Film Distribution: 5 Things You Need to Find a Great Deal
When I made my first movie, I was clueless about film distribution.
I wondered how we would figure it out. How does film distribution work? What is a film distributor, exactly? Does anyone have these answers? No one I spoke to seemed to know or were willing to share.
As I learned, sometimes you just have to figure things out yourself.
What I learned when securing film distribution for my first movie was that when it comes down to it, securing your first distribution deal consists of the following:
1. Make your film the best it can be.
2. Contact as many distributors as you can.
I’ll get into more detail, but that’s the essence of it.
If you want to get film distribution, you have to grind and email a ton of people, then wait. That may not be what you want to hear, but for you first-time feature filmmakers out there, trust me when I say that one way or another, there is a path forward.
A caveat: you should be considering distribution as you pick a script or concept to write and produce. Even if you are set on a particular idea, you should have a plan on how you will approach the second half of your film’s life – distribution.
Let’s get to it!
What is a distributor?
What the heck is a distributor, really? What’s a sales agent? A producer rep? An aggregator? (Ugh, too many titles…)
There are a lot of terms flying around out there. It’s hard to know, really, what someone’s definition of a particular title might be. Your best bet is this: ask anyone who inquires about your film whether they sell directly to different territories, handle all rights, and market your film, or handle a specific right or territory. Understand what kind of deals they typically make and what services they provide.
This subject can be quite complicated, but if you understand the kind of deals the person/distribution company you are speaking to usually makes, and what services they provide, you will be in good shape.
I recommend that when you seek film distribution, you look for a distributor who will make the following deal with you:
To license all rights to your film, including VOD, TV, theatrical, DVD, and any other medium, in every territory in the world (including US and all international territories), have all rights to market and sell your film in any medium through the whole world, for a limited period of time (say, 3-5 years), after which the rights revert back to you, and their services end.
You will only have to deal with one company that will market and sell your film in all aspects. Only one middle-man will be taking a slice of the pie. And they don’t keep your film forever, only a limited period of time.
Let’s move on to an obvious, but important point.
Make the best film possible
This pretty much goes without saying. Of course, as a filmmaker, you want your film to be as good as you can possibly make it! This is the goal. Keep in mind though that ‘perfect is the enemy of good’. At some point, you have wrap up your film and push it out into the world.
Why is it important to understand that you need to wrap up your movie and not try to make it perfect?
It’s better to have an asset (your movie) in hand that you can sell than something that is incomplete. An incomplete movie is not a complete product that you can sell and will not do you any good. I’ll take this even further and say that it is better to have produced a competent but otherwise unremarkable film than to have a dream of a perfect movie that will never exist.
Your first attempt won’t necessarily be great, and that’s okay. You will improve.
You can take your mistakes as lessons learned and make a better movie next time.
Okay, so you’ve made the best film you could make, given your skill, talent, and resources available. Congratulations. This is a great achievement, and you pride yourself on pushing through and finishing.
Most people never get to this step.
Here’s the reason why it is important that you make the best film you can:
More distributors will offer you film distribution deals–and more lucrative deals–the better your film is. There’s no guarantee a film distributor will take on your movie and market it. It is going to depend on what the market (buyers) are looking for, what’s more or less popular, and what distributors are looking for based on those variables.
However, the better your film, the more likely someone will be willing to pick it up, and the better deal they may be willing to give you.
Okay, now I’ll actually share the steps you need to take to secure film distribution for your movie. (Finally, right? Sheesh.)
Step 1 – prep your project
The key to getting film distributors interested in your project is proper preparation. You want to make your project as attractive as possible so that you hook them with your first email.
Make an explosive trailer. Your trailer is your film’s calling card. It’s all they will see and it will create the first, and possibly the only impression of the quality and content of your film.
Your trailer should hook the viewer right away – in the first few seconds, if possible. If you have any special effects, visual effects, stunts, intense drama, or exciting moments, include those in the trailer.
“But I don’t want to spoil the movie!”
Trust me, I understand. I dislike a trailer that gives away too much as much as the next guy.
However, It’s okay to ‘spoil’ your movie in this trailer. This trailer isn’t intended for a regular audience. This trailer is intended for the film distributor. When it comes to marketing and selling your film to ordinary audiences, your distributor will most likely cut a new trailer for your film, since they know what the target audience is looking for.
That said, craft your trailer understanding that the distributors are your audience, for now. You should cram your trailer full of interesting and high production-value material. This will indicate the quality of your film as well as tell the distributor that there’s enough interesting content to make a great trailer.
(Of course, you should try to make your trailer as objectively ‘good’ as possible. Don’t try so hard to shove everything interesting into it that it makes your trailer cringe-worthy.)
