1. trinidad + tobago film festival
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION IN
THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
Sydney Levine
Sydney@SydneysBuzz.com
www.SydneysBuzz.com

2. THE INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM CIRCUIT
INTERNATIONAL FILM BUSINESS:
MARKETING, SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
The Film Business means creative people with their particular traits meet
business people, and together they create and distribute a work of art or
entertainment and / or cultural or political meaning.
This mix is often very volatile.

3. The Film Business Means Distribution

4. WHY DISTRIBUTION? CASH FLOW IS CRITICAL
Why is cash flow critical?
•To pay back investors
•To make reputation
•To make your next film

5. Filmmaker Heaven

6. HOW WILL YOU MARKET YOUR FILM?
• 10,000 films are completed per year in the marketplace.
• Yours yours must stand out from the rest.
• 400 international sales agents license rights for specific
genres of films to
• 2,500 distributors using theaters, TV, DVD, online streaming
and downloading in their country, one of
• 60 distribution territories chosen out of
• 2,500 to 4,500 films and projects offered per market
• 3 major markets: Cannes, AFM, Berlin
• 5 major festivals: Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, and
…..the one that’s best for your film

7. Overview Of The Marketplace
• 70% International Markets
• 30% U.S. Market
• Major Studio Dominance:
• Multiplex Cinemas vs.
Independent Arthouse Cinemas
• Local Production vs. Majors
• Shifting Markets
•Media
•Countries
• Digitization
•Theaters
•Online
Streaming & Downloading

8. The International Film Business takes place on
The International Film Circuit
3 Reasons to Be on The Circuit:
** Important Window on Culture
** Individual Commerce
***Networking

9. The International Independent
Film Circuit

10. THE PLACE OF FESTIVALS IN THE CHAIN OF FILM
DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION
Festivals play various roles in the life of a film.
• If a film is looking for distribution, the festival may be the place
where potential distributors see it with a live audience which will
give them a feel for how it appeals to audiences.
• If a film has found distribution the festival may service to
“launch” its theatrical release in the territory where the festival is
held.
• A festival may launch the film’s life digitally so that the only “live”
play with filmmakers themselves present may be at the festival.
• After that the film’s remaining days may be spent digitally slowly
or quickly making the filmmaker known worldwide and perhaps
strengthening the hand to make the next film.
•If a festival requests the film, there may be a fee of $1,000 to
$1,500 charged to the festival for its exhibition. This special case
scenario needs elaboration.

11. Theatrical Exhibition in No. America
To have a theatrical release is still important:
Especially to the filmmaker!
• NATO says there are 5,932 cinema sites in the USA (39,233 screens).
• Based on an initial broad survey done as research for the Arthouse Convergence and the
Sundance Institute, there are between 1,000 - 2,000 classically configured Arthouse theaters
• “Classically configured” is a facility based program of contemporary independent American,
foreign language and documentary films, as well as classic films, which operates 8 months or
more a year. So, a round number to use (before the survey research comes to a more
conclusive number) is about 1,500 Arthouse cinemas.
• There are at least 1,000 more or less “classical” Arthouse sites in North America, by the
time universities, art museums, community cultural centers, film societies, small film festivals
(Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Polish, Iranian, African, Brazilian, Mexican, Swedish, gay/ lesbian,
documentary, silent film, film noir, horror, etc.) are counted.
• There may be more than 5,000 Arthouse cinemas if we broaden the definition. This
broader Arthouse cinema definition includes all community-based, mission-driven type
cinemas (some may program more main-stream films than a classically configured Arthouse),
as well as film societies, museums, universities and performing arts organizations that
present films and small film festivals (film programs that would include organizations which
program more narrowly constructed or short-term or “pop-up” film series).

12. The international independent film circuit begins in September at TIFF.
BUT for you, it begins when your film or project is ready (REALLY READY) for entry into
the marketplace.
•3 major de jure markets +
1. American Film Market – November, Santa Monica CA
2. Berlinale’s European Film Market
3. Cannes’ Marche de Film
•And many other second tier markets
•Warsaw Cent/ East
•Hong Kong HAF
•2 major de facto markets – part of the festival circuit +
1. TIFF
2. Sundance
•And many other fests with SIOs (Sales & Industry Offices)
•Locarno, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary
•Guadalajara, etc., etc., etc.
•5 major film festivals – increasingly includes markets
1. Cannes
2. Berlin
3. TIFF
4. Sundance
5. And the best one for you depending of timing, genre, trade attendance
• Premarkets
•Rotterdam Cinemart
•IFP No Borders
•Pusan Asian Film Market
•San Sebastian, Toulouse, Guadalajara, etc., etc., etc.

