Filmmaking > Festivals & Markets
Distribution Steals or Deals
You spent four years in film school. Then you took a flunky job for a film company. Of course, you joined a film union.
Now, ten years later, you’ve made your first film. Money was borrowed from every living relative and friend. You mortgaged on your house, maxed your credit cards and sold your car. The script got a new polishing. Your closest film friends worked for a deferment.
Finally. You have your first print and are now ready to spend $5,000 to transfer it to video. You pay your way to the Independent Feature Film Market as well as several festivals your film was invited. Now it comes time to sell your work.
I don’t know if there is an official study, but it’s been my observation over the past 30 years that most filmmakers make very little money from deals with distributors. This is especially amazing if your film sold to a major broadcaster. My first feature, China Run sold to HBO and aired on Cinemax. The selling price was $45,000. After the distributor (who will remain nameless) took out expenses, the owners of my film received a check for $5,000 from the distributor. The distributor claimed $40,000 in expenses from marketing my film. What is interesting is that they were not pushing my film to HBO. The buyer at HBO, who had seen the film at the IFFM (my expense) had to describe my film to the distributor. Needless to say, my distributor wasn’t aggressively marketing my film. I managed to get my film into several theater chains. The executive producer and I did all the work although the distributor got the revenue and again determined expenses as they did with HBO.
I hope to shed some light on the problems that new filmmakers can experience when it comes time to sale their films or tapes. There are ways of bypassing distributors, such as using the Internet to market films.
First consider the investment in your film to date and look at what the distributor is willing to invest. The distributor typically invests only one percent of your investment, yet they want a 50% share (or more). Get the distributor to specify in your contract what they will invest and the schedule of their investment. Usually they won’t do this but by asking you’ll start to learn their true feelings about your film. They often act excited about what they can do with your project until you sign the distribution contract. Then, slowly (or maybe quickly) they stop returning your calls. Ask them what markets they will attend with your film whether they will pay for market screenings (and how many screenings). Often distributors say they have an “agent” in Europe that handles their sales. This might mean they will be using a sub-distributor. Let’s say that they have a split of a sale with the European distributor who determines net and then your distributor determines net from the balance. There could be zero left for you, the filmmaker. In fact, you might even owe them money!!
Another one of my film’s foreign rights were sold to the distribution company owned by a large European broadcasters. At the time I was living in Europe when this broadcaster asked me to edit my film down to one hour. If it wasn’t for my being in Europe and this broadcaster knowing me, I’d never have learned about the deal. Years later when I visited the owners of my film in the U.S., I mentioned the large European sale. I figured they were really happy with the revenue it generated. They didn’t know about the European sale.
It would be fair to say that many smaller, less reputable distributors have made sales thinking that the filmmaker will never learn about the sale. Also, the way net is determined might reduce all profits going to the filmmaker.
Limit the rights of the distributor, if possible. Most of the time they will not agree to this. They usually want you to sign an exclusive agreement lasting five years. Instead, don’t give them an exclusive agreement for videocassette sales. Also, limit the number of years that they have the rights to your film. Understand that once they have distribution rights, for all practical purposes, they own your film. This is a great business for some of the smaller distributors. I know of some at the markets who send a contract to everyone with a film that attended the market. They don’t care if your film is good or bad; instead they believe in success in numbers. Your film may have potential but few buyers attended your market screening. It can get depressing after you’ve invested all your time and money in making your film and no distributor wants to touch your film.
One time I concocted a test. I sent my new film to distributors in L.A. and cued it to a point 15 seconds into the film. Over 80% of the tapes were returned with the tape still at that point--that means they were never viewed! Letters of rejection were included with many of these tapes. Some distributors didn’t include anything. Six months later my film opened in L.A. at the Samuel Golden Pavilion Theater in Westwood, California, which is a major art house owned by Landmark Cinemas. It received glowing reviews in all the trade papers and the L.A. Times. So much for the opinion of distributors!
What are some alternatives for selling your completed film? If you can make at least one sale to the BBC or ZDF, for instance, then it becomes fairly easy to make your other sales. Also, it is easier to access video buyers such as Blockbuster. Be prepared for long waits on a decision on your sale since they have a lot of tapes to consider. Build a website for your film with a one minute trailer. If your budget permits, travel to markets such as Berlin or Cannes. With a little research, you might be able to find travel bargains. Cannes and the areas surrounding it have some cheap hotels. The same is true for Berlin. When you’re at the markets, get to know some of the distributors. A few of them are very good and support independent film. Most of all, learn who is buying what! The BBC and most European broadcasters have specific “editors” who are responsible for buying for various time slots. You don’t want to try to sale your show to the wrong person. These people view a lot of tapes. They can tell whether your product fits their time slot in a few minutes. They can also determine production values and your ability as a storyteller. The public hears success stories of a small percentage of filmmakers out there. Be aware that there are thousands of films and filmmakers, and only so many avenues for sales, resulting in constant competition.