Short Summary of the Q&A with Markus Markou of Papadopoulus and Sons

Since my previous work  was really long I decided to upload a simpler post.
These are the top five things that I learnt in our session with the director of Papadopoulos and Sons.

• Pre-production- He had a line producer, Sarah Butler who wrote out the budgets into each department by realising the script. He told us that this film was modern fairy-tale thus the story being relatable to most people in the world who have families. 

• Production- There are around 100 people in the crew of the sets. Jobs include director, assistant directors, cast, producers, runners, electricians and other professions. The technical crew have fixed pay rates whether they are working for a big studio production or an independant low budget production while the rates for actors and locations tend to be negotiated.

• Industry- Since Markus Markou self distributed the film, he financed it using his other company. He lent a company loan from his internet business to his Double M Film distribution company. He used the facility of festivals to find a suitable deal for his film.

• Marketing- He tried to target the possible audiences by finding places that their culture is associated with e.g. Greek Churches. This was free and was a personal approach. The personal approach can also be seen in the facebook and twitter campaign and it is tailored marketing.

• Exhibition- His film wasn't expected to gross high numbers at the box office so he was originally given a 100 seat screen at Shaftesbury avenue. As bookings increased this was upgraded to the 500 seat screen. It also released in Greece and did really well in Germany.

I gathered a lot of knowledge from the director's visit and found it really useful for the case study.

Things I learnt from the session of Papadopoulos & Sons

We talked to Markus Markou about the production, marketing, distribution and exhibition of Papadopoulos and sons. We learnt a few things about the Film Industry.

We found how Independant film making was very different to Studio made films. Since he self-distributed the film, he gave more importance and care to the film as he had to make sure he earnt back the profit. He made a commercial loan from his business to his distribution company, Double M films.

Festivals can be used to market films. Papadopoulos and Sons has been to Toronto, Sundance, Dinard and Cannes film festivals. Papadopoulos and Sons was bought by an air line distributer, a German and French TV network and also by the BBC so it could be aired next year. Markus Markou told us that it was difficult to distribute the film because people were reluctant to make good deals.

When he first approached the actors, Markou showed the script to them before discussing money so the actors would agree to the film for the interesting role. The whole film was shot under 30 days with 1 week of rehearsal. Stephen Dillane was approached for Harry Papadopoulos and Sons however he had a clash with Game of Thrones however when his son agreed to play James Papadopoulos, he asked Game of Thrones to change their shooting dates. This added the family dimension to the set while shooting and the chemistry can be seen when watching the film.

The tone and atmosphere of the scenes can be set stylistically. The beginning of the film is set in the house which has little of the personal aspects of the home. It has a wide space and a cold colour scheme which is seen in the kitchen. It is quieter and has a lack of soundtrack. Near the end, it is set in a Fish and Chips shop. There are more people, there is more colour to the shop and there is the joyous soundtrack of Papadopoulos and Sons.

They shot mainly from the script. Markus Markou and James Friend (director of photography) worked together to piece the shots together. He said that sometimes the actors would decide on stage directions or they way they come into a shot so the actors felt more comfortable. They shot in digital format as it is cheaper than using film. The line producer, Sara Butler made a line-by-line budget that split the budget for each department.

Actors and locations are the most varying salaries in the media industry.
Other jobs usually have a standard rate like technical jobs: e.g. boom operators and stylistic jobs: e.g. make up artists.

Digital film is useful because it is cheap and easy to use however it can also have the drawback of shooting too much footage, making the editing process much longer and difficult.

Being an Indie film with a small marketing budget, he wasn't able to air T.V. spots or put up posters. He kept most of the campaign online and it was a free platform. This includes facebook, twitter, youtube and the website. He thought of targeting some of his marketing at the Greek community in Britain so he called up Greek churches. He also gave out flyers in front of cinemas.

Without the internet, marketing would be tougher for Independant film makers as they don't have finance for traditional marketing such as posters and airtime for trailers.

