BLINDED BY THE LIGHT CASE STUDY!

 BLINDED BY THE LIGHT CASE STUDY:

Funding and industry contexts

What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?

Blinded by the light costs around $15million to make. Bend it Films developed the film with support from Levantine Films and Ingenious Media. Levantine films is an independent production company that had a major success with Hidden figures in 2016 which grossed $230m at the worldwide box office.

Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?

• Beecham House
• Viceroys House
• BILB musical
• Desi rascals
• Wonderful Afterlife
• Angus Thongs 
• Mistress of spices
• Bride and prejudice
• Bend it like Beckham
• What's cooking?
• Bhaji on the beach
• I am British but

Research Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema on the Warners website here. Summarise the history of New Line Cinema in a short paragraph.

New line cinema has a history of producing critically hit films that link with mainstream and niche audiences. It produced the Oscar winning "Lord of the rings"- almost $3 billion+ $3billion in consumer products. Long list of popular films include: “Sex and the City” and “Sex and the City 2,” “Se7en,” “The Mask,” “The Notebook,” and “Hairspray and many more.. New lines current production model includes films produced for theatrical release as well as titles made specifically for the HBO Max streaming platform.

Read this Variety interview with director Gurinder Chadha explaining how the project came about - including budget details. How did she manage to get the film made? 

Blinded by the Light went in front of the cameras, and wowed the audience at Sundance earlier this year, setting up a spirited bidding war won by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, who acquired it for the $15 million it cost to make.  Offers were being texted to Chadha as she sat in the audience watching her own film.

“They liked the idea,” she says. “We tried to make the music work for our story rather than exploit it.  Picking the songs was quite a forensic task. 

What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project?

Chadha was encouraged by the Springsteen camp to begin writing the screenplay and ‘something would be figured out,’ given the film’s modest budget.  

Production and distribution

Read this Deadline feature on the distribution deal for Blinded By The Light and answer the following questions: 

 Which company won the distribution rights after the all-night auction and for how much?

All-night deal auction at the Sundance Film Festival, New Line and Warner Bros are acquiring for $15 million for worldwide rights, minus a a few territories, the Gurinder Chadha-directed Blinded By the Light

 Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?

New Line and Warner Bros won an auction rumoured to have included Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate and others. It is the biggest sum paid for a Sundance film so far in what has turned out to be a very hot market.

 According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?

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 the fight to break free of all shackles to do something worthwhile with one’s life.

 What does the article suggest about the significance of Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film?

The article suggests that Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film had a major role in the success of the film as they had gotten the rights to use so many of his songs in the movie. The article also draws attention to the fact that Springsteen's support would certainly help the film receive a good response from audiences specifically those who were fans of the artist.

UK distribution was secured by eOne Entertainment. Visit the eOne About Us page on their website - what do they claim to offer under the heading 'Passion meets possibility?'

eOne enables every step in the entertainment value chain from development and production to marketing and distribution. With the reach of a studio and the flexibility of an indie, we share bold stories with audiences around the world.

Promotion and reception

Note: some of these pages may be blocked if you working in school - you will need to complete those particular questions at home.

 What does the trailer suggest regarding genre and the potential audience pleasures of Blinded By The Light?

The trailer successfully demonstrates key elements of the coming-of-age genre through the consistent appearances of the culture clash and identity crisis present in the protagonist, Javid. The use of Springsteen's music played in the trailer gratifies the audience, entertaining them and also reflecting the journey of Javid's story through his finding of Springsteen's music which allows us to further relate to the character. As well as this, the music acts as an attraction for those who are already established Springsteen fans.

What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear?

The poster features review quotes including the name of the main part of the story which is Bruce Springsteen. The poster is not too modern and not too old for the younger generation to attracted to it as well, with the image of the main protagonist, who is a young character this is probably done to show the younger audience that this movie is also perfect for you to watch as it has a younger character demonstrating the struggles of being in an asian family and pursuing the career of writing.

Traditional marketing: trailer, film poster with review quotes etc. Premieres - London, Luton and Asbury Park, New Jersey (attended by Bruce Springsteen).

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?

How does the Blinded By The Light Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?

They maintain the interest of the film in their twitter account by showing clips of the film, retweeting posts and seeing the film, making references to the film and Springsteen's music and retweeting the ratings of the film.

How does the Blinded By The Light Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film?

In Facebook they use images and video content to advertise the digital versions of the film, it shows images and clips of the actual movie to remind the audience of the film and its soundtrack and to put the audience on edge because Facebook only shows a certain part of the movie so if the audience does get interested they will have to watch the movie to find out the whole storyline.

Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.

Post 1

The primary protagonist Javid is shown in the first post enjoying some music. For those who have previously seen the movie, this image will serve as a reminder of the character and what he stood for thanks to his intense musical interest. Teenagers would be able to relate to this identity because listening to music is a popular activity among young people, the audience for which the film is intended.

Post 2

Three of the key protagonists are seen in the next post dancing around in a field while taking in music. The mise-en-scene emphasises the coming-of-age film's free-spirited attitude, which is a frequent convention of this cinematic archetype. This will draw in viewers who are interested in and fans of these kinds of movies.

Post 3

The film is advertised in the final post with a poster that features critic reviews all around it and the tagline "one of the best reviewed movies of the summer." The reviews elevate the movie's professionalism and imply that viewers should watch it because of the positive reviews. This slogan notably underlines the exceptional quality of the movies.

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?

On the Bend it Networks there is content like cooking, comedy, drama fashion etc which gives the audience to understand the network and gives them a wide range of options to connect to because Gurinder Chadha introduces the channel so there is a place for her audience to connect and engage with.

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 approximately $18m at worldwide box office which is only a $3 million difference from the budget of the film. They then spent quite a heavy amount of money on the promotion of the film, I believe the film was largely unsuccessful because of the fact that it was very similar to Chadhas previous film, Bend it like Bekham, these stories have the same storyline of the asian family trying to have a more freer life, "Yesterday" was released around the same time as Blinded by the light which probably caught the attention of the audience more as it seemed to be more different, which lead to the reason of this movie being unsuccessful.