As some of you may recall I previously inquired about experiences with selling films to distribution companies. As I start submitting the film to festivals I also plan on sending out letters to distribution companies to see if anyone is interested in picking it up. My question is whether or not it's frowned upon to submit to several companies at once. Is this okay to do? The idea is to hopefully create some sort of bidding war.
Distribution Sales Question
- Thread starter Thunderclap
- Start date
Another question. 
If a distributor is interested in picking up rights to the film, what format do they expect the film to be sent to them on? Beta? Digi-beta?
Do they want to hold onto the master tapes? (If they do I'd be very cautious in accepting their offer.)
Also, if for some reason the distribution company goes belly up to the rights of the film revert back to me or is that something that has to be worked out in the contract?
If a distributor is interested in picking up rights to the film, what format do they expect the film to be sent to them on? Beta? Digi-beta?
Do they want to hold onto the master tapes? (If they do I'd be very cautious in accepting their offer.)
Also, if for some reason the distribution company goes belly up to the rights of the film revert back to me or is that something that has to be worked out in the contract?
I agree with Phil. No trailer or teaser on the screener. The bigger distributors have really good ad agencies that cut trailers and even the smaller ones have people they like to work with. If at some time during negotiations you want to mention you have cut your own, that's cool. And your 5.1 mix won't make any difference on the sale price.
The answer to all three questions is the dreaded: it depends. When they offer to purchase the rights they will tell you all the deliverables they need, what format they expect and exactly when. If they want to hold the master tapes and that's a deal breaker for you - break the deal. Though I've never had a distributor ask for my master tapes or film negative. Regarding a company going belly up, I have no clue what will happen to the rights. I suspect you will be in "rights hell" for a long time.
The answer to all three questions is the dreaded: it depends. When they offer to purchase the rights they will tell you all the deliverables they need, what format they expect and exactly when. If they want to hold the master tapes and that's a deal breaker for you - break the deal. Though I've never had a distributor ask for my master tapes or film negative. Regarding a company going belly up, I have no clue what will happen to the rights. I suspect you will be in "rights hell" for a long time.
Thunderclap said:Another question.
If a distributor is interested in picking up rights to the film, what format do they expect the film to be sent to them on? Beta? Digi-beta?
Do they want to hold onto the master tapes? (If they do I'd be very cautious in accepting their offer.)
Also, if for some reason the distribution company goes belly up to the rights of the film revert back to me or is that something that has to be worked out in the contract?
Okay from my expereince (which could differ )...
1. Digi-Beta has been the norm for us. And the best quality for your product to be mastered from. Think how you want the film to look and then pick the best method for that. In short you want the best most robust master format to maek sure your film looks the best. BETA is okay but DIGI is the standard now.
2. If you have a sales agent (which I recommend more than direct distribution) the sales agent will hold on to and then copy the masters for the company, once they have paid. This means that you are more or less safe as there is a paper and contract trail. As for handing your master over - NEVER hand over the MASTER always a dupe. You must keep the master and a Dupe safe. Never copy from the master, always the dupe UNLESS the dupe gets messed up. NEVER EVER EVER give anyone your MASTER.
3 This is down to contract. I always have 'in the event of liquidation or bankrupcy the rights revert back to the rights owner' or similar. It amy not guarntee you will get the rights back but legally it will help. Otherwise if a company goes tits up and you dont have this clause you may indeed loose the rights (for that teritory) and in turn be unable to do anything with the film. ALWAYS have a rights revertion clause in the agreement. If they wont put one in DONT SIGN THE DEAL (certain companies will rack up huge debts then bankrupt themselves to get out of it... it does happen)
Hope this helps.
THUNDERCLAP - my best suggestion is get a sales agent or at least try before you start any direct distribution. With a Sales Agent you get a certain ammount of basic protection, not least the legal cover and contracts lawyers they will have access to that you may not. They also have the money to take the film to markets and sell worldwide which again you amy not. Not to mention any good sales agent will have a customer base to sell to immediatly.
You are also less likely to get ripped off.
Okay so you'll loose between 20 - 35% of the takings BUT you will sell probably 70-90% more than you would on your own. Which makes sense...
Depending on the film genre I may be able to suggest a few. PM me or email me at phil@mod-life.com if you want advice on this.
You are also less likely to get ripped off.
Okay so you'll loose between 20 - 35% of the takings BUT you will sell probably 70-90% more than you would on your own. Which makes sense...
Depending on the film genre I may be able to suggest a few. PM me or email me at phil@mod-life.com if you want advice on this.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I sent the DVD out yesterday to several companies who responded to our inquiries. Some people thought watermarking the video was bad while others thought it was good. I went with a happy medium: I placed a "Property of RPM Films. Do Not Distribute." on the video but it's only on for 1 minute and pops up at four different places in the film. This way it's marked any hopefully won't be as distracting. There is also a skippable "Please do not distrute..." before the film begins. And while a few of them are listed as distributors the majority of them are listed as distributor/sales agent.
On the plus side I'm finally getting to take a break from the movie after eight months of work. Minus a few little tweaks it's done so I'm basically in the sit and wait for someone to get back to me period.
On the plus side I'm finally getting to take a break from the movie after eight months of work. Minus a few little tweaks it's done so I'm basically in the sit and wait for someone to get back to me period.
Good luck!
Last point on this. Even sales agents when sending sample copies out to distributors will send timecoded copies. The maxin seems to be better safe than on ebay!
Last point on this. Even sales agents when sending sample copies out to distributors will send timecoded copies. The maxin seems to be better safe than on ebay!
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