If you are considering doing a theatrical release for your film, one of the things you need to think about first is whether or not to hire a Servicing Company to execute the release for you. A Service Company is effectively a “distributor for hire” in the sense that you can pay them to book your film in theaters around the country. So instead of a distributor paying you for the right to distribute your film, you are paying them a fee to do this for you.
Some people say – well hang on a second — why would I pay a distributor to book my film in theaters? I want distributors to be paying ME! Well yes, of course you do — but as we all know by now, “All Rights” Theatrical deals where the Producer gets paid an advance are few and far between. Those are reserved for Tier 1 Festival winners from Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Cannes, and a few others. In other words, if your film did not make it into one of these TOP festivals, you are unlikely to receive a pay day from a theatrical distributor.
BUT HERE’S THE BEST PART — that doesn’t matter anymore! There are now Servicing Companies who you can hire to theatrically distribute your film in the same way (if not better) than a traditional theatrical distributor would do. The difference is, you need to actually budget for this option from the beginning, because the last thing you want to happen is that you get to the end of the line with your film and you have no money left to hire a servicing company to help you. And what if that does happen? Well I’ve seen a handful of filmmakers succeed in doing it themselves but that means booking, advertising, promoting, and COLLECTING all falls on your shoulders. If it were me, I’d rather hire someone who knows what their doing in this arena and pay them for their expertise (note: most if not all Servicing Companies run by former Distribution executives so they actually DO know what they’re doing!)
Now one of the things I recommend no matter if you choose to book the film yourself or hire a company to release it for you is that you KEEP YOUR EXPENSES LOW. Marketing expenses can make the difference between a ‘loss leader’ and a profitable release. So stick to your guns on this – and start marketing and promoting your film grassroots style from PRE-PRODUCTION so you aren’t starting from ground zero, having to create a big buzz from nothing which can be very expensive.
Fortunately there are so many different formulas now for self-releasing your film and examples abound all over the internet. Films like WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW and OKIE NOODLING paved the way YEARS AGO for the rest of us today by providing a simple road map to follow and inspiration that it’s possible to get your film in theaters even when a traditional theatrical distributor won’t do it for you.
*** I cover the Self Theatrical Release and give a recommended short list of Servicing Companies to do it for you in my newly updated SELF DISTRIBUTION STARTER KIT mini-guide. You can download a copy of this little primer for $29 or get it for free if you join FILM SPECIFIC as a member.
So what do YOU think about doing a self Theatrical Release for your film? I know there are some mixed emotions out there where this is concerned because some people just can’t get past the idea that they have to pay a distributor instead of getting paid. Do you have a successful case study to share of either releasing your film with the help of a Service Company or without one? Please comment below!
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We’ve been independent for 20 years, self distributing our music and movies. Our motto is: Why wait around for someone to discover you, live your dreams now! We call ourselves Bright Blue Gorilla, are originally from Los Angeles and have been traveling around the world since 1990 making music and movies. Right now we’re in Berlin, editing our 4th feature Lose With English. The world premiere is October 27th, 2010, at the coolest art house cinema in Berlin, Babylon mitte, which is one of the venues for Berlinale. We’ll play a concert, screen the film and they’ll hold it for a week. We book ourselves, one cinema at a time, doing concerts and screenings (they pay us to perform). If the right creative distributor comes along great, if not we can still share our movies with appreciative audiences around the world. As Stacey mentioned, one of the key elements of success is keep your expenses low. We’ve made a profit on every movie and this has given us freedom to make the next one! Keep on keeping on!
I am happy to reading your words.Actually i have a good low budget story.i don’t have any industrial experience.but i feel that imagination plus clarity is more than enough to be a director.i am from india .
Why is there such a big issue with paying them – because won’t the filmmakers get a cut of the profits? A traditional distributor is going to take a huge chunk for themselves anyway for marketing – so maybe you could come out the same or even ahead with a self-service distributor? I would try it if I had a film and couldn’t get a distribution deal – at least your film will get out there.
