Does anyone have any experience with Oracle Releasing?

R

rakunus

I've made a short low budget film. It was screened at some festivals around the world, got some awards too.
Recently, I received an email from a company called Oracle Releasing. The mail said that they are interested in this movie.

The sender stressed out that the firm is located in Los Angeles. This might be due to the fact that my film had several screenings there. How else would a LA based company know about a Slovenian indie movie?
On the other hand, mentioning LA could be the best way to get the attention of any filmmaker seeking a Hollywood breakthrough. :)

There's nothing besides their logo on the website, which is kinda strange.
They are listed on IMDb, though. http://www.imdb.com/company/co0280115/

Do you think it's a legit company? Does anyone have any experience with them or similar companies?
Could it all be a phishing scam targeted at naive filmmakers?

Thanks for any thought.
 
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Funny...

Well, start by calling that phone number! And tell us what they say. Bring up your concerns and see how they respond.

I could go either way on this one, but I think the lack of spelling mistakes is a good sign ;)

You have to admit it's kinda cool if they're trying to con you.
 
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Call the number, tell them you got the email and take it from there. But before you call do a Google search and write up a list of LOTS of questions - con artists are expert at getting you caught up in the excitement of the moment. Ask how they "discovered" your film, ask about their distribution setup, ask for a boilerplate copy of the contract and anything else you can think of. If they want a copy of the film ask for their FedEx or UPS account number or tell them to arrange for a pick-up; if they really want it so badly they should be willing to pay for shipping!

And the second that they ask for money you have a pretty good indication it's a scam. It could even be a "legal" scam from a new company just looking to say that they have films from all over the world and you'll be their Slovenian rep; they don't care about your film, they just want your name and address on their files.

As with most of life knowledge is power. Do your research and plan ahead.
 
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rakunus said:
:D
I haven't called them because I live in Slovenia (on the other side of the world).
And if I did, what would I say? "Uhh.. hi, are you a real distribution company?" :)
Click to expand...
Yes. That exactly what you should do. A real distribution company will
quickly and professionally answer the question with a list of their library.

And then ask the questions Alcove has suggested.
 
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Whois search:
Registrant:
Oracle Releasing
8721 Santa Monica BLVD.
#141
West Hollywood, California 90069
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: ORACLERELEASING.COM
Created on: 24-May-09
Expires on: 24-May-13
Last Updated on: 14-Nov-10

Administrative Contact:
Erikson, Rachel rerikson@solacesoleil.com
Oracle Releasing
8721 Santa Monica BLVD.
#141
West Hollywood, California 90069
United States
+1.3108611692 Fax --

Technical Contact:
Erikson, Rachel rerikson@solacesoleil.com
Oracle Releasing
8721 Santa Monica BLVD.
#141
West Hollywood, California 90069
United States
+1.3108611692 Fax --

Domain servers in listed order:
NS01.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS02.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Click to expand...

solacesoliel.com produces neither whois nor webpage results... but comes up combined with both film and oracle releasing through google.
 
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I've made a short low budget film.
Click to expand...
Nobody is going to be able to get a low budget film into physical stores. What does that leave you with? Internet stores. If you manufactured DVD's then Amazon will sell it WITHOUT the help of any distributor. If you want to earn wholesale price times 60, then NetFlix will rent your movie via FilmBaby. If you want to sell via iTunes then sign up with Tunecore and be prepared to pay $700 if iTunes accepts your movie. These companies are all TRUSTED and have standard take it or leave it contracts.

I live in Slovenia
Click to expand...
Have you ever tried to litigate in a foreign jurisdictions? Could you even afford the initial $10,000 retainer if a foreign distributor skipped out on paying you, as they OFTEN do? Hell, getting ripped off within your own country by a distributor is bad enough. But now that everything is "Internet distribution" there is no point in dealing with a traditional distributor.
 
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I checked out their IMDB page. Looks like a bunch of micro low budget indie films. Sign up enough people for distribution and your distribution company starts making a steady income just for selling movies online with no effort. If you really want a distributor to do the work for you then I'd go with FilmBaby. They've got TONS of titles. They also run CDBaby. I'd feel a LOT safer with FilmBaby because they are well established. They've gotta be much less likely to go bankrupt or skip out on paying you. I don't know anything about this other company. Just the fact that they're small scares me. It's all too common to see small distributors go bankrupt and then pay people pennies on the dollar for money owed. Been there, done that....
 
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Update: Guy asked for more movies so I showed him some more, including stuff made just for laughs & YouTube. That's what he enjoyed the most! : ) I haven't hear much from them since.

Blade_Jones: doesn't Netflix require a 60 minutes length minimum?
And FilmBaby wants a 40$ fee. That's probably more than I'll get from them, especially for this movie. Do you use FilmBaby?
Isn't Amazon's CreateSpace the best option?
 
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Blade_Jones: doesn't Netflix require a 60 minutes length minimum?
And FilmBaby wants a 40$ fee. That's probably more than I'll get from them, especially for this movie. Do you use FilmBaby?
Isn't Amazon's CreateSpace the best option?
Click to expand...

I don't know what NetFlix requires. I refuse to use them. Not fair to let them rent only 60 DVD's to the entire USA for 60 X wholesale cost.
I use FilmBaby. I also have a separate account w/ Amazon Advantage and I use CCnow.com for my web orders. FilmBaby has done absolutely nothing for me. You can skip them if you want to set up a separate account w/ Amazon and skip out on NetFlix.
If you don't think it's worth manufacturing DVD's then CreateSpace is a great choice.
 
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Hello Indie Filmmakers,

A quick reply to this thread. To the Indie filmmaker who posted this thread, if it helps you feel better any, we produced a short film last year in Slovenia. Its cast include Ditka Haberl (the "Barbra Streisand" of Slovenia) and Uros Smolej (a popular actor). It was a coproduction with a Slovenian production company. All of that is on IMDB if one did their research. Next time, voice your concerns directly to the companies instead of posting on public forums. I'm sure you will understand companies value direct responses much better than having their private e-mails published worldwide web.

A little about Oracle Releasing, we are engaged in the international film world-- and mostly in sales. (For example, the Slovenian short mentioned above is currently being sold to 18 territories. With a minimum of €750 per minute, per territory, we expect it to be profitable for us and for our producing partners). But we are not just interested in producing our films but also interested in taking on already self-producing indie filmmakers around the world, and help them produce higher quality products (yes, films are products) by securing funding for them, and where they can make more money directly.

That said, and for the sake of general helpful information, all intermediary publishing companies in the United States (like Amazon, CreateSpace, FilmBaby) require US social security number or a company tax ID. If you're a foreign producer who does put their films through those channels, and they make money, they won''t be paid unless and until they provide such information. If you want to become a foreign entity that imports into the United States, it would be helpful to have products that will generate enough money to survive the import fees :-)

With solidarity,

Oracle Releasing Team
 
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oraclereleasing said:
...Next time, voice your concerns directly to the companies instead of posting on public forums. I'm sure you will understand companies value direct responses much better than having their private e-mails published worldwide web...
Click to expand...

We will most likely continue to ask for public opinions as we expect the answers from companies to be a bit biased (and rightly so on both sides of the equation). I am glad, however, that you found the thread and decided to add your voice to the experience. Welcome to the forum :)

Perhaps your membership here can be lucrative for everyone involved.
 
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