Here’s why it’s important for film distributors to see that you have enough material to make a ‘hooky’ trailer: Independent feature films live or die by their trailers and cover art – especially indie films with no name talent involved.
If someone is browsing online or at a store looking for a movie, they are going to be pulled in by an eye-catching poster or an exciting trailer.
They aren’t looking at it because Brad Pitt’s face is on the cover of your movie, or because the name ‘Ridley Scott’ is at the top of the DVD art in bold lettering. Indie films don’t have that advantage.
Step 2 – contacting distributors
Okay, you’ve got your trailer ready. You or your editor did a cut, reworked it, got feedback from filmmakers, reworked it again, then got feedback from ordinary people and adjusted the movie a final time. (Read here to find out more on how to get great feedback for your feature film.)
Great. Chances are you’ve got something that’s ready to share.
Warning: be sure your film is ready since you only get one shot at a first impression with a film distributor! Like I mentioned before though, you eventually have to pull the trigger and push the film out to the world.
Where to find film distributors. You need to do online research to find these companies. A few good places to find these companies include IMDb Pro, websites in a cursory Google search, and (believe it or not) Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a list of film distributors. Not all of them will be in existence any longer, but it’s up to you to scour that list and try to find current companies.
Don’t be a pest. The world of distributors is a small one (or so I’ve been told). Whether or not this is true, it does make sense. Regardless, this is a good rule of thumb as a professional. Don’t go assume word won’t get around if you are a pain.
Be professional, courteous, and reasonable at all times. Be reasonable in your follow-up with people by waiting a week or two to follow-up. Don’t send a long email. Keep your follow-up simple and straightforward. Don’t be a pest, but don’t be a pushover.
Who to contact – don’t spam people. Be mindful of who you are contacting. Do a bit of research before you send your trailer off to a distribution company. Take a look at their website. Have they distributed anything like your film or its genre in the past? Do they only handle documentaries, but you have a horror film?
In that case, it’s best to not contact that company. Don’t add to their already overflowing inbox. If you think they might be interested, since your film is sort of on the edge of what they might handle, go ahead and send it to them.
If you go to a film distributor’s website and their website is ‘laughingheartsllc.com’, it’s covered in pink and rainbows, and the last 50 films they distributed have titles such as “Romance in Paradise”, don’t send them your over-the-top, underground, experimental, slice-of-life slasher film “Bloody Murder Syndrome”.
Just… don’t.
But let’s say at ‘laughingheartsllc.com’ they have 1 slasher horror film in their catalogue. That’s weird, right? Yep. But maybe they’ve only distributed 1 horror film, and are trying to branch out into the genre. If they have a record of distributing your kind of movie, then contact them.
Keep your emails simple! Don’t go crazy and send a 5-paragraph essay in the body of your email to a film distributor. Put yourself in their shoes. They probably go through a lot of submissions, right? All those small tasks–a couple of minutes here and there–add up. Make your email short, sweet, and to the point. If the distributor can quickly and easily understand your email, your chances are better that they will respond compared to another over-eager first-time filmmaker who sent a novella-length email.
I’ll show you what my first emails to film distributors looked like:
“We recently finished post on our feature, ‘Genesis: Fall of the Crime Empire’.”
Obviously. Why else would we be contacting them? This is unnecessary information.
“We are seeking a distributor interested in taking on our film. Synopsis: To an undercover detective and his partner, events seem like typical gangland power struggle, but a feared criminal puppeteer seeks an alien powerful artifact, which according to legend, can grant god-like powers.”
A synopsis could be helpful, but hopefully, your trailer will tell them everything they need to know.
“Cast/Crew: (may be viewed at) http://www.imdb.com/title“
Unless you have name cast, do they really care? Probably not. If you do have some known person in your film, it might be better to say so earlier in your email, such as ‘our film, “Superstar Thrill Ride”, with a cameo from Brad Pitt, is available for worldwide distribution’.
“Festivals/Awards: This film has not been submitted to any festivals.”
I’m guessing someone recommended I add this to my email to indicate we hadn’t shared our movie anywhere yet. However, if the distributor is interested, they will ask you these sort of questions later.
Oh yeah, and I totally forgot to add a link to the trailer. Oops.
This is the film distributor thinking…
“Is there a link to the trailer? Is this all there is? Eh.” *DELETE*
I improved after the first couple of emails.
Here’s what I included in my subsequent emails:
Subject: Possible Acquisition – “Genesis” Feature Film
To Whom it May Concern:
We are looking for a distributor interested in acquiring our film “Genesis: Fall of the Crime Empire” for distribution.
