Papadopoulos and Sons- Research
Papadopoulos and sons is a low-budget, British independent comedy film which follows the life of self-made Greek millionaire businessman Harry Papadopoulos and his experience with the economic crisis in Britain, portraying the difficulties he faced after admitting bankruptcy, and the effect it had on him and his family. He is left with no choice but to join with his brother to rebuild the chip shop business they had owned many years ago, flipping his life upside down. Eventually, Harry and his family realise that their new life is better than they thought it would be, and eventually find themselves happier than ever.
Producer
The film was written and produced by Marcus Markou, and was his first film project, with a tight budget of less than £1 million, and worked hard to promote his film independently through word of mouth and online social media. The film was accepted by Cineworld to run for a week in a few screens but eventually showed greater success on a wider scale.
Cast
Stephen Dillane - Harry Papa
Georges Corraface - Uncle Spiros
Georgia Groome - Katie Papa
Frank Dillane - James Papa
Ed Stoppard - Rob
Selina Cadell - Mrs Parrington
Cosima Shaw - Sophie
Production
After failing to find work as a professional actor, Marcus decided to pursue a career in film making, after being told that this style of writing would be well suited to this. In order to portray the scene of the rival shops, Marcus leased out two shops opposite each other in Morden, East London, and created the chip shop setting, using the kebab shop as a production room, and the city scenes were filmed in central London. The filming took place over 16 days only, so was rapid and precise.
Distribution
Marcus initially targeted distributors for the film, arranging meetings with many sales agents, however, they all rejected his proposal, so he took it upon himself to self-distribute the film. He also produced a marketing plan and sent it to an individual distributor of cultural films. However, his success came through the use of social media, as he used social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook to widely advertise the film. It was through this and the use of targeting the Greek community through Greek radio that Marcus managed to sign a weeks screening deal at 13 screens through Cineworld. The film grossed an impressive £91,843 in the first 17 days, and its screening was extended and expanded
Marketing & Distribution
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