Let's Talk About... Paying Distributors in Advance (And the ONLY time that should happen: ie Service Deals)
Let's Talk About... Paying Distributors in Advance (And the ONLY time that should happen: ie Service Deals)
Some of you might be gasping: what do you mean "pay a distributor"? Shouldn't THEY be paying ME? Buckle up because this post is going to incense a lot of you but hopefully inspire you as well.
I remember when my film first hit the festival circuit. Suddenly, my inbox was being hammered by emails from distributors I’d never heard of as well as sales agents and producers reps all wanting to work with me on distributing my film… most were for a fee of course. (They were all scraping the film festival’s announcement and collecting info off IMDb in case you were wondering how they got my info.)
Most of the offers weren’t great, but the one that stuck out in my mind as being absolutely laughable was the one from a company who wanted to charge ME $6000 for the pleasure of THEM taking MY film. After I’d spent years making it and well, the budget of an ENTIRE feature film putting it together, not to mention the countless unpaid hours I’ve spent putting together the marketing and PR plans for the movie, they wanted ME to pay THEM. GTFOH. It still rankles me when I think about it.
When I failed to respond their “offer”, I got a follow up from one of their staff members asking me if I’d received their “offer” and asked, did I want to talk to them about it to move forward?
I held my tongue and didn’t reply (because you never know in Hollywood) but what I WANTED to say (along with a few choice words) was that I didn’t see any kind of an offer; I saw an invoice and had a few suggestions I wanted to share with them regarding where they could stick it their “offer”.
To be honest the interaction left me reeling and it got me thinking about the moral, ethical and legal ramifications of such a practice and I wanted to dedicate a post about WHY distributors would do such a thing and how and when it’s appropriate, if at all. (Trick question: there is only ONE time this is acceptable).
As you can probably tell, I have some strong thoughts on the matter and you can rest assured that this post is going to be paywalled but before we dive in, I have a short plug: my friend and fellow filmmaker Marty Lang has a new book out called THE SELF-SUSTAINING FILMMAKER, with a forward from Mark Duplass (whom you all know, I love as a filmmaker!).
The book is available on Amazon here, and promises to provide “guidance on how to build an independent, financially sustainable filmmaking career through channels such as crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and community filmmaking concepts.”
I’ve known Marty for years— he’s the Director of the MFA in Film, Television and Digital Media at the University of Georgia and a solidly good guy to boot. I would bet these pages are chock full of helpful information for established and aspiring filmmakers alike, as Marty literally teaches filmmaking for a living and does it professionally as well. So check it out!
Okay, without further adieu, let’s get into talking about paying distributors in advance and how and the ONLY time that’s appropriate.
Want more? Check out some of my past articles!
Film Soup: How to Get Anything in Hollywood Made as an Indie Filmmaker.
I never wanted to do marketing & PR, all I wanted to do was make films & TV. Now it's one of the most valuable things I bring to the table as a working filmmaker. I call my strategy FILM SOUP.
It was a combination of reviews, press, four-walling and impact/grassroots marketing coupled with a distributor who believed in the film. Here's how it happened!
Let's Talk About... Social Media For Your Indie Film
A vital part of your marketing mix for your indie film is social media. But how do you make the most out of it and build your audience? This post gets into the nuts & bolts of social & where to start.