AAA Entertainment Sales and Distribution workshop
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General film Sales and Distribution presentation from an African perspective made for several workshops done in South Africa
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AAA Entertainment Sales and Distribution workshop
- 1. SALES AND DISTRIBUTION WORKSHOP PRESENTED BY AAA ENTERTAINMENT
- 2. WHAT IS A DISTRIBUTOR? WHAT IS A PLATFORM? WHAT IS AN AGGREGATOR? WHO ARE THE BROADCASTERS? WHAT IS A SALES AGENT?
- 3. Distribute in a territory or region Theatrical (Cinema) DVD or Home Video VOD – SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, NVOD TV – Pay TV, Free to Air Ancillary : Airlines, Ships, Hotels Pay Minimum Guarantee (MG) or buy out territory Usually don’t deal with producers directly – prefer to deal with sales agents and other distributors DISTRIBUTORS
- 4. TVOD : iTunes, Google Play, Amazon SVOD : Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon AVOD : Hulu, Amazon, YouTube NVOD : Airline, Hotels, Ships Local : Showmax, iFlix, VIU, iRoko, DSTV Now Most big platforms will only buy from distributors or aggregators PLATFORMS
- 5. Aggregators acquire and supply to one or several of the major platforms in TVOD, SVOD and AVOD Aggregators can also be distributors Aggregators manage the encoding of movie and trailer files for the specific platforms, in house or through licensed encoding facilities Aggregators do a revenue share whereby +- 50% of the retail rental or purchase price comes to the rights holder or take an aggregation fee (10-15%) Example of an all purpose aggregator is FilmBuff AGGREGATORS
- 6. International Major Networks : NBC, ABC, Starz, HBO International Pay TV : Sky, Sundance Channel, AMC International Major Public Broadcasters : BBC, PBS, NHK International Free to Air : Sat1, CCTV, GlobCast, Al Jazeera International IPTV : Africa Channel, MoviestarTV African Pay TV : DSTV, StarSat, Zuko, Canal Plus African Free to Air : SABC, ETV, Ebony TV, ENTV, KTN Broadcaster pay either an acquisition license fee or pre-sale BROADCASTERS
- 7. Sells to distributors, aggregators, platforms and broadcasters Don’t pay up front, but act like and estate agent and take a commission on the sales. Also charge costs of selling the film against sales e.g. market attendance costs Take film to markets and festivals around the world and sell to buyers at these events Usually sign exclusive world wide rights for 5-10 years Repackage films for international markets Manage festival strategy and PR for festival and market run Manage legal contracts and accounting reports for sales Give letters of interest (LOI) to projects SALES AGENTS
- 8. Very few selected sales agents can give revenue guarantees and projections that are “bankable” i.e. banks will fund against Most of them are specialized on foreign sales i.e. outside US Most of them are based in the UK in London These are very hard to get to read a script and needs the right director and other key HOD involved to consider 1.FilmNation Entertainment http://www.filmnation.com/ 2.Mr. Smith Entertainment https://mistersmithent.com/ 3.Rocket Sciencehttps://www.rocket-science.net/ 4.Sierra / Affinity http://sierra-affinity.com/ 5.Embankment Films http://www.embankmentfilms.com/ 6. The Exchange https://www.theexchange.ws/ 7. Voltage Pictures http://www.voltagepictures.com/ 8. Bankside Films https://www.bankside-films.com/home/ 9. Protagonist Pictures http://protagonistpictures.com/ 10.Hanway Films https://www.hanwayfilms.com/ BANKABLE SALES AGENTS
- 9. CASTING Affect on sales (ONLY INTERNATIONAL CAST ATTRACT PRE-SALES) Determine the value of cast for territory Pay and Play Contracts Escrow accounts and casting fees Casting agents Cast managers Casting director : advisory vs. actual casting
- 10. CONTRACTS Contracts Territories Windows Hold backs Black outs Payment terms Number of plays Legal Fees Language
- 11. DELIVERABLES Movie Deliverables : ProRes File, DCP, BluRay, Encodes for iTunes and other NTSC conversion for US Music Cue Sheet and Music License Materials Subtitles (.stl .srt) and Closed Captioned Files M&E for Dubs and transcript E&O Insurance Artwork Legals/Contracts : Key crew & cast, script and film clearance, chain of title (incl writers agreement), music clearance – cost3% of budget max approx. R250k
- 12. Selling a finished film vs. Selling a development project
- 13. SELLING A DEVELOPMENT PROJECT Sales projections Pre-Sales to distributors, platforms and broadcasters Determine the value of cast and assist in casting Get coverage on the script Packaging and proof of concept Benchmark salability of a film up front Assist with key crew and suppliers Plan and execute out sales roll out while film is in post
- 14. SELLING A FINISHED FILM Sales agents are more reluctant to sign on completed films Finished film are more difficult to re package as the post is already done Deliverables for distribution are often omitted from the budget and become an extra cost Completed films can no longer be benchmarked in the market so the sales agent has to take it on risk By the time a sales agent gets the film, it has already aged and festival submissions are a problem Films generally have a two year life cycle to sell as a new title Sales roll out not as effective once film is completed
- 15. Market Who buys African films? What films (genres) are in demand?
