Who is it directed by?
Ken Loach
What is Ken Loach known for?
- Far left-wing
- His works are very politcally motivated
- One of the first British directors to include swearing in his films
- Directed/written almost 30 films
What is the Palme d’Or?
The highest prize wawared to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
What is an independent film?
A movie produced outside of the major film stufio system and is distributed by independent entertainment companies
What is an art-house film?
A high-quality movie tat’s intended to be a serious artistic work rather than a popular form of entertainment
Who was the film funded by?
BFI and the BBC
What is the BFI?
British Film Institute
- Funded by the national lottery
- Is a charity
How does critical acclaim help an independent film?
It attracts more viewers as well as being more appealing to distributors + general audiences
What is guerilla marketing?
Low-budget, pop-up marketing
What was happening politically around the time of release?
- 2008 economic crash
- David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’
- Austerity
- Immigration debates
- Brexit
- Widening class divisions
- Rise of populism + extremism
What was David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ about?
The people in power no longer helping those who are struggling, instead the public should help eachother
(For example - food banks)
What is austerity?
Cuts to funding and government spending, mainly impacting public services
What themes does the movie explore?
- Faults of the benefits system
- Inaccessability of technology for older people
- Council housing quality + waiting times
- Food banks
- Period poverty
How was the film promoted on social media?
WeAreAllDanielBlake was trended with people sharing their personal stories related to the movie’s themes
- Helped to spread awareness
- Gives everyday people a voice
Basic Twitter and Facebook pages
What was different about some of the screenings?
- There were preview screenings more the offical release to spread word of mouth about the film
- The premire was held in Newcastle instead of London as they felt it was unfitting
- There were some ‘pay what you can’ screenings so that those who couldn’t afford it could see it
- There were some discounted cinema tickets
Who was the guerilla marketing done by?
E-One
How was it marketed in newspapers?
- It had inserts about the movie
- In the Daily Mirror, the ‘i’ was replaced with a graffiti style ‘i’ to match the movie
What did they project ‘I, Daniel Blake’ onto ?
Houses of Parliament
What is ambient marketing?
Marketing that feels as if its part of the surroundings
What companies were involved in the film?
- Sixteen Films (owned by Ken Loach) partnered with the French company Why Not Productions to produce the films
- e-One distributed and marketed the film
- Funding was sourced from the BBC and BFI
How did funding from the BBC and BFI influence the product?
- They like to fund projects that are innately British, niche/alternative, culturally significant, educational, show British culture
- BBC wants to show diversity and new talent
- I,DB is informative (fitting into the BBC’s remit) by showing the gritty reality of the benefit system
How did the low budget impact the film?
- They had to film on location
- No famous actors
- Using real people as extras
- Much of the film was improvised by the actors
- No use of CGI or VFX
How did the regional aspect of the film impact it?
- Regional British films are considered quite niche as they are hard to sell to a global audience, especially due to the accent
- The film performed better in places where it could be subtitled, such as France
- Limited distribution to just a handful of countries due to the limited global appeal
- It was only shown once in America at an awards ceremony
Daily Mirror Article
- The Daily Mirror article written as if Daniel Blake was a real person creating a narrative enigma for audiences
- The Daily Mail was chosen due to their left wing stance and audience, as well as older audiences who still read newspapers