13. Overview International Territories
The importance of the international market determines which films sell best at the
moment and has created international co-productions as the engine driving the
business.
The international market into four main areas:
• U.S.A. = 30%
• Europe. Between 25 and 30% of their total worldwide business is done in Europe,
where (in order of admission numbers) the major markets are France, UK,
Germany and Spain. Per capita attendance in Europe is much lower than in North
America, with an average of just 2 visits per person in 2002.
• Far East (including Australasia). The major markets in the Far East sector are Japan
and Australia, with South Korea growing fast
• Latin America. In Latin America, the two main markets are Mexico and Brazil,
though #1 in arthouses film production is Argentina. Chile and Colombia are the
fastest growing in production.
• The largest & fastest growing markets are the BRIC countries:
Brazil, Russia, India, China

14. The Indies
The flipside of the mass markets which major
studios target is that of the independent
filmmaker -- especially the filmmaker who is
trying to get into “The Business”. The new
filmmaker and the arthouse indies who find
success usually find it with smaller niche type
audiences.
Finding this audience is key to the filmmaker.

15. Hope for Film: Distribution Options

16. Before reaching your target market you must get an
international sales agent who will license your film to
distributors who will get your film to the target audience.
How to Get an International Sales Agent: Pitch Your Project!
Things to Know:
• What is a deal structure
• What is appealing to international markets
• Names - how to find out what names
• Genres
• Printed matter
• Trailers
• Box office and % by country

17. Key Trade Magazines
Free online trades and blogs include
www.FilmNewEurope.com
www.Cineuropa.org
www.IndieWIRE.com
www.DeadlineHollywood.com
www.TheWrap.com
www.FilmBizAsia.com
Pay trades include
www.ScreenDaily.com
www.Variety.com
www.HollywoodReporter.com
LeFilmFrancais
BlickPunktFilm

18. Places to go for information
• BoxOfficeMojo.com
• Distributors of a film:
IMDbPro.com Company Pages
• Distributors of a film: Screenbase.com (
ScreenDaily.com)
• International Sales Agents and Distributors of
a film: Cinando.com and IFTA.

19. Some Current Issues Facing the Distributors Market
Digital Delivery (Example: Hulu)
The day has come that films are now being distributed and screened digitally. There are still
issues to be resolved over security - with piracy an increasing problem, the transmission
mechanism for the digital output will need to be 100% secure. The different methods of
transmission available - satellite, cable and data file - will have to be assessed against this
criterion but also for their ease of delivery and relative costs.
Day and Date Distribution (Example: IFC)
With the various exploitation windows closing, there is an increasing trend towards films
being released internationally on the same day as (or close to) their North American release.
This has the advantages of reducing the opportunities for piracy; enabling marketing
campaigns from the US to roll over into other territories; and allowing earlier exploitation of
other windows. On the other hand, day and date releasing requires new prints and means
that marketing spend must be committed internationally before the studio knows how the
film has played in the US. It also reduces the time that the distributors have for sorting out
dubbing, classification and other issues in each territory and makes it less likely that the
talent will be available to promote it in as many markets. In practice, decisions on release
pattern will continue to be taken on a film by film basis, with release dates generally moving
closer to the initial US release.
Hybrid (Explained by Paradigm Consulting)
Some films are better using a mixture of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) distribution, mixing companies to
get the most out of all platforms.

20. Convincing the Audience,
Country by Country
• Some movies do great business in unimagined
countries. It might do great in Russia while in
the U.S. it was one of the worst movies.
• Graphic design, marketing and publicity need
to send the message the audiences want to
see and/or hear. The audience has to be
motivated, intrigued and feel the need to see
the specific movie or tv show.

21. SUMMARY
• From the first draft through distribution plans:
Know your audience and pitch toward it.
• Stay true to your vision but present it with
your audience in mind.
• Marketing begins with the inception of the
idea.

22. END OF PART I

23. BEGINNING OF PART II
A SHORT DIGRESSION ON SHORTS
My personal all time favorite:
• Bambi Meets Godzilla
• IMDb List of 50 best

24. Top 6 Fests for Shorts
(but not the only important ones!)
1. The film circuit starts in Toronto, September 6 - 16, 2012.
http://tiff.net
1. Sundance FF. January 17 – 27, 2013
http://www.sundance.org/festival/ or see the winners 2012
1. Berlin Fest and Talent Campus. February 7 – 17, 2013
http://www.berlinale.de
1. Oberhausen Fest and Market. May 2 – 7, 2013
http://www.kurzfilmtage.de/index.php?id=2147&L=2
1. Clermont Ferrand Fest and Market. February 1 – 9, 2013
http://www.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php?m=129
1. Cannes Fest(s) and Shorts Corner
http://www.cannescourtmetrage.com/uploads/albums/BrochureCCM_12.pdf
1. Sarajevo Fest and Talent Campus. July 6 – 14, 2012.

