. Like the post about BLM, this is to appeal to the new audience and get more attention.

This post is a video of clips from the movie. There are quotes throughout the post talking about how great the movie. There is also Springsteen music in the background, and the rotten tomato logo, all have a contribution to attract the audience.

Post of the main character with the caption I didn’t know music could be like that.” Which Bruce Springsteen song inspires you? This too keeps the interest of the audience and help keep the hype for the movies. The post doesn't really attract a new audience but it does help maintain the existing audience.

9) Go to the Bend It Networks YouTube channel. How does Gurinder Chadha introduce the channel? What other content is on the Bend It Networks YouTube channel?

Chadha introduces herself and Bend It Networks. The main purpose of the channel was to have a connection with the audience. "This is about me and you". The other content in that youtube channel are interviews, clips, short films. There is a lot of new and different content promoting varieties of productions. Most important is that she wants to be close to the audience and having a close connection. That's what I feel is the main purpose if this youtube channel.

10) Look at the box office figures for Blinded By The Light from The Numbers website. How much did it make at the box office and why do you think it was largely unsuccessful?

The main problems that caused it to be unsuccessful are one, The timing of the release. They release the movie at the same time as another movie called "Yesterday" which took all of the audience focus away from the film. Another reason could be they didn't allow more time for the hype to build up. They should have announced the movie early and release the movie later so it can build more hype and for the audience to spread the word. But another reason could be the movie story. There is a small chunk of the audience that feels uncomfortable about racism and discrimination. To summarize it failed due to the timing and not a big appeal to the audience.