How badly

I'd imagine a good product that will actually make money is the best thing to focus on. Since you generally won't make anything until the distributors initial expenses are all covered, you need to make sure you create a product that will SELL like hotcakes.

So, production value, genre thats relevant for the market, cast that resonates with the intended market, great reviews and word of mouth, etc.
 
Wow, lame when someone deletes a post RIGHT BEFORE you submit a reply...

The original post was HerzogisGod asking how a new filmmaker ensures they don't get screwed with a distributor.
 
Appreciate your response... but I deleted the post for a reason.

Moderator... please delete this post

Thanks
 
Snazzy I'm not sure if you meant that doing a microbudget film you don't get paid until they sell copies and recoup costs or what, but I don't know or deal with any producers who give away films for free ;) The people I know sell rights upfront for X amount of dollars, that's just how it works, if the distributor wants it then they will pay for the privilege of having the rights to distribute it.

I think a lot of filmmakers have either gotten too desperate or have too poor of products to be distributed at all frankly, and some bottom-feeding distributor will press them DVDs without an advance, which is understandable, who wouldn't? But as a filmmaker I'd laugh at an offer like, "Oh well we can't pay you any money, but..." If you can't pay us any money, you're not a real distributor, GET LOST! What if I went up to a professional and said, "Ok I can't pay you any money, but will you DP my feature?" Most of the time, they'd tell me the same thing -- get lost. It's unprofessional to expect to acquire rights to something and not pay money for them.
 
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