- 16. WHO BUYS AFRICAN FILMS African buyers i.e. from the continent Diaspora buyers e.g. Africa Channel African American and “Urban” content buyers e.g. BET World cinema niche buyers e.g. diverstity cinema Genre buyers for specific genre where African element is just a flavour
- 17. WHAT FILM GENRES ARE IN DEMAND Action Horror Sci-Fi Thriller Fantasy The above genres will require proof of concept for first time film makers in development to get pre-sales Faith Based and Family NOT DRAMA
- 19. iNumber Number Local Trailer
- 21. Con Games German Trailer
- 22. Blood Tokoloshe Local Trailer
- 23. Ghetto goblin International Trailer
- 24. POSTER Local Poster South Africa iNumber Number Internation al Poster Germany Con Games
- 25. PRESS KIT Production stills Frame grabs Detailed cast and director info Press release Any press coverage Social media presence Website IMDB listing Key Art The story/angle you want the press to pick up on must be fed to them
- 26. PR AND PRESS Publications Variety Hollywood Reporter Screen International Screen Africa (local) The Call Sheet (Local) Blogs The Business of Film Sydney’s Buzz Twitch.com Publicists Journalists Bloggers Influencers Media Liaisons Editors Reviewers Critics
- 27. FESTIVAL STRATEGY North America A TIFF Sundance B Tribeca SXSW Telluride LA Film Festival AFI Asia A Pusan B Tokyo Hong Kong Melbourne Europe A Cannes Berlin Venice B Locarno St Sebastian Goethenberg
- 28. BLACK AND AFRICAN FESTIVALS Pan African Film Festival Black International Cinema Berlin Black Harvest Film Festival AFI New African Films Festival Africa In The Picture Afrykamera Montreal Int. Black Film Festival Langston Hughes African American Film Festival San Francisco Black Film Festival American Black Film Festival Zanzibar Film Festival Africa In Motion Film Africa London African Diaspora Film Festival Africala Film Festival Africa International Film Festival London African Film Festival
- 29. MARKETS Film Marche du Film – Cannes Film Festival European Film Market (EFM) – Berlinale American Film Market (AFM) - IFTA Hong Kong Film Market (HKFM) Toronto International Film Festival - Hybrid Ventana Sur – Argentina (Spanish Language) Television NATPE – Miami MIPTV (MIPDOC&MIPFORMATS)– Cannes DISCOP – Istanbul and Johannesburg MIPCOM (MIPJNR) – Cannes BANFF (Development) – Canada TIFFCOM - Japan MIP Cancun, MIP China
Editor's Notes
- A distributor is an entity that distributes films in either their home territory or in multiple territories worldwide, across multiple windows and platforms (Theatrical, DVD, TV, VOD) Theatrical - Cinema release DVD – Physical disc for rental or retail TV – Cable, Satellite, Free to Air etc VOD – Video on demand, either subscription based (Netflix, Veedee, Hulu, BuniTV), transactional (iTunes, Google Play, Vimeo, iBiskop) or advertiser funded (YouTube, Hulu Free Account) A distributor will either pay an MG (Minimum Guarantee) whereby an upfront payment is made for the right to distribute the film in one or more territories. Once the MG amount has been recouped as well as any costs to distribute the film, the revenue derived thereafter is shared with the film rights holders (producer or sales agent) after the distributor takes a commission. Usually the MG is the end of the deal as it is impossible to determine the costs to distribute. The other distribution deal is a straight revenue share whereby the distributor does not pay an amount up front and takes a commission on distribution revenue and passes on the net profits. Some US distributors want all rights including broadcast (DVD, VOD, Theatrical). Be ready for long lists of deliverables if that’s the case. (Important: set money aside for close captioning, E & O insurance (mostly U.S.), broadcast quality transfer, NTSC conversion). Some distributors only deal with sales agents and may refuse to meet with producers directly.
