Film Industry: 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?
They had a budget of $15 million and they had contributors such as Bend it Films, Levanite films and Ingenious group.

2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?
They have done movies such as Bend it like Beckham, I'm British But..., Wonderful life. 

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.
The new line cinema was founded in 1967, in which they have been up for more than 50 years in which they created the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy which was successful in which resulted in around $3 billion worth. They have also made a lot of other successful movies such as "The Mask" so we can say that this company is very successful.

4) 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? 

She was a really big Springsteen fan and Bruce's wife was a big fan of Bend it like Beckham which allowed her to use his music and even use some unreleased music at the time, they were also funded via the BFI.

5) What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project?
She was a fan of Bruce, and had ideas about "The Boss" movie.

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?
New line cinema and Warner Brothers bought for $15 million

2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?
Fox, Lionsgate and some other companies

3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?
Springsteen's coming-of-age tunes and songs

4) What does the article suggest about the significance of Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film?
Bruce enjoyed Gurinder's movies in which allowed them to use his music and some unseen/heard songs.

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?'
 They claim to "share bold stories around the world within the reach of a studio and the flexibility of and indie"

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?

2) What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear?
They mentioned Gurinder Chader and how she was the director for the Bend it like Beckham movie and they also included the Bruce Springsteen's music and how it was inspired by a true story.

3) What TV shows and websites did interviews with writer, director and stars of Blinded By The Light? Why are interviews a good way to promote a new film release?

They were on the "One show" in which they had the actors for the movie and the actual person in which the movie was based off of. The interview was a good way to advertise it as at the time the timing of the show was around the time in which families would come to eat dinner.

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

They constantly post about their movie in and they retweet comments from Sarfraz Manzoor who was the person which the movie was based off, they show images of vinyls of their movie, they also show how much it was rated on rotten tomatoes and how good it was at the time.

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


6) Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.
They post quotes and images from their movie and some rotten tomatoes reviews, they also show their tours they had when the movie was released.

7) 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?

There is a variety of videos such as promotional, some parts of her movies , interviews from the blinded by the light movie. In her channel introduction she talks about who she is and what she does and her past work.

8) 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?

They would seem to have made what would appear to be a $3 million profit, but in reality that would have been used to cover the advertiseing