Film Nation Wide Distribution

I

IslandFilmmaker

Member
How exactly are films distributed, say nation wide in the US.

Let's say it opened at 200 theatres, does the distributor call all 200 theater operators and negotiate a deal?

How much would that costs?

How big are film distribution budgets?
 
IslandFilmmaker said:
How exactly are films distributed, say nation wide in the US.

Let's say it opened at 200 theatres, does the distributor call all 200 theater operators and negotiate a deal?

How much would that costs?

How big are film distribution budgets?
Click to expand...

You get in contact with each theater chains "Film Buyer". They screen each film and see if that want to show the film in there theaters. Then things go from there.

As far as distribution budgets... you could get into 200 theaters for close to nothing if you went with entirely digital prints; probably close to $50k or so; it's just a matter of getting the mastering software to create the DCP Master and then harddrives to save the DCP to and shipping costs.

Marketing will be your big cost... the average TV spot on a major cable network... SyFy, Travel Channel, Comedy Central, etc. will go for between $10,000 and $20,000. Broadcast channels are slightly cheaper but you have to buy per market, so if you wanted national advertising on a broadcasting channel you're looking at $10,000 times the amount of markets.

Hollywood films will spend $40-$70 million per film in marketing and distribution; basically blowing alot of the cash on unnecessary expenses, and illogical marketing campaigns... you don't need to blanket the TV airwaves 6 weeks out from a release 100 times a day...
 
Kevin Vega said:
You get in contact with each theater chains "Film Buyer". They screen each film and see if that want to show the film in there theaters. Then things go from there.

As far as distribution budgets... you could get into 200 theaters for close to nothing if you went with entirely digital prints; probably close to $50k or so; it's just a matter of getting the mastering software to create the DCP Master and then harddrives to save the DCP to and shipping costs.

Marketing will be your big cost... the average TV spot on a major cable network... SyFy, Travel Channel, Comedy Central, etc. will go for between $10,000 and $20,000. Broadcast channels are slightly cheaper but you have to buy per market, so if you wanted national advertising on a broadcasting channel you're looking at $10,000 times the amount of markets.

Hollywood films will spend $40-$70 million per film in marketing and distribution; basically blowing alot of the cash on unnecessary expenses, and illogical marketing campaigns... you don't need to blanket the TV airwaves 6 weeks out from a release 100 times a day...
Click to expand...

WOW! Very insightful, thanks so much! Quick question about the tech specs (forgive me, I'm more of a creative head than a technical one) - what exactly are digital prints and DCP?

According to the Academy films must be publicly exhibited in LA County meaning, "publicly exhibited by means of 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels, source image format conforming to SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000), and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites. The audio in a typical Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is 5.1 channels of discrete audio, and that is the preferred audio configuration. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Center, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). The audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE 428-2-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Characteristics and SMPTE 428-3-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Channel Mapping and Channel Labeling."

Translation: Shot on a RED One, edited via Adobe/Sony software and then sent to theaters?
 
IslandFilmmaker said:
WOW! Very insightful, thanks so much! Quick question about the tech specs (forgive me, I'm more of a creative head than a technical one) - what exactly are digital prints and DCP?

According to the Academy films must be publicly exhibited in LA County meaning, "publicly exhibited by means of 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels, source image format conforming to SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics; image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000), and image and sound file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites. The audio in a typical Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is 5.1 channels of discrete audio, and that is the preferred audio configuration. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as Left, Center, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). The audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE 428-2-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Characteristics and SMPTE 428-3-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio Channel Mapping and Channel Labeling."

Translation: Shot on a RED One, edited via Adobe/Sony software and then sent to theaters?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, neither Adobe Production nor Sony Vegas have tools to output DCP formatted media.

There is an open source DCP package, but how well it produces 'acceptable' media is unknown to me.

In addition to the media format spec, there are also requirements on the theatrical run:

c. for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County,
d. for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days,
e. advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry, and
f. within the Awards year deadlines specified in Rule Three.

How most independent filmmakers approach this, is to get a distributor interested in the film, and sell distribution rights. The distributor then takes care of getting the film to theaters, advertising the film (theater owners don't usually pay for big splashy in theater posters and other types of 'advertisements', ads in local news papers, they may just pay for the show times listings.).
 
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j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
As far as I know, neither Adobe Production nor Sony Vegas have tools to output DCP formatted media. ...
Click to expand...

This is correct. They don't have those tools and it wouldn't make any sense at this point in time for them to have them. Faith paid approximately 8K to get her DCP produced and as far as distribution to theatres, she's 4 walling.
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
As far as I know, neither Adobe Production nor Sony Vegas have tools to output DCP formatted media.

There is an open source DCP package, but how well it produces 'acceptable' media is unknown to me.

In addition to the media format spec, there are also requirements on the theatrical run:

c. for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County,
d. for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days,
e. advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry, and
f. within the Awards year deadlines specified in Rule Three.

How most independent filmmakers approach this, is to get a distributor interested in the film, and sell distribution rights. The distributor then takes care of getting the film to theaters, advertising the film (theater owners don't usually pay for big splashy in theater posters and other types of 'advertisements', ads in local news papers, they may just pay for the show times listings.).
Click to expand...

Thanks so much! I'm in the processes of securing funding to start my own distribution company, and turning my production company into a full film studio (financing, producing, and distributing/marking) thus I'll need t know this information. I've learned quite a bit already.
 
craigbowman said:
This is correct. They don't have those tools and it wouldn't make any sense at this point in time for them to have them. Faith paid approximately 8K to get her DCP produced and as far as distribution to theatres, she's 4 walling.
Click to expand...


Ahhh very interesting. I think I'd want to go the path of securing a deal with theatre chains/film buyers. Obviously we won't be on every screen in every city, but that method feels more legitimate and it opens the door for mass distribution after releases in selected theatres.
 
DCP or "digital Cinema package" is both a compression standard, Jpeg 2000, and a playback code. It is not a standard Output from an NLE as it is not something most people typically need. For a one off it is probably better to have it done by a facility specializing in it, and they will help get the best out of your master. It will still be much cheaper than a 35mm print, and you could make more yourself by cloning the Hard drives (assuming you go without copy protection) they will certainly not wear out like a print would.

You would certainly not get a wide release without aid of an established distributor. But Digital opens the possibility of a smaller 'Platform release' where you open in smaller markets a few at a time, where you might be able to afford the local advertising costs. The theaters around here often show niche events as one night stands that would not greatly effect Hollywood product. With a good add and poster, possibly a T.V. spot that you can get on the local cut in of a popular show, you could appear to be a bigger release, one market at a time, or for Genre films, you could spring for a National cable spot, but don't give a release date, in case it is staggered by market.

How to get the screens is beyond me, research, email, phone, stalk, whatever. If your film is good enough it may generate enough buzz to find an audience. I think the best you could hope for is to not lose too much money on the venture while making your film appear to have had a real release, so more respect on the video markets.

If you could negotiate to get the screen for free, Theatre retains Popcorn rights, you might be able to get an audience out be having Radio stations give out free tickets for a Sneek Preview screening. A few of these in the right markets could generate enough facebook buzz to make a profitable VOD release.

My 2 cents is not worth a hill of beans.
 
IslandFilmmaker said:
Ok, so if these films are shot on, say a RED one, how then do they get edited if not Adobe? And how is it "converted" to DCP?
Click to expand...

You edit in Adobe to a final film, just as 'usual'.

You then have to use an additional tool to convert the final film into the DCP package. I've only looked at the open source DCP project, to become 'generally' familiar with the process. I've not created such a package, as I don't have any immediate need to generate a 'theatrical release'.

The short film fests that I have submitted to, accept Bluray media, which is something that the Adobe Production Premium, that is Encore, supports.

There are companies that provide such 'packaging' services, and probably a search and review will give you prices, as well as required input media, such as using Apple ProRes codec, or similar requirements.

If I understand what the person did that Craig Bowman is referring to, they shot their film, they edited their film, they had a company convert that edited film to DCP, then they '4 walled' their film, that is they rented the theater, publicized the film, and took all boxoffice receipts.

