How Distribution in Film Works - Film Distributors Explained [Stages of Filmmaking, Ep 6]
Film Marketing Strategies Explained - a breakdown of film marketing, including types of marketing, elements in a campaign, budgets, and more.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Film Distribution
01:00 - The Film Distribution Process
02:06 - Chapter 1: Finding Distribution
07:36 - Chapter 2: Licensing
13:52 - Chapter 3: Delivery and Exhibition
22:10 - Takeaways
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FILM DISTRIBUTION PROCESS
It’s no secret that making a movie is hard. From writing to finding financing to shooting to editing, each step along the way has its own difficulties and potential pitfalls. Say you manage to power through each of these stages and you end up with a final product you’re proud of. First: congratulations. Second: prepare yourself- there’s much more work to come. Welcome to distribution.
WHAT IS DISTRIBUTION FILM?
In this video, we take a look at the final hurdle in the filmmaking process, distribution. Many filmmakers understand much of what goes into pre-production, production, and post-production, but when it comes to distribution, they are left befuddled and overwhelmed. To put it simply, distribution is the process in which a movie gets in front of an audience.
INDIE FILM DISTRIBUTION EXPLAINED
Obtaining distribution is never a guarantee. This is the process called acquisition, where a movie goes from a filmmaker’s hands to a distributor’s. Distributors come in many shapes and sizes, and we take a look at how to decide which type of distribution company is right for you. There’s no one answer, and there’s no one way to attract a distribution company. But one thing is always true: it’s never too early to start thinking about the process. Even in development, a filmmaker can consider what their audience may be and how they will reach them.
MODELS OF FILM DISTRIBUTION LICENSING
Once you’ve found a distributor, it’s time for the lawyer to get involved (if they aren’t already). Distribution comes with some form of licensing, where the distributor has the film’s rights transferred over to them. This is a complex exchange, and a filmmaker needs to make sure they have all of their copyrights and chains of title in order before they embark on it. Again, it’s best to lawyer up.
EXHIBITION
Exhibition takes many forms, from showing a movie to a group of friends on a TV, to a wide theatrical release. This is an area in the industry that is constantly changing, and today, it’s changing fast. Streaming, theatrical, and more are all finding their way in a new media landscape. For a filmmaker, this means keeping an open mind and going where they think the best opportunities are.
Distribution can feel like a wild rodeo, where you’re bucked this way and that before you settle into the saddle. Just keep your goal in mind: to show off the project you’ve worked so hard on. And if you make some money off of it, that’s great too.
#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking
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♬ SONGS USED:
"Cyberpunk Sunrise" - Evgeny Bardyuzha
"Blurry (Instrumental)" - Curtis Cole
"Everlasting Flower" - DaniHaDani
"War Dance (Instrumental)" - Rhythm Scott
"Glass" - Claudio Laucci
"In Love with Emi" - Fabien Fustinoni
"Life's Journey Begins" - idokay
"1986" - Angel Salazar
"All Star" - ANBR
"Curiosity" - Kevin Graham
"From a Distance (Theme from Hit TV)" - Makeup and Vanity Set
"Inquisitions" - Kevin Graham
"A Battle in the East" - Rhythm Scott
"No Regrets" - Makeup and Vanity Set
"Wall of Fire" - Tony Anderson
"The Wolf, the Chase, and the Victor" - Dexter Britain
"Neon Sun" - Jacob Montague
"I Have a Plan" - Borrtex
"New World" - Ian Post
"Wistful (Instrumental)" - Falls
"Dojo Tradition (Instrumental)" - In This World
"Opening" - Magiksolo
"Work B****" - Britney Spears
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#film-theory, #video-essay, #filmmaker
I never had any desire to make a film and I still don't, but this series has been such a fascinating insight into how films are made. I appreciate all the hard work that goes into them even more now. Thank you for the education!
It's a ton of hard work and we're glad we can share our appreciation for the craft.
same! it's a very interesting peek behind the curtain
Who needs film school when you have StudioBinder?
That's very flattering. Thanks for watching.
and I went to film school I agree top notch information!!!!
I am a product manager for an independent film distributor so my department would even be a small chapter of its own between licensing and delivery. The journey of a movie from the first creative idea to being on someones random Netflix watchlist is so long and I am always amazed how many people are involved. I just love experiencing this industry.
