An offer for distribution...

ctbehrens

ctbehrens

I have received an offer for distribution of my no-budget feature "Tiburon" and am not sure if I should take it.

The money is negligible and the first profits go to the producer's rep and distributor - not much, and I'm not really concerned about the money - it's more of the fact that I am not receiving any money up front and the rep and the distributor will be the ones to profit at the outset, yet I am the one who put the BS&T's into the production of this film.

I will be the first to admit that it is not a very good film - I made it by myself(writer, director, actor, editor, etc), but it is a good example of what can be accomplished by a solo filmmaker. The initial intention of this project was my continuing education - the experience of performing each aspect of making a feature length film in order to better understand the synergistic relationships, thus, making myself a more competent writer and director.

I don't expect money - I am just not sure if it's right for someone to profit from my work, when I most likely won't.

It's a superficial ego boost to say I got distribution, but I am not sure there are any real positives to be gained as those in the industry will see it for what it is - a sort of clearing house for mediocre films where the buyers are picking films up for cheap in hopes that the artist's future work will garner attention and allow them to exploit what they bought for next to nothing.

As you can tell, I am weighing the pros and cons of this offer and would appreciate any feedback/input/opinions...

Thanks!

Chris
 
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The up front money is all you're going to get. Can you live with that? Are you able to retain rights to make individual sales of your film? Do the rights of the film revert back to you let's say within 5 years?

Positive answers to these questions would lean towards making the deal.

Good luck.
 
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ctbehrens said:
I don't expect money - I am just not sure if it's right for someone to profit from my work, when I most likely won't.
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What you did for love and continuing education, they are doing for
as their job. Change the wording a little; "I am not sure if it's right
for someone to get paid to do their job while I worked for free."

The producers rep and the distributor may never see a profit either.
But they are agreeing to take money from first sales rather than you
pay them to work for you and your film. That's a pretty standard deal.
They could lose money on YOUR movie. They are not in the business
educate themselves in the selling and distribution of movies. If you
are uncomfortable with the deal and will only consider a payment
upfront, then this isn't the deal for you. Walk away and look for a
distributor who will pay up front.

The pros are; you have a film in distribution.
The cons are; you didn't make any up front money on the deal.

You say you're not really concerned about the money so the con is hardly
a con. so all you might have here is a pro.
 
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Thanks so much for the feedback...

It's a 5 year deal.

I will have rights to self-distribute DVD's.

I am just curious if being able to say that "I got distribution" is going to open any real doors?
 
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I've seen your film Chris (thanks to you). It's not a bad film. If I had made it, I wouldn't give away the rights to it. I don't know how distribution works, and who gets the rights etc. If they get the rights for 5 years and you get them back afterwards, maybe I'd take it. Maybe there's something to saying, "yeah, my first film got distribution." But the more I read about this industry, the more I doubt it. If I could hold on to the rights to the film, but give away the distribution rights for 5 years, it may not be such a bad deal. Don't worry about the money somebody else makes. If they push your film in ways you are unable to, then they deserve to make the money. You may not get money, but you will get publicity that you would otherwise have to pay for.

On a side note, it's a good little film man. Any filmmaker who watches it will notice the effort you put into it and your talent. When I saw it, I could tell that you saw the whole film in your head before you ever got started. It's evident throughout the film. I've worked with a few directors here in Toronto. Not everybody possesses that skill.

Keep us updated on your decision.
 
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If I were you, I'd take it with both hands. Nothing matches the sheer achievement of distributing your movie. But wait a minute, who's the distributing company?
 
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I think it all boils down to how many offers to distribute you're going to get in the next five years. If the answer is less than one, then consider taking it. If you think you'll be able to get a better deal, though, then hold out. Just be realistic about it.
 
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ctbehrens said:
I will have rights to self-distribute DVD's.
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This doesn't make sense to me. The distributor will allow you to
directly compete with them. I assume this means they will not
be distributing DVD's?

ctbehrens said:
I am just curious if being able to say that "I got distribution" is going to open any real doors?
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More than if you say, "I have a finished film but have no distribution
for it." Caidh Mor makes an excellent point. If you believe you can
get a better deal with another distributor then you shouldn't take
the first deal that comes along.
 
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Based on what you said in your first post - film is not very good,
you did this as a learning experience and you don't care about
money - this seems like as good a deal as you're likely to get.

Who is the distributor? If they have a good library and a good
reputation and can get your movie into the bigger VOD markets
then it will help you in the long run.
 
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Count me as another skeptic. Name one indie film that gets placed in Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and what's left of any other stores. Film distribution is a thing of the past. Now indie is all digital or online sales. Just sign up with Amazon's advantage program and with a digital distributor. Theatrical indie distribution? Forget about it! No such thing.
http://www.tunecore.com/store/product/105
https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-product-page.html?topic=200329780

http://www.yourinvestmentadvise.com/filmmaking.htm
http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue18/selfdist.html
 
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well as long as you keep the rights, go ahead..

put in a clause, that if they haven't gotten it transmitted on any network platform within a year, the deal stops.. or something like that...

and as most proffessionals say, once you sell your first few film, never expect to make more than the upfront money...

but look at it this way... it's an adverticing company that will work for you for 5 years, to get your name and material out there...

so i'd take it...
 
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It is completely common place now for a distributor to take VOD/Streaming rights for an indie/no budget feature and leave the creator DVD, foreign, etc.

They may not make much money, but they will make some money. A single Netflix streaming license could put two to fifteen thousand dollars in their pocket, and that's all they would need really. But, if the movie isn't good (going by your words) and it has no hook--horror, vfx, etc. then it's likely that they won't be able to get it anywhere that'll earn them much anyway.

You can sell DVDs from a site, Amazon (this is a good place), etc but it'll be much harder and likely less lucrative than even getting one streaming contract up.

SHould you take the deal isn't the real question. If you're talking money, the real question is:

Am I willing to put in the hard work it takes researching every avenue that I have to self distribute this finished product so that I can see the maximum profit from it?

You could easily spend a good year or two just doing that and you could only see a few hundred dollars for your time.

If you're more concerned with your picture being seen, then will they be able to make that happen? Could it be any more beneficial than putting it online yourself?

Just things you should discuss with partners or yourself in the mirror.

Have fun with it, man.
 
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Blade_Jones said:
Count me as another skeptic. Name one indie film that gets placed in Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and what's left of any other stores. Film distribution is a thing of the past. Now indie is all digital or online sales. Just sign up with Amazon's advantage program and with a digital distributor. Theatrical indie distribution? Forget about it! No such thing.
http://www.tunecore.com/store/product/105
https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-product-page.html?topic=200329780



http://www.yourinvestmentadvise.com/filmmaking.htm
http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue18/selfdist.html
Click to expand...

Your statement is wrong.

Duckforceone said:
well as long as you keep the rights, go ahead..

put in a clause, that if they haven't gotten it transmitted on any network platform within a year, the deal stops.. or something like that...

and as most proffessionals say, once you sell your first few film, never expect to make more than the upfront money...

but look at it this way... it's an adverticing company that will work for you for 5 years, to get your name and material out there...

so i'd take it...
Click to expand...

They won't be advertising anything for him. These tiny boutique distributors take the movie, try to cram it into many avenues as possible and leave it there. There's no advertising.
 
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Thanks, Kholi.

This was a no-budget educational project for me and I am taking what I can from that experience and moving forward onto new projects - so I am not interested in putting any more work into Tiburon.

The distributor has been around for nearly 20 years and has 300+ titles out there.

In the list of "deliverables" was the mention of a "metadata spreadsheet" - anyone have any idea of what kind of data they want for that?

Thanks!
 
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