Thinking about turning down studio distribution deal...

Gratwick Films

Gratwick Films

I recently finished my first film. A horror film entitled The Perfect House. We crowd funded the project and have gotten pretty lucky with people we've met along the way.

The success of the film and a little luck we've made connections in Hollywood that have us in direct contact with the decision makers of studios like Lionsgate and Universal. If we sell our movie we are most likely looking at a deal of 1-2 million. TOPS.

Which on the surface sounds great, but after all the people along the way get their taste there's not much left and more than likely no more coming no matter how good the film does.

I had planned on the self distribution route before we ever had the contacts so I am definitely not afraid of it. In fact I believe in it more than ever in light of Kevin Smith's speech at Sundance and Open letter at www.theredstatements.com stating his intentions with his new film.

I am thinking of spurning the distributors in favor of a planned VOD release date. Say October 1st and we spend the next 8 months doing screenings and independent film seminars/Q&A promoting the release date. Before we ever shot the film we received a ton of free press on many of the popular horror sites. With a finished project to show it should be even easier to get them on board for promoting our release.

Kevin Smith says he's determined to prove you can market with nothing more than social media, easy to say when you already used the system to create the fan base. I say it can be done by a total unknown making it real for everyone.

My question is this does anyone agree with me? And are you willing to support the cause?
 
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There is a popular addage that football coaches like to use.

Let's say you just scored a touchdown. You kick the extra point, but the defense goes offsides. So now, you've got the ball the 1-and-a-half yardline, instead of the 3, and that's a big difference. You've got a strong running game; you could very likely run the ball in for a two-point-converstion, instead of the one-point P.A.T. you just kicked.

The coaching addage is this -- Never take points off the board. You've already scored the extra point. You keep the extra point you just scored.

I think you'd be a fool to refuse distribution.
 
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The fact that you have a distribution deal under your belt is a selling point for when you start to look for the funding of your next project.

Think of it this way - you get to pay off your debts, give everyone involved a taste, and hopefully stick a little in your own pocket plus you get major distribution on your CV. How long will it take, and with how much personal effort, if you go through the self-distribution process? Wouldn't you rather put all of your efforts into your next project instead of "managing" the last one?
 
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I think you want to prove a personal point, which is a good one. And it would be quite noble of you to turn down the deal and show everyone that you can find success in self distribution.

On the other hand, CF and Alcove are right. It is better for you and your film making future to accept a distribution deal.

You could go ahead and accept the deal and in the future try self distribution but then it would alter the original point you wanted to make since by then your name would be more established and carry more weight.

What should you do? I think that choice is yours alone.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Let's say you just scored a touchdown. You kick the extra point, but the defense goes offsides. So now, you've got the ball the 1-and-a-half yardline, instead of the 3, and that's a big difference. You've got a strong running game; you could very likely run the ball in for a two-point-converstion, instead of the one-point P.A.T. you just kicked.
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Remember that thread with the crop factors and focal lengths and diagrams? I know how I made you feel, now.

Gratwick: I've got to agree with all of the above. You may be making a very good point by turning down the distribution deal, but going for it will put you at a massive advantage in the future. By turning it down this time, you may find that they won't be as interested in your future projects too. It's not even like you're selling out; as Alcove points out, it'll allow you to focus on filmmaking rather than distributing.
 
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I agree with everyone else.

It takes money to make money. Studio distribution will include some amount if advertising. It's hard to do that in your own without cash and some real marketing expertise c

You could make more than what they offer, but it will take a lot longer. You'll spend the next few years selling and reselling your movie to new groups of people. If it were me, i'd take the deal and focus on being a filmmaker instead of a marketer/distributor.

Congrats though, most don't make it this far to have to choose!
 
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A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush... I'm for the studio deal. Spurning them based on the altruistic belief that the self distribution is the more rewarding way to go may bite you in the rear in the future, not just in the possibility of studio distro next time, but in the funding next time if potential investors find out that you had the possibility of a distro deal, then turned it down. You then become an investment risk and could end up spending all your time flogging the sales of this one film for the rest of your career as no one wants to touch you to make another... and what if the self distro thing doesn't work as you've planned?
 
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Footballing analogies aside, I think almost everyone on here would kill for this sort of deal. To be honest I think this is one of those cases where the positives of taking the deal massively outweigh the negatives.

In the words of Nike, just do it.
 
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Gratwick Films said:
Kevin Smith says he's determined to prove you can market with nothing more than social media, easy to say when you already used the system to create the fan base. I say it can be done by a total unknown making it real for everyone.
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Just one last thought...

How much in the way of assets do you have compared to Kevin Smith?. Let's face it, he personally is not going to be doing all the work. You can't disregard the fact that his name recognition and prior successes give him a multitude of other benefits beside the built-in fan base. Achieving distribution gives you a start on acquiring those other benefits.
 
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Although I understand everyone's idea to take the money...as we are self marketing our first movie I can see Gratwick Films point. If he sells the film and it goes on to make millions, he gets nothing.

If it is good enough to get picked up, why not try the self market?

Although it is not the easy route , but maybe if true independent film makers stuck to their grounds the general public will look at Indie films not as low budget but a force to be reckoned with and it may help indies in the long run.

Maryann
 
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An "if" of such magnitude is about as likely as winning the lottery. I haven't seen the film and am not putting down Gatwicks work, but every filmmaker thinks their film is the next "Blair Witch" or "Paranormal Activity"; and how many are just kidding themselves? The point I and most of the others are trying to make is "do you want to be marketing your last film or making your next film?"
 
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I'd say take the deal and go make another one, but everyone has their reasons for doing what they do. Create partnerships in this business, be reasonable, and keep those bridges intact. I'm guessing a deal can only help with future projects?

