Hiring someone to distribute a film

[Inarius]

I'm not talking about a completed film, nor we have any demo. But we do consider to hire someone to distribute the film after it is ready. The problem is - we don't pay as much as a known production company can pay. We are not established enough to make deals with media publishing companies. Actually, we don't make a feature-length movie to come up with to someone. We make a 20 minute film to show the concept and maybe get a client to buy it, or invest to have us making a feature-length movie or TV series.

So the distributor has to do the most dirty job - come to producers, investors, filmmakers and find a client/investor. This is a dirty job when one doesn't have any prior experience and portfolio. So, the question is - will the hired person have the motivation to do his job at 100%? Because this is not being a part of the casting crew, nor participate in the production/post-production process. He doesn't get any filmmaking credits, only some cash, which he can earn working a few days in a manufacture.

Or maybe should we make him do something for the film, so that he will have the motivation to distribute it. But then, he will probably want to do his filmmaking job, not the distribution. What do you suggest? Nobody in our crew wants to go to producers and do the "begging" job.

 

[directorik]

It just is wrong. That's why. It's along the lines of asking why 1+1=4 is wrong. It just is wrong.

Too glib. And not informative. This is a discussion.

We've covered British films. What about films from Israel? And Russia?
Americans and Brits make films for international audiences. Do Israeli's
and Russians? Most Chinese films are not made for international audiences.
Most Indian (Bollywood) films are not made for international audiences.
I'm under the impression that most films made is Australia are not made
for an international audience.

Am I wrong? Are the majority of films made in Australia produced with
the international audience in mind?

 

[Sweetie]

Too glib? If you're after the discussion, you could have read the rest of that post

Unfortunately in Australia, like most (if not all) other countries, there are too many films produced that aren't even produced with the audience in mind, let alone with international markets in mind. Some are, most aren't. I suspect (for Australia) this stems from Australia being slanted towards production based and not sales based for far too long.

I'm saying it has more to do with the filmmaker than the country it comes from. Maybe it comes down to the tax incentives/rebates that spurs the issue. Here you have to make the film "Australian" to qualify for the 40% producers rebate, while at the same time, severely reducing the international appeal. There is word that this is changing, but don't hold your breath.

There's no point in me talking about Russian or Isreal based filmmakers. It'd be a short discussion from my part. I know virtually nothing about them.

 

[directorik]

Too glib? If you're after the discussion, you could have read the rest of that post

It was. I am. And I did.

It seems that in Australia most films aren't made with the international
market in mind. So is seems that Inarius's statement isn't wrong because
it's wrong. There may be a lot right with the statement that the US is
probably the only country in the world which also targets the international
audience. US films often get 60% and more of their total revenue from
non-US markets. Even low budget American films have a strong overseas
market. I worked for a small prodCo/distributor that made DTV movies and
a good 75% of his profits came from the Asian and German market. Too
much violence and nudity for the UK.

I've traveled quite extensively; all over the world I see American made films.
I don't recall seeing Russian films in Germany or Japan, or Japanese films in
India or France. Here in the states we get the big hits of Australia, France,
Korea, Japan, China, India, etc.

 

[Inarius]

You think the James Bond and Harry Potter series of films were only "targeted" to British audiences but just got lucky? I think you've a very simplistic view of how commercial films are financed/made.

As I already said:

The only exceptions are probably Japan, Germany, Canada and UK, but this is doubtful, too.

And UK is an English speaking country (the mother of English!), so it is easier for them to distribute movies across the world.

Unfortunately in Australia, like most (if not all) other countries, there are too many films produced that aren't even produced with the audience in mind, let alone with international markets in mind.

Well, a filmmaker DOES have an audience in mind, otherwise why would he make the movie? But still, this is nearly what I'm saying - they don't have international markets in mind.

I've traveled quite extensively; all over the world I see American made films.
I don't recall seeing Russian films in Germany or Japan, or Japanese films in
India or France. Here in the states we get the big hits of Australia, France,
Korea, Japan, China, India, etc.

Yes, this is what I'm talking about.
But where countries like Russia, China and India have such a large population that the filmmakers can forget about the world and still have a large audience at home, smaller countries like Israel can't get away with that.

 

[Sweetie]

It seems that in Australia most films aren't made with the international
market in mind. So is seems that Inarius's statement isn't wrong because
it's wrong. There may be a lot right with the statement that the US is
probably the only country in the world which also targets the international
audience. US films often get 60% and more of their total revenue from
non-US markets. Even low budget American films have a strong overseas
market. I worked for a small prodCo/distributor that made DTV movies and
a good 75% of his profits came from the Asian and German market. Too
much violence and nudity for the UK.

I hear what you're saying, the issue I have with your argument is you're ignoring that the massive majority of films in the US don't get any domestic earning let alone international earnings. So in a certain point of view, you'd be right. $0 earning abroad is still 60% of the earning of the majority of films that are made in the US.

I admit that the US has a more developed film industry than every other country. It doesn't mean that the majority of films earn their revenue from international markets.

While I'll agree once again that the majority of Australian films aren't made with the international market in mind, some are. There are others that were designed for the international market, though the filmmakers missed their mark considerably.

I've traveled quite extensively; all over the world I see American made films.
I don't recall seeing Russian films in Germany or Japan, or Japanese films in
India or France. Here in the states we get the big hits of Australia, France,
Korea, Japan, China, India, etc.

Out of the thousands of distribution companies that are listed in the US, most of them don't sell abroad. You have the majors, the mini-majors and some others that sell to a lot of regions. While those companies control the majority of the box office (and I think it's safe to assume the ancillary markets), that still leaves the majority of the US distributors not distributing internationally by design. Does this mean that the US doesn't sell internationally? Of course not. Some do it very well. The majority doesn't.

