"Plasterhead" Receives Domestic Distribution (Distribution Q&A)

K

Kevin McCallister

Well-known member
Hey Everybody,

First, a few short words about myself. I've been a constant visitor, sometimes-poster on DVXUser for the better part of 3 years. Back in the summer of 2005, fresh out of film school, I partnered with a friend to write, produce and direct a direct-to-video horror film. Our budget was meager, but our goal was ambitious: to see the film released in retail and rental outlets nationwide. Armed with two DVXs and lots of crossed fingers, we set out to make "Plasterhead."

Now, two years later, we've secured the holy grail: a US & Canadian distribution deal. The film will be released on October 2nd, 2007, by Arts Alliance America (www.artsallianceamerica.com). Formerly known as Hart Sharp Video, Arts Alliance America is probably best known for distributing the documentary "Super Size Me".

They've done a killer job in promoting and marketing the film, and we're extremely happy with every aspect of the deal. They've developed some amazing DVD artwork for the film, which you can see here:

plasterheaddvdcoverra1.png


Seeing the artwork for the first time was one of the most rewarding experiences of the entire filmmaking process. Now, as the film starts to pop up in online stores across the web (Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Circuit City, Barnes & Noble, etc), the dream of two years ago is starting to feel real.

Before and certainly during the process of making the film, I took a lot of information from these boards, and I hope that through this thread I can give back some of the knowledge that I've learned over the past 2 years. I found the road to distribution to be vastly unpaved, and I spent immeasurable time navigating a scary sea of contracts, businesses, lawyers, and other dark recesses of the film industry that they don't teach you about in film school.

Please feel free to ask any nature of question pertaining to the film or the process. I found knowledge about the route to distribution extremely hard to come by when I wanted it most, so I hope I can illuminate the path for some that are where I once was. I have also kept a journal during the entire process, which I will be turning into a book soon.

Like I said, please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. I still have many of my own that perhaps some of you will be able to answer as well. If you'd like to check out "Plasterhead", please head to the film's MySpace page here: http://www.myspace.com/plasterheadmovie. The film's official website, www.plasterheadmovie.com, is being overhauled by the distribution company and should be up again in September. For now, the old site remains in place.

I hope to talk to you all soon, and thanks again for all the help you've given me over the years.
 
Man, congratulations and great job. How long did it take you to actually get the disrib deal?c Was it the full two years? What was your budget?
 
Super Congrats goes out, it always feels good to hear a fellow filmmaker reach that goal of distribution, enjoy it, and much more success..

By the way the artwork looks DAMN amazing... I don't even know what the movie's about but I would rent/buy it just of the artwork..

congrats.
 
Hey taormina,

The distribution process began around December 2006. After sending a lot of screeners out, we were able to secure a producer's rep out in LA, who then had us re-cut the trailer of the film for presentation to distributors. Once distributors were solicited with the trailer, it was another 3 months or so until offers began to materialize.

I can't disclose our actual budget, due to the film rights currently being sold in foreign territories, but I was fresh out of film school, I'll say that much.
 
cool. Did your festival entries have a bearing on your distrib deal? What's next for you?

Thanks for sharing,


Adam
 
The festivals came about around Fall 2006. They didn't really have a bearing (that I know of) on the deals that came about for distribution, but the distribution company did choose to highlight them on the packaging of the product and on sales screeners, so they may have had an effect on gross units purchased by retail outlets, though I'll never know for sure.
 
"Plasterhead" is starting to get some nice buzz on the web! Fangoria.com just put up a nice write-up on the film, which can be found here:

http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=4828

Bloody-Disgusting.com, a premiere horror news website, also put up their own news item on the film as well. Link is here:

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9696

In addition, the film is now available for presale from the websites of Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon, Target, Buy.com, Barnes & Noble,and DVD Empire! I'm really impressed with our distributor in terms of the scope of retailers they work with. More soon!
 
Our shooting schedule was quite brisk. Principal photography was 11 days, followed by 3 days of pickups. It was an absolutely insane, breakneck pace. There were nights when we were doing 60+ setups in 8 hours, especially at locations to which we had limited access (aka, we didn't want to pay for another day's use).

We shot the film on a DVX100A. We had two on set, but one was purely for backup. We didn't have enough lights to light for two cameras running simultaneously, and besides, our brisk shooting schedule didn't allow for the time required for that.

