Marketing & Film Distribution

What can you do at a film distributor? And how does marketing work at a commercial distributor of well-known studios like Universal, Paramount and Sony?

In this workshop Violet Venema takes you behind the scenes of film distribution in commercial cinema. How does a distributor communicate with its different stakeholders, from the creative to the business side? Violet explains how she started working for Universal Pictures NL and what her career has looked like since.

She discusses how a marketing campaign is approached, the 'big idea' she is always after, the different marketing materials, budgets, and how to focus on different audiences and genres. Violet brings a current case study: you work on a strategy and look for a 'big idea' yourself, after which she explains how Universal Pictures NL actually approached it.

About Violet Venema

Violet Venema is Senior Product Manager at Universal Pictures International Netherlands in Amsterdam, which also distributes Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures in the Netherlands.

Practical information

• Date: Tuesday 3 November 2026, 11:30 – 14:00
• Location: De Blik, Blokhuisplein 40, Leeuwarden
• Language: English
• Admission: free (limited to 10 places)
• For: students, starting film professionals and anyone interested
• Host: Mirjam Lawrence (NHL Stenden)