Can Independant Filmmakers Survive the Streaming Wars?

It’s no longer a controversial statement that streaming has changed the whole game for independent film distribution.  It hasn’t been controversial for quite a while.  However, it is becoming apparent that not only has streaming changed the game, it might as well have become the game, at least here in the US.  That’s not really a good thing for Indies.  Here’s why.

Streaming has made such a vast library of content available people don’t need to buy movies.

The biggest reason that Subscription Video On Demand streaming has engulfed the entire media landscape is that it’s put a giant library of films at the fingertips of anyone for only around 6-15 bucks a month for most platforms.  It’s putting entire on-demand catalogs that are even more convenient than owning a film on DVD.

It wasn’t so big a threat when there were only a few companies in the space, but once HBO blew the doors open with the launch of HBO NOW the writing was on the wall for those of us paying attention.  We all knew that Disney and Warner would follow.  With Disney+ putting a gigantic pile of legacy content on their platform, it’s going to get harder and harder for independent films to compete.

Physical Media used to be the primary way people could watch films when they felt like it.

It used to be that licensing a film to A TV station was pretty lucrative, and didn’t really affect your physical media sales.  In fact, it often increased them.  People didn’t want to have to wait around for your film to screen if they liked it, so they bought the disk.  Yet SVOD companies license a film, and for the term of the license their subscribers can just watch the film wherever, whenever they want. 

This level of convenience has made it significantly more difficult for filmmakers and distributors to sell content for a transactional fee which has a much higher margin per unit sold.  When Netflix started the game, it was still just one platform, and many people didn’t have the level of internet needed to stream without a significant amount of lag.  This result often ends up that filmmakers and distributors are left with whatever the license fee for each film is, and will see little to no revenue beyond those licenses.

It basically means that not only is streaming taking up a much bigger part of a given film’s revenue mix, it’s also shrinking the pie. 

With so many platforms and so much content, there must be lots of licenses and acquisitions being made though, right?

It depends on how you’re looking at it.  Sure, these platforms are creating massive amounts of content, and acquiring still more.  However, the price they tend to pay for acquisition is lower than you’d think, and some of the terms tend to be a bit unreasonable.  For originals, it’s a long road requiring a strong package that 95% of filmmakers will never reach. 

You might think that many new platforms are going to be looking to make even more original content in order to make sure subscribers keep paying for their content.  There’s some truth to that, but the problem is that there are so few outlets likely to survive the streaming wars that the system of gatekeepers that the streamers were supposed to break may become even fewer than they were before. 

The big problem here is that there are A LOT of these same sorts of platforms seeking the attention of an oversaturated audience and market.  The impact is that there’s a lot less money to go around for indies, and much of the consumer base is just subscribing to a few services, and not buying a lot outside of that.  So unless a filmmaker has a strong engaged audience, they’re not going to be able to compete. 

Essentially, the SVOD wars intensify the problem creators have been facing for several years, and that’s the fact that while anyone can get their film out there, getting anyone to see it is an entirely different matter. ​

It all comes back to audience engagement.

This comes back to one thing. Build and engage with your audience, and create content that speaks to them on a deep level. It needs to evoke an emotion or speak to an experience that no one else can. In order to succeed, we Indies need to defragment our market and find our tiny place in it. We don’t need to be 8 people’s 6/10, we need to be 2 people’s 10/10.

Thanks for reading. This one was more of a think piece than my general practical advice. Let me know what you thought about it in the comments. If you like this and want more, please consider joining my mailing list, you’ll also get a great film business resource pack that includes templates, a free ebook, a whitepaper, and more!

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22 Indiefilm Distribution Definitions Filmmakers NEED to know

If you’re going to read and understand your distribution agreement, then there’s some terminology you have to grasp first.  So with that in mind, here’s a breakdown of some key terminology you ABSOLUTELY need to know if you’re going to get traditional distribution for your film.

This is one of those blogs I should probably start out by saying that I’m not a lawyer.  Always talk to a lawyer when looking at a film or media distribution contract.  With that out of the way, I’d recommend we get started. 

1. License

At its core, a license for an independent film or media project is the right to exploit the content for financial gain.  Every other piece of a license agreement is clarifying the limitations of that license. 

2. Licensor

A licensor is a person or entity that is licensing a piece of media to another entity to either distribute or sub-distribute its content.  In general, this is the filmmaker when the filmmaker is dealing with a sales agent or producer’s rep, or the sales agent or producer’s rep when they’re dealing with distributors. 

3. Licensee

The License is the entity that is acquiring the content to distribute it and exploit it for financial gain.  In the instance of filmmakers and sales agents, it would be the sales agent, in the instance of sales agents and distributors, it would be the distributor. 

4.  Producer’s Representative (Producer’s Rep)

An agent who acts on behalf of a filmmaker or film to get the best possible sales and distribution deals. 

Related: What does a Producer’s Rep Actually do, anyway?

5.   Sales Agent

A Company that licenses films from sales agents or Producer’s Reps in order to sub-license the film to territorial distributors around the world.

6. Distributor

A company that directly exploits a film in a given territory on agreed upon media right types.

Related: What’s the difference between a sales agent and distributor

7. ​MG (Minimum Guarantee)

This is a huge one.  It’s the amount of money you get up front from a sales agent, or a sales agent receives from a distributor.  The biggest difference between this and a license fee is that at least in theory an MG has the potential to receive more in residual payments beyond the additional payment.  In practice, this is less common. 

8. License Fee

A license fee is a set amount of money paid by a distributor to exploit media in a defined territory and set of media rights.  Unlike a minimum guarantee, a License fee is the total amount of payment the licensor will receive over the course of the license, regardless of the financial success the film goes on to achieve.  License fees can be paid in one lump sum, or over the course of the license. 

9. ​Revenue Share

​Revenue share is the other most common way films can receive payment.  Revenue share essentially means that the licensee will split the revenue with the licensor according to an agreed-upon commission generally after they recoup their expenses. 

10. ​Producer’s Corridor

A producer’s corridor is an alternate payment waterfall of money a filmmaker is paid prior to the licensee recouping their expenses.  This generally means that the producer is paid from dollar one. 

11. Term

Term is the length of time a contract is in place.  For most independent film sales agency contracts, the term is generally 5-7 years. 

12. ​Region

The instances that generally apply to traditional distribution in the modern-day region refer to a set of territories in which a film can be distributed in. While they vary slightly from sales agency to sales agency, they are generally English Speaking, Europe, Latin America, Asia/Far East, and others.

13. ​Territory

When it comes to film distribution and international sales. territories are areas within a region that add greater specificity to where a sales agent can parse rights.  Latin America is both a region and a territory.

14. Media Rights

The sorts of media that a distributor has to exploit in a given territory or set of territories. 

Related: Indiefilm Media Right types

15. Benelux

A territory consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 

16. Four-Wall

The act of renting theaters in order to screen your film in them.  It generally involves a not insignificant upfront fee, and as a result, all money returns to the licensor. 

17. Community Screening

An alternative to a theatrical run for films with a strong niche or cause.  See below for more information. 

Related: How Community Screenings can replace a Theatrical Run

Related: 9 Essential Elements of Independent Film Community Screening Package

18. Payment Waterfall

When it comes to independent film distribution agreements, a payment waterfall is contractual representation How many flows from stakeholder to stakeholder?  If there is a producer’s corridor or some other non-standard modifications of a license agreement, there may be more than one waterfall in said contract. 

Related: IndieFilm Distribution Payment Waterfalls 101

19. Collection Account

​​A collection account is an account that a sales agent pays into which pays out all other stakeholders according to a pre-defined set of parameters.

20. ​Reports

In the context of independent film distribution and international sales agreements, a report is a statement made monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually that states all incomes and expenses for a film.  Generally, this is accompanied by a check one is due.

21. Payment Threshold

When it comes to film and media distribution, a payment threshold is a minimum payment owed by a licensee in order to issue a payment to a licensee.  This payment amount is generally dependent on what payment method is being utilized.  For instance, the minimum is for a wire transfer is generally higher than a check which in turn is generally higher than for a direct deposit. 

22. Recoupable Expense

A recoupable expense is an investment made into marketing or distribution-related expenses by a licensee.  This investment will need to be paid back before the licensee pays the licensor, with the notable exception of the producer’s corridor.  Generally, these investments will fall into one of 3 categories of capped, uncapped, and uncovered expenses.   For more information, please check out the blog below. 

Related: What are recoupable expenses?

BONUS! - Expense Cap

An expense cap is a cap on the total amount of expenses that a licensee is able to take out before paying the licensor. There are exceptions, see the related link above for more information.

Thank you so much for reading the glossary! I hope it’s Helpful. If this is all intimidating and you need a little help, consider hiring a professional to assist you in the process.  So you could consider checking out Guerrilla Rep Media’s services. These blogs Blogs are largely a public service and marketing tool for me, most of my business is from representing and consulting with filmmakers just like you.  You can learn more and submit your film via the link below.  Or, if you're not ready for that, but want to support more content like this, join my email list to stay up to date on new offerings and get an awesome film business resource package while you’re there.

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Can You Get Your Movie on Netflix or Disney+ By Yourself?

At least until recently, a lot of filmmakers assumed that they could get on any platform they needed to be on just by calling up Distribber or another aggregator like Quiver.  With the fallout of the fall of Distribber, many filmmakers are wondering what they can do for distribution.  So, I thought I’d share some knowledge as to what platforms a filmmaker can still get on themselves using aggregators like Quiver, and what platforms you’ll need an accomplished sales distributor, or producer’s rep to get on.