The trailer is in the link below. Thank you for your time.
‘Link’
If the distributor watches your trailer and is interested in your film, they will follow up and ask for a screener. You must have this ready before someone asks for it. Don’t keep the distributor waiting.
What’s a screener? A screener is a complete and ready-to-view cut of your film. Usually a screener is uploaded to a service like Vimeo for distributors to easily view. You should definitely make the screener private and password-protected, but do not forget to include the password clearly in your email with the screener link.
Step 3 – sealing the deal
So, you’ve got this far. You did the legwork, and you got an offer or two, or maybe even more (you lucky devil, you) from film distributors who are interested in your film.
That’s wonderful. Now you have to understand their offer. Does it match up with your goals? Be realistic, but don’t be too eager or necessarily take the first offer you get. Get insight from mentors, if you have any who’ve been through this before. If you don’t have a mentor and haven’t reached this step yet, go and find one!
Getting a distribution deal is a Catch 22, because a film distributor can change their mind at any time and withdraw the offer if the winds change. So don’t rush, but don’t take too long to decide. Usually, a distributor will put a time-limit on their offer to encourage you to take their deal and save time in negotiation.
The content of distribution deals is a bit complicated, so for the purposes of this article, I’ll assume you have an understanding of net and gross profits, profit ‘points’ ownership models, and other similar things. If you don’t you can read all about how film profits work in an article I wrote.
A film distribution deal boils down to this:
Who gets what? After the distributor takes their cut, what percentage of the pie is left for you, your investors (whether that’s you or someone else), your key cast and crew, and anyone else who owns a slice of the film?
The smaller slice the distributor takes, the more you get. These percentages can range from 15-20% (going to the distributor) for a great deal but are often higher.
How long will they have your film? From what I’ve read, heard, and experienced, a length of 3 years
or so is a pretty normal length of time for a distributor to have rights to sell your film, with the right to request an extension.
In the event your film does quite well, you may want to try something different with it in the future. In the event you feel your distributor hasn’t done great with the film, but you think it could sell better, after the period is up, you can take your film to a new distributor or try to sell it yourself.
Arguing for a lower cut for the distributor. I understand you may want to negotiate with the distributor to get a better deal. You have to balance that against (unfortunately) the potential of pushing them away. However, if you think the deal doesn’t fit your (realistic) goals, don’t be afraid to turn deals down.
Either way, assuming you can get them to lower their cut, you have to balance this against whether the distributor will compensate for their lower cut by spending less marketing dollars and time on your film, or increasing the flat amount of money they take off the top.
Wait, what money off the top? Yes, many film distributors will skim a certain dollar amount off the top of what the film makes. As part of the deal, they may have a ‘marketing cap’ of say, $10,000 (for example). Anything the film makes goes to the distributor until they hit that cap.
The cap’s purpose is to compensate them for the money and time they spent marketing your film up-front, including travel and other items. Once they meet that dollar amount, the money splits according to the percentages of the deal. For example, 25% to the distributor, and 75% to the filmmaker.
Be aware that if the marketing cap is higher than the amount of money the film is likely to make, and that is the deal the film distributor is offering you, you are essentially signing the film away to them. Your film will get marketed and sold but you won’t make any money back.
There’s more involved in a film distribution deal, but this is a good baseline.
Get a second opinion. As indie filmmakers, we can’t always afford to speak with an attorney. However, you should feel free to at least contact one or two and ask how much it’d cost to just get their opinion on the deal. A film & entertainment law attorney will have experience with distribution deals and will know what’s normal.
That said, if you can’t afford an attorney, it’s okay. This is where a good mentor comes in. If you know someone who has experience in this arena, you can show them the potential deal and get their opinion on it.
Step 4 – delivering the film
Okay. You’ve signed the dotted line and are ready to get your film out to the world!
The distributor is going to ask you to provide a long laundry list of items so that they can properly sell your film. Some of this is technical stuff, such as exports of the film, the audio, and things of that nature. Some of it is legal, such as contracts, releases, and other paperwork.
Together, the items the distributor requires from you in order to start selling your film are called deliverables, and they are very important.
Here are some of the major things your distributor will ask for from you:
Chain of title. This is just like real estate or a vehicle – a paper trail proving that you are the rightful owner of something. Your film’s chain of title will prove that you have all the rights, permissions, and licenses to legally license your film to the distributor, who can then legally go out there and sell it to people. It will contain documents such as:
Releases. Crew, cast, and location releases, music license documents, certificate of authorship or licensing for the screenplay and any material it’s based on, ownership documents for the film itself, such as partnership agreements from producers, and anything else proving you have total rights to do what you want with the film.
