Sunday, September 8, 2013

Distrbution for the Independent Filmmarker


I enjoy making films, but one aspect that has pleged me for some time is, how do I distribute the film after it is made?  As Jerome Courshon of The Wrap says, "film distribution isn't a sexy subject."  He's right, it isn't.  It is the one issue that directors and prducers avoid untill the last possible moment. Distrbution only becomes "sexy" when you get the "big fat check."

 
So the question is, "how can you achieve succesful distrbution when you don’t get offered that multi-million-dollar deal?”  According to Courshon there are three aspects to distrbution.  Number 1 is take the film to all major markets.  You want to explte each market, theatrical, Blu-ray/DVD, VOD, internet, foreign, and television.  You want to start with the thearters and work your way down.  Something independent filmmakers are doing is skipping markets and going right to the internet and that is a mistake.

Number 2 split the rights up among more then one company.  When making deals split up the right to your film among more then one company.  This is a stagtagy they have been using since that late 90’s.  What you do is make a deal with one company for Blu-ray/DVD and so on.  What ever you do don’t make an “all rights” deal.  It could kill you, unless you are getting a big check in advance.  Number 3 be aware of what has happened with other online platforms in the past two years, “and leverage this maturing market correctly.”  You need to undestand the history of digital distrbution.

If when you go to distribuate your film and hold these three principals to heart and take the correct actions, there is no reason you will not see a return on your film.  When excuting these steps don’t be lazy or avoid learning and understand your target market.  You can see real results using this approch. 



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