I’m going to break this into general media right types.  If you’re not sure what that means, learn more by clicking through to the related blog below. 

Related: Independent Film Media Right types.

Also, this analysis is based on the US Market

Theatrical

Most distributors just won’t do this for most films, however, the ones that can do it tend to either rent the theaters outright or be extremely skilled salespeople with deep connections to the booking agents for theaters who will book the films on a revenue share basis.  It's just too much work for buyers to work directly with Filmmakers in this fashion.

For filmmakers, the most economical solutions tend to be either paying to rent a theater for a few screens or using a service like Tugg, to have a screening demanded if the film has enough of a following to make it work.  I have my issues with their model, but that’s a topic for a future blog/video. 

Physical Media:

Distributors have a lot more options for physical media than filmmakers tend to.  Some distributors still replicate DVDs on a massive scale, which gives them the ability to get higher quality disks and get them into brick-and-mortar stores like Walmart, Target, Family Video, or kiosks like Redbox.  Many distribution companies also have access to libraries.  Also, Blu-Ray in general is only really available on a wide scale through a distributor.

Even if they use a Manufacture on Demand (MOD) service, they tend to have access to companies who will put them out on the online storefronts of pretty much anywhere that sells DVDs and Blu-Rays.  This is largely due to the fact that those companies tend to only publish catalogs. 

If you’re a filmmaker, you’ll generally be limited to either buying a few thousand DVDs with no guaranteed warehouse solution or distribution network, or you’ll be limited to using something similar to Createspace to put them up on Amazon. While this tends to have the highest margins, it doesn’t tend to move a lot of products, and the quality of the product is generally pretty low. 

Broadcast, PayTV, and Ancillary (Generally Airline)

To get on any network or PayTv channel, you’ll need the help of a distribution company.  Same for airlines.  These entire right types are not generally available to you as a filmmaker. 

Video On Demand (VOD)

For ease, I’m going to break this into a few categories that are generally accepted within the industry.  Those categories are Transactional VOD (TVOD) Subscription VOD (SVOD) and (AVOD)

Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD)

In General, TVOD is pretty accessible to filmmakers on their own.  Filmmakers can pay an aggregator to get you on most platforms for a fee. These platforms include iTunes, Google Play/YouTube, Fandango Now, and many others.  Also, Filmmakers have been able to put their own work up on Amazon Instant video largely for free until recently, although it seems those winds may be changing.  Either way, filmmakers can use Vimeo OTT or Vimeo On Demand to sell the film directly through their website.

There are, however, more than a Few TVOD platforms that only a distributor can access.  These include a subset of TVOD called Electronic Sell Through VOD (ESTVOD) that’s primarily used for paid on-demand offerings of cable and satellite providers, as well as the occasional hotel chain.  The hotel chains VOD offerings have greatly declined in recent years as free WiFi has become commonplace.  Additionally, there’s a service that enables your content to be rented through library systems that are only accessible to distributors with decently sized catalogs. 

Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD)

In order to get on any platform like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO NOW, HBO MAX, or any other major streaming platform, you need the help of a distributor.  Distribber SAID they could pitch you, but that turned out to not be as true as you might hope, and their pitch fee was the size of most commissions a sales agent would take.  Also, their success rate was abysmal for someone charging up front.  This was primarily due to them pitching dozens of films a month, and as such them not getting much attention.

If you want to utilize your SVOD rights as a filmmaker, you pretty much have three options.  Put it on Amazon Prime, (at least for now.) You can start your own subscription service using Vimeo OTT, or try to sell it to people who started their own subscription services that you’ve found.  I doubt those last people will have much money though. 

Advertising Supported Video On Demand (AVOD)

Finally, we come to Advertising Supported Video on Demand or AVOD.  This is an exciting space that’s only recently emerged.  The two biggest players that do it profitably are TubiTV and PlutoTV.  Both of which only deal with filmmakers and sales agents with large catalogs of high-quality, distributable films.  This means they generally only deal with distributors or sales agents.

If you’re a filmmaker, you can put your movie on YouTube in the normal way for AVOD dollars, but it’s generally inadvisable for feature film content.  It’s good for vlogs about film distribution though..,

Thanks so much for reading! 

Educational content isn’t my primary business, the reason I know this stuff is I work in the field. If you’d like to work with me, submit your project idea via the link below. Distribution and brokerage tasks are on commission, earlier stage projects involve some reasonable fees. Also, If you like content like this, you should join my mailing list. It will get you lots of great blog digests of content just like this, as well as notices of major releases from Guerrilla Rep Media.

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What does current state of Independent Film Distribution look like in 2020?

2019 was quite a year for most of us, and while we’re entering 2020 with more stable economic footing than we expected, there are definitely some notable industry trends heating up that I thought to weigh in on a bit and let those of you who frequent my tiny corner of the internet know my thoughts on the matter. 

Note from the future: Oof. That stable economic footing did not last.

The SVOD Wars

Anyone who’s been on the internet, watched TV, or stepped out of their house in the last 10 months has probably seen at least about 50 ads for Disney+.  It’s the latest major entry into the Subscription Video on Demand market (SVOD) and it really changed the power dynamics of that particular section of the industry.  Disney is moving a lot of their legacy content onto the platform as with the fall of DVD the vault isn’t as profitable as it once was.  Now that Disney is here, it’s going to shape up the landscape a significant amount.  For more on that, check back in a few weeks for a post elaborating on the state of SVOD and how it changes the whole landscape. 

The fallout from the Distribber Debacle

If you follow Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle as I do, you’ll be well aware of the issues facing Distribber and GoDigital. Through reports from the people they took money and films from, it seems clear that they’ve proven themselves to be every bit as untrustworthy as the sales agents and distributors we’ve all heard about.  So the big question here is if aggregators don’t deliver or screw you, where else can a filmmaker go to get their film out there? Should they use the old path, and go to a film market?

Film Markets

I’ve said it before, and I maintain that I would not have a career had I not gone to the American Film Market.  However, if I were to give advice to anyone starting out today, I don’t know if I’d tell them they should go.  While there were a lot of buyers at AFM last year, none of them seemed to be buying enough to sustain that sort of system.  According to the Hollywood reporter, this year AFM hit “Schlock bottom” and the rich got richer. 

It’s not the right political climate for that to continue, and most of the people reading this probably aren’t studio heads or those making 5-10mm dollar features. ​

For more on Markets, Check out my book!

AVOD Surges

I think it’s very likely that we’ll see a massive surge in the Advertising supported video on demand market over the course of 2020.  That market is poised to explode, especially in the even of an economic downturn.  People are aware of AVOD, but many don’t really watch much of it due to a lack of content.  That’s changing.  Quickly.  TubiTV and PlutoTV’s buyers were some of the only people acquiring catalogs en mass at AFM in November.  Their user base is global, and growing. 

If there is an economic downturn, it’s likely that more people will have less money and more time.  That spells a boom for free entertainment, and the longer people watch the more ad impressions the platform racks up, even if the Cost per impression goes down due to lack of purchase power of the viewer.  If your content is up there, the more you engage with a new user base and the greater the royalties. 

So how do you maximize your profit in this landscape?

BUILD YOUR AUDIENCE!

Everything mentioned above are tactics to make your content available to your audience.  They all share the same problem, the inability to generate an audience or help a new audience discover your work.  So if you do one thing to build your filmmaking career, it should be to grow your audience.  If you have an engaged audience, it can sustain your career more than anything else.  It can make it more likely you’ll get picked up by an SVOD platform, it can help you have leverage with aggregators and sales agents you meet at markets, and if you are looking to grow your audience by having a free AVOD platform they can watch your content through that’s much more selective than something like YouTube can help you to do so.  

So if you want to grow your profits from film distribution, the solution is simple.  Build an audience hungry for your content.  If you want some help with that, the button below will let you join my email list and get a marketing packet that will help you with some additional information, money saving links, and templates. 

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5 Things to expect from the 2019 American Film Market #AFM2019

AFM this year will be interesting.  Here’s the current state from someone who’s been going for 10 years, and has been a Practicing Producer’s rep for 6 years.  Two quick things before we get started.  

First, You should definitely go to AFM at least once.  It’s eye-opening, and if I hadn’t done it I probably wouldn’t have a career.

Second: These opinions are mine alone, and have not been approved, endorsed, or otherwise condoned by the International Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) owner of the American Film Market.  (AFM is also a Registered Trademark of the IFTA.)

And with that, we’re on to the less optimistic (or legal) parts of the current state of AFM and Film Markets.

Film Markets could be in trouble.

All Film markets might be in trouble.  I’ve spoken with many buyers, and they’re pretty much ready to pack up shop.  There’s nowhere near as much money in it as there used to be, and it’s difficult to contuse to turn a profit in this changing landscape.  They’re not going away in the next year or so, but they are likely to recede over time. 

AFM is Becoming much more filmmaker focused in their marketing, which means less involvement from Buyers and Sales agents.

AFM Themselves have been shifting focus to their filmmaker services and somewhat away from their buyer and exhibitor services.  

That's not necessarily a bad thing in general.  It's what I tend to do with content like this, but I go for a very different customer set than AFM has historically. 
​ 
Buyer numbers have been on the decline for a few years, and if they continue to decline it will be difficult to attract the higher-priced exhibitors, and the culture of AFM and all markets is likely to change.  The Image below should help illustrate my point. 

