Presales?

[Indiefilming]

So I've been advised to seek presales for my film, i.e. foreign distribution in x territory.

But I've heard that if your movie's pre-sold to say, Turkey, and you hit it big at a festival, studios won't buy it because they want 100% world-wide rights?

[directorik]

Originally Posted by Indiefilming

So I've been advised to seek presales for my film, i.e. foreign distribution in x territory.

But I've heard that if your movie's pre-sold to say, Turkey, and you hit it big at a festival, studios won't buy it because they want 100% world-wide rights?

Okay...

First a little reality check. A pre-sale means someone will give you money
for the rights to your film before you make your movie. You use Turkey as
your example so I will also use it. If you can get the buyer for Turkey to
give you money up front, before the film is even made then you should take
that money. You understand, of course, that if you do not have a track record
in Turkey they will not buy the rights to distribute in Turkey before you have
even made your movie.

Okay...

You have heard right. If you pre-sell several territories you risk losing a distributor
who wants worldwide rights. On the other hand if you can sell 80% of your
production budget before you start shooting then you are in a good place to
raise the other 20%. And if your movie is good enough to generate pre-sales
and you also hit it big at major festivals you will find a distributor who is willing
to take only US or Europe or South American rights. Or maybe even buy the
pre-sales.

So at this stage don't even think about it. If you are offered a pre-sale deal, take
it! Foolish to hold back on getting money up front because down the line you
might meet a distributor who wants all worldwide rights. If you trust the person
who advised you to seek pre-sales and you feel you will be able to get enough
money to make your movie then follow that persons advice.

[finderskeepers]

Great point. Someone gave me the same advice once.
Think about a filmmaker from Turkey with NO track record asking you for money upfront to make a film.
You can trust him/her right?

Originally Posted by directorik

Okay...

First a little reality check. A pre-sale means someone will give you money
for the rights to your film before you make your movie. You use Turkey as
your example so I will also use it. If you can get the buyer for Turkey to
give you money up front, before the film is even made then you should take
that money. You understand, of course, that if you do not have a track record
in Turkey they will not buy the rights to distribute in Turkey before you have
even made your movie.

Okay...

You have heard right. If you pre-sell several territories you risk losing a distributor
who wants worldwide rights. On the other hand if you can sell 80% of your
production budget before you start shooting then you are in a good place to
raise the other 20%. And if your movie is good enough to generate pre-sales
and you also hit it big at major festivals you will find a distributor who is willing
to take only US or Europe or South American rights. Or maybe even buy the
pre-sales.

So at this stage don't even think about it. If you are offered a pre-sale deal, take
it! Foolish to hold back on getting money up front because down the line you
might meet a distributor who wants all worldwide rights. If you trust the person
who advised you to seek pre-sales and you feel you will be able to get enough
money to make your movie then follow that persons advice.

[PaulGriffith]

A bird in the hand is worth MORE than two in the bush!

[Indiefilming]

Is this true if you have a star attached and the filmmaker isn't a complete unknown?

[finderskeepers]

I think a "presale" is like ANY sale - there's no cookie cutter answer. However, there are HARD sales and easier sales. Anyone have experience pre-selling a film here?

[EuropeanDistributor]

Originally Posted by Indiefilming

Is this true if you have a star attached and the filmmaker isn't a complete unknown?

Realistically, for you to get pre-sales the whole package needs to work, you need several stars, not just one, unless that one star happens to be someone like Jason Statham.
The film's genre also has to be a highly marketable, basically Action, Thriller, Horror, to some extent Sci-fi and family. Comedy and drama won't do.
First time director won't do, unless in extreme cases where the director happens to be a major screenwriter and the producers are highly experienced.

But basically the director needs to have a track record, preferrably in movies of the same caliber.
The producers/production company has to have a track record as well.

Pre-sales are usually handled by sales agents who naturally take their cut from every sale.

If you want to finance your movie with pre-sales it will cost money, you need to have your movie properly insured and bonded.

If for example you pre-sell your movie to Turkey for let's say $20,000, they would give you no more than 20% or $4,000 in cash in advance.
You would then go to a bank that handles pre-sales and get a loan against the $16,000.
Realistically banks will only finance no more than 80% of that, so you would get less than $13,000 minus all fees, interest etc.

The buyer from turkey needs to be reputable as well, if the bank or sales agent doesn't know them or hasn't done business with them they will not loan you money.

If you can pre-sale your movie to a buyer or two by all means do it!

If your movie turns out to be the next big indie hit, a distributor who would be interested in worldwide rights could care less if you allready sold the movie to a few small markets.

[directorik]

Originally Posted by Indiefilming

Is this true if you have a star attached and the filmmaker isn't a complete unknown?

If you have a star attached and the filmmaker isn't a complete unknown
and the country or territory is willing to pay up front before the film is
made it might be a good idea to take the money. Selling off some of the
rights (say in Turkey) will still have an effect if you hit it big at a festival
and a studio wants 100% world wide rights. There is just no getting around
that.

How many different scenarios would you like to play? If any territory is
willing to buy the distribution right to a film before it's even made (pre-sales)
then I think the filmmaker should take that deal.

Pre-sales are great if you can get them. It's great to have the money to spend
and it's great to have a distribution deal in place before you start shooting.

[Boxt]

There are not that any distributors that actually, physically distribute worldwide. They tend to partner up or sell on other territories but they won't reject a good film just because some territories were sold. Just ate a look at some of the indie films on imdb and you'll see how even Fox, Sony, et al, pick up done territories rather than all.