Never go with a distributor that asks the filmmaker to pay.

Always research any distributor that contacts you.

quote:

---

Originally posted by bugzilla

I can't see any reason why I would want to.

---

Then self distribution is for you.

Just as there are bad filmmakers (and I don't mean those that make bad films - I mean filmmakers who don't pay, don't pay out their deferred agreements, treat crew badly), there are bad distributors. Just as there are good filmmakers (people like you and me), there are good distributors.

I have never had the desire to distribute - I consider myself only a filmmaker. The time, money and talent it takes to market a movie is something I don't have. All my time, money and talent is spent making the movie. But I am very interested in self distribution and have done a lot of research.

One question I can't seem to find an answer to it who is buying movies on customflix and lulu? Do you? I never have. I'm an independent filmmaker and I've never purchased a single movie on any of the self distribution sites. Am I in the minority?

How many of the movie makers here buy movies made by people you don't know, starring people you've never heard of on these sites? Even if the movie maker believes they have made a really good movie.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

I have never heard of those sites. I have purchased independent films from whatisbroken.com and a couple other places if they have good reviews and an excellent webpage to show the quality of the movie.

Matthew Sconce

I don't get it.

If a distributor is a rip off artist then that should be easy to detect and post to the public and law enforcement.

You don't have Walmart or Joe's Restaurant doing multiple rip offs and still staying in business. Why that for film distributors?

Either people aren't reporting the crimes or the stories have a double edge to them regarding being ripped off.

Is there an industry standard board of ethics for film distribution?

quote:

---

If a distributor is a rip off artist then that should be easy to detect and post to the public and law enforcement.

---

Worthless if you don't have the money to sue them because they haven't paid you. Non-payment is generally not a criminal offence, so the police won't care.

And that's assuming that they simply don't pay. In reality they'd probably produce accounts to show that your movie didn't make a profit (e.g. due to the trips to film festivals, advertising, etc that they billed to you).

I've heard plenty of horror stories about movie distribution, to the extent that I'd not expenct to see a penny on a first feature beyond the initial advance.

MarkG thanks for the reply.

I'm from outside of the film industry. Journalism.

We've wondered about the film industry as it and the recording industries are lonnnnnng overdue for examinations into the criminal wrongdoings reported over decades.

With the number of reports and cases and data gathered from FOIA ( Freedom Of Information Act ) it's no secret that some companies have been getting away with murder. We didn't understand why artists who'd been ripped off didn't pursue RICO against these companies. Some data suggests fear of blacklisting and general fear of strongarm tactics.

It depends on the circumstances.

I believe that Forrest Gump has officially never made a profit, even though probably at least 75% of people in the developed world have seen it. Movie companies seem to be very good at creative accounting to hide the money they make.

I've also heard of a number of people being screwed by distributors who took their movie, released it, and then went bust. If the people who ran the company just set up another one, then they never have to pay out.

MarkG you just raised the big picture here.

These types of 'creative bookkeeping' should have raised a red flag amongst the authorities a lonnnnnng time ago.

But nothing has been done. Why?

Because it benefits the authorities and politicians NOT do so. Why?

Because as far back as the McCarthy Era when the feds sided with that moron and ruined some honest, true blue American's lives, they've been at the behest of the Hollywood big shots and their hidden backers who make no bones about using their influence to attack any politician who backs an investigation.

So again, we citizens are at the mercy of private industry and their henchmen.

But that may change one day soon.

I agree with certified instigator.

Nada Taufik
Film Maker
pink_rebels?filmsindie.com
http://www.filmsindie.com/pinkrebels

The thing that adds to this problem is the simple rock star appeal of being a "name" filmmaker. Every one of us wants to get our movie out there, and many-- if not all-- might even sell our first films at a LOSS if it was the only way to get on the map.

Many of us don't understand the marketplace. We don't understand what our film is truly worth in all the foreign territories around the world. To get that information is basically a fulltime job, and distributors certainly don't go around handing it out.

You make a film for 50g's. A distribco offers you 30 for domestic DVD rights. They're the fifth place you've been to and the only one's who've made an offer. You've gotta pay back those credit card bills (or hungry investors). Your film will be on the shelf at Blockbuster. So-- what's the answer?

If you take that deal because in the end you feel like it's better to get on the shelf than not, did you get "ripped off?" Or are you ahead of the game because you've got a leg to stand on the next time you want to make a film?

Personally, so long as I could get most of the money back I'd rather have the movie out there being seen than sitting on my shelf. I'm more concerned about using my first feature to raise funding for the next one than making money on it.

A "rip off" to us filmmakers is just a certain way of doing accounts to some distributors, there's nothing illegal in a lot of the things they do, they're just unfair but that's life!

Self distribution can be personally rewarding but financially it sucks ass and you'll waste 1-2 years flogging your film around when you could be out making other stuff with the money your distributor earned you by selling your film worldwide in all of a month.

They key thing will always be the contract, people who get "ripped off" invariably just didn't read the contract properly, very few distributors will risk breaching contract or stealing work unless you approach the bottom of the rung distributors (most of whom are useless anyway).

Steve Piper
Coffee Films
www.coffeefilms.com
www.myspace.com/coffeefilms

I don't know much about self-distribtion but if the movie hits several nitch audiences it would seem there are probably websites dedicated to those audiences and movie review sites dedicated to those nitches as well. Some free copies to the right people could be all it takes to get those nitches clicking over to buy if the reviewers are kind.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA