How much to ask for a short film?

I don' t know about shorts but for full length films....

Japan ask 25 take 5K
Indonesia ask 5 take 2K
Thailand ask 5 take 2.5K

Accept only cash up front buy out offers from out of the USA. No percentage deals.

Thanks for the information. Do you have figures for other countries as well, or know how I could get hold of them?

I would also suggest researching how lucrative short-film distribution is in these markets. Distributors are obviously looking for a product they can sell, either to retail stores or to rental outlets. It all comes down to the same question -- how many people are willing to pay money to see a short film? Usually the consumer tends to opt for a feature length product, so a 23 minute movie by itself would be a hard sell. IF the movie was combined with 2 or 3 more movies of comparable length, then you might be able to sell it as a compilation of short films.

Someone else on this site recently asked a similar question -- how much money can I expect to make with my short film. The answer that came back (might have been directorik who replied) ask a question in return -- how many short movies have you purchased for your own collection?

Short films don't sell in Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand. You will not be
asking for money, they will make you an offer if they are interested.
The usual contract of X amount of money for the rights to a movie for
5 years is typical for features. A 23 minute short won't get that kind
of deal.

Please let us know what the distributors in Asia say, okay?

edit: my bad. sorry folks, move along.

pryce said:

Hi,

I am about to contact film distributors in Asia (Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand) to offer them the rights to my short film*, and I was wondering what sort of money I should be asking for. And what sort of contract. I have read in Kevin Lindenmuth's "Making Movies On Your Own" that the usual contract is X amount of money for the rights to a movie for 5 years. Is this accurate?

*The film is 23 minutes long, with Greek audio and English subtitles.

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I've got these estimated (take/list) numbers for foreign sales estimates based on a box office takings of 2 to 3mil from 30-40 prints so you'll have to adjust it to fit a short that has no sales as I've never seen (nor do I think they exist - with good reason) a sales chart for shorts:

EUROPE
France 50 75
Germany Austria 50 90
Greece 10 15
Italy 50 90
Netherlands / Holland 50 75
Portugal 15 30
Spain 40 75
United Kingdom 60 100

ASIA/OCEANIA
Australia/NZ 35 60
Hong Kong 20 35
Indonesia 20 30
Japan 75 125
Malaysia 15 20
Phillippines 15 40
Singapore 20 40
South Korea 60 100
Taiwan 30 75

SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina/Para/Urug 15 25
Bolivia/Peru/Equador 10 20
Brazil 20 35
Chile 20 30
Colombia 10 20
Mexico 30 75
Venezuela 10 20
China

EASTERN EUROPE
Czech/Slovenia 15 25
Hungary 15 25
Poland 15 40
Russia 50 75

MISCELLANEOUS
India 20 40
Israel 15 25
South Africa 20 30
Turkey 15 25
Middle East 15 25


It's extremely rare that a short get the luxury of making enough to pay for the catering bill. (Yeah, I know even that never really happens). If you get any offer, grab hold of it with both hands and hold on tight. (Any Starfighters out there?)

I wish you luck. I can count the number of shorts that I'm aware of that have sold for money on one hand.

Granted this thing is not even finalized yet, but they've seen a few clips. I'm not expecting much money, but anything sounds better than nothing, maybe I can recoup my food and alcohol costs.

So help me out here, what is involved in selling the rights? Do i still retain any rights myself, or do I wash my hands of the whole thing.

any advice on how to approach this guy and what mistakes to avoid?

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First, congratulations on both your interested party and congratulations for hijacking someone's thread.

What happens is a contract/agreement is written up and signed by both parties spelling out the rights and obligations and time line of both parties. The assignment of rights are determined by the contract. All rights worldwide in perpetuity would wipe your "wash your hands" of the whole thing.

Your biggest mistake that I'd see is if it's someone trying to defraud you of your money. Be wary of any request for you to put up money for legal fees or fees to be represented/distribution fees/submission fees and so on. Anything where they're asking you put up your money. If they ask you to give them money, I suggest you come here and ask.

In Asia short films are hardly distributed.

Sweetie said:

First, congratulations on both your interested party and congratulations for hijacking someone's thread.

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People always harp about using the search feature. Obviously I made a mistake here, I could see that was a problem when you responded to the guys post from 2009. Is that really thread jacking when something is 4 years old??

Anyway yes, mistake I see that now, I should have made my own thread and will edit out the post

Oh wow, I didn't realize it was from 2009. Carry on.

I know you're talking about short films, but my first feature film was originally under contract for 5 years, then I re-signed for another 5.

As far as short films go, it's my personal opinion they're better off marketed as an anthology if you want distribution to a broader audience. Short films alone are extremely hard to get distributed, if at all.

Anthologies on the other hand, are the best of both worlds for shorts and the filmmakers who create them because first of all, anthologies allow more of your shorts to be seen at once. Secondly, an anthology is considered a full length motion picture, allowing the filmmakers to add a feature to their resume.

Probably the best bet is to film segments in between the shorts within the anthology to tie all the stories together, creating one main theme for the whole picture. Some examples of this would be Creepshow, The House That Dripped Blood, and From A Whisper To A Scream. Amicus Productions did this well back in the 70's.