For the last two years, approximately half of the films that played Sundance got picked up for distribution. Yet as Thom Powers pointed out recently, no distribution deal is a heck of a lot better than a bad distribution deal.
Still, knowing how much work is required to directly distribute your film, and in particular the great challenge it is to market your film, filmmakers regularly look to team up with distributors. The dream sort of goes first to write a script, then to make a film, then to get it funded, then finished and in a festival, and finally settling on getting a deal.
Granted there’s a big flaw in the dream as it
