I was wondering if anyone had any good tips on writing an inquriy letter to send to distribution companies.
inquiry letter for distribution
- Thread starter BloodnGuts
- Start date
Go to mirror, close your mouth and hold the middle part of your upper and lower lips tightly together. Now move the tip of lips toward the mirror while holding the rest of the face back. Perhaps dab a little red lipstick on the outer of edge the lips...( imagine the distributor in questions backside at this point ) .... perfect!!! you are now in the right frame of mind to write those letters 
Pitch your story, the relevant people involved, you past successes with
festivals or distribution and ask if they would like a screener. If you don't
have anyone involved (on screen or off) you have a very difficult sales
pitch. If your movie has not been accepted in any festivals you have a
very difficult sales pitch. In that case you need one hell of a "hook".
Put that in your letter to distributors. You're selling a product. Pitch it
well.
festivals or distribution and ask if they would like a screener. If you don't
have anyone involved (on screen or off) you have a very difficult sales
pitch. If your movie has not been accepted in any festivals you have a
very difficult sales pitch. In that case you need one hell of a "hook".
Put that in your letter to distributors. You're selling a product. Pitch it
well.
Make it about them
My tip is to make it about them as much as possible.
Butter them up and let them know you chose them and have done your research into them.
Be selective with the distributor you choose, you want them to have worked on films similar to yours, your genre or your sort of budget. Acknowledge this, tell them you have selected them because of the great work on XYZ project and think they have the necessary skills, qualities and enthusiasm to work with your film.
Tell them about your film quickly and concisely.
Are there particular contacts they have that you think would be beneficial to you and your film? Mention this:
"I see you have worked with XYZ who has a reputation for highlighting some excellent idie films in the past and I really think my film will resonate with them." People love to be on the insiders list for 'cool' things. Letting them get ahead of the curve is a great way to demonstrate the future potential of your working relationship.
The message wants to be pretty short but grabs their attention, think long term on this. You get their attention now and maybe they reply, in that next email you can let them know more, but for now leave a little mystery, just keep on that short but snappy line. And keep pushing the benefits in it for them.
You will go a lot of 'no's', keep racking them up. The more 'no's' the better I say, means your on the right path but just haven't found the person that really resonates with your film. They are out there and this is a test of persistence! It can be anywhere from about 10 'no's' to 1 'yes': JK Rowling 12 Nos and 1 yes, boom Harry Potter; Agatha Christie, 5 years of rejection and then one took it. Her book sales are now in excess of $2 billion. Only William Shakespeare has sold more.
Hope this helps!
Chris
My tip is to make it about them as much as possible.
Butter them up and let them know you chose them and have done your research into them.
Be selective with the distributor you choose, you want them to have worked on films similar to yours, your genre or your sort of budget. Acknowledge this, tell them you have selected them because of the great work on XYZ project and think they have the necessary skills, qualities and enthusiasm to work with your film.
Tell them about your film quickly and concisely.
Are there particular contacts they have that you think would be beneficial to you and your film? Mention this:
"I see you have worked with XYZ who has a reputation for highlighting some excellent idie films in the past and I really think my film will resonate with them." People love to be on the insiders list for 'cool' things. Letting them get ahead of the curve is a great way to demonstrate the future potential of your working relationship.
The message wants to be pretty short but grabs their attention, think long term on this. You get their attention now and maybe they reply, in that next email you can let them know more, but for now leave a little mystery, just keep on that short but snappy line. And keep pushing the benefits in it for them.
You will go a lot of 'no's', keep racking them up. The more 'no's' the better I say, means your on the right path but just haven't found the person that really resonates with your film. They are out there and this is a test of persistence! It can be anywhere from about 10 'no's' to 1 'yes': JK Rowling 12 Nos and 1 yes, boom Harry Potter; Agatha Christie, 5 years of rejection and then one took it. Her book sales are now in excess of $2 billion. Only William Shakespeare has sold more.
Hope this helps!
Chris
We like to see something grab us in the first paragraph. The reality is there are so many of these to read, you need to have people that just review these and pass them on.
If at the end of it we're left wondering what's going to happen next, we'll want to see more. Think of the ice berg, only shows you the top 10%.
Good luck.
-dan
If at the end of it we're left wondering what's going to happen next, we'll want to see more. Think of the ice berg, only shows you the top 10%.
Good luck.
-dan