I never got an offer for my feature, so I'm not speaking from experience, but I would have swiftly signed the line long ago if I had the opportunity.

2 cents.
 
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houseofwhitespiders said:
If he sells the film and it goes on to make millions, he gets nothing.

If it is good enough to get picked up, why not try the self market?
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The sales this could get will most likely be based on the time/money invested in advertising... everyone focuses on the revenues, not the profits. The potential millions in revenues the studios make off of this will most likely be based entirely on the boat loads of dollars they put into marketing it... asking the question belies the fact that the costs of the success of the film aren't being considered (at least not fully).

You'll end up wasting 5 years of your life marketing this film to the point where you can make as much on your own as you will selling to the studios... they have a much better track record with these things due to the fact that they have the network and roadmap in place to be hugely successful... and not just potentially.

We don't. Having a saleable film is a nice start... the rest costs time and money. Spend yours our theirs, but theirs are a guaranteed payoff. This is simple business... take the guaranteed win, make your next movie based on that with studio money.
 
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I guess I'll log in for this one.

"If we sell our movie we are most likely looking at a deal of 1-2 million. TOPS."
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It sounds like you don't have an actual offer on the table. Where you're getting this "1-2 million" quote from I don't know. There is a big difference between 1 and 2 million dollars. Are you just speculating that someone wants to give you this sum?

If there is an actual contract in your hand with such figures, for a "crowd funded" movie, then you just won the lottery. I'm not sure why you'd need to be convinced. The benefits outweigh the downside, by far. How many "crowd funded" level films can you bang out for "1-2 million?"

People know who Kevin Smith is already.
 
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Thank you all for your insight. I'll try to respond to as many as possible here.

1. I LOVE the football analogy. However how do you think the guy who made paranormal activity is feeling about the "extra point" right now?

2. Which pretty much contradicts 1. I completely agree everyone thinks they have the next PA or Blair. One major flaw though. BOTH THOSE MOVIES SUCKED. The production value was garbage it was forced on us by that very same P&A machine. THEY NEEDED IT.

3. Not to be arrogant but this film we made is disgustingly good, the production quality alone is above most multi million dollar straight to dvd movies and the theme and concept are on par with that production value.

4. As far as working on the next one, I have built and surrounded myself with a lot of people willing to do whatever it takes. Enough so that they can focus on closing the deals already in the works for not only a franchise but a spinoff franchise. If done correctly regardless of the success of self distribution we would still be coming back October 10th to begin shooting 3 movies on sound stages.

5. The timing is essential. In order for Kevin Smith to work people like us have to show it can work. Otherwise he's just one guy doing it off a name he made from studio money. He knows that and I think it would only be a matter of time before he joins our cause to prove his own point.

6. Thank you Maryann for seeing the big picture on what it would mean for ALL OF US.

7. We wouldn't be focusing on pushing one film at the expense of others, we would be strengthening the foundation and fanbase for 2 franchises that will directly benefit us and our investors.

8. Because of deals put in place to get to these distributors the "talentless people that know people" would be getting 18% of that deal.

The timing has to be right and I believe that time is now. Our film was shot on location for 45k in 10 days. From the quality of that alone we were able to bring in a top color correction and sfx post house along with having the audio done by a post boutique that was founded by the academy award winners for sound from the original Star Wars and Jaws. They worked a SUBSTANTIAL discounts just to have their names associated with this film.

Industry people that have seen our movie guessed a min of 3 million to make it. We barely spent 100k. The time is now to prove an online VOD release can compete with a theatrical release simply because we can reach more people immediately.

As far as publicity and advertising we can do the majority of it online for free. Visit the home page for our movie and look at the press links page. We did all of that without even trying and before the film was even made. Didn't cost us a penny.

I truly believe it can be done, and in order for it to either become a viable option for all independent filmmakers or force the studios to give much better deals or back end deals that are on the up and up someone has to tell them to go fly a kite and succeed on their own first.

I believe we can do it and I'm just arrogant enough to be the one to tell them to G.F.Y.

Here is a quote from a famous panel Quentin Tarantino was on.

‎"the next generation of filmmakers should distinguish themselves by forming distribution companies instead of production companies"

"I kept waiting for it to happen. But that ol’ Indie spirit, it don’t wait forever. Sooner or later, Indie spirit rolls up the sleeves and says “s’cool – we’ll just do it ourselves.”
 
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polfilmblog said:
I guess I'll log in for this one.

"If we sell our movie we are most likely looking at a deal of 1-2 million. TOPS."
​

It sounds like you don't have an actual offer on the table. Where you're getting this "1-2 million" quote from I don't know. There is a big difference between 1 and 2 million dollars. Are you just speculating that someone wants to give you this sum?

If there is an actual contract in your hand with such figures, for a "crowd funded" movie, then you just won the lottery. I'm not sure why you'd need to be convinced. The benefits outweigh the downside, by far. How many "crowd funded" level films can you bang out for "1-2 million?"

People know who Kevin Smith is already.
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We are in direct contact with the people that make the offers and have informal connections to them. Long before an offer is "on the table" you know what your offer is gonna be. Every single distributor that is interested is a household name. Look at the trailer online and you will see for yourself it's obvious it would gain attention.

1-2 million in the big spectrum is not a big difference especially when one is 1.25 another 1.5 and another 1.75 or what have you all with different stipulations. That would classify as the 1-2 range! You wanna hate hate but don't try to disguise it with an intellectual debate. Use your little google window and do some research and youll see I'm not making stuff up. Im the asshole that wants to break down the walls so you have a better chance to succeed when no distributor wants you.
 
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