My question is, when an agent puts any film through a distributor whether is feature, short, documentary and what have you, does he get a one off commission payment or does he get a continuous one for as long as the film is distributed?
If you get paid once, he gets paid once. If you keep getting paid for the film, he keeps getting paid for the film. An agent is there to make the deal for you. Therefore, most likely, he'll be involved in any deal you make. Since this is his job, you will pay him. If he gets you a gig directing a commercial, you pay him from your check. If he sells your film to MTV, you pay him from your check. Most often, the agent is paid, left to deduct his salary and then give you a check for the remainder. So it just depends when YOU get paid.
How does it work if the distributor does it theatrical, then rental and retail then cable, then TV?
Well, for theatrical films, if you produce it yourself, you obviously are going to need a distributor to put it in those theaters for your. Your agent will handle this process. If you own the film (or have complete managerial control) then you will be selling it to the distributor. The agent would take his commission from this sale price.
Once it goes to DVD, often it's via the same distributor that put it in theaters. (say, Lionsgate) So your agent would make ONE overall deal with Lionsgate for the full distribution of the film. From this agreement, you would get paid. He would take his commission from that check. Same exact thing with cable and online VOD. If they're separate deals, he's going to be the one making them for you. If they're the same deal, he already made that deal all at once. Either way, when you get paid, he gets paid.
How does an agent gets paid, a separate percentage from each or one whole amount from all type of distribution or they just get one off upfront payment upon signing agreement?
It depends. Is your agent good? Did he get you sliding scale payments throughout production? Did he get you a sliding scale bonus for reaching goals? There is no ONE WAY in this matter. 100 different films will have 100 different stories. If you got paid once, he got paid once. If you got paid 43 times, he got paid 43 times.
What if the agent only does agreement with distributor for theatrical and video rental, not retail and cable/TV?
Very rare that a distributor would have a theatrical/rental apparatus and not a retail/cable/vod apparatus. Let's say they don't. You make a movie for "Joe and Mary Productions". The movie costs $1 million to make. You make it, they release it, and it makes $4 million. You should get a nice bonus (if you have a good deal) [and so will your agent].
Now, if Joe and Mary Productions just simply CAN'T put it on DVD (again, I can't think of a company like this, if they're a real company they'll have every option, or they're just simply living in the dark ages) then your agent would make a deal with someone that could release it to cable/vod/retail, let's call them "We Got It Distributors".
So one deal would be with Joe and Mary Productions (of which your agent is getting paid from) and a separate, distribution deal with "We Got It Distributors". The confusing part is, if Joe and Mary Productions paid for the film, then they now own a part of it, so you will get paid half of the whole price, with Joe and Mary Productions getting the other half (again, if your deal states 50/50 ownership). Once you have your half, you pay your agent 10% of that.
How does all work if rights are split with different distributors strong in their own sector e.g. theatrical, rental/retail, cable, TV etc? Thank you.
Again, this would pretty much never happen nowdays, it would be pointless and basically ruin the marketability of your film, but if for some reason you did, it would just be as many deals as you have distributors. So if you have one distributor for DVD, one for digi download, one for theatrical, then each time you get paid (from digi, dvd, or theatrical) your agent gets 10%.
Assuming the deal you have with your agent is 10%. It's not always.