The current system is prone to collapse in a down economy

2008 was Terrible for AFM.  I’ve been expecting a recession to happen at any point since around this time last year.  While the time that I was expecting it to happen seems to have passed, I’m still convinced of an impending recession, but willing to admit I might have missed the timing and the immediacy. 

In any case, when the recession happened in 2008, the market dried up and it still hasn’t fully recovered.  If we were to see another recession, it might spell the nail in the coffin for AFM and potentially the entire market scene.  What would replace it has yet to be seen, as after Distribber’s recent collapse it will be very interesting to see how filmmakers can get their films out there. 

Buyers have been on the decline for a few years. 

I mentioned this above, but total buyer attendance have been on the decline for the past 2 years.  It’s difficult to tell whether the size and number of deals have been increased, but given that the number of tickets sold on the top 100 box office films have remained largely stationary despite the box office revenue going up as well as a few other metrics and the general sentiment of my contacts on the sales agency side I’d be inclined to doubt it. 

Again, if buyers dry up, sales agents won’t keep coming.  When I’ve talked to sales agents about this over drinks, there’s a feeling of extreme pessimism bordering on depression about the current state. 

AVOD and SVOD buyers likely to be the biggest players this year. 

Given that many believe there’s a looking recession, SVOD and AVOD players are going to be even more sought after than they already are. AVOD is free for all, and SVOD doesn’t require extra payment on the consumer end. Given that the economy is a house of cards, many people who are struggling financially are more likely to cut services and stop buying individual rentals. They might even cancel subscriptions, which is likely to lead to a greater viewership of TubiTv, PlutoTV and other similar services.

Thanks so much for reading. If you want more on AFM, Check out Last Week’s blog, my first appearance on IndieFilm Hustle, or my book. Also, if this all seems a little dauting, consider submitting your film via the link below.

6 Things for Filmmakers to Prepare for the 2019 American Film Market #AFM2019

With AFM 2019 right around the corner, it’s time for filmmakers to prepare for the market and do their best to get a traditional distribution deal.  For those of you who don’t know, AFM is still the best place for American Filmmakers to get traditional, non-DIY distribution.  So, with that in mind, here are the major things you need to prepare. 

Also, For legal reasons, I need to say that the following: The American Film Market® AFM® are registered trademarks of the International Film and Television Alliance® (IFTA®) Any and all Opinions expressed in this video are Not Endorsed by the International Film and Television Alliance® or leadership at the American Film Market.

Just in case you'd rather watch than listen, Here's a Youtube Video on this topic!

Leads Lists

You need to know what sales agents and distributors you want to submit your film to. This starts with research and leads lists.  You need to figure out which sales agents tend to work in your genre and budget level, what similar films they’ve helped sell recently, what their current market lineup is, whether they require recognizable names, and who the name of their acquisitions lead and CEO are. 

To make your job easier, I put a free template in my resources packet which you can get by signing up below. 

Join my mailing list and get the FREE AFM Advance contact tracking template. 

Trailers

You need to get their attention, and a trailer is a great way to do it.  I’ve gotten limited theatrical agreements based on an excellent trailer.  See that trailer here.
​
If you don’t have a trailer, you can submit without it.  However, it will be much less likely to achieve the desired results. ​

Pitches

There are elements of an indie film pitch.  I tackle the topic in extreme detail in my book, but here’s an overview of what needs to go into that 10-30 second pitch.

• Title of Film

• Stage of development

• Any attachments

• Genre

• Sub-Genre/Audience

• Budget Range

Check out my book on Amazon for the full chapter

Related: What investors need to know about your movie

Key Art

You’ll need a poster, even if it’s a temp poster that’s eye catching and will convince the sales agent they can move units.  It can be a temp poster, but it needs to invoke the spirit of the film and imbue a sense of intrigue for anyone who looks at it. 

Promotional materials

Once you’ve got the key art, you can use it to create promotional materials.  One of those would be a quarter page flyer, another may be a tri-fold brochure.  I’ve included a pages and word document for use at festivals in the resources packet, but it could be modified for AFM.  If I get a few people tweeting at me or commenting the want it on my youtube videos that they’d like that, I might make it. 
​
​Screening links

If your film is done, you need screeners. The distributors will need to see it, and they’ll probably want a Vimeo screener. Youtube unlisted or private won’t due, as the compression on Youtube makes it difficult to see all the technical issues with the film.

If you can get it out in advance of the market, all the better. It normally takes a few markets to start seeing money from your film if you don’t get a minimum guarantee. Getting that started would be in the best interest of all involved.

Thanks so much for reading. If you liked this and want more, come back next week for what you should expect from AFM 2019, as well as where the market seems to be heading. OR, if you can’t wait, you could listen to me on Indie Film Hustle Talking about AFM. 

You could also check out my book!

 It’s the first book on Film Markets, used as a supplemental text in at least 10 film schools, and is still the highest selling book on film markets.  Check it out on Amazon Prime, Kindle, Audiobook on Audible, Online at Barnes and Nobles, Your Local Library, and anywhere books are sold. Also, join my email list to get a great indiefilm resource package totally free!

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The 6 Steps to Negotiating an Indiefilm Distribution Deal

Much of my job as a producer’s rep is negotiating deals on behalf of filmmakers.  However, now that I’m doing more direct distribution, I’m realizing there are several things about this process that most filmmakers don’t understand.  As I tend to write a blog whenever I run into a question enough that I feel my time is better spent writing my full answer instead of explaining it again, here’s a top-level guide on the process of negotiating an independent film distribution deal.

Submission

Ashley P.
Judah J.

Donald Evans
​​Clever Username

Generally, the first stage of the independent distribution process is submitting the film to the distributor.  There are a few ways this can happen.  Some distributors have forms on their website (mine is here) Others will reach out to films their interested in directly.  Some will have emails you can send your submissions to.  There are a few things to keep in mind here, but in the interest of brevity, just check out the blog I’ve linked to below.  There’s a lot of useful information in that blog, but I will say that YES, THE DISTRIBUTOR NEEDS A SCREENER IF THEY’RE ASKING FOR ONE.

Related: What you NEED to know BEFORE submitting to film distributors

Initial Talk​

Generally, the next step is for the distributor to watch the film.  I have a 20-minute rule, and that’s pretty common.  Generally, if I make it through the entire film, I’ll make an offer.  If I don’t, I won’t ever make an offer.  If I’m requesting a call, I’m normally doing so to size up the filmmaker and see if they’re going to be a problem to work with. 

This is not an uncommon move for distributors that actually talk to filmmakers and sales agents.  Generally, we want to discuss the film as well as size up the filmmaker before we send them a template contract. 

Template Contract

Generally, when we send over the template contract, it will be watermarked and a PDF so that the filmmaker can understand our general terms.  This also won’t have any identifying information for the film on there.  We’ll also attach it. Few appendices to the contract can change more quickly than the contract itself.  My deliverables contract is pretty comprehensive as of right now, but honestly, I think I’ll pare it down soon as I haven’t had to use much of what’s in there yet. 

Red-Lining

The next major step in the process of the distribution deal is going through and inserting modifications and comments using the relevant function on your preferred word processor.  Most of the time they’ll send it in MSWord, but you can open Word with pretty much any word processor and this is unlikely to be too affected by the formatting changes that happen as a result of putting the document into pages or open office.  That said, version errors around tracking changes do happen, and if you find yourself in that situation comment on everything.

What you should go through and do is make sure track changes are turned on, and then comment on anything you have a question about and cross out anything that simply won’t work for you.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Since someone commented on this at a workshop, I’m aware that Redlining has another historical context in the US, but it is the common parlance for this form of contract markup as well. I’m in favor of negotiating distribution deals, and not in favor of racist housing policies.

Counter-Offers

Generally, distributors and sales agents will review your changes, accept the ones they can, reject the ones they can’t, and offer compromises on others.  While there are some exceptions to this framework, after the first round of negotiations, it’s often a take-it-or-leave-it arrangement.  If it’s good enough, sign it and you’re in business.  If not, walk away.

Quality control

Most sales agents and distributors will have you send the film to a lab to make sure the film passes stringent technical standards. If you have technically adept editor friends, you’ll want them to do a pass first, as each time you go through QC it will cost you between 800 & 1500 bucks. You will need to use their lab, but it’s best for everyone if it passes the first time.

​If you need help negotiating with sales agents or just need distribution in general, that’s what I do for a living. Check out my services using the button below.  If you want more content like this, sign up for my email list so you can get content digests by topic in your inbox once a month, plus some great film business and film marketing resources including templates, ebooks, and money-saving resources.

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Why you ABSOLUTELY MUST Become an Indiefilm Entrepreneur

The concept of filmmaking entrepreneurship has been coming into vogue for quite some time now but has really started to take hold in the zeitgeist of our industry in the last 3-6 months.  The culmination of this was the launch of the Filmtrepreneur website, blog, and podcast.  From Alex Ferrari (Best known for Indie Film Hustle.).

However, Alex is far from the first to advocate for filmmaking entrepreneurship, despite potentially being the loudest voice in the space.  This blog at ProductionNext explores a lot of the most influential voices on this topic. I’m among although I didn’t have the foresight to brand it that way.  I think the reason for this is that more and more people are catching on that if you really want to be an indie filmmaker, the best answer in the current state of the industry is to be an entrepreneur.  Here’s why.

1. You’ve (Probably) got to

If you don’t have the ability to move to New York or LA and network your way into the studio system and don’t want to work for a local TV affiliate, becoming an indiefilm entrepreneur is your best way to make a sustainable living.  Most of us would rather not have a side gig or a 9-5 in order to keep a roof over our heads, but if we don’t build a brand and a company around our work there isn’t going to be much of an option.