Just the thought of taking my film on “tour” makes me tired, but I am actively exploring those options – but not just traditional theaters, we (and by that I mean me) are also looking into alternate venues and cross promoting with organizations who would also “prosper” from being part of the event. I know my audience is out there and I know where they “live” but I also know I am looking at a lot of hard work. If I had the money to hire an outside company, i would certainly consider it as well. On the other hand, if this is successful, I would have already started to develop relationships with theater operators and that would be helpful for (dare I say it?) my next film.
Recently I’ve heard from a few independent filmmakers literally saying “my film is so good I know I’m going to get distribution.” Hey, maybe they do have that Tier 1 film that will get picked up, but we all know the likelihood is slim to none. That doesn’t mean that these films aren’t great they just haven’t been picked up. In my business plan for First World, I’ve actually allocated the entire 25% of the tax credit (you can elect to receive 90% of the credit back from the state as cash instead if you want) for marketing and self distribution. I think the one thing that makes my perspective unique is that I was a magazine publisher for over a decade so I understand self-distribution in terms of getting a product into the hands of the consumer. I rented a movie theatre once in New York City for a short film I produced. It really isn’t that much of a project it’s just a variety of coordinating. That being said when I get First World into production, I think I would seriously entertain using a Service Company as I would look for them to provide some data to me on both large and mid size markets that have done well in sci-fi. But then, of course, looking to those markets on what can be done from a marketing POV that isn’t going to break the bank. I self marketed and distributed the short film version of First World. I called or emailed a variety of sci-fi conventions and eventually it led to just over 20 screenings, which led to our DVD deal with IndieFlix which led us to Hulu. Finally, I think self distribution for lack of a better word is fun and it also puts you in control of the process while you still have control of your film. One thing I would like to add here, Stacey what about time buys on Network or cable TV? When I was involved in the sports TV world, many events would buy the time and sell advertising to offset costs/profit. Who knows that could be a possibility these days too. Just thinking out of the box.
We self distributed 2 films last year…one digitally thru the Screenvision sattlelight network…the other a bus tour to 35 cities…It was a water ski wake board film and we thought the community would embrace and help promote to get a cut at the door….bad idea…bottom line lost our ass on both…media buys a must!
Bill – I’m sorry to hear you lost your shirt! I’m curious, what kinds of marketing and promotion did you do and for how long? Do you think that’s why it was ineffective? And did you lose money because you spent a lot on the tour?
Thanks for weighing in!
Stacey
Hi Stacy! Hi everybody.
Great idea for a blog. After my seller tried for almost a year to sell my movie, Player, we decided that the only way is to release it theatrically to bust film visibility and get some reviews. Well, I was lucky – My film was picked up for World Premiere by Siskel Film Center in Chicago (July 31 8 PM and August 5 also 8 PM – everybody from the area invited!). This invitation not only boost my morale (they are paying me!) but also made possibility to approach different people and try to organize next screenings. I am writing to Archlight, and I already have proposition to have one week at Sunset 5 in LA in autumn . This week will be organized by Polish American Film Society (I am Polish – they are actually looking for other films to service with some even minimal Polish participation! http://www.polishfilmla.org/wocms.php?siteID=48&lngID=1)
I am also taking this opportunity to try and make a deal with other theaters. Hopefully reviews will be good and all this will made some difference in film sales.
You really have to be willing to spend a lot of time on things other than creating films to make self distribution work. If it’s your only option go for it, but know there are a lot easier ways to make a buck off your film.
I got a distributor for my film but they turned out to be useless for three years now. What I am cautioning you is, don’t sign a 7 year contract with any distributor because as they sit on their ass and do nothing, there is nothing you can do about it, you just have to wait for your contract to expiere then you can try to self distribute it yourself.
