good independent films with critical acclaim from the biggest film festivals that later become cult classics do not get a fair shake in distribution(theatrical, dvd, vod, ...etc.). this happened and is happening(it's not a theory, we are talking about actual movies from 2012, and years past) because of the studios. because of all the fees, insurances, advertisement the studios pay to themselves, because they control theater distribution, because of their bookings, the heavy pockets remain heavy without actual work, they take profit without doing the work. and they do oppose any film that is not theirs. they control the distribution.
self distribution does not mean you can ask your film to open in 2500-3000 theaters, or choose an appropriate opening date, self distribution would be, you making a deal with one theater at a time for a total of maybe 12-48 theaters(limited to no advertisement in regular channels because of the inflated prices). that's less exposure than limited distribution deals, and small theaters that used to cater for independent films were attacked by studios, to the point of running them out of business.
imagine if you go to the hospital for a small cut or bruise, and walk out of the hospital one hour later $500-1000 lighter, if you did not have insurance that is, who put the prices there, did the hospital spend that much on you, is the doctor getting paid that much for 5-10 mins of his time(he's not getting paid that much), would the insurance company pay that much each time a patient under insurance get treatment. is it a scam? it's not like that in most countries around the world. are they forcing people to buy an imaginary insurance that they would not otherwise buy or need if the prices were reasonable(and not inflated to force insurance)?. and as a side effect of their greed make some people suffer even when they have insurance, because now the insurance some people have will not cover some treatments and these treatments will cost a fortune(on the new scale that the insurance made).
self distribution does not mean you can ask your film to open in 2500-3000 theaters, or choose an appropriate opening date, self distribution would be, you making a deal with one theater at a time for a total of maybe 12-48 theaters(limited to no advertisement in regular channels because of the inflated prices). that's less exposure than limited distribution deals, and small theaters that used to cater for independent films were attacked by studios, to the point of running them out of business.
imagine if you go to the hospital for a small cut or bruise, and walk out of the hospital one hour later $500-1000 lighter, if you did not have insurance that is, who put the prices there, did the hospital spend that much on you, is the doctor getting paid that much for 5-10 mins of his time(he's not getting paid that much), would the insurance company pay that much each time a patient under insurance get treatment. is it a scam? it's not like that in most countries around the world. are they forcing people to buy an imaginary insurance that they would not otherwise buy or need if the prices were reasonable(and not inflated to force insurance)?. and as a side effect of their greed make some people suffer even when they have insurance, because now the insurance some people have will not cover some treatments and these treatments will cost a fortune(on the new scale that the insurance made).
SNL