Real World Digital Video, Second Edition

Releasing on Theatrical Film

The majority of projects intended for commercial theaters will be feature-length fiction movies, although feature documentaries are a small but increasingly significant segment of the market. Forget shorts, except on the festival circuit and in select art houses in a few major cities. (For more information, see the sidebar “Shorts” in Chapter 1.)

Remember, too, that the majority of people in movie theaters on weekends—the only time theaters are full—are young couples on dates. That means major box office successes are built, not by critical acclaim, but by enthusiastic younger viewers returning to see the same movie again and again. (Movies aimed at older adults occasionally succeed in spite of the odds—but no one ...