Securing distribution: the success ratios between films trying to do so versus those films which fail…
Yeah, I suppose I could share with you several rough stats from my own portfolio of indie docs and features I’ve PMDed for over time. But because what I’m about to describe is so rampant in the indie industry, I don’t even think it’s even necessary to get into a specific breakdown of the numbers. The mere description of it will tip you off to how prevalent it actually is…
Look, it’s not surprising that securing distribution of any kind – be it indie, conventional, non-conventional, or some form of hybrid distribution – isn’t an option for filmmakers if marketing fundamentals are not adhered to from the get-go.
There exists no distributor – be it a content aggregator dealing with a number of VOD platforms for streaming distribution and cable (egs. iTunes, Amazon VOD, Comcast, Warner’s, etc.) or one of the more established traditional distributors – who wants to represent a client who:
- hasn’t devoted a considerable amount of energy in shooting the absolute best picture they can buy for their money.
- is sloppy with the overall marketing and promotion (formerly, P&A) of their projects.
- is sloppy with their legal and other paperwork (nothing scares off a potential distributor more than “chain-of-title” doubts).
- demonstrates laziness in getting things organized, in general (what I’m going to call being “arty”), or
- has done poor research on the current distribution landscape with weak knowledge of what’s possible/what’s not.
I’m going to dive into just a few specifics preventing eligible indies from securing good distribution for their projects…
Failure to produce good content at a reasonably consistent clip:
Bingo! This is the biggest problem I’m seeing out there.
An inability – save for a few standout examples who I continue to work with into the future – to maintain any sort of consistent content production schedule. This is bad for a number of reasons: 1) it throws off your fans’, friends’, and followers’ expectations, as these are the folks who get accustomed to reading your material on specific days of the week or on certain topics you’ve become known for. If your content production schedule suddenly staggers, zig-zags, becomes sloppy or on-again/off-again, it messes with this silent compact you’ve established with your audience and you can expect to lose them for all-time, including their respective influence networks. Second, an inconsistent approach to content generation isn’t search engine friendly. Obviously, those who are in the business will know that the key to ranking high on Google is churning out consistently-produced content on topics which score high for specific keywords, and posts or videos which are actively shared by your network. The less you get shared, the less present you are on social, the less favorably search engines rank you, the less prevalent you are for serendipitous searches which is where the real online mojo for your indie film or doc lies. In other words, where the real money is.
The reason you want to produce as much content as possible is because distributors like to dive into a rich trove of contents as they distribute. Marketing “assets,” for lack of a better term.
These are the elements they use to leverage your film’s intellectual property, drawing attention out to specific elements of your picture or specific sub-storylines. The more assets in your archive, the better prepared you seem to prospective distribution partners and the increased likelihood one’s going to take you seriously and add you to their roster.
If you assist them, they’ll help you back. If you make things difficult, they can only assist you as far as you’re willing to play an active role in the process. Moreover, they might even drop you once your initial probationary contractual period with them ends if your film’s a no-earner.
Great planning…shoddy execution:
Here’s another thing I see all-too-often. Tremendous forethought into what needs to go into a content production rollout, what with huge maps, whiteboards, and deep introspection about the process, though followed-up by atrocious execution.
This type of process is generally rife with delays and leads to a tremendous waste of time and production resources. I call these the “analysis paralysis” types who like to do very little other than plan meticulously and mull over options, carefully weighing the prospective risks and rewards of each potential action step before actually going for any of them.
Look, I’m all for planning and having clear objectives. I’m not, however, for clients who, let’s say, don’t like to experiment with somewhat unorthodox ideas which may quite likely land them windfalls they mightn’t have considered on their own.
Distraction by shiny metal objects:
If your film’s goal is to go for the money and secure distribution, then every step taken in advance of that stage must be in preparation for that eventual goal.
Look, there’s no point shooting for a clear objective, then forking off the road along the summit’s rise. I’ve seen this happen once too often, where the marketing team (with me helming all or a part of it) agree on a very specific objective, then observe the production team getting distracted by the next shiny metal object, careening off a slippery slope.
Again, if the goal is to secure distribution, hopping around a jackrabbit certainly doesn’t help your cause.
Maintaining a “lottery” or “savior” attitude:
It’s rare when I’ll hear indies still referring to the “lottery method” as their preferred distribution outcome – whereby a distributor picks them up and handles their entire post-production rollout, soup-to-nuts. It almost never happens these days.
Though what I do see holding over from that era is an attitude on the part of filmmakers that distributors are to be trusted implicitly with what they do. They’re considered to be honest brokers of their trade, and that distributors will do everything in their power to market the stuffing out of their client’s picture, devoting countless resources and personnel to ensure its ultimate success with an audience. Reality is much dimmer, I’m afraid.
Distribution checks? Nice try. Those are usually super slow in arriving, so expect to have several thousand dollars in the production kitty to tide you over for the long-haul before you see a single cent from your distributor. Also, distribution companies do end of year accounting in their favor, not yours.
So bottom line is that filmmakers can’t simply adopt a hands-off “I trust you” attitude towards their distributors.
Even in the best case scenarios, client filmmakers need to watch their distributors like hawks to ensure their sales numbers match up against their eventual receipts, that the buzz they’re generating in the market, evidenced by things like press coverage, etc., directly corresponds to the money they seeing (or not seeing) from their distributor.
Poor research of the various distribution possibilities:
There is zero excuse for not coming to the table well-armed.
There are now enough books and resources out there that filmmakers looking to secure distribution should have a relatively clear overall understanding of how film distribution functions – especially in terms of SVOD/VOD and other forms of streaming options, including most aspects about digital rights.
It’s the contractual stuff they might have to bone up on if and when these become available possibilities.
NOTE: None of these things guarantee, however, that a prospective distributor will act ethically, or that you’ll be seeing any cash windfalls over the short-term.
Best to continue to keep your options open, however, which includes a possibility for total DIY distribution in the event the traditional model proves not to be a feasible one for you and your film.
And, as always, kindly share your experiences in the comments below…
Adam Daniel Mezei, PMD | Producer of Marketing and Distribution
http://pmdforhire.com
Marketing and Distribution Services for Indie Films and Documentaries
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