I'm saying it has more to do with the filmmakers, distributors, production companies than the countries the films come from.

 

[Sweetie]

Well, a filmmaker DOES have an audience in mind, otherwise why would he make the movie? But still, this is nearly what I'm saying - they don't have international markets in mind.

Yes, this is what I'm talking about.
But where countries like Russia, China and India have such a large population that the filmmakers can forget about the world and still have a large audience at home, smaller countries like Israel can't get away with that.

And this is the crux of your problem. You need a business plan to work with your situation. If you and your investors believe that the market is only Isreal, you still need a plan that makes sense. It doesn't matter that the US sells internationally if you cannot. You need to concentrate on what you can do and work out a business plan that makes sense based on those parameters.

Either that or figure out a way to make your market share larger.

 

[FantasySciFi]

I recognize this is an important question. I would respectfully suggest that this thread is not about screenwriting and probably should be moved to another forum where others who are involved with distribution and would be interested in learning more may benefit. While I've found the comments interesting, others interested in "Film Distribution" are not going to look in "Screenwriting" or vice versa.

 

[Inarius]

I recognize this is an important question. I would respectfully suggest that this thread is not about screenwriting and probably should be moved to another forum where others who are involved with distribution and would be interested in learning more may benefit. While I've found the comments interesting, others interested in "Film Distribution" are not going to look in "Screenwriting" or vice versa.

I know, but I created this topic more than a week ago and already got good answers, so I won't create another one. But I'd be glad if the moderators move it to another forum

 

[directorik]

I hear what you're saying, the issue I have with your argument is you're ignoring that the massive majority of films in the US don't get any domestic earning let alone international earnings.

I'm not ignoring them. The statement was about targeting international
audiences - not earnings. And since Inarius used "country" I did not include
the motivations of each individual filmmaker in each country. Your entire
point is earnings. Inarius and I are speaking only of making movies for the
international market.

I brought up the 60% because the American film industry ( each individual
filmmaker) earns most of it's money from overseas. I wasn't suggesting that
most American films make money internationally.


The American film industry seems to be the only one that specifically targets
an international market. Australia, Russia, France, Japan, Israel, etc. have all
had international success. But I don't get the impression that the industry in
those countries target international markets the way the US does.

 

[PhantomScreenwriter]

Australia is generally more for our own market than the US. It is one of the reasons though why a lot of talent in this country don't stay here to make films specifically for the market here but have gone on to have great careers in the US, and only doing certain projects in Australia every now and again.

The Australian industry seem to prefer films made in Australia that match certain criteria that entices people to want to visit Australia. There's certain aspects of Australian culture that have to be included in your film, especially if you're trying to get funding from Screen Australia and aim to be successful.

If you look at horror movies for example there are hardly any horror films being produced here on a large scale. There have been plenty of instances where filmmakers in Australia have made something which then gets picked up internationally in the horror genre, like James Wan with Saw, but they don't stay in Australia and continue making films in the Australian industry after that level has been reached.

There seems to be a resistance to genre films in general by the Australian industry, which is strange if you go back to the days of Mad Max. It seems now that genre films here are not specifically targeted by a majority as dramas and comedies are more likely to be made than horror, sci-fi, action, adventure and fantasy films.

But films of those genres do find success here, indeed a lot of films that weren't that successful upon release in the US have been well received here. I'm talking about those kinds of films not being made on a large scale in the Australian industry for the Australian market.

 

[directorik]

Australia is generally more for our own market than the US.

That's what I thought might be the case. And I think that's the case
in most countries with the exception of the US. I believe that was
Inarius' point – the point Sweetie said is wrong, beacues it's wrong.

The Australian industry seem to prefer films made in Australia that match certain criteria that entices people to want to visit Australia. There's certain aspects of Australian culture that have to be included in your film, especially if you're trying to get funding from Screen Australia and aim to be successful.

Do you know statistics regarding percentages of movies made without
funding from Screen Australia and those made with it?

There have been plenty of instances where filmmakers in Australia have made something which then gets picked up internationally in the horror genre, like James Wan with Saw, but they don't stay in Australia and continue making films in the Australian industry after that level has been reached.

I think I'm missing your point. I know Wan shot the short in AU, but the
feature was financed and shot in the US. It wasn't made in AU and then
picked up internationally.

Thanks for the info PS. I enjoy learning about the other film industries out
there.

 

[PhantomScreenwriter]

Originally Posted by Directorik:

Do you know statistics regarding percentages of movies made without
funding from Screen Australia and those made with it?

Unfortunately I don't have any statistics however I can provide a link to the section of the Screen Australia website that focuses on funding - http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding/default.aspx

My information was coming from memory really. There was a film course I did a few years ago and one of the teachers was a filmmaker who wrote his own screenplays and directed shorts, and he's gone through the funding process many times and he mentioned that some of the obstacles of receiving funding were making sure your story has cultural significance in some way.

Originally Posted by Directorik:
I think I'm missing your point. I know Wan shot the short in AU, but the
feature was financed and shot in the US. It wasn't made in AU and then
picked up internationally.

Thanks for the info PS. I enjoy learning about the other film industries out
there.

Looking at what I typed now I can see that I should have separated the short from the feature and I also should have mentioned that my point should have been that they were Australian filmmakers who went on to have a career in the US. My bad

I agree it's good to learn about other film industries too.

 

[Inarius]

PhantomScreenwriter, as someone who wants to have a screenwriting career, should I see Australia as a potential English-speaking country to sell my script to? Do they shoot scripts from foreign countries? I'm asking because I've seen a lot of Australian agencies and production companies on the internet.