Blinded By The Light case study
Background reading and production research
Read the following interviews and features on Blinded By The Light:
2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?
The other films and projects that has been involved with are Beecham house, Viceroy's house, and Bend it like Beckham the musical.
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 is, Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainemnent company that creates and distributes the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across televesion, film, and streaming. New Lin cinema was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent distributor of art/foreign films to colleges, New Line Cinema grew into a major production studio known for horror and blockbuster franchises. Acquired by Turner then Time Warner, it became a Warner Bros. unit in 2008.
4) Read this Variety interview with director Gurinder Chadha explaining how the project came about - including budget details. What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project and how did she manage to get the film made?
Distribution
Read this Deadline feature on the distribution deal for Blinded By The Light and answer the following questions:
3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?
According to the article, the allure of Blinded by the light had to do with the surprisingly universal appeal of Springsteen's coming-of-age tunes, which tell honest stories about a hardscrabble upbringing, ambition and fight to break free of all shackles to do something worhtwhile with one's life, Chadha wrote the script with Safraz Manzoor and Paul Mayeda Berges.
4) UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment. In 2023 eOne was bought by Lionsgate. Read this press release on Lionsgate acquiring eOne Entertainment and write one reason for the deal.
Watch the film being promoted on The One Show (BBC1):
Watch writer Sarfraz Manzoor talking about 1980s nostalgia and British-Asian identity:
They appeared across major marketing channels, including digital platforms like YouTube, as well as on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
5) Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.
Writer Sarfraz Manzoor on the story behind the film - Guardian
Manzoor again on the promotion of the film and audience reaction
Variety feature on the best films from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Manzoor again on the promotion of the film and audience reaction
Variety feature on the best films from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
1) What is the story behind the production of the film?
Safraz Manzoor was a teenager in Luton when he met a friend for life and discovered his musical hero. Now that fateful encounter is the subject of a major film.
2) What was the audience reaction to the film?
People say they were touched by the depiction of to tell of the friendship of Jave and Roops, to the extent that people now tweet me to tell of the friend who was "their Roops" - the one who introduced them to a life-changing musician or band.
3) Why is the Sundance Film Festival such an important part of the film industry - particularly for lower budget films?
Sudance Film festival is important because it acts as a premier market place allowing the film to be discovered and emerge film makers with industry executives.
Funding and industry contexts
1) What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?
$15 million and the companies that are involved are New line cinema, Bend it films, Levantine, and Ingenious media.
1) What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?
$15 million and the companies that are involved are New line cinema, Bend it films, Levantine, and Ingenious media.
2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?
The other films and projects that has been involved with are Beecham house, Viceroy's house, and Bend it like Beckham the musical.
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 is, Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainemnent company that creates and distributes the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across televesion, film, and streaming. New Lin cinema was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent distributor of art/foreign films to colleges, New Line Cinema grew into a major production studio known for horror and blockbuster franchises. Acquired by Turner then Time Warner, it became a Warner Bros. unit in 2008.
4) Read this Variety interview with director Gurinder Chadha explaining how the project came about - including budget details. What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project and how did she manage to get the film made?
The project came about because of Chadha's experience of being an immigrant and what it feels like to be an outsider. She was also a fan of Springsteen, who pursued her dreams of making a movie about The Boss' music based on the true-life emoir of co-writer Sarfraz Manzoor. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema acquired Blinded by the Light for $15 million. Gurinder Chadha was attracted to the project because of hte issue of immigration and Blinded by the Light was no different.
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?
The company who won the distribution rights afer the all-night auction was New Line and Warner Bros. for $15 million.
2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?
The other companies that were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights were Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, and others.
2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?
The other companies that were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights were Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, and others.
3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?
According to the article, the allure of Blinded by the light had to do with the surprisingly universal appeal of Springsteen's coming-of-age tunes, which tell honest stories about a hardscrabble upbringing, ambition and fight to break free of all shackles to do something worhtwhile with one's life, Chadha wrote the script with Safraz Manzoor and Paul Mayeda Berges.
4) UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment. In 2023 eOne was bought by Lionsgate. Read this press release on Lionsgate acquiring eOne Entertainment and write one reason for the deal.
One reason for the deal was to significantly expand its Lionsgate's library with over 6,500 film and television titles.
Marketing, promotion and reception
Watch the following clips to learn about the marketing and promotion of the film.
Watch the following clips to learn about the marketing and promotion of the film.
Watch the trailer for Blinded By The Light:
Watch the film being promoted on The One Show (BBC1):
Watch writer Sarfraz Manzoor talking about 1980s nostalgia and British-Asian identity:
Watch this 'fans dream' featurette produced by Bend It Networks:
1) What does the trailer suggest regarding genre and the potential audience pleasures of Blinded By The Light?
The trailer suggests that the genre is coming of age. The potential audeince pleasures are personal identity and personal relationship where some audiences might identify themselves with Javed, as well as the situation he's in.
2) 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?
The TV shows and websites and interviews with writer are BBC 1, The One Show, PBS, Amanpour and company. The starts are Chadha, and Sarfraz Manzoor. Intervuews are a good way to promote good film release as they turn passive advertising into engaging, personal, and shareable content.
3) What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear? You may need to research this on Google Images.
They appeared across major marketing channels, including digital platforms like YouTube, as well as on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
4) What social media accounts did Blinded By The Light use to promote the film? Note: some sites may be blocked if you are working in school - you will need to use your phone or complete your research at home.
The social media accounts that Blinded by the light used to promote the film are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and interviews.
5) Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.
-they used some clips in the film to give a breif idea about what the film would look like without actually going into detail of the narrative. This leaves the audience interested and curiousity at the same time as they highlighted one of Springsteen's song Blinded by the light.
-they used some of Springsteen's lyrics that showed how the character was motivated to reach his dreams
-in this clip they highlighted the idea of Springsteen's background as well as having a good reason to travel which shows the use of star power
6) 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 inroduced the channel by directly telling the audience that the audience connect to her, and by making sure that they audience are interested in her channel. The other contents on Bend It Networks YouTube channel are cooking, comedy, drama, fashion, hair and beauty, and health.
7) 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?
Blinded by the Light made $19, 529,914 at the box office, worldwide. It was largely unsuccessful due to their poor release strategy, unfavourable competition, musjudged target audience, and high marketing costs.
8) Click on the tabs with further information (such as 'News', 'Box Office' and 'Video Sales'). Copy and paste some more statistics or sales figures to add to your understanding of the film's financial performance.
-The shaded area represents the expected performance range for a film, based on its opening weekend box office. 95% of films fall within the shaded area. If a film trends towards the top end of the shaded area, it has good legs compared to the average film; if it trends towards the bottom end of the shaded area, it has poor legs. The predictive area is based on movies from the past 5 years.
-If our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.
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