The Distribution Playbook "Before You Get Started"

The Distribution Playbook

"Before You Get Started..."

Open Ended

What is film distribution?

Understand Different Distribution Models

There are various distribution models: traditional theatrical releases, digital platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime), Video On Demand (VOD), Community Cinema, Broadcast, and physical media (DVD/Blu-ray). Each has its pros and cons. Knowing these can help you choose the best path for your film. Learn the definitions in the "Know the Terminology" section.

Open Ended

How must the filmmaker engage in marketing & promotion when distributing a film?

Identify Your Audience

If your movie is for everyone, then it's for no one. Be specific about who your film is for, why they’ll watch it, and why they’ll tell their friends. Knowing this is crucial from fundraising to marketing.

Open Ended

What roles (job titles) are involved in distribution?

Open Ended

Are film festivals mostly a good idea or mostly a bad idea? And... why?

Multiple Select

Which ugly truths must you embrace?

• Distributors will lie, cheat, & steal your movie from you.

• Most movies do not make their money back & nobody is going to solve this problem for you.

• Distribution usually costs filmmakers more money than it earns back.

• All distribution is active distribution on the part of the filmmaker.

2022 Festival Acceptance Rates:

• 2% for Sundance

• 4.2% for SXSW

• 57% had a producer or director that previously showed at the same festival

• 56% of documentary makers participating at the festivals were female (growth!)

• 8.7% Hispanic filmmakers

• 5.8% Black or African Americans

• 70% White or European.

^{At Sundance 2019, of the $2.29B worth of financial investment in films that were submitted, only 3% percent were accepted.}

^{Only a portion of those receive traditional distribution deals.}

^{And, of those, only a small fraction receive deals that are financial fairy tales, covering the cost of making the film.}

^{Over 2022, Distribution Advocates contacted all the documentary feature film teams with projects premiering at the Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca film festivals to collect data on their distribution. Over 100 filmmakers responded to the questionnaire.}

Let's look at the numbers

All distribution is active distribution

Whether you secure a distributor or many distributors or are forging a path on your own, you will be participating in your film’s distribution.

“Distribution is something you do, not something you get.” Embrace this.

Open Ended

What can you control in film distribution?

- Be the major force of marketing behind anything you make

- Teach any partner how to market your film, and speak to your audience

- Be willing to walk away from a deal & self-distribute

What You Have to Be Willing to Do

- Your budget

- Building relationships (festivals, brands, orgs)

- Building audiences (crowdfunding, social media, IRL)

- Creating the highest quality product you can

- Creating great materials

What You Control

All distribution is active distribution

KNOW THE TERMINOLOGY (pick 1 for next question...)

... license, licensor, licensee, MG, revenue shareterm, region / territory, community screening, four-wall, payment waterfall, recoupable expense, payment threshold, sales agent, publicist, impact producer, outreach, marketing, advertising, deliverables

Distributor, threatical distributor, non-theatrical distributor, non-theatrical exhibition, virtual cinema, on-demand event, PVOD, SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, FAST, theatrical booker, theatrical buyouts, direct to venue releasing, aggregator...

Open Ended

If you picked one you know, tell us what it means. If you picked one you're unclear about, ask a question about it.

Open Ended

What is a distributor actually going to do?

What Windows and Rights are Available?

TV Broadcast

- HBO, Showtime, CNN, PBS, etc.
Home Video Rights

- DVD & Blu-Ray

Non-Theatrical

- Community screening

- Educational

- Cruise ships, airlines & hotels

Ancillary Rights

- Soundtrack rights

- Subsequent productions/adaptations like TV, sequels or theater

Festival

- (sometimes you work with a sales agent or distributor on a festival strategy)

Theatrical

- You want release commitment (guaranteed number of screens & cities) set in stone as much as possible

- Size of release commitment (how many theaters, what does P&A really mean)

Digital

- SVOD, AVOD, TVOD, PVOD, FAST

Reorder

What's a general timeline for traditional distribution?

• You make a film

• You premiere at a big festival

• You have interest from distributor(s)

• you accept an offer & close a deal

• distributor releases the film

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

A General Timeline of Traditional Distribution

Poll

What's most important in attracting a distributor?

• Sales agents (or fest programmers or a friend).

  Distributors are inundated, and rely on recommendations from trusted sources. A good sales agent will know what a distributor is looking for.

• Using your network.

  Be able to summarize what you have and what you’re looking for in a sentence or two, you can get the help you need.

• Strong assets.

  Good key art, tagline, logline, synopsis

• Building a noticeable audience.

  Social media, crowdfunding, data

• Playing at a top festival.

  However, especially in current times, this is far from guaranteed.

How to Know if the Distributor is the Right Fit

- Ask: What have they released in the past?

- Talk to people they worked with. What did they say? Was it a good working experience? Did they answer emails and questions in a timely fashion?

- What are your priorities and deal breakers? Where do they stand on those? For example: You want to ensure the film is not going to be retitled, or you want to be sure there are certain things that won’t be done in the marketing (sensitivity, for example). You have to put it in the contract.

- How many films do they release and at what scale? If they’re release a film a month, then they’re more of an aggregator than a distributor. You would expect a more cookie-cutter release strategy (typically, blasted across a lot of platforms) as opposed to a bespoke and tailored strategy.

READY TO BEGIN?