Thanks for the comment. We also learned a lot about how many hoops a film needs to jump through doing this series. It's crazy!
Securing distribution on major streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime is challenging for small production companies and indie filmmakers, but it’s not impossible. For us, having a distributor on board early is crucial in this competitive landscape, and we’re doing all we can to ensure our documentary film finds its home.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
I wonder how many people are involved in making a single Studiobinder video! So well-made every time
Only a handful, we're a tight unit!
I’m a simple guy. I see a new studiobinder video I watch and like 👍
Thanks for watching!
For a film to make it through all of these stages, it really is a miracle.
A miracle indeed!
The business side of the creative world is such an amazing part of the art. 🤗
It really is!
It is a delight every time the vid starts and it is THIS narrator. Dude, you are BY FARRRRR, the best ever narrator, maybe the absolute only on a par with david attenborough. I wish i could narrate more like you. Any chance you could suggest practice materials for improvement? Or even make a vid about it?
We love him!
I agree! He reminds me of Peter Jones, the voice of The Book in the original radio series of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
It's not a robo narrator? Really? Why does he sound quite unnatural to me?
Ai
It's a complete audiovisual encyclopedia about the Distribution process in Filmmaking. Very Useful and Inspiring video. Thousand Thanks StudioBinder. Keep going. Best Continuation to come for you.💯💯💯
Thanks a million!
I almost feel obligated to support these guys through whatever means (Patreon, SubscribeStar, or whatever). I can't believe this channel is free. This is amazing!
Thanks for the support! We'll keep making videos if you keep watching!
I take notes on every video i watch. 1 video a day. I am learning the ins and outs. I am also applying some of these strategies to negotiate deals with places for me to DJ like how to negotiate my split with them overtime, who controls rights to filmed media, where it can be released. Alos i learned how to budget market and to research the place to see how we will write out the terms. And lastly to be strategic with dates not to rival an in town celebrity for atandees. I have 3 pages of notes. Thanks.
We're happy to help! Thanks for watching.
Seeing this channel gives me memories about my sister and me as a childs seeing the behind the scenes of our favorite movies with our mother and father. Very good times Thanks for the awesome videos as always say 🌍🌟🔥
You're very welcome!
I remember when Jurassic Park was first released in theaters in 1993 it played at the theaters for a couple of months and that's not the only movie, back then movies used to play longer at theaters, now they just rush films out so fast out of theaters and that could potentially hurt the movie financially as audiences might not know that that particular movie is playing and might miss out, streaming cannot be as successful because not everyone will have that particular streaming service but if the movie played solely in theaters without subscribing to any streaming service it can be watched by a wider audience and therefore it do better at the Box Office but streaming it's way too divided.
The business has certainly changed. Home Alone played in theaters from Nov. 1990 to June 1991. That would never happen today.
@@StudioBinder Yes definitely, such a different time and a wonderful time back then, I loved how movies would play for longer periods in which you could watch them multiple times at the theaters through their longer theatrical windows as I did with many movies especially Jurassic Park.
We just started learning on distribution but here comes Studio Binder to save the day.😃😃
That's great! It's always a good time to learn about distribution.
Thanks always wondered how they distributed films, waited for you guys to make a video on it. Your videos are like the film school of youtube!
We try! Thanks for watching.
I’ve decided to concentrate my efforts on rocket science. It just seems much easier than filmmaking.
Got that right. Distributors and their subsequent lawyers seem to be justifying their existence on the payroll while putting in very little of the work. 10 to 50% is a massive cut of a films overall budget. Bit like how badly record labels screw over musicians. Producing and directing is one thing but this is too much. Which planet you want to go to first?
@@matildastanford7019well, I'm not sure if Pluto is still a planet? I think there's been a lot of back and forth, so I think someone should go out there and check it out.
... subsequently, Film is definitely on the way out. The next era in "movies" will be influencers utilizing AI and collaborations.