Markus Markou was allowed to chose 12 screens in the UK which weren't main destinations. Papadopoulos and Sons did extremely well at the Shaftesbury Avenue Cineworld. Initially is was given a 100 seat screen which was promoted to a 200 seat screen and then reached 500 seat screen. It achieved the 2nd highest screen average from the films that aired at that time in cineworld. The film had a "21st Century Fairytale" concept that allowed it to have a universal appeal. This is one of reasons why is was popular in Germany gaining 23850 screenings from 70 screens in the opening weekend.

Description of Papadopoulos & Sons (2012)

In an interview Markus Markou says that the story involves wrestling the identity of being Greek. He says that similarities can be drawn from the history of Harry as Markou's own father was the song of a Greek Immigrant who worked to rise through the class system. Markou was privately educated.

I found the use of stereotypes such as Georgia Groome's spoilt daughter character, Katie. This was comical as she aspired to be a "pop star" although her rap that she demonstrates to her boyfriend is short.


Cast:

• Stephen Dillane - Harry Papadopoulos, a high class man, who has lost his wealth through a financial crisis. 
• Georges Corraface - Spiros Papadopoulos, Harry's brother who raised him but was irresponsible with his money.
• Ed Stoppard - Rob, an employee of Papadopoulos & Sons.
• Georgia Groome - Katie Papadopoulos, the slightly spoilt daughter of the family who enjoys wearing her designer wardrobe.
• Selina Cadell - Mrs. Parrington, the caring nanny who is strict about the use of language in front of the children.
• Cosima Shaw - Sophie, the colleague from the USA who cares about Harry and believes that happiness is not only achieved by money.
• Frank Dillane - James Papadopoulos, the budding herbologist who wants to quit his final year of a law degree.
• Thomas Underhill - Theo Papadopoulos, the youngest and most intelligent of the family who enjoys being a stock broker.

Crew:

• Marcus Markou - Writer / director. This is his debut feature film.
• Sara Butler - Producer. She is experienced in TV drama including working for the BBC on sets like Eastenders then she moved into freelance roles, working for companies like Shed Productions.
• Andrew Markou - Executive Producer.
• James Friend - Director of Photography 
• Sebastian Morrison - Editor. He worked on Holby City Series 10, which won the 2008 BAFTA for Best Continuing Drama.
• Anji Carroll - Casting. She has casted for a variety of genres and products such as comercials, documentaries, video games and films.
• Julian Fullalove - Production Designer. He has also designed for a variety of purposed. Some to name: Robot Wars, Teletubbies, music videos and live events.
• Stephen Warbeck - Composer. He won an Oscar Award for Best Original Score for Shakespeare in Love (Miramax) and has also written for Theatre.

Researching Papadopoulos & Sons (2012)

Directed and written by Marcus Markou, Papadopoulos & Sons is a comedy drama film that was a success in the box office.
Logline from their official website: Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.

Production:

Shot in and around London, the sets include two shops, a factory and a mansion.
Its rated 15 and has a runtime of 105 minutes.


Marketting:

The marketting platforms include poster, trailer, teaser videos, interviews, website, a youtube channel and facebook page.
The production also has an official twitter account, the cast and crew promote marketting content such as links to reviews and stills from the film.
The videos apart from the man film are available on their YouTube Channel.




Distribution:

This film has been self-distributed by the director's own company, Double M films. It was first screened at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema in France. Then it screened at a festival in Greece. One month later, December 2012, it was released in Greece. Four months later, in April it was released in Ireland and United Kingdom. Finally on 27th June 2013, it released in 70 cinemas in Germany and achieved approximately 24,000 admissions in the first weekend.

Reception:

The film received 82% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 6.2 out of 10 on IMDb.
Initially in Britain, the exhibitor, Cineworld agreed to screen the film on limited screens in the UK however the audience demand fueled an expanded run of the film.