Identify the main distribution avenues in North America and overseas. In the United States there are ten:
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film festivals
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theatrical
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semi-theatrical (single special event screenings on a campus, in a museum, or at a theater)
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cable VOD
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television
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educational
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retail DVD
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direct DVD (from the filmmaker’s website)
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retail digital (iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc.)
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direct digital (downloads and streams from the filmmaker’s website)
Overseas, the main avenues are television and digital, with limited potential for theatrical and DVD distribution.
Design a customized distribution strategy that will include plans for each of these avenues and an overall timetable. Planning your windows is very important when you are splitting rights. Although the windows for studio films have been eroding, independents need to carefully determine the ideal sequence and lengths of each stage of their distribution. Splitting rights among several companies and retaining overall distribution control is often the best way to maximize distribution.
Build a distribution team that will include partners with expertise and experience to complement yours. Possible teammates include: foreign sales agents, producer’s reps, attorneys, theatrical bookers, publicists, outreach coordinators, web designers, social media mavens, and dvd and digital fulfillment companies (which can facilitate direct sales from their websites).
Select someone to negotiate deals for you. You need a talented and experienced negotiator who understands film distribution. Make absolutely sure that he or she is up-to-date about the latest deals, how they’re structured, and what’s most important. You don’t want to use someone who is behind the curve and can only negotiate a deal that would have been good in 2009. You need to do due diligence on your negotiator. When you find someone with the right mix of experience and skill and are satisfied with their work on your behalf, you will want to use him or her again and add them to your distribution team.
(c) 2014 Peter Broderick