25. How to find “your” festival and “your” demographic
• Short films cover a whole range of categories – animated,
documentary, experimental, live action, musical, travelogue,
fashion, to name a few, and they allow experiments with
cinematic styles and format at the starting point in careers.
• Research the types of festivals which reach your type of
audience demographic.
• British Council Festival Directory lists 1495 Festivals.
http://film.britishcouncil.org/festivals-directory
• Withoutabox lists more than 5,000.
https://www.withoutabox.com
• OpenFilm http://www.openfilm.com/film-festivals/

26. Oberhausen
• "Short film is a great first step for a budding
filmmaker. That's how I made my beginnings and
Oberhausen was an important step on my path to
become a Director." -- Roman Polanski
• "I smoked my first cigarette here. For years, I saw
every single film at the Westdeutsche Kurzfilmtage,
looking forward to those days in Oberhausen every
year. These events were important for me, for my
decision to become a filmmaker." --Wim Wenders

27. These tips need to be kept in mind by producers for shorts as
well as for features.
• Invest time on a good script. You can sometimes (only sometimes) make a great film from a good script
but you can never make a good film from a bad script.
• Be digital (or have your film in digital format). MAKE SURE YOUR LINK WORKS!
• Have all rights cleared. Have a clear chain of title. You need a competent lawyer to do this. Important!!
• Target your audience. Always keep your end user in mind when developing, producing and marketing your
film.
– This is not only the person in a paying audience that your film is aimed to please.
– It is also the acquisitions, marketing and finance executives who will choose to acquire the film for their end user distribution channels,
outlets and venues.
• Be careful in your choice of festivals. If you have 100 short film festivals, how do you choose the ones that
are right for you? The purpose of festivals is to find end users.
• The money you save by being selective in choosing festivals should be used to promote the film when it is
in the chosen festivals.
• Take photos of action and actors on the set for key art and posters.
• Choose affordable music (affordable to clear rights, and be careful here because the music industry has
very different standards and rates for festival only films and then for films that get commercial
distribution).
• Negotiate distribution possibilities and rights with actors. You will need an attorney.
• Create a good crew.
• Understand distribution possibilities before shooting.
• Be aware of windows of distribution. Windows in brief are the exposure a film receives in a certain order
that is changing with the changing technology. They are Theatrical, PPV, Pay TV, DVD, Free TV, Online
• Have professional contracts when granting rights.

28. HOW WILL YOU MARKET YOURSELF
AND YOUR FILM?
You must stand out from the rest.

29. Win Prestigious Awards
The European Film Academy and Euro
Shorts matter!

30. Programmer Hebe Tabachnik
• World Cinema Programmer
Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals
• Short Film Programmer
Los Angeles Film Festival
• Member, Screening Committee
International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards
• Member, Board of Directors, Dance Camera West

31. Hebe’s Picks
• FOCUS FORWARD have premieres in several festivals (Sundance, SXSW and LAFF).
They are all 3 minutes long. The link is http://focusforwardfilms.com/#films
• At Los Angeles Film Festival this year’s Winner for BEST ANIMATION was THE
PUB by Joseph Pierce (8’). (His previous film Stand Up showed at a previous
LAFF.) https://vimeo.com/31755824 Password: thepub_nov
These are two longer shorts, also at LAFF, and were two of my favorites.
• CONTRA EL MAR/ AGAINST THE SEA directed (USA) by Richard Parkin (19’) -
Drama
http://vimeo.com/24696543 Password (Case-Sensitive): Parkin
• NEXT DOOR LETTERS by Sascha Fülscher - Sweden - ANIMATION - (15’)
www.vimeo.com/rafilm/nextdoorletters Password: nextdoornextdoor
• My personal all time favorite: Bambi Meets Godzilla
• IMDb List of 50 best

32. THE YEARLY FILM FESTIVAL AND MARKET CIRCUIT
Oberhausen
A Clermont Ferrand

33. Catalogs of distributors and buyers
http://www.unifrance.org/film/espace-courts-metrages
http://www.unifrance.org/catalogue/distributeurs-CM.pdf
http://www.unifrance.org/catalogue/acheteurs-CM.pdf

34. SUMMARY
• From the first draft through distribution plans:
Know your audience and pitch toward it.
• Stay true to your vision but present it with
your audience in mind.
• Marketing begins with the inception of the
idea.