Production, Distribution, Marketing, Exhibition.

Production

Before pre-production begins, studios have to take into consideration factors such as:
- Casting and staffing
- Financing.
- Screenplay 

Screenplay and casting may go through changes before pre production begins on a film due to scheduling conflicts or possibly the studio not going ahead with production on the film. Screenplay and casting are also major factors in targeting their audience. For example, recently, films that have been aimed at teens/young adults have been adaptations of books such as the Harry Potter saga or the Twilight saga which will draw in a ready made audience whilst drawing in people who may have not read the books but will go see the films due to buzz made by the fans of the original source.

Pre production stages include finding:
- Locations and sets
- Wardrobe 
- Script-locking: the final script that will be used in the film.
- Scheduling when to shoot the film.

Principal photography is the term when recording all the required shots to make the movie, however, during post - production, 'pick up shots' may be required to film due to possible mistakes.

Distribution

- Theatrical distribution: when a film is decided whether or not is good enough to be screened in cinemas and would be able to make the budget of the film back in box office sales.
- Foreign distribution: same as theatrical distribution but selling a film to international studios to allow the film to be screened in different countries.
- Film Festivals. Festivals such as Toronto International Film Festival or the British Film Institue: London Film Festival generate a huge buzz every year due to press coverage. If a film is given a good response at a festival, this can lead to the film being theatrically distributed.

Marketing

Popular marketing campaigns include:

- Trailers. On the internet, on the television, before screenings of films of similar genres.
- Bus adverts. Easily unmissable due to the size of the buses.

- Happy Meals at McDonalds. Usually promotes films that are aimed at children as Happy Meals include toys, usually of characters from the film that is being promoted.
- The actors in the films themselves do interviews talking about the film, mostly in magazines or on the television or radio.
- Social media is also a good marketing strategy. In 2012, Think Like A Man, The Hunger Games and Marvel's Avengers Assemble were the most tweeted films.

Exhibition

- Just 4% of all film viewing is at the cinema.
- DVDs and Bluray are popular physical forms of films.
- However, online viewing has been proven to be very popular. BBC iPlayer had 6 million requests every day in 2012 and 60% of 16-30 year olds believe film content should be free when accessed online.