I had purchased the Anamorphic Adaptor in anticipation of using it for the film, but as it got closer to the shoot, I realized that we'd never have time to accurately focus using the Anamorphic Adaptor on each shot, so I opted not to use it.
 
Hey Jack,

Our screenplay was 86 or 87 pages long. The final film's running time came out to 94 minutes, so the "1 page = 1 minute of screen time" formula pretty much held true.

If anyone else has any questions about distribution, please don't hesitate to ask. That's what I'm here for.
 
Hey Paul,

You've probably heard it a dozen times before, but when you're getting a distribution deal, you want to get as much money as you can in the form of an up front advance, because that's much more guaranteed than any back-end money. While I can't comment from experience about residuals (since the film isn't out yet), I can tell you that with "Plasterhead", we opted to go with the deal that offered the best up-front advance (which also turned out to be the best deal overall, in our case). Without disclosing details, I can say that we more than recouped our budget.

Another important thing to consider when negotiating an advance is the payment schedules. Some distributors will pay you 50% of the advance upon delivery, 50% upon release of the film. Others will give you 1/3 on delivery, 1/3 on release, and 1/3 two months after release. Still others will offer even better scenarios, such as 50% upon signing of the contract, and 50% upon delivery. Obviously, the goal is to get as much of the money as quickly as possible, especially if you're answering to investors.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Hey!

Yes, lawyers are necessary when negotiating anything in the film business. Ideally, you'll want a lawyer involved from Day 1 of pre-production, but realistically, most of us aren't working on a budget where doing so is financially feasible. You will, however, definitely want a lawyer during post-production, when you're actively trying to sell your film.

From what I've heard, some lawyers also act as producer's reps, and can help you secure a deal. In our case, we had a separate producer's rep and a lawyer. They communicated between each other about the terms of the contract. Remember, both of them are there to help you. Lawyers are expensive, but without one, you could end up getting roped into terms or conditions that don't benefit the filmmaker, merely because you didn't understand them. Lawyers are also generally a lot less passive than filmmakers are, so if they see something that doesn't add up, they're far more likely to say something about it, and address the problem pro-actively.

Honestly, there are so many business and legal aspects involved in making and distributing a feature film, it will make your head spin. There will be days that you just want to give up. Resist the urge to cut costs and do it all yourself, and hire a professional to guide you.
 
Any name actors in the production? How hard was it to get the distribution - did it feel like a 24/7 effort for two years?
 
Hey Kevin,

Congrats on the film and thanks for being so open and responsive about the process. I have three questions:

1. How did you secure a producer's rep for the film?
2. In terms of contacting distribution companies, what were the steps you followed, what did you include with the screeners (cover letter, non disclosure agreement, etc.?) and how did you decide what companies to contact?
3. Did you look for distribution and apply to the festivals as the same time?

Thanks again for all your help and support of fellow DVX-ers.

Ken
 
Hey Ken,

I apologize for the delayed response...I was away enjoying the final throes of summer.

We landed a producer's rep merely by sending out screeners and press kits to a large variety of producer's reps and distributors. How did we know who to send to? We went to Blockbuster with a notepad, picked up every horror film on the shelves, and wrote down the names of the companies on the back. Nothing more complicated than that. We generally just included a press kit, screener, and cover letter in our initial mailings. I don't know anything about a non-disclosure agreement...what purpose does that serve?

As I mentioned, we did contact some distributors directly, but never heard back. However, once our producer's rep solicited distributors for us, some of the same distributors who never responded to our initial inquiries were quick to respond to the producer's rep.

It just goes to show that things often need to go through the proper channels in order to achieve a response. From talking to distributors, I know that they receive over 20 unsolicited horror films on their desks every day. I'm sure that most of them never get watched. However, when a producer's rep with a good reputation in the business says "hey, check out this film", distributors are much more apt to take a look.

Also, we looked at festivals several months before considering distribution, in hopes that some successful festival acceptances would help increase our visibility, but I found that the festival entries didn't have a major bearing either way on distribution.
 
Kevin-- Can you talk about your deliverables list from the distributor? Were you pretty thorough up front to have everything you needed in place? I see some filmmakers headed for trouble because they don't realize everything they need to deliver once they get a deal.
 
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