This is different than the current 'usual' distribution deal, where the distributor 'buys' the rights to distribute a film to a market, and the theater and distribution company 'share' the boxoffice, perhaps with a sliding scale, where the distributor gets more initially, then as the movie runs, the theater gets more.

4 Walling requires some 'up front' money to pay rent for the theater, say a week or a weekend, or a series of dates. However, if the film is successful, the film company gets all the 'profits'...

This also harkens back to an older form of distribution where a film would make the rounds of cities. When I was young a movie did not come out 'everywhere'. It was usually released and shown in such major cities as Los Angeles and New York, along with other large cities, and then the film would be sent out to smaller cities, until finally, perhaps a year or so later, it would end up in the 'small towns' in the US.

Currently the distribution system tends to 'narrow' releases for little known films in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York, and based on that, open up the distribution to 'wider' releases. For major productions, the 'wide' release is the usual, and 2-3000 theaters showing the film on opening day, (and that's just in the US) is not uncommon for the 'block busters'... by the same token, a film is 'gone' from theaters for the most part within about 3-6 months of release, unless it is in really 'small' out of the way towns...
 
craigbowman said:
With what?

Faith based her decision with an ACTUAL real project in hand and was well made. (ie. Its so good, people want to show up and reach for their wallets to pay and see it.)
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With money, and from the sound of it, lots. If there's one thing I know how to do, it's commerce, make money and secure financing.

We all have our weaknesses, mine is technical. While I can secure the 10s of millions to distribute, I myself cannot shoot. I'm sure not every camera man is skilled at doing business. That's why most films have such large crews. Everyone works as a TEAM and does their part to make a great product.

Take, Ryan Kavanaugh, he started off as a venture capitalist and venture into film and found a love for it. Same here.

However, being skilled in one area doesn't mean one cannot at least attempt to get a basic understanding of what's taking place. As a soon to be distributor, learning as much as I can about the tech specs is vital.
 
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j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
You edit in Adobe to a final film, just as 'usual'.

You then have to use an additional tool to convert the final film into the DCP package. I've only looked at the open source DCP project, to become 'generally' familiar with the process. I've not created such a package, as I don't have any immediate need to generate a 'theatrical release'.

The short film fests that I have submitted to, accept Bluray media, which is something that the Adobe Production Premium, that is Encore, supports.

There are companies that provide such 'packaging' services, and probably a search and review will give you prices, as well as required input media, such as using Apple ProRes codec, or similar requirements.

If I understand what the person did that Craig Bowman is referring to, they shot their film, they edited their film, they had a company convert that edited film to DCP, then they '4 walled' their film, that is they rented the theater, publicized the film, and took all boxoffice receipts.

This is different than the current 'usual' distribution deal, where the distributor 'buys' the rights to distribute a film to a market, and the theater and distribution company 'share' the boxoffice, perhaps with a sliding scale, where the distributor gets more initially, then as the movie runs, the theater gets more.

4 Walling requires some 'up front' money to pay rent for the theater, say a week or a weekend, or a series of dates. However, if the film is successful, the film company gets all the 'profits'...

This also harkens back to an older form of distribution where a film would make the rounds of cities. When I was young a movie did not come out 'everywhere'. It was usually released and shown in such major cities as Los Angeles and New York, along with other large cities, and then the film would be sent out to smaller cities, until finally, perhaps a year or so later, it would end up in the 'small towns' in the US.

Currently the distribution system tends to 'narrow' releases for little known films in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York, and based on that, open up the distribution to 'wider' releases. For major productions, the 'wide' release is the usual, and 2-3000 theaters showing the film on opening day, (and that's just in the US) is not uncommon for the 'block busters'... by the same token, a film is 'gone' from theaters for the most part within about 3-6 months of release, unless it is in really 'small' out of the way towns...
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the info and like I said, the goal is to start a Film Studio/Distribution company. I just want to educate myself as much as I can before investing. Very insightful!
 
As someone who's seen two of the movies i shot released in the theaters (in NYC) i can tell you that getting theaters to show your film is not that though - getting people to see it is. Besides the opening might where you will fill the theater with your friends, family, coworkers on the film (and maybe their families) the rest of the week the film will play to mostly empty audience. It's actually kind of sad to see a 400 seat theater filled with 20 people...
 
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