they wanna distribute my documentary.. now what?

Baluardo

Baluardo

Well-known member
Hello,

not too long ago i finished a 54' documentary (target mainly for TV) and i tried to place it on the market in some way.
I've contacted (or have been contacted by) a handful of distributors in UK and USA (im europe based) and i sent them a screener.
One of them just wrote me they liked it and would like to have a distribution contract with me. That is great and exciting, but paves the road to a stream of questions and fears (im a total newbie in this)... among the many Qs, these are very important to me:

- How do i know if this distr company is good/reliable or they're just scammers or who knows what?

- assuming they're cool, what should i expect? what's a standard distribution contract like? how does it work?

- being realistic, what could my revenue be and how long would it take to see money?

- in my initial plan, this would be the first in a series of travel documentaries. im working on the second, but in order to make more, i need money.. is it a bad idea to get this distributed, get the money, then go on..? or should i just look for a coproducer or sth like that to finance the rest?

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All comments and suggestions will be HIGHLY appreciated. obviously im also going to contact a lawyer, but i consider extremely valuable the opinion of this forum

thanks everybody,
Andrea
 
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Baluardo,

I think it's a great topic, but I think the problem with it is that not too many folks have all that much experience with distribution. A lot of people here are in the same boat as you, or even a tinier one, not even having a full-length piece completed yet. That said, I know there are a couple people on here that have been through the distribution gamut and could probably help you out. Perhaps they just haven't seen this thread yet. Best of luck to you!
 
Baluardo said:
- How do i know if this distr company is good/reliable or they're just scammers or who knows what?
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That's easy -- they're all scammers.

Okay, not ALL, but ... well, yeah, all.

Okay, not ALL. But telling the good from the bad is not easy. Mark Litwak started a survey for filmmakers to tell their experiences with various distributors, over on marklitwak.com.

Here's the bottom line on most distribution deals: whatever advance you get up front is very likely all you will ever receive from them.

- assuming they're cool, what should i expect? what's a standard distribution contract like? how does it work?
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Normally it works like this: you sign an agreement that looks heavily in your favor. Then they take your video, make however many copies they want, distribute it wherever they want, lie to you about how many copies they sold, and grossly inflate their reported expenses to make it look like no matter how many copies it's sold, it never quite manages to make a profit, so they never end up owing you royalties. Heck, even Titanic tried that -- even after grossing $1 billion, they were still saying that it hadn't made its money back yet.

- being realistic, what could my revenue be and how long would it take to see money?
Click to expand...
Again, depends on the company. The easy answer is: you will never see a dime. That's how standard distribution contracts work -- they give you a lot of legal paperwork, and no money, now or ever. They'll have a million reasons why they can't yet give you any money, but the result is usually the same.

If you want to ever see any money from your efforts, self-distribution is probably the better option.

But -- if you want real answers, find out what other titles the company has distributed that are in any way vaguely similar to yours. Get ahold of the producers of those films, and ask THEM how they've been treated. Producers are all too happy to share their experiences -- if they've been treated well, they'll tell you. And if they've been ripped off, oh boy will they tell you.

- in my initial plan, this would be the first in a series of travel documentaries. im working on the second, but in order to make more, i need money.. is it a bad idea to get this distributed, get the money, then go on..? or should i just look for a coproducer or sth like that to finance the rest?
Click to expand...
It's not a bad idea, especially if this distributor likes your product, because you may be able to get an advance from them on the next project. Of course, that advance will usually be all the money you'll ever, ever see from them, so make sure to estimate on the high side!

If you successfully distribute a title and somehow, by the grace of the distribution deities you manage to make your budget back, that will put you in an incredibly stronger position when approaching investors. If you have a track record and make your money back, and now you have a lot more experience than you had the first time, you'll be better received by investors who may want to fund your second picture.

The hard truth is, people rarely ever make a dime off their first picture. The distributors will rob them blind. But then you become a known quantity to the distributor, and they know what to expect, and they also know that you won't let them rob you blind the second time, so what filmmakers can frequently do is leverage that first picture's success towards advances and salaries on the second picture. The distributor may actually pay a little money this time because it's more of a "sure thing". They'll still rob you, but maybe not completely blind -- maybe they'll only take one eye this time.

Factor it in though -- if you could sell your documentary direct, over the internet, for $20 apiece, you'd only have to move 500 copies ever to make $10,000. The chances of seeing $10,000 from a low-budget indie distribution company are infitesimally small. So if you have the wherewithal and the gumption to market it yourself, and can identify appropriate target markets, you can sometimes do much better yourself. But it's a lot of work. The distributor will normally do all that work for you, but the tradeoff is that it frequently amounts to just giving them your work for free.

Bottom line: ask other producers how this distributor has treated them in the past. That'll give you a good idea of what you can expect.

And if your sole goal is the recognition and self-satisfaction of seeing your film professionally distributed, whether you ever get paid or not, then that's what small distributors can do for you. But if you're looking to actually share in the profits, you have a tough road ahead of you.

A producer's rep or skilled entertainment attorney can usually help you wade through these waters, but the law of supply and demand usually works against you there -- there are just too many filmmakers, and not enough distributors. That's how distribs can get away with robbing the filmmakers -- if you won't take their "deal", there are usually a hundred hungry filmmakers standing in line behind you all too willing to get robbed in the vain hope that somebody, somewhere, somehow will see their movie on the shelf at Blockbuster and call them up with a six-picture deal.
 
well, not an encouraging picture, but thanks a lot for the effort of writing it down. this is the kind of info i was looking for. This kind of stuff would deserve a sticky in this section.

I wonder if restricting the target to TV distribution (my original idea) would make all this a little bit better.. assuming you actually get broadcasted...


Thanks a bunch, Barry!
Andrea
 
Hi Baluardo, I invite you to listen to my podcast, www.filmmakingcentral.com . I have some episodes specifically on distribution. I have been in the biz for many years, sold alot of projects including my latest which was a low budget horror to Maverick.

Heres a few episodes that may be of interest:

http://www.filmmakingcentral.com/FilmmakingCentral_MarkStevenBosko.mp3
http://www.filmmakingcentral.com/FilmmakingCentral_MoreDistribution.mp3
http://www.filmmakingcentral.com/FilmmakingCentral_Episode5_2006.mp3

A majority of distribs can be extremely shrewd. They know what they can sell your product for and will offer you a deal to make the most for them. This IS Swimming with the sharks! Take a look at the Hollywood Creative Directory book on distribs http://shop.hcdonline.com/merchant2...de=hcd&Product_Code=DDBK0&Category_Code=Books

All in all, if the distrib wants your film for domestic (US, Canada, sometimes Mexico) they will most likely offer you either a flat deal, meaning x amount of dollars for the rights, or a % of sales. I go for flat deals 99% of the time. I want a definite amount coming back to me. I try to make profits on foreign (but this is just me haha). For foreign sales make sure the distrib has a good track record. Ask for some client references. A standard deal will be anywhere from 10%(if your lucky!) to 30% of all sales plus agreed upon costs. DONT ever pay anything upfront ever!

Hope this helps!

I wish you much success!

Cheers, Dave
 
thanks for help, Dave.
I started listening to your podcasts and checking out your links with interest.

Andrea
 
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