Blinded By The Light - Case Study
Funding and industry contexts
1) What was the budget for Blinded By The Light and which companies contributed to the production budget?
It took $15 million to make BBTL.
Companies who made contributions: Bend It Films, Levantine Films, and The Ingenious Group.
2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?
Beecham House
2) Research the Bend It Networks website. What other films and projects has the company been involved with?
Beecham House
Viceroy's House
Bend it like Beckham The Musical
Desi Rascals
It's A Wonderful Afterlife
Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging
Mistress Of Spices
Bride And Prejudice
Bend It Like Beckham
What's Cooking
Bhaji On The Beach
I'm British But...
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.
New Line Cinema was founded in 1967. New Line Cinema has had a long and successful history of producing critically acclaimed hit films that resonate with both mainstream and niche audiences around the world.
New Line produced the Oscar winning "The Lord of the Rings", and also is a pioneer in the horror genre, it produced the most successful horror film in the industry, IT, which won more that $700 million at the worldwide box office.
The Studio is credited with revitalizing the genre of the R-rated comedy, and has a history of producing crowd-pleasing comedies. New Line’s current production model includes films produced for theatrical release as well as titles made specifically for the HBO Max streaming platform.
4) 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?
Worried about adding Bruce’s music to the film, Chadha was encouraged by the Springsteen camp to begin writing the screenplay and ‘something would be figured out,’ given the film’s modest budget. “They liked the idea,” she says. “We tried to make the music work for our story rather than exploit it.
When Springsteen came back from reading the treatment with the simple response, “I’m all good with this,” 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.
“I knew Bruce really wanted this movie to happen, so I felt money wouldn’t be a problem,” said Chadha, who refused to divulge budgetary details, though sources say that UMPG, which holds Springsteen’s publishing, and Sony Music, home to his masters, cut the director a sweetheart deal. Adds the director: “We always insisted on paying our way as best we could. And that’s what we did. Everybody came to the table with our budget and made it work. That’s how it happened. We were all on the same page, and everything was done through his lawyer. This movie wouldn’t have happened without Bruce’s cooperation and generosity. He trusted us.”
5) What attracted Gurinder Chadha to the project?
The movie’s 1987 setting, rife with discrimination towards Pakistanis and fear of foreigners, makes an unmistakable comparison to today’s troubled times, especially in Britain, where Brexit has become a hot-button issue. “That’s why I wanted to make this movie right now — because of those parallels,” Chadha offers. “It’s a reminder to all of us what our lives were like back then, and what we’ve achieved since then. I believe we’ve moved on from that. It’s a minority who hold those extreme views. The majority want a world where people have empathy and understanding between each other, with enough food on the table, raise their kids and be happy. Most people don’t want to hate.”
The movie’s 1987 setting, rife with discrimination towards Pakistanis and fear of foreigners, makes an unmistakable comparison to today’s troubled times, especially in Britain, where Brexit has become a hot-button issue. “That’s why I wanted to make this movie right now — because of those parallels,” Chadha offers. “It’s a reminder to all of us what our lives were like back then, and what we’ve achieved since then. I believe we’ve moved on from that. It’s a minority who hold those extreme views. The majority want a world where people have empathy and understanding between each other, with enough food on the table, raise their kids and be happy. Most people don’t want to hate.”
Production and 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?
New Line($15m) and Warner Bros.
2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?
2) Which other companies were rumoured to be bidding for the distribution rights?
Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate.
3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?
3) According to the article, what was the 'allure' of Blinded By The Light?
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, was the allure to BBTL
4) What does the article suggest about the significance of Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film?
4) What does the article suggest about the significance of Bruce Springsteen's role in the production and promotion of the film?
Springsteen's working-class anthems and affirming lyrics seem to speak directly to Javed, emboldening him to find his own voice as a writer, stand up to the racism around him and challenge his father’s rigid ideals.
5) 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?'
They claim that eOne enables and creates world class content.
5) 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?'
They claim that eOne enables and creates world class content.
''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.
1) What does the trailer suggest regarding genre and the potential audience pleasures of Blinded By The Light?
The trailer suggests that the film is a musical/coming-of-age film that's inspired by Bruce Springsteen's music, featuring a young Pakistani boy becoming an adult and finding his true self with the music of Bruce.
2) What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear?
One of the posters shows us Javed only, while others showed us Javed, his friend, and his girlfriend. Both posters have text written on them; "The feel good movie of the year", "Inspired by a true story", "It makes you want to run through the streets, blasting your favorite songs".
One of the posters shows us Javed only, while others showed us Javed, his friend, and his girlfriend. Both posters have text written on them; "The feel good movie of the year", "Inspired by a true story", "It makes you want to run through the streets, blasting your favorite songs".
These posters appeared in London, Luton, and Asbury Park, New Jersey.
3) 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?
Interviews recorded for Hey U guys, BBC One and the Bend It Network YouTube Channel were good ways to promote this film, because it showed actors from the movie or the director herself, and in each interview they talked about the story of BBTL and production process affected them.
4) How does the Blinded By The Light Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?
It shows us clips of Gurinder Chadha Asking the audience a question, which then could be retweeted bb other people who watched the film and gave positive reviews about it.
5) How does the Blinded By The Light Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film?
It shows the audience pictures from the film at certain points that had added text onto it, and the videos were also small clips taken from the movie and posted on their Facebook page, which encourages the audience to watch the film.
6) Select three posts from the Blinded By The Light Instagram page and explain how they promote the film.
This post shows us Hayley Atwell, also known as Ms.Clay in the film. The post promotes the film, because Hayley Atwell is a well known actor that has been seen in multiple successful films, like ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', Marvel's ''Agent Carter'', and ''Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness''. Therefore, having Hayley Atwell in the film means that fanbases who enjoy her films and her acting will give Blinded By the Light a try.
This post shows the audience small clips from the movie that are edited together while having Bruce Springsteen's music as the background music, which attracts Bruce Springsteen's fans.
This post shows a screenshot of Javed and his girlfriend, which lets the audience know that these two actors will be in the movie, and flashing text of tomorrow which indicates that the film will be out in theaters the following day.
7) 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?
She introduces the channel by saying that the channel is about her and the audience connected, and that she make Bend It TV to share her audiences interests.
The channel features many interviews that Gurinder Chadha was in and trailers from some other films that she directed.
8) 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?
$18,136,756, it was unsuccessful because another film was released at the same time as Blinded By The Light.
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