In essence, building your brand, leveraging that into a community, and leveraging both of those into creating a sustainable company is your best bet to building sustainable revenue for yourself from your work.

2. There’s no money in MAKING films, only SELLING them.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.  Any accomplished filmmaker will know that you only spend money when you MAKE movies.  That’s fine, and it’s true for almost any product.  However, you can’t pay your bills if all your money goes to buying lenses and camera equipment.

If you get investors, you’ll need to pay them back.  If you put the film on your credit cards, you’ll need to pay those back too.  (Also, don’t do that.)

3. If you want a sustainable career in film, you need to make money

I know I said this in the last point, but you can’t pay your rent with exposure.  You also shouldn’t pay your crew this way. In order to make money, you need to sell your film.  As such, you should consider this from the moment you start writing your script.  You should think about your audience, your marketing strategy, and who is going to absolutely love your film to the point that they annoy their friends because they just won’t shut up about it.  That segues nicely to...

4. The Notion that if you just make a great movie, people will find it is a fallacy.

We all heard it in film school, but while there are a few kernels of truth to it, it’s not even close to true overall.  It’s definitely easier to sell a good movie than a bad one, and word of mouth is still the most effective form of marketing.  That said, quality isn’t the only determining factor in selling a movie.  (Check out the box office numbers for Transformers if you don’t believe me.) Things like Genre, recognizable names, and the amount of publicity you can generate also have HUGE impacts on the salability of a film.

Regarding word of mouth, it’s like a virus.  If you don’t hit a critical mass, it won’t do you much good.  In order to get your critical mass, you need to have a strong marketing strategy and a well-defined target market that is ideally made up of an underserved niche.  The reason for the underserved niche is that it helps make it much more cost-effective to market the film.

Related: Why your film needs a niche market

5. It’s the best (and maybe only) path to true filmmaking freedom

If you want to make the movies you want to make, building a brand, a community, an audience, and a company is the best way to achieve that goal.  If you work up through the studio system, you’re not going to be likely to reach the upper echelons before relatively late in your career (if at all) Even then, you’re likely to be subject to studio mandate which will make it difficult to make the films you really want to make.

As such, if you want to make films that really strike your fancy, the best way to do so is via becoming a film entrepreneur.  I was speaking with Rob Hardy of Filmmaker Freedom about this shortly before writing this particular blog, and that’s a lot of the new direction for his filmmaking podcast, which you should check out.  (I’ve linked it below)

CHECK OUT THE FILMMAKER FREEDOM PODCAST |Apple Podcasts|

Thanks so much for reading!  If you want some help building your company, you should consider hiring a consultant with exits behind them. I’m one of those, learn more about my services in the services button below.  If you’re not ready to do that, check out my free film business resources pack. You get the Entrepreneurial Producer E-Book templates to help you make an investment deck, festival brochure, track distribution submissions, and more. It’s free when you sign up for my email list.

How and Why to Test Screen Your Indiefilm

If you’re a filmmaker who’s got a film that’s nearing completion, you’re probably going to want to get some opinions on it before you think you’re ready.  This involves test screenings.  Given that I’ve hosted a few in the past, I’ve learned a few things that work and others that don’t. 

1. Invite people who aren’t filmmakers

While the very first people you’ll want to get feedback on your cut from probably ARE filmmakers, they won’t be the only people you want to talk to about your project.  Filmmakers tend to understand the process a bit better than a standard viewer and are going to be more able to look past a lack of color correction and audio that still needs work.

However, filmmakers have their own set of biases when it comes to low-budget independent work.  The easiest way past that is to do test screenings for the people you expect to WATCH your movie as opposed to those that helped you make it.  It’s best to wait until the film is nearly done before doing this, as these screenings tend to be labor-intensive and can be expensive.  Also, if you show the film too early, it can negatively impact the press for the film. ​  ​

Generally, I think the time you want to start showing people in the industry is around picture lock.  The test screenings should be done closer to the completion of the film when you think you stand a chance at getting into major festivals.

2. Give out PRINTED comment cards/Sheets at the close of the event.

I’ve done enough events to know that if you give out PAPER sheets for people to fill out anonymously at the event, you’ll probably get around 80-90% of your audience willing to fill them out.  However, if you send a follow-up survey in email, that number is around 10-20%, even if you incentivize them. 

As such, you should make sure you have a single-sided sheet ready for people to fill out at the event.  Don’t make people give you their names, but do ask about their age range and potential ethnicity.  If there are other demographics you plan on targeting, you should also add questions asking people if they identify with any of those groups. 

I’ve added a few templates to my resources section below.

Get the FREE template in my resources section!

3. Ask the viewers to RATE the film on IMDb & give them the ability to AT THE SCREENING

IMDb is one of the earliest places you can start asking consumers to rate your film.  In general, it’s best if you ask them to rate the film at the test screening.  You can set up a subdomain on your site that automatically redirects to the IMDb page.  Then you can use a QR code generator to make sure people have access to it.  Give them time to fill out the form and rate the film between the film finishing up and a Q&A.  The whole process (for both) should take 10 minutes or less, meaning a 15-minute break will also allow people to use the bathroom. 

I believe your film needs to be marked as completed to capture this rating. ​

4. Capture emails to let the beta viewers know when the film comes out.

If you’re a filmmaker, you need to build your email list. (More on that in the related blog below.) You should create a custom tag for people who attend the screening of your film.  If you capture RSVPs of people through Eventbrite, then you can just add that tag when you import them to mail chimp or whatever other mailing management program you want to use. 

Related: Why every filmmaker needs an email list.

5. Consider inviting local press

If your film is gearing up for release, offering press passes to local print outlets, prominent bloggers talking about movies, or other digital creators will probably serve you well.  It may or may not get them to actually come out, but the benefits of them coming.  Just make sure you’re not spammy about it.

Related: 6 Rules for contacting press.

Thanks so much for reading! If this all seems like a bit much, I do it for some of the films I represent or distribute. If you’d like me to consider yours, check out my services page. If you like this content, you should check out my new youtube channel. Also, don’t forget about the templates, ebook, and way more in my resources packet.

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How Filmmakers Can Use Community Screenings to Maximize Impact and Profits

For those of you who are unfamiliar, a community screening model is an alternate version of a theatrical where instead of booking theaters across the country.  There are so many places with high-quality sound systems across the country that it can make a lot of sense to book these secondary locations instead of spending the money to four-wall a theater.  Since we talked about what a community screening package generally includes, I thought I’d go over what it takes to book those screenings this week. 

1. Identify your Target Audience

​As stated above, community screenings are best utilized when there’s already a strong presence of your niche audience gathered around the same geographic location.  This most likely means that you’re going to need to target a niche like the Faith-Based community, the LGBT community, or some other cause-oriented community. 

The Secret utilized community screenings to great effect, as did other documentaries like Food Inc and Forks over Knives.  This tactic is most commonly utilized by documentary filmmakers, as their films tend to attract dedicated niche audiences with slightly more ease than a narrative film would.  That said, if you can build a following for yourself and your film within this niche, there’s no reason that these same sorts of tactics couldn’t work as well. ​

2. Figure out a communal gathering place for them

If your community has a regular meeting place, such as a church, rec center, yoga studio, or other area that has a large screen that can be used to show movies it can be an extremely effective place to start talking to someone about hosting a film screening. 

Even if your film isn’t a faith-based film, some unitarian churches may still be worth approaching.  The biggest downside to places like Unitarian churches, (or general use area like a rec center) is that they don’t always have the same sort of community built around them that places like churches tend to. 

3. Research those community leads lists

Once you find an example community gathering place, you’re going to want to look for similar places around whatever region you’re looking to advertise community screenings too.  I wouldn’t generally say to do a screening at more than one location per city, but since you’re not going to close every place you try, I’d consider getting 5-10 per area you want to screen in. 

​Keep in mind, You’re living in a large, sprawling city like Los Angeles or Denver.  If you are, you might want to consider holding one in different areas of the city.  For Denver, you could consider one in LoDo, one in Aurora, one in Cherry Creek, and one in Highland’s Ranch.  In LA, you could consider one in DTLA, one in Culver, one in Burbank, one in Santa Monica, and one in Westwood, etc.

4. Create a screening package

I covered this last week since this blog was likely to come out long.  Read it below:

RELATED: The 9 Essential elements of an indifilm Community Screening package.

5. Generate marketing materials

The marketing materials I’m talking about are for marketing the people who would host the community screening, not those who would attend.  The materials for those who would attend will be covered in more detail on the expansion of section 4 next week. 
​
What I mean here are things like a pre-written email that you can plug some names into and send, a brochure on your film and why it would appeal to both your target audience and the people hosting it, a tiered pricing plan for your screenings that ideally start as a revenue share and go up from there.

6. Sell the community Screening package to them.

Finally, it’s time to dial for dollars and reach out to them. If possible, it will help your close rate immensely to send them the brochure in advance, but that can get a bit pricy. You can try sending a cold email, but it’s reasonably likely that you’d end up in more spam filters than would likely be helpful. I know that telemarketing isn’t fun, but it can be extremely useful in terms of actually moving these sorts of packages.

Thanks so much for reading! If all of this sounds like a lot, that’s because it is! Lucky for you, it’s also a service I offer. Check out the Guerrilla Rep Media Services page. If you’re still figuring out what the next steps are for your film, you should grab my free film business resources pack. It’s got Templates for festival brochures, distribution, tracking sheets, an investment deck template, a free ebook, a whitepaper on the economics of the film industry, and more. Also, you’ll get monthly content digests to help you grow your film business knowledge base on a manageable schedule.