This chain of title protects you, the film distributor, and anyone else involved in selling the film. In the event someone claims you used their performance or creative contribution without permission, you will have their contract to show that you do have permission.
A high-quality HD or 4k (if you have it) export of the film. The distributor will provide technical specifications as to what they want. They will send your film off to a lab which will analyze the film for issues that will need fixing in order to optimize it for different platforms and regions. You will most likely have to make some adjustments and provide a new export, after the lab provides their report.
Music and effects track (M&E track). The ‘M&E’ track, as it’s referred to, is an audio track that contains all synced, non-dialogue sound and music from your film. Scrapes, scuffles, bangs, whistles, explosions, and your epic soundtrack… everything except your characters’ dialogue, grunts, yells, and so on. The purpose of this track is to make it possible for various sellers to have your film dubbed if they want. They can simply put in the dubbed dialogue, yells, screams, and cries over your music and effects track.
Creating an M&E track can be tough if you had a low audio budget. A lot of your normal sounds will overlap with dialogue in your boom recording. Once you take out your boom audio, you lose the dialogue but also lose everything else. This is one purpose of Foley. If you can’t afford Foley, you may have to do some yourself, inserting at least major sounds in the scene, so that the lab will accept your M&E track. Pre-built foley and sound effects packs are great for this.
Music cue sheet. This sheet will contain a list of titles and timecodes for all music, including original score, that play in your film. It lists who made the music, who holds the arrangement, recording, and performance rights for the music, the title of each song, how much of each song is in the film, and where it plays.
Dialogue list. This is a word-for-word, verbatim transcript of what is said in your film. The dialogue list makes it easier for domestic and international sellers to have your film’s dialogue translated, dubbed or subtitled. There are companies out there that provide transcription services for this purpose, and it can cost anywhere from $300-500. For my first feature film, my partner and I opted to do this time-consuming task ourselves and save some money.
DVD extras. If you have any bloopers, cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes, or any other extras,
your distributor will ask for these as well.
This isn’t a comprehensive or perfect list, but these are the major items you should expect to provide to your distributor.
Step 5 – I have to pay for what, now?
You thought you were done? Ha!
Unfortunately, you are not. You are going to have to pay for a couple of things, unless your distributor works out a deal where they pay. I did not get this kind of deal for my first feature, but it is possible.
Errors and Omissions insurance. Remember the chain of title? Well, like chain of title, errors and ommissions insurance (commonly known as E&O) protects you, the film distributor, and others from liability in the event you missed some vital permission or failed to request rights to something, and someone decides to pursue your film legally (sue you/your company). Any distributor is going to require that your E&O insurance cover the duration of your film distribution deal.
E&O insurance will likely cost you something in the range of $2,000-$3,000. This will vary based on your film and the insurance provider.
Lab costs. The lab that examines your film doesn’t do it for free. I believe our lab fees cost us in the range of $500 or so, but this likely varies from lab-to-lab.
Distribution – the final frontier!
If this is your first film and you’ve never had a film distributed, this might feel like a tough nut to crack. I felt that way. When I pursued distribution for the first time, the process seemed like a great mystery.
Securing traditional film distribution for your film is doable. There are no guarantees, but you should always give it your best shot.
Remember:
1. Make your film the best it can be. The better your film, the more (and better) offers you will receive.
2. Make an explosive trailer. Remember that your audience at this stage is the distributor, and edit accordingly.
3. Contact distributors. Research to find relevant companies. Reach out to them, but keep it professional, short, and include a link to your trailer. Have a screener ready to send for when they request one.
4. Seal the deal. Understand the substance of the offer from the distributor. Get advice. Don’t feel obligated to take the first offer, but be realistic and don’t leave them hanging.
5. Prep and provide deliverables. The sooner you get everything to your distributor, the better. If you didn’t plan for those extras expenses (E&O and lab fees, etc.), start saving now.
6. Wait patiently for release. Make sure to abide by the distributor’s rules as to what you can share and publicize, and what you can’t. You don’t want your movie floating around the web before it gets released. It can take months before you film is released.
7. Don’t be too upset when you find torrents of your film online. Yes, it will happen. Yes, it’s illegal and immoral for someone to steal your hard work. Day 1, there were Korean rips of our film online. That said, it’s an unfortunate reality of the film business. Don’t tear your hair out over things you can’t control.
Getting your first feature film distributed and out to the world is a big step. It’s a lot of work, but it’s quite exciting.
I wish you the best of luck with your pursuit of film distribution.
If there are any questions I can answer for you, please feel free to reach out and I’ll be happy to help.
