Distribution - Research

 Tuesday, 14, March

In order to make a well-known, money-making film, one of the many important steps that is needed is Distribution.

What is Distribution: Film Distribution is is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. 

A Customized Strategy: This Distribution strategy should be based on your goals, your film's content, and the film's core audiences e.g: Kids films would be advertised at a playground or an ice cream shop, Adult films would be advertised at a bar or a coffee shop. 

-Can look for distribution partners.

-Documentary filmmakers will require proactive design when it comes to Distribution strategies, and it is recommended to have a nonprofit partnership, as this will be an important element in their Distribution strategy.

Goals: What is the ultimate goal for your film? Career? Revenues? Or Changing the World? if you are clear in your goals, you will have a useful framework to build you Distribution strategy from.

Film Festivals: Your premiere festival launches your film into the world. It provides a unique opportunity to build awareness among... Members of the media, film critics, bloggers, distributors, colleagues, executives, others who can assist in future films, the general public.

-Your film can get its first reviews and press mentions, along with festival awards and the potential of sparking interest online.

-Keep in mind, most films aren't sold at their first film festival, majority of deals are made weeks or months later.

-Distributors only attend a small amount of film festivals, be prepared for a sales deal, but be realistic. 

-Don't fall into the trap of thinking that a film festival is the only way to distribute a film, you can always market your film to the press, the industry, and regular viewers.

-Films with strong core audiences may decide to skip film festivals entirely, many genre films will instead go to genre festivals or target festivals with strong genre sections. 

-Documentaries don't usually make an effort to participate in film festivals, they instead have more trust in their ability to reach core audiences directly.

Publicity: Hiring a publicist can be a great advantage in Distribution, seeing as they can become the main link between you/your film and the public/media. They're in charge of handling... critics, entertainment reporters, social media, your website, facebook pages, and any social media coordinated event. They can also help you to... position your film, express what makes your film unique, convey your passion for the film, trailers, teasers, a clip of the film on social media, making clips of the film shareable online.

Agents and Reps: Agents and Reps can assist you in negotiating distribution deals, both national and international.

-Separate your rights into two categories: North American and International.

-Can help you implement your distribution strategy.

-Producer's Reps are mainly in charge of managing national distribution deals.

-Your Rep should make clear to potential distributors which rights are available before negotiations even begin. 

-Having an International Rep to sell rights outside of your given country is essential, however, you do not need to hire one before your first domestic festivals.

-In terms of international rights you should retain the rights to sell DVD's, downloads, and streams from your website worldwide.

Hybrid Distribution: The strategy in which rights are split among distribution partners, whilst retaining the ability to sell DVD's and downloads directly from your website.

Due Diligence: Always research the companies/individuals that you plan on making distribution deals with, no deal is better than a bad deal.

Rights to Retain:

-Direct Digital: The rights to sell downloads and streams directly from your website. 

-Direct: The rights to sell DVD's from your website and at screenings. 

-Educational:The rights to sell educational copies to colleges and universities

-Semi-theatrical: The rights to rent the film for single screenings

-Always pay attention to revenue and money (especially that made off of deals)

-It's better to sell your retail digital rights and retail DVD rights to the same company.

Direct sales rights:

-You will make more money on every direct sale than from any third party sale since you will not be splitting the money with your distributor or producer's rep.

-You will have the opportunity to sell related products and create bundles that are exclusively available from your website.

-You will receive invaluable customer data (Name, email address, zip code) that you will not get from third party sales on iTunes, Amazon, or anywhere else.         

IN CONCLUSION:

-It's better to be more directly involved in the Distribution process, as you will gain a further understanding for future films.

-The Distribution process should be taken as a partnership, especially between the Filmmaker and the Distributor as they bring expertise, relationships, and resources, whilst you (The Filmmaker) made the film, your team, and have a knowledge of connection with core audiences.

-In a Partnership, working in a complementary way can bring the best results, and can ultimately build trust in a team that will be used in the near future.