Papadopoulos & Sons (2012) - Film Industry Case Study 2

Papadopoulos & Sons (commonly known as Papa & Sons) is an independent British film, directed and written by Marcus Markou. It was made on a relatively small budget and is a great example of how an independent production can still be highly successful.

IMDB Synopsis

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.

Pre-Production

- Coming from an acting and theatre background, Marcus wrote Papa & Sons centred around the characters and their stories as opposed to telling the story visually.

- Marcus drew from aspects of his own life and the film was directly influenced by his Greek heritage. In the film James Papadopoulos wants to drop out of a Law Degree at university, this directly parallels Marcus Markou's own life.

- To fund the film, Marcus asked his brother to use profits from their co-owned internet business. Papa & Sons was made on a budget of £850,000.

- Marcus obtained his actors through meetings and audition, for example he travelled to Paris with a copy of the script to meet with Georges Corraface who played Spiros Papadopoulos.


The Final cast included:


Stephen Dillane as Harry Papadopoulos

Frank Dillane as James Papadopoulos

Georgia Groome as Katie Papadopoulos

Ed Stoppard as Rob

Georges Corraface as Spiros Papadopoulos

Selina Cadell as Mrs. Parrington


Production

- Papa & Sons was shot over 24 days with a week long rehearsal beforehand.

- The film was set and filmed in various parts of London:

• The chip shop and the kebab shop were two empty shops in Morden which the crew took the lease on.
• The mansion was in Croydon
• The city scenes were filmed in central London.
• The factory was a real Greek food factory in East London.

Distribution

- Papa & Sons was screened in a limited number of Cineworld cinemas across the UK. He was given an extended 4 week run due to incredibly popular demand.

- The film was released in 70 cinemas in Germany under the name Papadopoulos & Söhne and received over 23,000 admissions.

- Since it's theatrical release Marcus has sold the film to many other distributors including BBC and Netflix.


Marketing

Papa & Sons is a perfect example of guerilla marketing techniques.

- Because of it's Greek roots, influences and name Marcus decided to target Greek communities across the UK; screening in cinemas in Greek areas and even asking pastors of Greek churches to mention the film in their Sunday services.

- To get Cineworld to agree to distribute Papa & Sons, Marcus asked friends and family to go into Cineworld branches and ask when the film was to be released.

- Marcus Markou used what he called 'online ambassadors': people on twitter who had shown an interest in the film. He sent them flyers and other promotional material which they then distributed to peers and the public.

Poster
















Trailer