In response to the changes in market conditions, as an indie filmmakers and producers you need
to understand the distribution chain. How and where a film is released, and who is in
charge to help you exploit your film globally and in many different ways.
All this, coming up!
Hi everyone! And welcome back to another video. My name is Ani Asfura. I created this channel
to help indie filmmakers in the process of making their films. So, if you want to be
part of this amazing film industry and this community, consider subscribing.
Now, let’s jump into the video.
Usually when we talk about distributors, we hear the sentence ‘buy a movie’.
This is not quite accurate. Actually, the distributor is not making an outright purchase of the
film. The distributor will be entering into a license agreement, whereby the distributor
has the right to distribute the film in certain territories for a particular length of time,
usually known as the ‘term’. So, at the end, you are not selling your film, you
are selling the license for certain rights, for certain territories, for a limited period of time.
That being said, now, what distributors do.
The distributor of a film is responsible for exploiting the film for its maximum value
once it has been made. They set the release date and they plan the life cycle of the film
through various ‘windows’ and territories making the movie available for the audience.
In the world of independent film, distribution companies tend to work on a territory by territory
basis. So, for example, the Canadian distribution company will buy the film for Canada. That
means the distributor will have the right to arrange for distribution in all media;
theatrical, DVD, VOD, television, airlines, in Canada only. A German company will buy
the film for Germany. A Brazilian company will buy for Brazil, and so on.
This is way sometimes is good to work with a sales agent who can advise and make the
sales to several distributors and help the producer to place the film in different territories
around the world.
Now let’s talk about the distribution life cycle of a film. Here we use the concept of
‘windows’. This refers to the fact that films can be seen in many different ways,
in theaters, television and home video. Over the years, the film industry has developed
a pattern of releasing films on these different platforms, in a particular sequence, over
an established time frame. But as we know, the current system of release windows is under
increasing pressure from changes in the audience behavior.
The standard sequence of release for a feature film places theatrical at the top, followed
by premium VOD, a service that allows you to watch a movie even if still playing in
theaters, or very shortly after. Then we have Transactional, that is DVD, Blu-Ray and Pay
Per View. Then Pay TV, that can be Cable or Digital video, like VOD or SVOD. Free TV.
Educational, that works most for documentaries. And the catalogue, the last stage in the distribution
cycle where the movie is part of the distributor’s catalogue for the time left.
Nowadays, there is a period of exclusivity between the theatrical release and the following
windows, which traditionally runs for 90 days. After these 3 months, you can distribute more
broadly, and the film can be available on DVD, Pay Per Vies, and airlines. Then, 18
to 30 months after the initial release, it may be on free TV, the standard broadcast
channels. The goal here for each window will always be trying to maximize its exclusive
or non-exclusive access to the film.
The most important thing is to be informed. Do your homework, do your research and build
a profile of the different distributors you want to connect with. Know the trends, know
how the business works, and how the industry is changing day by day
due the current worldwide events.
Well, I hope this video was helpful for you, let me know in the comments below. You can
hit the like button as well. Thank you so much for checking out this video and the channel.
Keep crushing it! And see you next time.