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9 Essential Elements of an Independent Film Community Screening Package

If you’re making a film with an extremely niche audience, it can make A LOT of sense to consider hosting some community screenings in place of a more traditional theatrical run. While this tactic is most commonly used for documentaries that have a strong social message, it’s also a tool that can be quite effective when utilized by narrative films targeting a very well-defined niche.  Here’s what goes into the package you’ll be selling to anyone who might want to screen your film.

Essentially, what you’re selling is an event kit that includes pretty much everything that an event organizer will need to create an event around your film so both of you can make money. 

1. The rights to publicly screen the film

You can’t legally screen a film to a gathering of people without a special kind of license.   Many times, this license is more of a handshake agreement, but if you’re doing anything at scale you need a special agreement.  Since if you’re doing this effectively, it’s probably going to be something that’s replicated across many screens across the country, it’s best to plan in advance and include the full license as part of the community screening agreement.

2. Questions to facilitate conversations after the film

Most of the time, the goal of a community screening is not just to show the film, but to build community around it.  Starting a conversation around the film when it’s over can be a great way for people to begin to understand not only the film, but the other people in the community watching it.  As such, providing a list of sample questions to anyone who would be hosting the event is a great way to make sure that the community building around your film is likely to go well. 

3. Art Assets for social media

Not everyone is good at social media marketing.  I would recommend that you create a set of art assets that can be easily modified to include the host and location for each of the following.

• Facebook (general)

• Facebook (event)

• Meetup

• Instagram

If you think I missed one, leave it in the comments. ​

4. A Pricing Plan

If you want to attract good event hosts, they’ll need to know what they need to pay.  Generally, it’s best to structure this as a hard cost plus revenue share, with the potential to add consumables like DVDs to the list. If you do a Revenue Share, you need to insist that you host it through your Eventbrite. 

Another couple of add-ons you could consider is Skyping or zooming in after the screening to take questions.  You could also include the ability to fly out, but that would be a MUCH higher price point that includes travel. ​

5. Easily printable standard page size flyers in both black and white and color

You should include easily printed and customizable flyers in black and white and in color for your event hosts to put up around town and use for promotion.  You do need black and white and color separately, as color is more eye-catching but black and white is more cost effective.  These should be print-ready pdfs based on a template you created.  Here’s an example i made for a masterclass I recently did in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  (it’s a .jpb it displays in this blog.)

6. Easily printable quarter page size flyers

This is the same sort of concept as the full-page flyers but sized so they can be given out or left somewhere. 

7. A Sample Press Release/EPK

This might be the most important item on this list.  One of the biggest reasons that you want to do these screenings is to increase the profile of the film.  If you get a significant amount of local press coverage, you’ll end up getting a significant boost to your SEO.  You should also make sure you include a few quotes from you about the film, and a few images to make the job of the local reporter as easy as possible. 

8. Testimonials

You should get some quotes about your film from any notable person you can that’s seen it.  If you’re past your festival run, you should consider looking at any of the reviews you got about the project. 

9. General best practices for marketing events

Not all community organizations are great at marketing events. So, an electronic file delivery of best practices for marketing a screening like this would be very useful to them.  Having recently worked with a few arts organizations, I wish I had made a template with more detail to better get the word out and get a few more people to show up.  

Thanks so much for reading! Next week I’ll release a blog about how to actually market this package.

This is a service I provide for my clients, so if you’d like me to consider taking yours on, use our services button below. if you want more content just like this, sign up for my email list to get monthly blog digests segmented by topic as well as some great film business resources.

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How To Title a Film so it SELLS

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, so you’d think it should follow that you shouldn’t judge a film by its title.  You would think wrong.  Title is a hugely important part of your film marketing, and it should be something you think about from the very beginning, not simply as an afterthought.  So here’s how to go about creating a title that will stick.

Short

Brevity is key when it comes to titles.  You don’t want more than one or two words.  If it starts with A or a number, that can be better as some cataloging systems  in various parts of the world still primarily use Alphatical Sorting.  This is less important than it used to be, as most of the major players have algorithms that take a lot more into account when recommending a film.   Altough if you look at films from the early 2010s, you’ll notice a disproportionate amount that start with a number, A, or B.  This is why. 

The reason you want it to be short is that shot can be easier to remember, and easier to make an impact with.  This leads me to the next point.

Accurate to the film

The title of the film definitely needs to reflect the film itself, otherwise it’s not going to ring true to anyone who watches the film, which will end poorly for you.  More in the blog below

Related: The SINGLE most important thing in your Movie Marketing

Punchy

Being punchy is about being memorable.  Think about the difference between A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones.  Game of Thrones the same general intellectual property, fewer words, much more punchy and much more memorable.  Although A Song of Ice and Fire is also a thematically relevant title, Game of Thrones is much easier to latch on to. 

It’s got to be Memorable

There’s a strong chance that if you and your distributor are doing your marketing and publicity right, a potential customer will have heard of your film prior to whenever they come across the ability to watch the film.  Here are some Examples

Zombie with a Shotgun
Snakes on a Plane
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

These are all genre examples I could think of off the top of my head, but there are lots of other things that make your title memorable. Comment some of your favorites and I might include them in the YouTube Port.

 If the title is memorable, they’re more likely to move to the next step in the independent film purchase process.  More below.

Related: The independent film purchase process

Unique (or at least highly unusual) for SEO.

​Rising above the vast amount of noise due to the glut of content created in the indiefilm world is crucial to success.  Good SEO is key to that.  If people hear about your movie, you don’t want it to be hard to find.  As such, you should be thinking about how to best differentiate yourself from the slew of content out there, and choosing an unusual title is part of that.

It doesn’t need to be unique, we’re not talking about exclusivity and trademarks here.  It does, however need to be more discoverable than a film with a title like Peter Pan that’s made multiple times every single year. ​
​
When we released The Devil’s restaurant, it was as a result of a change from “The Restaurant” primarily for SEO and memorability purposes.

Easy to spell

If people keep misspelling your title, it will make it harder to index and harder to find.   I’ll admit I’m a hypocrite on this one.  “Guerrilla” is extremely hard to spell.  That said, I made the mistake so you don’t have to, and you might see some more corrections I’m making on that soon. 

Be Careful of Double-Entendres

Titles with double meanings can be great, but if it’s not something you intended it can be extremely bad. Examples off the top of my head could be Snatch, Fire Down Below, or Free Willy. Great titles, terrible for immature jerks who blog.

Expect the title to change for the international releases

A lot of movie marketing tends to change depending on what country the film is being released in. This is especially true for the title. One film I represented came to me as Paralyitic, then was distributed internationally as Still Alive, and marketed domestically as Narco Hitman. Another was Luna De Cigarres in South America, Cicada Moon in the US (Originally), and Filthy Luck internationally.

Also, yes. Your distributor has the right to change the title. The best way to avoid them doing it is to give them no reason to.

If you like this blog, you’d probably like others I write, so sign up for my email list via the button below. Also, check me out on YouTube for more film-related content you can listen to instead of reading.

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Why I started a YouTube Channel

I started a Youtube Channel!  I’ve been debating whether or not to do so for a while, but I wanted to make sure I did it right. With the release of this blog and this video, I’m now going to be releasing around One video a week, and maybe more in the future.  Why am I doing this?  You can read on to find out, or just watch the video below.

There’s this misconception that youtube is for amateurs and people who haven’t found their way into the real film industry yet.  So I’ve already had a decent level of success in film, why am I starting one? While there is a bit of truth behind that misconception, the notion is outdated.  It’s best to view YouTube as it’s own social media platform, where some things work and others don’t.  After all, if Will Smith isn’t too big for youtube, there’s no universe in which I would be.

All of that only answers why not start a youtube channel, but I still haven’t stated why.  After all, I am busy with my work with film representation and distribution, writing blogs and books, speaking, appearing on podcasts, and more.  How is it worth my time to start a YouTube Channel?  Well, here are the 5 reasons I’m doing it. 

I practice what I preach

I’m continually advising my clients to expand their social media presence.  If you don’t build a brand and a community around your work, you won’t be able to build a sustainable career in the film industry at this present time.  YouTube can be fantastic for engaging with your community and can be a great tool for building your online presence. 

Experimentation is necessary for growth

In order to grow your independent film career, you need to take risks and experiment.  Some of them end great, and others end terribly.  The only thing you can do is to keep trying and measure your results as you do.  In lean methodology, this is summarized in the build, measure, learn feedback loop.  If you don’t build it and test it, you’ll never figure out what works. 

Social media is constantly changing.

Pretty much any serious user of any social media platform knows that all of the major platforms are constantly changing.  Facebook and LinkedIn recently changed the Functionality of their share tools, so I’m looking for more ways to get in front of eyeballs. The other thing here is that diversification of the platforms you put out content for will help you make sure that your presence remains strong even if certain platforms change in a way that adversely affects you. 

I’ve been blogging for a long time, but not everyone has time to read as much as they’d like.

At this point, my collection of blogs and books is fairly vast.  I believe I’ve written around 170 individual blogs across various platforms plus 3 books over my time writing.  While I did make one audiobook, These Vlogs and livestreams are likely to be something you can listen to as much as watch, at least to start.  That may change over time, as it’s likely I’ll start to implement graphics into the videos if this gets enough traction. 

My life goal is to make the Film Industry a Sustainable investment class.