@@TheUnholyPosoleas someone who is close to film (I'm a DP, sound designer, actor, and my wife is a member of two different film unions), I don't feel this is a completely accurate statement. There will be changes to the industry in the coming years as studios figure out how they can eek out maximum profits while paying as little as possible to everyone involved. It looks like this is going to be a combination of moving productions abroad, and relying more on CGI to avoid location shoots. I don't see "influencers utilizing AI" as a replacement for the film industry. If you believe this, then you don't quite understand the money behind the industry. You're suggesting that a trillion dollar industry is just going to pack it in and allow an influencer to take over - that's not gonna happen. There will be more independent filmmakers using platforms like KZhead to distribute movies, no doubt. There will be changes in the traditional methods of movie making, no doubt. But what you won't see is a gaggle of influencers dominating the industry with over the counter AI tools.
It just might be!
Before clicking the play button, I hit the like button because I know I am gonna anyway love the video in the end. Studio under supremacy 👏
Thank u so much for doing this series. It is a god send! 😩🙏🏾
You're very welcome! We're a little sad it's over but we had a blast making it.
Loved the series, binged watched in one day.
Amazing guys!... In less than 30 minutes you were able to give us some precious tools to tread the bumpy road of distribution. Unbelievable!!
My first flim making eyes open studiobinder 😊
I can't thank you enough for these top-notch, well researched assets. DISTRIBUTION.
You're welcome! This whole series was a beast in terms of research.
Studio Binder distributes knowledge to my brain ball 🧠🎬
Haha. Happy to be of service!
I would love to see a video about home media and how much directors are involved in design and special features.
Great series. Thanks a lot.
Thai Series has been so helpful. Thank you so much.
Happy to hear that! It was a labor of love on our end.
Thank you for filling in the gaps in my knowledge
Glad it was helpful! And there's more coming so stay tuned.
Thank you. I needed this video!
Happy to hear that!
Love this series. I'll be back when the subtitle available.
Sorry about that, they've been added.
@@StudioBinder Thank you sm.
Great video! Well detailed.
Thanks. Glad you liked it!
Always amazing. Thank you.
Our pleasure!
Thank you once again!
I love ur content please don't stop posting videos ❤
We love making them and there's so much more cool stuff coming soon!
@@StudioBinder Glad to hear! :)
good topic, like this video
Thanks for watching!
Thanks again
Thanks
One thing about home media releases (DVD & Blu-Ray) that I think could be done different since most playback equipment seems to support it is to not do a “pull down” to 23.976-ish fps and keep the fps at 24 exactly. And yes; most people won’t notice the difference but why perform a conversion step that’s not needed and any add extra post-production time?
Top content 📽
We try! Thanks for watching.
You guys should do a video about the different avenues you can take to get into the film industry and the pros and cons of each! 🙏
Interesting idea! Might be tough since there are so many but it's an important topic for sure.
@@StudioBinder Thats true you probably couldn’t cover everything but even covering some stuff would be awesome!
If you guys haven't already done so, can you do a video about the concepts explored in 'Tenet', and its structure in general? Thanks
Love u and tnx from Ethiopia 🇪🇹🇪🇹🇪🇹
Right back at ya!
Superb ❤
Thanks 🤗
THANKS
You're welcome!
Great content. By the way, I have a small question do you own the copyrights to the footage used in the videos ?
No, but we can use it for educational purposes. Thanks for the compliment!
Very helpful first comment too !!!!
You're welcome!
We need the second studioBinder in French
F@ck yeah 👍🏻💯. Love this channel
Right back at ya!
omg hi have a gr8 day!!
Imma have a gr9 day
You too!
First of all, thanks a lot for your brilliant videos. You have my respect as one of the pioneering filmmaking channels 👌 But I have a point, and please correct me if I'm wrong 🙌 Regarding the point of R rating limiting the total gross of a movie , what I feel on many occasions specifically nowadays, that R rated movies are the thing, people in general ,not just theartically speaking, love R rated and tend to watch it more than family friendly movies because they are more spicy. So what I am saying and sorry for all of that talking !😅🙌, that the R rated movies may gain as much if not more than family-friendly movies, but from digital release on platforms and viralling on the social media, which could increase the popularity of the movie, therefore increase the total gross 🙌 So wouldn't that make the R rated Movies gain at least as much as what the family-friendly gains from better distribution in theaters? For example: I watched a movie with my family at the theater and walked away and that's it, opposing to the R rated ones that people may revisit and talk about more than family-friendly ones 🙌 So isn't that supposed to make things even for R rated movies total gross in the long run?
