Please guide how Film Distributors work?

ad2478

ad2478

Hi friends

I wanted to know more about how distributors work? I mean i know they do advertising and promotion etc of a movie and make copies of their film for cinemas etc but i want to know that how they deal with cinema owners etc? suppose lets say i have started a distribution company and i have a finished film so first i will contact cinema owners and show them the movie?? and tell them the marketing strategy etc then they decides to buy the film or not? or is there any other way? more over how does the payment modes take place between cinema owners and distributors?
Do distributors take any upfront fee? or make any contract like 50 50 % after the sales of tickets ?? if yes then is there a chance that even cinema owners can cheat Distributors in the same way like distributors cheat filmmakers and pro houses?? or there is a check and balance method? If yes then what is it?

We have talked a lot about Filmmakers and distributors relation. I think now we should also explore this relationship of Distributors and Cinema Owners.

Please guide me about this


Regards


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The big distributors buy the rights to a movie.

They cover all the costs of P&A - prints and advertising. They
contact cinema owners and work out a percentage deal. The bigger
the movie, the more the cinema owners want it, the more they are
willing to pay. The smaller the movie, the less the cinema owners
are willing to pay.

The percentage varies depending on the movie. A straight 50/50
split is very, very rare. The percentage changes over the run of
the movie. It might start at 30/70 (in favor of the distributor)
for the first two weeks, then go 60/40 for a week or two, then go
to a 40/60 (in favor of the cinema) and finally all the way down
to a 70/30 or 80/20 split later in the run.

Many times the cinema owner starts by renting the film at a set
price for the first several weeks.

Yes. When ever there are people involved, there is a chance that
people will cheat. And there is a check and balance method. Each
ticket sale is recorded and the cinema owner then writes a check
to the distributor. If the distributor feels the cinema owner is
cheating, they have the right to audit the books.
 
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Thanks a lot GURU. As you said

Many times the cinema owner starts by renting the film at a set
price for the first several weeks.
Click to expand...

I think this is the best deal some one can get because other wise it becomes hard to get into dull and boring process of Auditing etc. On the other hand the best thing is that digital cinemas are also growing which means more can be spend on P&A.

By the way thanks for guiding me.

Regards
 
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Hey i had few more questions Directorik. As you said films are rent out by cinema owners. I wanted to know suppose if the film was expected to run successfull but due to any reason the film stopped doing business after few days, will cinema owners have to pay the amount decided in RENT? or they adjust it? secondly i have alittle confusion that how it is decided that what will be the rent of the film ?? I mean how do they calculate that what should be the rent ???

Regards
 
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The rental option I mentioned is very rare and exclusivly used for
high profile movies. And it’s the distributor and studio that
sets the price. Cinema owners don’t like this method for the
reasons you mention.

If people don’t pay to see the movie they are stuck with the film
until the rental period is over. So it doesn’t happen very often
and it’s only for very high profile films.

This is not an option for indie filmmakers.

ad2478 said:
I think this is the best deal some one can get because other wise it becomes hard to get into dull and boring process of Auditing etc.
Click to expand...
Okay, let’s say you have started a distribution company. What you
call the “dull and boring process of Auditing etc” is now your
job. Distributors are in charge of the dull and boring job of
auditing the revenue and paying their obligtions.

Maybe distribution isn’t for you.....
 
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well Directorik you are guiding me so i think i should ask few more questions to clear things.

I read in wikipedia that the filmmaker takes 7 % of the total budget of the movie as his income. I want to know what if there are 2 filmmakers as we can see in few films 2 directors are present.

My other question is suppose if a producer has raised finance from other sources rather then investing from his pocket what % does he gets?? and if there are more then 1 producers then how do they decide their income? what % they take?


Regards



Note: I hope you will not mind answering these basic but tricky quesions
 
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The percentages are not set. What you read is one of many possibilities.

A filmmaker like Speilberg gets much more than 7% and a filmmaker
like you will get much less.

The producer who finances the film will try to get as much as possible
and the distributor will try to pay as little as possible. So the percentage
could be 2% or 40%.

If there is more than one producer all of them will share a percentage
of the percentage.

For example: Three producers - they negotiate the 7% you read about
and their 7% totals $100,000. Each producer takes a percentage of
that number. The lead producer takes 40%, the other two split the
remaining 60%.

These number are ONLY examples. This is not exactly what happens,
the percentages are different for each film. This is what you and the
distributor negotiate.
 
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