By Bob Labate and Kristen Fligel
If the business of making an independent film were itself the subject of a Hollywood movie, the director would be well advised to leave the "distribution" scenes on the cutting room floor. After all, the real drama is in creating the screenplay, arranging for financing, wading through a river of production documents, spending long hours on the set and in the editing room, negotiating endlessly with music publishers and finally, triumphantly, emerging with a master that distributors will fight over. The film’s success is assumed, right?
Well, if you want a happy ending then you should leave out distribution. The truth is that only a handful of indie feature films are offered national video/DVD distribution and an even smaller number obtain a broadcast cable deal or are released in theatres. Those successful films make it because of quality filmmaking, perseverance, relationships within the industry and a good bit of luck. While there are no easy paths to that success, here are a few ideas that might help you screen your film to audiences around the country.
A search of www.filmfestivals.com, a Web site with an astounding amount of information on film festivals world-wide, shows that in August alone there are more than 60 film festivals in the United States. They range from the Big Apple Anime Fest to the Chicago Underground Film Festival to the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival to the Denver Jewish film festival.
In spite of the number of potential venues for hopeful filmmakers, getting accepted at a desirable festival can be an ordeal. Major festivals often will not accept a film once it has been shown elsewhere. As a result, your festival strategy is to start with the submission deadlines for the most important festivals and then to move to festivals that are lower on your list.
Routine rejection, often for no apparent reason, leads to a suspicion that festival programmers are either terribly overworked or have an undisclosed agenda (or both). Since films rejected by one festival sometimes win awards at other festivals, application to a number of festivals is recommended. Rejection should be viewed as part of a process that often has little to do with the merits of your film.
Keep in mind that film distributors attend very few festivals and that very few films are sold, even at those attended by distributors. Thus, success with a festival audience or a festival award rarely results in an immediate distribution deal for significant money. In fact, most distribution deals for indie films contain little or no up-front payment to the producer.
Distributors like to keep track of film projects throughout the country, and you might receive a call from a distributor who asks about the progress of your film and requests that you send them all or a portion of your film. (Don’t do it.) You should remember that while such calls are nice, especially when they come after a series of rejections, they are essentially meaningless.
Before you attend a festival, you should obtain your festival music licenses and have a good idea of the delivery and completion costs for your film. Few things are worse than discovering that the cost to deliver your film exceeds the often minimal up-front payment you will receive from an already negotiated deal. "Delivery" in film means the ability to transfer the final master, together with any required synch licenses, intellectual property registrations, assignments, releases, waivers, rights agreements and master use licenses. Nothing will kill a deal more quickly than an inability to deliver "chain of title" documentation.
Also be aware that a film thought to be new and fresh at its festival premiere may be viewed as old and stale just six months later. Don’t be in too great a hurry to exhibit your film, particularly if it requires a bit more editing or music or if you want to reshoot certain scenes. Also remember that while screening your film is generally a good thing, taking it from festival to festival is unlikely to increase its chances of finding distribution.
Some producers retain a producer’s representative, whose primary job is to create a market for a film. While a good "rep" can be exceedingly helpful (particularly in marketing a first feature film), very few have solid records of success and it is important to know as much as possible about a rep before retaining her. Also, the better reps will take their fees (anywhere from 7.5 to 15 percent) and their costs from the sales proceeds for the film. Reps who require a significant up-front retainer should generally be avoided.
Creating a "buzz" for your film can also be done in a number of ways other than through festivals. Some producers use Web marketing to create interest, while others have succeeded by "four-walling" their films (literally renting a theatre and showing it to the public for several weeks) thereby demonstrating to potential distributors that the film appeals to a commercial audience. Other films have been picked up after they received favorable reviews by well-regarded critics. But before you spend a small fortune self-promoting your film, remember that few distributors have the resources to provide a significant "up front" payment for your film.
As indicated in a previous column, you might want to exhibit your film at a convention like the annual American Film Market (www.americanfilmmarket.com), which claims that it is "the Hollywood gathering for the international motion picture industry." With 7,000 attendees and 600 films, it is worth considering, particularly because AFM boasts that more than $500 million in production and distribution deals are closed there annually.
Successful indie projects require persistence and an unshakable belief that the film is worthy of attention and will eventually find an audience. The story of your film has many possible endings, depending on a bit of luck and on your ability to ride the festival circuit.
© 2002 Robert J. Labate and Kristen Fligel. This column is provided as a source of information and is not to be construed as legal advice or opinion. You may contact me through our firm’s Web site (mbc.com), via email at labate@mbc.com or, via mail, to Bob or Kristen at McBride Baker & Coles, 500 West Madison Street, Suite 4000, Chicago, Illinois, 60661 312/715-5700.