​That may sound like a complete non-sequiter, but a HUGE barrier to that is filmmakers not understanding business. By helping to make the knowledge filmmakers need to build their own sustainable careers and companies practically ubiquitous, we can help overcome the knowledge gap and move closer to that goal. Until Alex Ferrari’s FilmTrepreneur came along, very few people were doing this on YouTube, despite there being a dirty of knowledge related to filmmaking.

So that’s why I started a youtube channel. Thanks for reading, but next time you should probably watch the video and listen to it. If you like the idea, check out my channel, subscribe, and ring the notification bell so you know when I drop a video. You can find that via the button below. Also, if you’re super psyched about this, please share this post or any of the videos themselves. It definitely helps. See you Next week!

What Every Investor Needs to Know about Your Independent Film

They say that most people know whether or not they would get into bed with someone in the first conversation.  Admit it, you didn’t realize I was talking about investors giving you money right there, did you?  Jokes aside, there are a few key things your investor is going to need to know about your project in order to give you any serious consideration.

But before we get started, let me clarify that this is not the entire conversation.  This Is the conversation that will get you to the point you can send over documents for much deeper consideration.  Also, any one of these key points can disqualify an investor or a distributor.  That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad, it just means it’s not for them

Related blogs: How to Write a Look Book, Deck, & Business Plan (series)

Stage of development

There’s more than one time you’ll need to raise money.  As such, it’s good to clarify where you are with it upfront.

Related: The 4 Stages of indiefilm Financing (and where to find the money)

Genre

Your film is hugely important.  Generally, you’ll want to only list one genre as it denotes the style and feel of your film, and maybe 2-3 sub genres as those will inform both your setting, your audience, and general themes.  An example would be Goodland is a Slow-Burn Crime Thriller. 

Related: Why Genre is VITAL to Indiefilm Marketing & Distribution

Related: How Distributors Think of Genre & Sub Genre

Attachments

Investors will want to know who you have on board.  This can be distributors, recognizable name talent, tested directors, or anything else that may be marketable.  A couple of examples  would be Black Gold: America is Still the place stars Mike Colter (AKA Marvel’s Luke Cage.) It could also be The Cutlass has Wild Eye Releasing attached for Domestic distribution, and Leomark Studios handling international Sales. 

Related: Why your film still needs recognizable name talent. 

Budget

If you’re talking to an investor, you should say your total budget.  If you’re talking publicly to a distributor, you should give a range.  An example would be Goodland is a SAG Ultra-Low Budget Small town Crime thriller if you’re talking to anyone other than an investor.  If you’re talking to an investor, you’d say Made Up Movie Name is budgeted at 17 million dollars and we already have Governator McActionFace attached to star in it.  That’s why we need the extra 10 million beyond the 7 we already raised.

Logline

Your logline isn’t a 20 page treatment.  It’s a punchy sentence describing your project.  Everything up to this point is something you should be able to get out in about 10-15 seconds.

An example would be Goodland is a Completed SAG-AFTRA Ultra Low Budget Crime Thriller set in rural Kansas.  When a mysterious photographer shows up in town the same day the body of a drifter turns up dead in a cornfield, the local sheriff (played by Cinnamon Schultz of Winter’s Bone) must piece together the conspiracy before it’s too late. 

Financial Mix

The big reason your investor needs to know this is to make a better risk assessment.  It will also inform how much you’re asking them for.  You should never expect investors to cover your whole budget. 

An example of this would be something like Of our 4 million dollar budget, we’re raising 2.5mm in equity.  The rest is being covered by an MG-backed Presale from our sales agent, tax incentives from that place we’re shooting are being monetized by huge state businesses. ​

(Author's) note: Since it came up in the comments, I thought I'd clarify that the 4 million dollar example above is taken from a different film as the one I mentioned in the logline example.

Read more: The 9 ways to finance an independent film

Related: What’s the difference between an LOI & a Presale?

Target Demographic/Expected Audience

​Your Investor is going to want to understand how they get you’re going to get their money back to them, which means that you need to know who will buy your movie.  Think of this as placing a target, so you know where to shoot the arrow in the next step.  An example would be: After a few test screenings, we’ve realized that the target audience for The Cutlass is women aged 30-49.  Or, Based on ratings data gathered from similar films on IMDb Pro, we expect that that Made-up-action-movie starring Governator McActionFace will appeal primarily to Non-college educated White Men aged 30-55.  Especially those in Texas. 

Related: How do I figure out who to sell my movie to?

Marketing Plan.

Finally, they’ll need to know how you plan to reach that audience.  If figuring out your audience is placing the target, Marketing is shooting the arrow.  

As an Example: The Cutlass will be available across all standard TVOD platforms, Amazon Prime, and SVOD platforms.  We’ll utilize an aggressive PR and Awareness campaign to reach our core demographic, and get seeded in Amazon Prime’s Algorithm, and we will consider additional artwork to appeal to our new demographic.

Another example, Made-Up-Action Movie will utilize Governator McActionFace’s star power to raise awareness on the standard talk-show circuit prior to the US Release, while seeding early adopters with press and advance screenings in Texas, Montana, parts of Colorado, and Arizona.  Our theatrical run will focus primarily on screens in smaller secondary and rural markets. 

Thanks so much for reading!  If you liked this blog, and want more like it, share it on your social media. ​

Blogging might look like my full-time job, but it’s not, I also distribute and consult on movies. Some of which I listed above. If you’d like yours to be next, click the relevant button below. If you want to stay up to date about classes, events, and other filmmaker focus content, as well as get a resource packet with lots of valuable templates and other exclusive resources, join my mailing list with the button below.

What is a Recoupable Expense in Independent Film Distribution?

Filmmakers Ask me about Recoupable Expenses all the time.  A lot of filmmakers think that recoupable expenses mean money they have to pay.  Except in some VERY limited circumstances, that’s not the case.

A recoupable expense is simply an expense that a distributor or sales agent fronts to your film.  Another way of looking at this is that your distributor is your last investor, as they’re putting in a zero-interest loan in the form of paying for fees and services necessary to take the film to market. Most of the time, the distributor will need to get that money back before they start paying the filmmaker.  Distributors and sales agents have businesses to run and generally put money into anywhere between 24 and 60 films every year.  Without the ability to recoup what we put in, distributors would not be able to continue to invest in new films.

Before we really get into what each type of recoupable expense is.  There are generally 2 or 3 types.  Capped, uncapped, and Uncovered Expenses.  Here’s what they mean.

Capped Expenses

These are expenses that fall into a cap that cannot be exceeded by the distributor.  It’s normally a total cap that encompasses all expenses listed in an appendix.  If the expense is listed as capped, it is generally a total cap, not an individual cap.  A lot of filmmakers ask for individual caps but most distributors won’t do that. We did at Mutiny for the sake of transparency, but probably caused more problems than it solved due to confusion around the expense system.

Generally, there’s a reserve for capped expenses that often just ends up being the total amount of the expense cap.  This should be too bad as most of the capped expenses will be spent getting the film ready to take to market. 

Examples of Capped Expenses

This is not meant to be a complete list, but it is some of the most common examples. (I did take these from my Appendix B, but I added a few.)

Key Art Generation
DVD Art Generation
DVD Menu Generation
Trailer Generation
Aggregation fees
M.O.D. Listing Fees
ISBN listing fees
Publicity fees (generally Cross Collateralized with other clients at the same stage.)
Social Media Advertising
Market Fees. 
Minimum Guarantee (If Any)

These are all parts of bringing a film to market that are largely unavoidable.  Personally, I don’t spend the money if I don’t need to.  Like, if the film has a phenomenal trailer and key art, I don’t make new key art or cut a new trailer.  As a result, I don’t charge for those expenses.  This decision is solely at the discretion of the distributor, generally speaking.   Also, this is very much the rarity. 

Market fees will often be on the recoupable expenses (They’re not on mine, but that’s another story.) However, if they are there they should definitely be cross collateralized.  No single film should bear the total cost of market fees for a slate. 

Uncapped Expenses

Uncapped expenses are exactly what they sound like they are. That said, they’re not necessarily as scary as they sound like they are, providing that you’re not dealing with a predatory sales agent or distributor. Expenses a distributor covers but are not subject to caps.  These expenses are generally things that you’d often want to go higher, as it means more sales are being made.  Look at the examples below. 

Examples of Uncapped Expenses.

Again, this is not a complete list. 

Physical Media Replication.
DCP Generation.
Errors and Omissions Insurance (as needed)
Any expense outlined in As Needed deliverables. 
4-Walled Theaters (Upon Mutual Agreement in Writing)

In order to replicate more DVDs & Blu-Rays, a distributor must be selling them.  You want them to do that.  In order to generate more DCPs the Distributor must be booking theaters, which is generally a good thing.  Errors and Omissions insurance is generally only required for large PayTV or SVOD deals (like Netflix, Hulu, Starz, Showtime, and HBO) or broadcast deals.  As such, if you need E&O you probably got a big SVOD or Broadcast deal. ​​

Related: Indiefilm Media Right Types

Regarding needed Deliverables, there are some deliverables that a re only needed in very limited circumstances like Beta Tapes, and others.  There are reasons for each of them, but they get added beyond the cap as they’re difficult to anticipate.   Here’s the relevant section of a series I wrote on distribution deliverables.  

Related: Distribution Deliverables 4/4 - As Needed Deliverables. 

