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Film Schooling – Insider Insights On Indy Filmmaking: Selling Your Films, Initial Contact, And Fielding Offers

Published Fri, 19 Sep 2014 18:30:00 -0500

By Chris Hood

(This is Part Twenty Five of an ongoing series to help educate aspiring filmmakers on the process of making their first film. Previous articles in this series can be found at BleedingCool.com and MovieIndustry.com)

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

As I look back on this article, reviewing it before publishing, I realize what a negative tone it seems to carry. My first thought was to actually go back and lighten it up a bit, make it seem less gloomy, but I decided against it. Unfortunately, what I write here is all true and when it comes time to sell your film, you'll be stepping into a pit of vipers. Knowledge and business savvy are tools you'll have to have to get through it relatively unscathed and do what's best for your project. That said:

I very much hope offers start rolling in for your film once you begin getting it out there. Sadly, the odds are going to be against you, but I'm writing this article to prepare you for the "best case" scenario which is that someone will want to handle your film and try to fuck you over in the process. Yes, that's usually the "best case" scenario at this stage of the business. I'll try to help you avoid the latter.

I genuinely wish that every filmmaker was able to find a distributor to get behind his project (again, I'm using "distributor" to encompass "sales agent" as well). I hate it every time I write a filmmaker telling him it's a "pass" on his project…and I have to do this every week. Even if I can't do anything with a film, a part of me hopes the movie finds someone who can do something with it, but I know the odds of that are almost zero. The fact is, if a film is marketable at all, I'll usually express interest even if the offer I put out there isn't very strong or hopeful. We're one of the few companies that will handle even the smallest of films that most other sales agents would feel simply aren't worth their time. For most of us, it's not worth taking on a film that can only generate $10k or $20k in revenues. Even if a distributor is sure you, the filmmaker, won't see any of that, after they add in their time and the money they have to lay out to start selling it, it's still not worth it. So a film has to have the possibility for even greater revenue potential.

Realize that most films never get real distribution. By "real distribution" that means that someone other than the filmmaker arranges and/or produces a viable income stream. If you put your film on Amazon.com and sell a hundred DVDs, you can tell people you have "distribution" but that's being disingenuous. You can throw your movie up online in several places and make a few bucks that way, but it is most likely going to be…literally…a few bucks. There are examples of filmmakers that "four wall" their film (renting a screen and charging to show it to the public) and make money at it. This is extremely rare, but it does happen. There usually needs to be a big "hook," a tremendous following for the film and/or principles or an amazing marketing plan for this to work. It's just a very tough way to make money. That aside, most films never get any real distribution. If we single out films in the $50k-$100k range, I'd say 3% landing a distribution deal is on the high side. Daunting, I know, but that's the reality. There are thousands of these small films being made every year and the market doesn't really want them much to begin with.

I've been asked a few times – What percentage of indy films make money? This is a tough one to answer because it depends on whether or not you're asking if it makes any money back OR if it makes more than it cost to produce OR if the filmmakers and investors actually see more money than they actually spent. The disparity between these answers is vast…and none of the them are very encouraging.

First, let's begin with the film making any money at all before we consider what pockets it ends up in. As stated above, there is a tiny chance you'll get distribution. If you do, there is an excellent chance you'll see no money at all…even if the film generates some. This is the unfortunate, not-so-secret secret of film distribution. Most distributors and sales agents fuck over the filmmakers. I warned you all about this in earlier articles, but now as you go to sell your film, it's time to take this to heart and do everything you can to protect yourself and your project.

If you get a distributor to take on your film, there's an excellent chance it will generate some revenue. And there's a better than average chance that you won't see any of it. It's not uncommon for a small film to generate $50k, $100k or more and the filmmakers never seeing a penny of it. So the sad truth is that there are far more indy films that actually make money, in some cases actually make more than they cost, than there are films that actually turn a profit for the investors.

Here are the numbers I came up with (subjective, I know) when approached by a writer who wanted me to contribute some information to a book on distribution he was writing: On a $50k-$100k film, there is a 1 in 30 chance you'll get viable distribution. There's a 1 in 100 chance you'll see any money from your distributor. There's a 1 in 500 chance your film will break even or turn a profit. Now, if it's worth mentioning, I'd estimate there's a 1 in 50 to 1 in 100 chance that the film actually grosses more than it cost to make…but you'll rarely see your fair share, so those figures aren't really relevant. And this is why the deal you make, and the company you make it with, is to vastly important.

When the offers start coming in, and I sincerely hope they do, you'll get acquainted with the used car salesmen that seem to infest this part of the industry. These people will generally tell you anything, without remorse, to get their damn dirty hands on your film if they think they can make a few bucks for themselves. Many (most in my opinion) consider it a failure if they end up giving the filmmaker anything at all. Of course, they're very good at stroking, posturing and lying to get you on their side, so it's imperative you're smart and realistic about all of this.

Many distributors will say anything to get your project locked up. They say how much they love it. They'll tell you how brilliant you are as a filmmaker. They'll say how much money they think it can make. They'll promise to help you get your next film made or even promise/infer that they'll help fund it. They'll lure you with anything they can…and it's incredibly easy because all of these sharks know exactly what you want to hear. You just need to be smart enough to know that they are telling you what you want to hear and take it with a mountain of salt.

For all the "getting to know you" talk as you begin speaking with a distributor, the only thing that matters about any of what you discuss is what you get in writing. All these promises, all this lip service, mean nothing if it's not in the contract; and it almost never is. And they're very good explaining "why" they can't put it in the contract because screwing over filmmakers is what these people do. "I'd be amazed if you didn't see $100k on this film. I just can't put anything like that in the agreement, because there are just too many variables we can't control. We could find ourselves in another recession. Ebola or Bird Flu could cause a pandemic. I know you have Adrian Paul, but he could get busted for touching children before it comes out and no one will want the film. There are just things that can't be predicted that could hurt your project or the entire industry, so we can't make promises like that, but don't worry, everything will be fine, just sign here…" Yadda, yadda, yadda. If it's not in writing, it's not worth anything.

At some point, as you start to get closer to a decision, it's time to do your due diligence. I can't stress enough because almost no filmmakers do this. You must call other filmmakers who have worked with the same distributor. In the digital age, it's fairly easy to track down your peers who have already placed their films with the distributor you're talking to and can give you the straight dope on what they're like to work with. Be warned, generally it's discouraging. But once in a while, you'll get some feedback that's not completely terrible. "Yeah, we've seen some money, but not as much as we were expecting," is about the best you can hope for. For the most part, it's going to be vitriolic and contemptuous. The most disgruntled are generally the ones who have been promised the most and seen the least.

The more information you have, the better position you'll be in and the less likely you'll be taken advantage of. I hope you get to the point where you have more than one interested party and if there are several, once you've narrowed it down to a couple or a few is when you should start vetting the integrity of these companies.

In the next article, I'll discuss how to negotiate and what to look out for in contracts.

Chris Hood is a writer, producer and director of such films as "Counterpunch" starring Danny Trejo (a Lionsgate release) and "Dirty Dealing 3D" with Michael Madsen and C. Thomas Howell. He and Jon Schultz own Robin Hood Films, a Las Vegas-based distribution company representing English language films around the world and Chris operates a film blog at MovieIndustry.com. He's also dead sexy. (Mr. Hood denies any involvement in the creation of this mini-bio.)

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