Four years after my original guest post “Navigating Rejection With Grace” (May 10, 2011) we’re still navigating plenty of rejection (c’mon, does that really ever end!?) but also proud to share some “wins” – seven years in-the-making! Our doc FINDING HILLYWOOD (www.findinghillywood.com) has screened at more than 60 festivals around the world, and is available on iTunes (and a myriad of other digital platforms) this month!
In the words of playwright Theresa Rebeck (from a talk she gave in 2010, reprinted in Women & Hollywood) : ‘It’s time to hear both sides, to hear all voices, to build a culture where stories are told by both men and women. That is the way the planet is going to survive, and it’s the way we are going to survive.’ So, how can we build that culture? Where do we start? I will list a few options to start with, and I’m inviting you to suggest more:
6 CRITERIA FOR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS
Find distributors who are effective and honest. They should have track records that demonstrate this as well as raves from other filmmakers who have worked with them.
Find distributors who are flexible and will help you to implement your customized distribution strategy rather than requiring you to fit into a one-size-fits-all approach to distribution
Find distributors who are willing and able to be partners. Some companies are only interested in being masters.
Over the past years I directed two no(?)-micro(?)-low(?)-budget (what’s the latest on who qualifies?) features and a dozen short films and almost every time I held open community meetings seeking the public’s support. I didn’t think this was anything special but the producers on Free in Deed asked me to describe the rationale for running ‘Open Call Info Sessions’ to the community on low-budget projects instead of traditional ‘closed-door auditions’.
Identify the main distribution avenues in North America and overseas. In the United States there are ten:
film festivals
theatrical
semi-theatrical (single special event screenings on a campus, in a museum, or at a theater)
cable VOD
television
educational
retail DVD
direct DVD (from the filmmaker’s website)
retail digital (iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc.)
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.
Evolving out of a recent presentation and interviews with members of Film Independent, leading distribution strategist Peter Broderick has written an important set of guidelines for anyone seeking to negotiate a distribution deal for their movie. Shorter versions of this post have also run on IndieWire and Film Independent, and we’re happy to run the complete post here in three parts on Hope For Film. Read PART ONE BELOW. PART TWO Friday. And PART THREE Next Week.
You’ve finally finished your film and have just received your first distribution offer. Now what?
Negotiation is an essential but little understood part of dealmaking. To make fair deals with good distributors, there are mistakes you must avoid and steps you need to take.
I recently gave a presentation on the secrets of negotiating distribution deals to a full house of Film Independent members. My subsequent interview for the Film Independent newsletter evolved into this Bulletin. It supplements my Special Report on festival and dealmaking strategies. It is not a comprehensive guide to negotiating distribution deals but does highlight key dos and don’ts.