Uncovered Expenses​

Uncovered expenses is generally anything not listed in the appendix, although some expenses may not be covered like the 4-Walled Theaters listed above.  These are expenses that the filmmaker may be invoiced for.  They are rare, and the filmmaker SHOULD have advance notice of them.

​Some exceptions

For a long time I thought the term “Recoupable expense” was self-explanatory, but given all the questions I’ve gotten about it, I thought I would make sure it was said completely plain. As stated right at the top, most of the time, the filmmaker is not liable for unrecouped expenses. There are two primary exceptions. The first is the uncovered expenses above, where filmmakers will be invoiced immediately. This is rare, and generally VERY transparent. If it’s not, that’s another issue.

The other exception is generally if the filmmaker tries to take the film back prior to the close of the full term of the contract while expenses remain to be recouped. That's also normally spelled out in a contract. 

Thanks for Reading! As you can see, writing blogs and creating content is not my only (or even my primary job.) I also represent movies for sales and distribution. If you’d like me to consider yours, use the services button below. If you want to continue to reap the benefits of this free knowledge, grab my free indiefilm business resource package! some free resources, join my mailing list. You’ll get free blog digests that are like a topical e-book in your inbox every month, as well as templates to help you prep for festivals and investors or track your contact with sales agents, an actual e-book, and a whitepaper. That one is the lowest button

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How an Audience Buys Indie Movies

AKA The Indiefilm Purchase Process

If you want to understand how best to market something, you need to first understand the steps that a customer would take in buying it.  This isn’t just true for film, it’s true for everything any entrepreneur might want to sell.  It’s called the purchase process or purchase cycle. Here’s what it looks like for film.

I’ll start out by saying this is primarily for independent films, and the prioritization is centered around independent films where the customer doesn’t know the creator.   This process is meant to start when they see your film on a platform.  There’s a chance they might have heard of the press or on social media before that point, or that you directly lead them to that link.  If that’s the case, the only thing it really changes is that they’ll be more likely to buy the film in fewer steps due to the relationship you built with that customer to get them there. 

This is more based on my general observations of myself and others. While I’d LOVE more of a data-backed approach to this, so far as I know none currently exists that’s available to the public. At least not as of the time I’m writing this.

This blog is focused on VOD content.  The process is similar regardless of whether or not the customer has to pay for your movie.  That said, it’s much easier to move your potential customer to the next step and to click the watch button if they don’t have to pay to watch it, because duh. 

Glimpse the KeyArt

Generally, the first interaction with your film will be your thumbnail key art, or in some cases the cover of your DVD.  If you don’t catch their interest on the thumbnail, they probably won’t move to the next steps in the purchase process. 

That said, there are a few exceptions here related to search filters for whatever VOD platform you’re watching the film on.  There’s a chance the customer will have heard of your film from a review site or general publicity before seeing the key art on the relevant platform, however, even if they have it’s not incredibly likely they’ll seek the film out.  However, It might make them more likely to proceed to the next step in the purchase process if they’ve heard of it before randomly seeing it. ​

This step is also quite important on platforms like youtube or Facebook when you’re marketing the film directly to your audience. 

Read Title

Second, if the poster caught the customer’s eye then they’ll read the title.  If the title is catchy, they’ll probably move on to the next step.  If it’s not, they might move on to the genre, but it won’t help the film close overall. 

Check Genre

This step might be bypassed due to search filters, or other parts of the discovery algorithm of whatever platform your customer is interacting with your content through.  If it’s free to watch, there’s a good chance that the customer will make their decision on this alone.  If they continue on the path to purchase, every step makes it more likely until they either buy/watch the film or don’t. 

Related: Why Genre is VITAL to Indiefilm Distribution

Check Platform Rating

Some consumers are really invested in what the algorithm of their favorite platforms thinks they’ll like.  Generally, it’s an early part of their decision as to whether or not they’ll watch a film, even if it’s only something like “We think it’s a 30% match vs a 90% match.  In this instance, it seems like low ratings mean a lot more than high ratings do. 
​

Read the (short) Synopsis

If they didn’t decide to make watch the film based on the information up until now, they read whatever description of the film is native on the site.  It’s important this be exciting and punchy, as it’s getting very close to the point where the customer will decide whether or not to buy your movie. 

Watch Trailer

If the platform the customer is watching your independent film on offers the ability to watch a teaser clip or trailer, your potential customer may watch it before they watch your independent movie.  Your distributor will probably re-cut it to make it punchy, but they may not if you made it well enough.  That’s what happened with Goodland.  (watch the Trailer)

Related: How to best COLLABORATE with your distributor to Market your MOVIE

Rotten Tomatoes/IMDb

After the genre, they’ll probably check the star rating for whatever platform they’re using. If they’re considering buying the content, they may check the Tomatometer or IMDb as well. A lot of platforms have at least one of those metrics native in the display right now.

All of that being said, reviews are still incredibly important, as they’ll help you reach new potential audience members, and if they heard of you before, they’re more likely to get past the first step or two in this process.

Thanks so much for reading! If you like this blog, you’ll probably like my other blogs. Sign up for my mailing list and you’ll get free monthly blog digests segmented by topic, and a great FREE set of resources, including a free e-book, free whitepaper, templates for investment decks and festival brochures, and a whole lot more!

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How to get Short Film Distribution

I get A LOT of questions about how best to make money with short films.  It’s something that I think is inherently appealing to most filmmakers, to start making a little bit of passive income from every project they make.  Unfortunately, while possible, it’s not that easy, and the reasons why are relatively simple.

The root issue of why it’s hard to make money with shorts lies in basic economics.  There are far more shorts created o an annual basis than there is demand from those who are willing to pay for them.  Think about it, when’s the last time YOU paid to watch a short?  When was the last time you WATCHED a short on its own outside of a film festival or before a Pixar movie?  I might be wrong for you individually, but I’d bet that for most of you, there are crickets in the background while you try to remember when it happened.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably more likely to consume shorts so than a member of the general public.  According to the best available estimates I’ve been able to find, there are around 131,000 shorts produced every year in the US alone.  (The source for that is in a whitepaper in my resources section.) There just aren't enough people willing to spend money on these sorts of shorts.  That said, shorts have their purposes.  They can help you network, build your skills, or build your brand.  So with that in mind, here are the 7 ways to.

Also, yes.  I'm aware that there are a few sales agents who license shorts.  However, they're few and far between, and I don't see many people.  flocking to them.  

1. Use it to build your brand and your skills.  

First off, almost none of these ways to make money with your shorts are exclusive.  You can likely use more than one of them at the same time.  In fact, in many ways the more of these tactics you use the better it’s likely to be in terms of building your brand, as in order to have a meaningful brand, you must first have awareness of yourself and your work. 

Part of using your shorts to expand your brand is submitting it to festivals to see if you get in, and attending those festivals to get the most out of it. ​

Skill building is slightly outside the purview of how to make money with your shorts, but since you won't make money from a poorly executed feature, it's worth mentioning.  Shorts are great practice for you to grow your skills in whatever position you want to grow into.  

2. Use as a proof of concept for a feature.

One example of this working is the film Slingblade, which started with Billy Bob Thornton giving a riveting performance as the title character in a single location and largely a single shot.  That short then got into some major festivals, and was picked up and turned into a feature film.   

That said, this is much more the exception than the rule.  Most of the time people try to expand their short into a feature by approaching sales agents or studios, it doesn’t work.  The reason it’s as high as it is on this list is purely that when it does work, the value of it is huge. 
What would mean a lot more is if you can prove that there’s an audience for your work, which really ties back into #1. 

3. Sell it to a shorts program

PBS and a few others have short programs that will actually pay to license your short.  There are also several channels on youtube offering you “Exposure” for posting your video.  They keep the ad revenue of course.  There are brand-building advantages to doing this, as it can expose you and your work to an audience it would otherwise be difficult to reach, however, there’s not as many brand advantages as you might hope there are.  Additionally, you should not give these people the exclusive right to your short under any circumstances.

4. Put it on Amazon Prime and put considerable effort into promoting it.

As we mentioned earlier, it’s unlikely people are going to pay for your short.  #SorryNotSorry.  That said, if you can give them a way to watch it for free, then you might get something.  So you might want to try Amazon Prime. Sure you only get paid 6 cents per hour viewed, but if you happen to strike a chord and get caught up in their algorithm, it can lead to more money than you may be expecting.

Edit from the future: this sadly isn’t possible anymore.

5. Use it as an email capture giveaway.

If you’re starting to get a brand behind you, then you might want to keep some of your early shorts behind an email capture on your website.  This might also be a good place to keep some special features from your feature-length DVDs as few people tend to actually buy physical media anymore.  Using this as an incentive to join your email list can be a good way to grow your email list and expand engagement with your burgeoning community.  That being said, this is generally only advisable if you’ve already got some work and a brand under your belt. 

6. Put it on Youtube and put considerable effort into promoting it.

Starting a youtube channel is quite a lot of work. (I have no reason to know that mind, you) So doing it for a single short film isn’t going to give you a lot of traffic other than the traffic you specifically drive to it.  However, while you’re building a brand, it’s an absolute must to have it easy to find.  Vimeo has a much higher quality player, but the social features on YouTube are better.  That said, there’s not a lot of reason not to do both of them, as well as putting the film on Amazon Prime.  You probably won’t make much, but having it available in multiple places can help you build your brand more than you may think it would. 

7. Get your friends together, license their shorts, and sell your shorts as a package.

A huge drawback to marketing a single shot is the low return for the amount of effort it takes to capture the attention of people considering watching your project. So, it might make more sense to try to package your shorts with others to make the effort more worth your time. That being said, buyers at film markets have less than no interest in anthologies. As a result, neither do Sales agents. So if you do this, you’re likely in it on your own.

