Film Distribution In the UK

By Simon Dendere

What is Distributor ?

• In my research as media student I have chosen to research on the distributors in the film industry and what a distributor is exactly. • In my research, I came across the BBC website which revealed

important information about distributors in the film industry. A distributor is an organisation that represents films at festivals and markets around the world, who will attempt to see it to television and companies that show short films.

• Distributors will source new films to represent in their distribution catalogue at film festivals and markets around the world such as Cannes, Rotterdam, Berlinale, AFM and Sundance festivals

Distribution Deals

• It is important to negotiate the rights a distributor has on your film. It is important to have a formalised written distribution agreement. Some things to look out for whilst reaching an agreement are….

• Territory: this specifies the countries in which the film can be distributed by the distributor.

• Term: this sets out the period of time the distributor will hold distribution rights in the film.

• Rights granted: the agreement should distinguish between the media rights granted to the distributor (theatrical, video and DVD, television rights etc.) and those media rights which are reserved to the producer e.g. radio rights

• Producer's warranties and representations: the producer will be asked to provide assurances that there is no infringement of copyright.

• Termination: You should pay special attention to the circumstances in which you can terminate the relationship with the distributor

Online distributors

• They are now some companies who are distributing films online in a similar way to traditional distribution.

• Below are two examples, plus you can also check out this blog post by Chris Jones about online distributors.

• Distrify- Changing the way we share, discover, buy and sell movies, Distrify turns the web into a movie sales platform. - distrify.com

• Dynamo - Reach a global audience, publish programs on any site, and get paid for every purchase.- site.dynamoplayer.com

Self Distributors Some film people with their produce decide to relase and a distribute their own film without a company. This may have perks and disadvantages when choosing to take shown below:• Advantages to self-distribution• You can retain full control and rights over your film, giving you the choice over

where your film is shown.

• You don't have to give a cut of the money made from any sales of your film to a distributor.

• Disadvantages to self-distribution • It can be a full-time job in itself as it can be very time consuming chasing buyers

and sales and filling in paperwork.

• It may limit your options for sales as distributors have established relationships with buyers and many buyers may only be interested in packages of films.

• You need to be very legally savvy and make sure you're not signing away rights to your film that'll prevent you from showing it elsewhere.