Case Study: Vertigo Films

Vertigo Films is a UK Film and Distribution company founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson. Vertigo's mission (as quoted from their website) is to 'create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema'.




Monsters was first previewed in America on 13th March, 2010 at the Southwest Film Festival. However was officially released on the 31st of October, 2010.

The film was nominated for 10 awards and won 9 awards. A majority of these awards were awarded to the director Gareth Edwards who was commended on his work on the special effects of the film which were very technical.

In the Uk, the film in it's opening weekend made £348,577 at the box office and over the subsequent
five weeks, the film managed to gross £954,614 (in the UK).
A critic named Roger Ebert commended Edwards for "evoking ... awe and beauty" and for the creature designs, drawing audience's attention to the special effects.
Furthermore, Jeanette Catsoulis of The New York Times said the film was "wondrously atmospheric" and "effortlessly compelling", and praised Edwards on his "beautiful, otherworldly" visual effects. 

Here is the trailer to the second film:



Here is a helpful web link to a page that has information on how Vertigo decided to distribute and market their film 'Monsters'.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-digital-innovation-case-study-monsters.pdf

Vertigo wanted to create a 'buzz' around the film before it's release and draw the audience into the cinemas. They teamed up with the social networking site 'foursquare' which allows members to 'check in' wherever they are and communicate with other users and the venues themselves. The aim was to raise awareness of the cinemas showing the film and generate interest. As the director, Gareth Edwards, went on a UK tour, Foursquare created 'infected zones' in each key city, with volunteers dressed in protective clothing handing out fliers. Fans who logged into the 'infected zones' could win prizes and discounts on their tickets. The increase in awareness of the film was a huge success. This is an example of a film company using the latest technology to attract a target audience. It was also a networking opportunity for vertigo to gain information about their audience from the cinemas.