How does a film distributor make money
A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company is usually different from the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film. The distributor may set the release date of a film and the method by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing; for example, directly to the public either theatrically or for home viewing DVD , video-on-demand , download , television programs through broadcast syndication etc. A distributor may do this directly, if the distributor owns the theaters or film distribution networks, or through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors.
A limited distributor may deal only with particular products, such as DVDs or Blu-ray, or may act in a particular country or market. The primary distributor will often receive credit in the film's credits , one sheet or other marketing material. If a distributor is working with a theatrical exhibitor, the distributor secures a written contract stipulating the amount of the gross ticket sales the exhibitor will be allowed to retain usually a percentage of the gross.
The distributor collects the amount due, audits the exhibitor's ticket sales as necessary to ensure the gross reported by the exhibitor is accurate, secures the distributor's share of these proceeds, surrenders the exhibitor's portion to it, and transmits the remainder to the production company or to any other [intermediary], such as a film release agent.
How Does the Film Industry Actually Make Money? - The New York Times
The distributor must also ensure that enough film prints are struck to service all contracted exhibitors on the contract-based opening day , ensure their physical delivery to the theater by the opening day, monitor exhibitors to make sure the film is in fact shown in the particular theatre with the minimum number of seats and show times, and ensure the prints' return to the distributor's office or other storage resource also on the contract-based return date.
In practical terms, this includes the physical production of release prints and their shipping around the world a process that is being replaced by digital distribution in most developed markets as well as the creation of posters , newspaper and magazine advertisements , television commercials , trailers, and other types of ads. The distributor is also responsible for ensuring a full line of advertising material is available for each film which it believes will help the exhibitor attract the largest possible audience, create such advertising if it is not provided by the production company, and arrange for the physical delivery of the advertising items selected by the exhibitor at intervals prior to the opening day.
Distributors typically enter into one of the two types of film booking contracts. The most common is the aggregate deal where total box office revenue that a given film generates is split by a pre-determined mutually-agreed percentage between distributor and movie theater.
The other method is the sliding scale deal, where the percentage of box office revenue taken by theaters declines each week of a given film's run. However, this sliding scale method is falling out of use.
10 Film Distribution Basics
Depending on which studio that is distributing the film,the studio will either have offices around the world, by themselves or partnered with another studio, to distribute films in other countries.
If a studio decides to partner with a native distributor, upon release both names will appear. The foreign distributor may license the film for a certain amount of time, but the studio will retain the copyright of the film.
A Step by Step Guide | Launching Films
Although there are now numerous distribution techniques, in the past the studios and networks were slow to change and did not experiment with different distribution processes. Studios believed that new distribution methods would cause their old methods of revenue to be destroyed.
With time, the development of new distribution did prove to be beneficial. The studios revenue was gained from myriad distribution windows. These windows created many opportunities in the industry and allowed networks to make a profit and eliminate failure. These new distribution methods benefited audiences that were normally too small to reach and expanded the content of television. With the new age of technology, networks accepted the fact that it was a consumer demand industry and accepted the new models of distribution.
This term, used mainly in the British film industry , describes the distribution of feature films for screening to a gathered audience, but not in theatres at which individual tickets are sold to members of the public.
The defining distinctions between a theatrical and a non-theatrical screening are that the latter has to be to a closed audience in some way, e.
Most non-theatrical screening contracts also specify that the screening must not be advertised, except within the group that is eligible to attend e. Non-theatrical distribution includes the airlines and film societies. Non-theatrical distribution is generally handled by companies that specialise in this market, of which Motion Picture Licensing Company MPLC and Filmbankmedia are the two largest:. Motion Picture Licensing Company Filmbankmedia.
Representing the major Hollywood studios and independent producers. Home video media is sold with a licence that permits viewing in the home only. Until these technologies were widespread, most non-theatrical screenings were on 16mm film prints supplied by the distributor. Today, the most common business model is for a distributor to sell the exhibitor a licence that permits the legal projection of a copy of the film, which the exhibitor buys separately on a home video format.
These licences can either be for individual, one-off screenings, or cover an unlimited number of screenings of titles represented by that distributor for a specified time period. The latter are often purchased by pubs and students' unions , to enable them to show occasional feature films on a TV in their bars.
Some distributors only handle home video distribution or some sub-set of home video distribution such as DVD or Blu-ray distribution.
The remaining home video rights may be licensed by the producer to other distributors or the distributor may sub-license them to other distributors. If a distributor is going to distribute a movie on a physical format such as DVD, they must arrange for the creation of the artwork for the case and the face of the DVD and arrange with a DVD replicator to create a glass master to press quantities of the DVD.
Some movie producers use a process called "DVD-on-demand. A distributor may also maintain contact with wholesalers who sell and ship DVDs to retail outlets as well as online stores, and arrange for them to carry the DVD. The distributor may also place ads in magazines and online and send copies of the DVD to reviewers. The primary distribution companies will usually receive some billing for the film.
For example, Gone With the Wind was shown on the one sheet as "A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release". A modern example, Jurassic Park , would be the credit " Universal Pictures presents …". The Universal production logo also opened the film's trailer. In some cases, there is split distribution as in the case of Titanic Both companies helped to finance the film. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Third Edition , SIU Press, p.
‘Lion’ Review: A Feel-Good Story in Search of Suspense | Variety
The Television Will Be Revolutionized. Retrieved from " https: Film distributors Film and video terminology Entertainment companies. Articles needing additional references from December All articles needing additional references. Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in.
Views Read Edit View history. Navigation Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Donate to Wikipedia Wikipedia store. Interaction Help About Wikipedia Community portal Recent changes Contact page. Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Wikidata item Cite this page. This page was last edited on 28 April , at Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Developers Cookie statement Mobile view. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
December Learn how and when to remove this template message. Library resources about Film distributor. Resources in your library.