Distribution Review

NickSoares

NickSoares

Here are some updates I am pulling and putting here for you all. ( will update every so often)

Update: Distribber Review Jan. 24th 2012

Ok so I filled out all of the info needed to submit my film, after receiving my username and password. After that I was taken to the area where you choose your channels, in my case I will be using iTunes, and Hulu. Clicked Next and it brought me to the License Agreement, this is where I had to stop (for now) because while Distribber claims you keep 100% of the rights, the contract clearly states that Distribber will be the rights holder. I totally understand why they need the rights if their going to be the one that pays me 100% So I send the contract to my lawyer and will just confirm thats all it is.

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 2012

Haven't heard back from lawyer, but I did here back from there marketing manager. I looks as if you have to pay the FULL amount just to submit your trailer. It states to submit your film but has no option to upload or send your full movie, instead you need to pay (for me) would be about $2,000 straight from my account without knowing if I will be accepted. If I am not excepted I am supposed to get my money back minus a $30 processing fee. This seems like bad business in general for the indie filmmakers to make them pay all fees upfront just to send in a trailer. Though im not bashing Distribber, I believe there services will do great things, but in my opinion there are a few flaws keeping them from succeeding. I will contact the CEO of Distribber and will update shortly.

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 7:20pm 2012

Emailed - 6 hours later no reply

Update: Distribber Review Jan 25th 7:51pm 2012

Ok so for those curious what they would have you sign. This will be very important to go over and having your entertainment attorney read before you agree. Following is the agreement and contract between Rights Owner and Distribber - Overall Distribber still looks very promising to the indie filmmaker

Update: Distribber Review Jan 26th 9:02pm 2012

I received an email about 30 minutes ago stating that it is true - I need to pay $1,200 to submit my info and trailer (not the entire film yet) as well as sign this agreement below before I can do anything else. It is promised that if the film is not excepted that I will receive a full refund minus a $30 transaction fee... I could not fined anywhere stating that if the film is not excepted that this contract below is terminated, because before signing you have to agree to them. So that is the only part that is still unclear to me, but I will pay the fee and continue with this journey....
 
Last edited:
Sort by date Sort by votes
G'day Nick,

Happy to see a fellow newbie wanting to jump in the deep end with the guys here!

I've always been wary about buying eBooks - the same when it comes to people selling "eBay money secrets", "Work from Home for $50000 a month!" etc. etc.

But I'm curious when you mention a growing divide within the Indie community. There will always be people out there, regardless of the situation, who think they are above networking or sharing of information. I find that kind of mindset quite ridiculous regardless of whether you are a big or small producer of content, as in this industry, and as in many other fields, it's all about who you know!

Perhaps it's because we run in different circles, but I haven't seen this divide first-hand. If you could shed some light on what your opinion is, I would really appreciate it.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Distribution to where? Blockbuster and Hollywood video are gone. There's Wal-Mart and Best Buy but their selection has shrunk. They only carry "the hits". ANYONE can sign up with Amazon's Advantage program, Create Space, Ccnow for your web site sales, TuneCore for iTunes.
Everyone I've ever met who signed with a traditional distributor never really earned a dime because the distributor was still recouping costs.
The bottom line is that you need press to sell. Tough to do without a name star or something extremely unique and newsworthy. When was the last time you heard Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight or one of those shows talk about some indie film??? Radio is geared towards audio content -- not video content. Magazines like Entertainment Weekly will mention an indie movie like once a year, but print just doesn't translate to sales very well at all. So anyone who is selling "secrets" to distribution and marketing is selling snake oil. I laughed when i saw this chick a few years ago who had some web site that you would join and as a former industry person she was going to show members how to do it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Blade_Jones said:
Distribution to where? Blockbuster and Hollywood video are gone. There's Wal-Mart and Best Buy but their selection has shrunk. They only carry "the hits". ANYONE can sign up with Amazon's Advantage program, Create Space, Ccnow for your web site sales, TuneCore for iTunes.
Everyone I've ever met who signed with a traditional distributor never really earned a dime because the distributor was still recouping costs.
The bottom line is that you need press to sell. Tough to do without a name star or something extremely unique and newsworthy. When was the last time you heard Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight or one of those shows talk about some indie film??? Radio is geared towards audio content -- not video content. Magazines like Entertainment Weekly will mention an indie movie like once a year, but print just doesn't translate to sales very well at all. So anyone who is selling "secrets" to distribution and marketing is selling snake oil. I laughed when i saw this chick a few years ago who had some web site that you would join and as a former industry person she was going to show members how to do it.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA, I laughed - Snake oil! Right this is why i was shaking my head when I was reading this ebook :no:

And this is also why I am excited to be checking out distribber, iTunes is going to be hot for us I believe, 70% of every sale, and if you have a good marketing team, and an actual good movie, this can be big. Apple Tv's are doing well, and now other TV's are coming out with iTunes integrated as well. Im making some youtube videos on distribber and my current experience, and will post them here when Im done.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sounds promising. You guys are saying a lot of the things I have been thinking. With major video stores going away there is not much self space for indie films for rent. For instance you won't see many indie films in Redbox. I am wondering if there really is any advantages to getting a traditional distributor for these indiefilms or should we do something else.

I think iTunes could be a good future spot to sell movies. I will check out distribber.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top