Genre, audiences and institutions

Genre is recognised by both television audiences and institutions alike as a means of categorising content. When genre is used as a device to market this content it provides audiences with a set of expectations which are likely to occur within each ‘generic verisimilitude’. By classifying programmes within a genre it acts as an efficient way for audiences to quickly decide whether or not they are likely to enjoy it based upon their intertextual knowledge, and ultimately whether they will choose to watch it. When marketing and studying cinema it is important to know who the intended audience are so that it engages them and helps them to relate to certain producers so that forthcoming movies are successful as they will be interested if they liked a previous movie.

Genre is very important to both film producers and film audiences because the producers need to engage their target audiences in order to be successful, whilst the film audiences need to be interested and engaged in the genre so that they go and watch the film and get pleasure.
Genre theory is used in the study of films in order to facilitate the categorization of films. Genre are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, what are the audience expectations. Genre theory through it is us is a method of shortening academic works. It is the repetition and variation of the conventions but it is not just a simple means of labeling or classifying films. Genres can change over time as different social groups/ethnics come about. For example, in the past Western Cowboy movies were the most popular and helped to encourage new ideas for future films like actions, horrors, thrillers, Sci-Fi's and physiological thrillers.

                        

When a new film is made, it has to be advertised like any other new product, to let people know it exists and to encourage them to go to the cinema to see it.
The advertising of a film is known as film promotion or film marketing and the people who are responsible for this are the distribution company, so–called because they distribute (give out) the films to the cinemas and distribute the promotional material around the country.

The way in which a film is promoted can have a huge effect on whether or not it is successful. Films are expensive to make and if the public do not buy tickets at the box office to see the film, a lot of money will be lost. The importance of genre, as well as the role it plays in film decides the audience, ratings and sometimes even the directors and producers. Genre has become a tool used to draw in particular groups based on its organizations of films. It has helped expand the world of film, because it directly points the audience where they want to go. 
     
                                                   Why is genre used

• Genre is important to film producers so they can categorize their film and sell to the right audience. If they don't know what genre their film falls into then they can't start the selling process.
• When they know what genre it is they can make sure the film follows the codes and conventions of that particular genre and make sure it is as appealing as possible to their target audience.