Production and Distribution of Our Thriller

To fund and produce our thriller (so far entitled "Trans-Europe Express") we chose the institution Warp Films. This is because it produces first-time, mainly short films on low budgets and short time-frames.  Many of their films are experimental, which would cater to the fact that our thriller is being shot in Latvian.  Warp Films has also shot many films in cross-media convergence, which would provide additional funding for production and distribution for our thriller, while demanding a bit less from each company.

Warp Films has produced other films similar to ours, such as "Exhibit A", "Kill List" and "Hush", showing that they do not only specialise in low-budget first-time films, but also thrillers/mystery films:

We believe that Warp Films would be interested in making our film because it is also a thriller/mystery which does not require a large budget or special effects.  This makes the actual filming and editing time easier and shorter, and as Warp Films has previously shot films in 22 days, this project would definitely be something they would be able to do!  In addition to that, it is a Class B British film (made in Britain, British actors, British funded and international personnel) meaning that it would fit perfectly into the ethos of the institution, most of their films being GBP 500,000 or less.


Considering that our film is a first-time low-budget production, we would want to keep the distribution costs down, and put it straight onto DVD, on pay per view and possibly as a straight-to-TV film.  This guarantees that more people will watch it, as distribution costs for licensing in the cinema (and foreign cinema) would be much higher.  The marketing costs would need to be low but effective as well, so advertisements would need to be in strategic places such as cultural magazines, libraries and universities to be in contact with the target audience.

Warp Films targets many niche audiences, as their films do not usually appeal to a mainstream audience.  This is because they are low-budget, many experimental films.  They are not big-budget, special effects films which appeal to the global audience.  In addition, much of the subject matter is specific to groups of people/the British audience.

**ALL SYNOPSES COURTESY OF IMDB**