A concrete but flexible distro plan with an emphasis on what teh filmmaker TRULY wants out of theatrical is the foundation of all good DIY distribution strategies. I’m a big fan of diy distro but many of the filmmakers I know who’ve gone that route really don’t have a plan. They hire a service because someone told them they should. They enter film festivals because someone they know had a measure of success at fests. For them the grass is always greener somewhere else and they flip-flop around. Some filmmakers enjoy marketing and promoting their films and have the flexibility to go on tour with their films, much like a band would. For them, the “work” required to market and promote the film is part of the overall experience. Filmmakers need to be honest about the limitations and possibilities for their film before they embrace a distro plan. My film Broken Hearts Club is a romantic-dramedy — not much of a market for this kind of film without name talent involved, despite great reviews. Three years later the film was selected by NBC Universal to air in top ten markets (LA, NY, Chicago and Philadelphia) as part of a new test pilot program. That’s 3 years with decent exposure but very little money coming in. But I knew the film had a broader audience than the distributors would admit, so I waited — impatiently — but I still waited for the right opportunity. In the meantime I kept making films.
Filmmaking as a team effort so before you even start your production GO TO IMDB AND CHECK EVERYBODY OUT – get a producer – line producer -UPM who has already released a few films in your “genre”. Get an experienced writer- re-rewriter with a couple of “distributed” films under his belt. get an EXPERIENCED script supervisor ( a must) and an Experienced !!! ( 10 years) feature film not TV Editor ( the film editor and his assistant should be your eyes and ears during your production phase and get a CASTING director !!! even one with a little bit of experience will coordinate your casting sessions better than you. try to get ” Branded” name actors either from off Broadway or commercials or your local Lee Strasberg schools. Find organizations “niche” that could help you disseminate your information about the film and collect emails and zip codes to locate your audience. put trailers and ..making of… on youtube and monitor your viewers . send unlimited releases to local papers. mags, local press and generate interest thru facebook, twitter, myspace, googlegroups, youtube…. etc failure should not be an option.film marketing is not rocket science. make a few websites get a few MBA’s interested in your company as interns and read all you can… get your hands on books such as film and law, film distribution, film marketing, film festivals etc. Hire the right people from the beginning not your friends and family only and remember you cannot fire somebody that you did not hire. Distribution after completing your film should not be viewd as an extra work – your film is not completed until its in the theatre/TV/WEB – budget for it in advance and do not compromise you need to hire PROFESSIONALS not HoBBISTS if you want to be part of show BUSINESS and move to your next studio or indie feature. BTW short films do not lead to features. Believe in your idea, WORK HARD and MAKE A DIFFERENCE – no more little personal stories expand your horizon study the trailers and promo material from already existing successful campaigns and hire the people who made it happen
Theatrical means access to theatres. In the UK this is extremely difficult for UK distributors – that is: one’s which are not subsidiaries of North American, or in a few case, French companies. These UK companies between them have access to about 1% of a market completely controlled by Hollywood. Hollywood’s control of the American market is almost as great, but the market is 7x bigger, so there are niches. Strange though how any other industry following such practices would be subject to investigation under anti-trust legislation.
By the way we’ve suffered from this directly. Our first feature, Diary of a Bad Lad has just been released on DVD. It was made on no money, and has fantastic reviews – don’t believe me, just Google, and is being marketed by the people who marketed The Hurt Locker. However, despite all that, the response our distributor got from theatre bookers was “Sorry, we can’t screen your movie because we’d have to take an American film off to do it”.
How much are people budgeting for DIY limited theatrical release to, say, 10 markets around the US, but not LA and NYC – more like Portland, Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Boise, Raleigh, ? I’ve also been hearing service deal fees that are all over the map.
And here’s a dumb question for ya: If a company is a “presentation” company, does that mean they just put $$ into the project?
@Kristi – people are budgeting anywhere from a few thousand bucks up to a few hundred thousand bucks even for those smaller markets depending on whether you want to execute the release yourself, or hire a servicing company to do it for you — also depends on how much you spend on marketing, whether you outsource PR or do it yourself, etc.
Re: your Presentation question – the answer is sometimes it’s because they put money in, or maybe they were involved in another way to get the project off the ground.
Hope this helps!
Stacey
This was really interesting, as were the comments; thanks all for sharing!
I am stuck. I am a indie filmmaker, director, actor, and author..visit my website and see the trailer and more info. Any advice would be very helpful.