By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Here are 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Negotiating a Distribution Deal:
1. Don’t submit to festivals too early.
Most filmmakers do and end up regretting it. If your movie is not as good as it’s going to get but you submit anyway, you increase the already high odds of being rejected. You should resist the siren calls of festival deadlines until you’re confident you’ve made the strongest film you can make. You need to put your best foot forward with festivals, press, and distributors. Utilize test screenings with strangers (rather than family and friends) to determine if your film is ready to premiere. These screenings will help you determine what changes need to be made. Then you can test screen a new cut for another audience.
2. Don’t submit your film to distributors or producer’s reps without internally having a customized distribution strategy.
This strategy should include your plans for each avenue of distribution. Too many filmmakers follow the old playbook and take a formulaic approach to submitting their movies to the usual suspects without having a clear vision of how they want their films to come into the world.
Too many filmmakers try to handle by themselves complicated distribution issues, which they know little or nothing about. Many suffer from the rampant “I have to do it all myself” disease. Some don’t know where to turn for help and worry it will be unaffordable.
READ MORE: Here’s the Distribution Strategy You Need Before Any Film Festival
Magical solutions are usually too good to be true. Many filmmakers who give complete control of their distribution to one company end up regretting it.
DIY filmmaking can be okay and DIY distribution may work in certain circumstances, but DIY dealmaking is not recommended. Assume the person you would be negotiating with has much more experience, knowledge, and skill than you.
If you only get a single offer, don’t be afraid to negotiate it because you are worried you will lose the deal and end up with no distribution. There’s a way to negotiate a single offer that will increase your chances of improving the deal. The key is to have an internal bottom line. The company you’re negotiating with needs to understand that if they don’t meet your bottom line (which you haven’t disclosed to them), you’re not going to sign the deal. If they believe you will sign their boilerplate contract without any changes, you will have no leverage. Never forget that no deal is better than a bad deal.
When you are negotiating on the phone, on Skype, or in person, you have access to valuable information, whether it is tone of voice, body language, or a pregnant pause. This additional information will give you a better sense of where the other side is flexible and what their bottom line is, and make it easier to achieve a win-win deal.
Look out for a follow-up article tomorrow on How to Negotiate a Distribution Deal.
(c) 2014 Peter Broderick
You can read the rest of this article as well as Peter Broderick’s other articles and Distribution Bulletins at http://www.peterbroderick.com/.
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.