Thanks so much for reading!  If you enjoyed this blog, you should consider joining my email list for lots of free goodies including templates, an ebook, a whitepaper, and more. If you’re looking for direct guidance to take your project to the next level, Check out the Guerrilla Rep Media Services page. Links for both of those in the buttons below.

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One HUGE Don't When Dealing with Film Distributors

As with nearly anything in life, there are dos and don’ts when you; ’re dealing with your independent film distributor.  Also as with most things in life, there is (at least) one thing you can do that will irreparably harm your relationship with that distributor and might even result in legal action taken against you.  What is it? Read on to find out.

DON’T GO AROUND YOUR DISTRIBUTOR OR SALES AGENT TO SELL YOUR FILM

Once you sign with a producer’s rep, sales agent, or Distributor for your project, they have the right to negotiate on your behalf.  Many buyers won’t deal with filmmakers directly, so the point of contact will either be your producer’s rep or Sales agent. 

While most buyers will appreciate the filmmakers helping to push the film, they will not be so grateful for reaching out to the buyer directly about reports, or any other form of unapproved contact. 

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t help promote your film in ways that it makes sense to do so.  See the blogs below for reasons why. 

Related: WHY you should help your distributor MARKET your MOVIE

Related: HOW to Best COLLABORATE your Distributor MARKET your Movie

The biggest takeaway for how to market your movie that you can take from the blog above is to only post approved links.  If you’re smart, you’ll also include Vimeo on Demand and Vimeo OTT as a holdback for you to sell the film through your own website.  Distributors tend not to utilize that right, so it’s generally something that you’ll be able to negotiate.  It’s included as a holdback in my standard template contracts for the filmmaker’s country of origin.  I do stipulate that it’s generally subject to advisement regarding the timing of the release.  

Another thing that you should be fine “selling” is whatever you need to fulfill any crowdfunding obligations like DVDs, Blu-Rays, and TVOD Screeners.  Although again, you should make sure to negotiate this into your distribution agreement.  That said, it’s never been an issue, although it might be subject to the same sort of advisement on timing as the Vimeo on Demand example above.

If you distributor does not agree to either of the stipulations above, you should consider walking.  Here are some tips on vetting your distributor/Sales agent, and producer’s rep.

Related: How to vet your distributor/Sales Agent

Related: How to Vet Your Producer’s Rep

The biggest thing you need to keep in mind is that no matter how much you disagree with the choices on artwork and marketing made by the distributor, you should not post any unauthorized sales links.  If you do, you could be putting yourself in a pretty massive legal liability. 
​
This one came out a little short, but thanks for reading anyway.  If you like it and want to see more content like this, you should join my mailing list.  You’ll get monthly blog digests segmented by topic, it’s like a short e-book in your inbox every month FOR FREE! You’ll also get access to my resources packet, which includes an actual e-book, whitepaper, several templates, and more!

Finally, if you’ve got a project you’d like a guiding hand through this process, I offer individual consultation, as well as consideration for my distribution, marketing, business planning, and financial services packets, use the submit your film button.  Thanks, and see you next week.

How best to COLLABORATE with your Distributor to Market your Movie

The Distributor’s job is largely to make your film available for sale and set it up in such a way that people are likely to buy it. Some will work to market your film, but most won’t.  Even when they do market your film, you helping market your work will make the marketing your distributor does much more effective.  However, there are some basic rules that you should follow to make sure everything goes as well.  

Quick disclaimer: This assumes that they'll work with you on it.  that's not always a safe assumption, although it should be something you talk about when you're in negotiations with your sales agent and distributor. 

1. COMMUNICATE with your distributor.

If you want your relationship with your distributor to be effective, then you need to lay out what you would define as success.  You should listen to when they need something from you, and work towards making it happen as quickly as possible.  Do what you can to help them promote your film. 

A lot of the communication with your distributor will likely be at the beginning of your relationship in closing the contract.  You can learn a lot about them through this process, but the most important thing to do before you sign is call 3 of their previous clients.  Here’s a link for more information about doing your due diligence. ​

Related: 5 Rules for vetting your Distributor/Sales Agent

Also, you might want to understand what a film distribution contract looks like to better facilitate that communication.  The blog below may help.

Related: The 7 Main Indiefilm Distribution Deal points

2. Make sure you ONLY sell the OFFICIAL links

Unless you redline the ability to sell your film through Vimeo through your own website, you should ONLY post the official sales links for your film that your distributor will set up.   Even if you have the right to sell the film through your own website, you should still at least occasionally post the distributor’s sales links.  Not only does it help keep your distributor happy, it also makes your film look bigger since its available in more places. 

3. Take as many interviews as you can, and seek them out where appropriate.

If you want to build a career in film, you will need to build a brand for yourself as a filmmaker.  A brand will help you engage with your community, find work, get more sales for the work you produce yourself, and can even help you finance your next project.  Getting Press will help you expand that brand.  It also helps raise awareness of your film, which in turn will help move more units or get more views and can create a positive feedback loop to help you build your career.  In essence, it’s the very definition of a win-win.

4. Keep your social media up to date!

If you’re building your social media right, then you’re going to have an engaged following interested to hear about progress and release updates for the film.  As such, whenever you have reason to update your community you should.  Not only does it help you move units, but it can also help you deepen the relationship with your community and customer base which can in turn help you make future projects more easily. 

5. Use Affiliate programs for better tracking and analytics

As something of a workaround, I use Amazon Affiliates with every film that I have on Amazon, primarily so that I can get more analytics more quickly. If you see Amazon banners on my sites or links from Amazon on my social media, it’s likely an affiliate link. While I don’t see who bought the film, I do get an idea of through which channel the film was purchased. This lets me hone the message for each platform as I can see what works and what doesn’t. I might write a blog specifically about this if someone requests it in the comments or on my Patreon.

Thanks so much for reading! If you want to know more, you should join my mailing list for blog digests of blogs just like this one as well as a great resource package that includes a free ebook, whitepaper, templates, and tons of other resources. That button is right below

I don’t just write about film distribution, I also do it. If you still need distribution, guidance, or sales estimates, documentation, or even just help to make a more marketable movie, for making your film. for your film, you should consider submitting it. That link is below the other button.

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Why you NEED to HELP your Distributor Market your Movie (If They'll Let You.)

If you think your work is over when you finish making your film, and someone will just give you a few hundred grand more than it cost to make it so you can make your next one then you’re in for a real wake-up call.  Sadly, there’s no money in making films, only in selling them, and the work of selling them is no longer solely on your distributor.  Or, at least you shouldn’t count on it being that way.  Here’s why.

But before we get started on that, it’s worth a few sentences analyzing the distribution and marketing are related, but NOT the same thing.  So what is the difference between film marketing, film sales, and film distribution?  The simplest way to put it is that Distribution is making your product available for sale, and marketing is convincing end consumers to buy it.  Sales is the process of getting it to the various distributors.  Now that that’s done, on to the topic at hand. 

Also, before we get started it’s important to note that not all distributors will accept your help.  Some control and participation in your home market should be part of your negotiation with your distributor if you’re dealing with them directly or your international sales agent if you’re not. 

1.More sales and more money for everyone!

If you want to make money from your film and have the distributor keep the marketing for the film intact, you’re going to have to give them a reason WHY they should listen to you.  As such, you’ll have to help push the film out there.  Also, after they recoup the money they put in, you will be taking the lion’s share of future sales, so it does have a dramatic impact on not only how much you get paid, but also how soon you get paid. 

Also: most distributors don’t do a lot beyond the initial publicity push.  If you want to continue sales and generate awareness of your movie, you’ll need to keep talking about it.

2. Marketing your work builds your brand

In the words of Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle, "if you don't think you need a brand as a filmmaker, you're wrong.

​Generally, a brand is defined as every interaction you have with customers or potential customers.  So the first step in building your brand is building awareness of your work.  That means marketing your movies. 

Do make sure not to be spammy or a jerk about it though.  No one likes a jerk.  Unless you’re a wholesaler to the jerk store.  #DatedReferences

Related: 5 DOs and DON’Ts for selling your film online.

3. You’ll get a much deeper understanding of the process

If you want to make a career in film, you’ll need at least a cursory understanding of what it takes to sell a film, unfortunately, there’s no money in making films, only in selling them.  Getting a much better idea of how this process works will make it easier for you to make a salable film in the future. 

4. Helping Gives you a better idea of what’s going on with your movie

One of the biggest frustrations faced by many filmmakers is not understanding what’s going on with their films.  One of the best ways to stay in the loop is to help your distributor with marketing.  This can give you a lot more up-to-the-minute data that you can act on to make better marketing decisions and with luck get closer to creating a positive feedback loop of sales.  Admittedly, in the current system that’s A LOT of luck. 

5.  If you’re putting the work in, your distributor will be more likely to take your requests.

If you’ve got more face time, and your film is performing well, your distributor is more likely to make pitches they might not otherwise make. Part of that comes down to perspicacity, and part of it just comes down to numbers.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share it with your filmmaking community on your social media, or drop a comment down below with your thoughts about what you’d like to know about film distribution, grab my free Indiefilm business resources packet for an e-book, a whitepaper, a bunch of templates, and more.

As you may know, I don’t just talk about distribution, I’ve run companies that do it, and still connect filmmakers to the better players in the game.  If you’d like your film to be considered, use the services button below.  That’s my primary business, in fact.

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