Blinded By The Light case study

 Background reading and production research

Read the following interviews and features on Blinded By The Light:

Writer Sarfraz Manzoor on the story behind the film - Guardian
Manzoor again on the promotion of the film and audience reaction
Variety feature on the best films from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival 

1) What is the story behind the production of the film?

Sarfraz Manzoor was a teenager in Luton when he met a friend for life and discovered his musical hero. Now that fateful encounter is the subject of a major film

2) What was the audience reaction to the film?

The most common responses to the film were in the ways that audiences found personal connections to the story. I could not have predicted that Israeli women in Jerusalem, white teenage American boys in Omaha, Nebraska and older white women in Australia who had seen the film would all contact me on social media and thank me for telling their story.

3) Why is the Sundance Film Festival such an important part of the film industry - particularly for lower budget films? 

One of the most significant aspects of the Sundance Film Festival is its focus on showcasing films made by independent directors. These films often explore themes and subject matter that is not typically found in mainstream cinema, and they provide audiences with a unique perspective on the world around them

Funding and industry contexts

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

Blinded By The Light cost around $15m to make. Bend It Films developed the film with support from Levantine Films and Ingenious Media.

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

Other films that Bend It Films have been a part of is Bend It Like Beckham, Beecham House, Viceroy's House, Bend It Like Beckham The Musical and Desi Rascals. 

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.

Building on more than 50 years of innovation and creativity, New Line Cinema continues its long and successful history of producing critically acclaimed hit films that resonate with both mainstream and niche audiences around the world. Part of Warner Bros. Entertainment since 2008, New Line coordinates its development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs activities with Warner Bros. Pictures Group to maximize film performance and operating efficiencies. In 2023, New Line will release “House Party,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Evil Dead Rise” and “The Nun 2.”

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

Born in Kenya when the country was a British colony, she grew up part of the Indian/Asian diaspora who made their way from East Africa to London movies has always dealt with the immigrant experience It serves as a poignant parallel to the xenophobia of today. Chadha is a huge Springsteen fan, who pursued her dream of making a movie about The Boss’ music based on the true-life memoir of co-writer Sarfraz Manzoor. It took almost a decade from Chadha’s chance meeting with Springsteen, who gave his thumbs-up to the book after a 2010 U.K. screening of The Promise. They proceeded to reach out to Jon Landau and Barbara Carr at his management company, along with executive producer Tracy Nurse, a former SVP International Marketing at Sony Music, where she worked with Bruce for years, enlisting her to become part of the film’s production staff. 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.

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 cinema for $15 million 

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

Fox Searchlight, Lions gate

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

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.

4) 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.

Marketing, promotion and reception

Watch the following clips to learn about the marketing and promotion of the film. 

Watch the trailer for Blinded By The Light:

Watch the film being promoted on The One Show (BBC1): 

Watch writer Sarfraz Manzoor talking about 1980s nostalgia and British-Asian identity:

Watch this 'fans dream' featurette produced by Bend It Networks:

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

80's Coming of age, with aspects of social realism and i believe that the gratification of personal identification can be applied here to identifying with an immigrant background or the struggle to find a purpose and a path in life after reaching adulthood. Also provides diversion as it can take us from our own everyday lives and provide some comedy in the life of someone else.

2) 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? 

BBC one, Hey You Guys, Bend it networks. Interviews are a good way to promote a new film release as it stimulates public interest and brings the film to the attention of a large audience through not just the video interview but also the articles that are published that garners interest as well.

3) What did film posters for Blinded By The Light feature and where did they appear? You may need to research this on Google Images. 

Featured the main character Javed, On the UK distribution it had been Javed on a Orange and white background with him jumping up while in The US poster Javed is seen to be in more denim and looking more like a Bruce Springsteen fan but on a red and blue background, and does not have the Walkman or headphones that are reminiscent of the 80's.

4) What social media accounts did Blinded By The Light use to promote the film? Note: some sites may be blocked if you are working in school - you will need to use your phone or complete your research at home.

Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

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

On the Instagram account for the film, there are posts of the film poster for blinded by the light, reviews from articles and video segments taken from the movie. All of these promote the film as they create excitement and interest through understanding what it will be about, the main character and its vibe while also providing reviews that will make the film more credible for the average audience/ reliability in the film being worth the watch.

6) 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 as being a place for people to go to if they have interests that they want to share and be a part of a wider community where people can share not just those interests but culture as well. The channel also contains movie trailers for Chadha's other works but also interviews and the makings of her films.

7) 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?

$19.5 million it made at the box office and I think that it did extremely unsuccessful is because when it was released it was released right before when lock down happened in the UK which meant people had to stream and watch it on other streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime. Furthermore, why I also think it done unwell at the box office is because of another similar film being released at the same time during when 'Blinded By The Light' was released which was 'Yesterday' and it had the same elements just as 'Blinded By The Light' but the only difference was that it had a well known celebrity in it which was Ed Sheeran which could've been a reason why 'Blinded By The Light' didn't do so well cause of the star power that Ed Sheeran already has which would attract fans to watch 'Yesterday' more than 'Blinded By The Light'. 

8) Click on the tabs with further information (such as 'News', 'Box Office' and 'Video Sales'). Copy and paste some more statistics or sales figures to add to your understanding of the film's financial performance.

Weekly US Blu-ray Sales

Date	Rank	Units this Week	% Change	Total Units	Spending this Week	Total Spending	Weeks in Release
Nov 24, 2019	17	9,720		10,981	$162,425	$185,435	5