This is invaluable info for people like me who don't have any connections with industry people. Thanks.
Our pleasure!
great series ,i have video series idea it is about star system in the golden age of hollywood there is good book about the subject (star machine ).
That would be a great series!
Nice video I am into animated movies, does this also work for that
I wouldn't say this is the final step, that would be some market research to see how well is the film working and see if it's worth a sequel 😂
Very true. Then the WHOLE process starts over again!
How much of movie making and exhibition is payed in the rears? So much has to be payed on the barrel head. There are scheduled pay dates and quantities through the project time start to bank. How much is payed after everything is in motion and earning?
Every distribution/exhibition contract is different but we cover some of the more common "splits" in the video.
Please make a video on doing research for a film😊
Do you mean researching for historical accuracy before making a film? Or do you mean researching a film academically for analysis?
@@StudioBinder Research the story of your script before writing
@Studiobinder an open film university online ❤ Can you also explain a topic called "Continuity Note" (editor's note from the shooting) ... please.🙏
Thanks for that! I'm sure we'll get to that topic eventually. Continuity usually refers to keeping everything consistent between shots, especially since scenes are typically shot out of order.
You have to get the licensing rights for brands or buildings appearing in the film, but how is that done? Does the filmmaker have to pay Ben & Jerry's to have their brand flash in the background? She didn't explain how this works exactly. I always wondered.
Good question. Check out this interview we did with Producer Alex Saks. She explains how product placement works. kzhead.info/sun/h9FskctsbYyhe6c/bejne.htmlsi=vZetf1Y0BRjh-B9u
You guys should do a video on bottle films
Interesting! We'll add it to the list.
could you do a film of Foley or sound.
Thanks for video again, but please get subtitle for more enjoy whit this video
Sorry about that, they've been added.
It also feels so impossible. I was rejected from every fest and with only oddball online doc marketplaces to submit to i feared id be paying a bunch more money only for it to end up on the most obscure streaming platform in existence. For example, i know someone whose doc is only viewable on United Airlines flights?? I just ended up uploading on KZhead. I wont make more than a few bucks back of $15k but at least anyone can just go watch it. Thats a luxury previous generations did not have. Unfortunately the inherent stigma is that it simply becomes a "youtube video" instead of a documentary because the platform is considered amateur.
I would take all this with a grain of salt… the model for distribution of film content is going to shift dramatically over the next 2-5 years!
We would like to see the man behind the voice 😊😊😊one day
Not a bad idea!
This channel is crazy
We can neither confirm nor deny our level of sanity.
太棒了
Damn
How can I get my indie film to Netflix,?
Please, what's the best way to write a character with multiple personalities. Like mental disorder?
👌👌
Thanks!
If you're not subscribed to this channel I wonder what you're learning about films
....I'm learning that politics and business control film, not creativity and demand.
@@TheUnholyPosole well you have a point but the truth is Politics and business controls everything but without your creativity, it gets even harder. Creativity is your natural bragging right
Thanks for that! But there are plenty of resources out there that we learn from ourselves.
@@StudioBinder yes a lot, but you guys do amazing job in working extensively on your chosen topics
I just made a short film…..tell me what you guys think????
I see way too many mentions of A24 in recent StudioBinder productions.
We're big fans!
someday . really someday
Someday indeed!
Next can you do a video about how to make an effective death?
Hmm, intriguing. Do you mean a realistic-looking death or maybe how to maximize the emotions in a death scene?
@@StudioBinder Yes, I would be to maximise the emotions.
Why use the the arc light in Hollywood as your thumbnail?! 😭
... it's just stock image.
We love the Cinerama Dome and were definitely sad when it closed during the pandemic. But it looks like it might be coming back next year!
@@StudioBinder 🙏
Please give subtitles
Sorry about that, they've been added.
pretty much like the music industry.
That's true. Lots of overlap there.
Add subtitles please.
Sorry about that, they've been added.
first comment.
Comment champion!
So is the narration done by an AI version of Patrick Stewart?
Nope, just a flesh and blood Englishman who happens to have a fantastic voice!
The pandemic ruined so much. It was all about control.
Please make .....how they shot it......(joyland)....its a Pakistani film which was shortlist for oscar....
Thanks for the suggestion! We'll check it out.