Distribution offers - Echelon Ent. Vs. York Ent.

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Smithhouse

Well-known member
Hey guys...

I've been going back and forth with both companies for the last month or so regarding the distribution rights for my VIGILANTES film, and both contracts level out pretty much the same.

My question? which would you go with, company wise:

I've heard negative comments about York, but understand they have since restructured and Ingram Entertainment is now picking up their titles... I've personally seen quite a few of Yorks titles carried at rental and retail companies.

Echelon Entertainment, I haven't heard any negative stuff about them, but I can't really find any info on them either. I personally have not seen any of their titles at the rental or retail houses, but again, I've never heard anything negative about them.

Can someone give me some insight, please?

Thanks a bunch,

SmithHouse
 
I don't know much about Echelon, but York is known for pretty cheesy fare, but then again distribution is distribution.

Barry is 100% right. I've been through distribution without an advance and when you get the balance sheet quarterly or whenever from the distributor your movie is always going to pencil out as a loss-leader, meaning "no cash for you". The upside is that you get to see your movie online and in store, which probably wont matter to your investors. :)

Good luck and congrats.
 
I'll just put it this way... My wife and I aren't exactly breakin' out the bubbly over the advance amount from one of the companies.

We primarily produced the movie so thankfully we don't really have an investor breathin' down our necks.

My delima I guess is self distribution and making a little cash (we already have some dvd's we had made through discmakers) or going with a distributor and gaining some credibility as a filmmaker.

I know opinions will vary, but what would you do?

SmithHouse
 
Depends on what your end goal is. Barry nailed it with the upfront payment ... if they're the same (or nearly), then really dig into research on Echelon, because if they have some fairly good titles to their name, it will help with your street cred more than being associated with a company that's known for cheese.

That said, if you can, sell as many of your DVD's now, so you can show investors money made, etc., then get it picked up for the distribution going forward.
 
Envision said:
Depends on what your end goal is. Barry nailed it with the upfront payment ... if they're the same (or nearly), then really dig into research on Echelon, because if they have some fairly good titles to their name, it will help with your street cred more than being associated with a company that's known for cheese.

That said, if you can, sell as many of your DVD's now, so you can show investors money made, etc., then get it picked up for the distribution going forward.
Click to expand...

Here's another nail-head-hitter.

If your product is good enough to even get picked up by Cheesy distributors-- you'd better learn to hustle, young man.

I'd totally sell it on my own, then show the numbers to some investor and get more money, then be satisfied with not getting anything afterwards.

Do It Yourself.
 
Do you have an agent or Entertainment Lawyer helping you? If not, you may want to consult with one:

http://www.medialawyer.com/

I like your movie. It looks urban and gritty. It seems that it would appeal to a youth market. That might be leverage to get more money up front from the distributor.

Good luck. :thumbup:
 
I'm with Kholi. Given the fact that you funded most of it yourself, then there are some great ways to self-distribute. Just about once a week there will be a new article in the Hollywood Reporter about self distribution.

Self distribution is always better if you have a niche film, but you need to weigh the costs of producition with the costs of selling DVD's on your own. With a distributor you may get 15-25%, but it most likely will be 15-25% of nothing after they take their operating share.

Now, if you can get sales at $19 then you can probably keep $15 for yourself after shipping. Of course you and your wife will be managing sales, but you'll be keeping it in the family.

One guy that made a wrestling film called REVERSAL hired some interns at a low cost to scour the internet for wrestling sites and then linked his site to that. He made a million dollars and is still going. Now, again that's the niche market and an extreme example, but you get the picture.

You now have Myspace.com to post trailers on and places like Youtube.com (?) and now there's also Google Video and then on the distribution end Netflix (tougher sell).With Google I think you get to set your download price. it may not be as lucractive, but you never know.

Dig in and start linking after building a great, simple, easy to use site. That's assuming that you have a fairly low budget and the energy to work your ass off for a lot longer.

Let me know and I'll buy at least two copies.....see you're on your way. :)

Later,

J.
 
Thank you guys so much for your input. You've been a tremendous help.

PJC - Man, I wish I had an agent, then I'd let you guys that know what you're doing shoot the movies, and I just write scripts. (that's my goal) anyway, I'll have to look into that.

Envision / Insanity - I think the real problem I'm facing is whether I go for the street cred and recognition or self distribute to try and get some money in my pocket. The movie did not have much of a budget so It wouldn't take much to recoup the cost, but I also have another movie I'm wanting to shoot (Bought all my equipment with the initial movie) and I don't know if it would help with financing If I've got distribution in place outside of what I'm doing on my own... If that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, Thanks again to all of you...

I guess I can sum it up like this:

If you wanted to gear yourself up for you next movie, would you get distribution to lend credibilty as a filmmaker, or would you distribute it on your own to help finance your next project?


SmithHouse
 
I guess that would depend on the budget of your next project. If it's attainable to be able to raise that amount of funds on your own (via the sales of this current project), then do it. If it's beyond a realistic chance that you can do it on your own, and need outside investor help, then those investors are going to have to feel confident in your ability to get them not only their principle back, but also a profit ... whether that's showing them what an animal you are & how you can sell the heck out of your own product, or that you've gotten the attention of distributors that will sell the product for you. On that last note, try & go with the distributor that's got the best record of recognizable titles and or impressive sales results.
 
Thanks Envision... I've gotten to know Larry R. A bit and he speaks very highly of you. I appreciate your thoughts and input.

SmithHouse
 
Envision is on the money. Investors don't care about much more than the money unless you find that one investor "angel" who is doing it because they like you and want to see their name on a movie, but that's a different story.

Investors will want to see somebody that can make a buck. I got a distribution deal and my movie has been available for years. It cost me $130k to get it done and it's made maybe $20k, but not for me. If an investor saw that you made a movie for $20k and self-distributed and made $30k and then they saw me with a $130k film that got distribution that made me $0 dollars, who do you think they'd be more comfortable investing with? :) Ask yourself who you'd rather invest with.

For the record I was picked up for theatrical by Panorama Entertainment (small NY company) and then Vanguard Cinemas picked up the video rights.....5 years later the deal hasn't done much from an investors interest standpoint other than being able to say, "I got distribution", which is great. You may be able to self-distribute and talk about how you decided to self-distribute instead to maximize profits. There are so many channels available for self distribution that weren't available a few years back.

Good luck.
 
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Try MiniMovies.com. . It's the future of film distribution. You do not need to deal with DVD's and snailmail any longer. Technology is changing the face of distibution and the medium on which people view your work. Good luck!!
 
I would've thought you would want distribution, even with York if need be.

That way on your next project, you can always say you found distribution with your previous movie. Which as you know, is not always the case with movies.

I would think you should cut your losses. Understand it's not a huge pay-day. Then start work on your next project - that will make more money.

EJ
 
ask ROKOKO on the forum about Echelon. i think he just got picked up by them, look in the Cafe here, should find a recent post on his "LIMBO" movie
 
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