- Platforms buy directly from producer although the bigger ones buy via aggregators or distributors e.g. Netflix US only buy from distributors and dales agents that pick up more than 50 new titles pre annum Platforms either pay a license fee, MG or do a revenue share deal Most popular VOD platforms (non traditional) right now internationally: ITunes Sony Google Play Amazon Netflix Hulu Vudu Local : Showmax, VU, Veedee, iBiskop, OnTap, BuniTV, iRoko
- There are no licensed encoding facilities in Africa for iTunes
- Script coverage between $50-$150 www.slated.com How sales projections work : high, low, average. Best when tested with buyers or following pre-sales A sales agent is like an estate agent that represents a producer’s film to distributors, broadcasters and other buyers for the premise of earning a commission on any sales, and thereby maximising the sales potential of the film. A sales agent does all the contracts and reporting associated with the rights exploitation of a film and attend several markets and festivals throughout the year to represent the films they have signed. Sales agents also have relationships with certain festivals and use these to ensure the films they represent get selected and promote the films at these festivals in order to get the buyers’ attention for the film. A sales agent will typically broker the deals on behalf of the producers with the buyers and distributors, who often prefer to deal with the sales agent as opposed to having to educate the producers on licensing and distribution procedures and deliverables. Also distributors often feel that producers are too emotional about their films and can have a more candid discussion about a film with the sales agent.
- Script coverage between $50-$150 www.slated.com How sales projections work : high, low, average. Best when tested with buyers or following pre-sales A sales agent is like an estate agent that represents a producer’s film to distributors, broadcasters and other buyers for the premise of earning a commission on any sales, and thereby maximising the sales potential of the film. A sales agent does all the contracts and reporting associated with the rights exploitation of a film and attend several markets and festivals throughout the year to represent the films they have signed. Sales agents also have relationships with certain festivals and use these to ensure the films they represent get selected and promote the films at these festivals in order to get the buyers’ attention for the film. A sales agent will typically broker the deals on behalf of the producers with the buyers and distributors, who often prefer to deal with the sales agent as opposed to having to educate the producers on licensing and distribution procedures and deliverables. Also distributors often feel that producers are too emotional about their films and can have a more candid discussion about a film with the sales agent.
- Clean ProRes file – export and drive (R5,000) Subtitles file – create – (R1,500) Festivals DCP – no KDM (R15,000) iTunes and all other TVOD encodes – ($1,500) International SVOD encodes – ($1,200) Blu Ray (R1,500) DVD (R500) Conversion to NTSC (R25,000)
- Engaging a sales agent early on in development has the following advantages : Sales agents can assist with the raising of finances fore the film through sales projections and pre-sales to distributors, broadcasters or platforms Sales agent can help assess the value of cast targeted and help with the casting process Assist package the development project to be attractive to investors e.g. proof of concept, artwork and one pager Bench mark the salability of the film in key territories by showing it to buyers there Assist with attaching of key crew ands suppliers e.g. direcotr, HODs, VFX
- Sales companies are often more reluctant to come on to films once they are complete, as they can no longer influence the project to work for specific markets or genres Finished films need to packaged which can be complicated if the post is already done Deliverables are often not budgeted for in development and become an issue once the film is signed Completed films can no longer be benchmarked in the market so the sales agent has to take it on risk By the time a sales agent gets the film, it has already aged and festival submissions are a problem. It takes time to ramp up a festival and market strategy and sell a film while it is fresh Films generally have a two year life cycle to sell as a new title . If you looking for a sales agent after the film is completed and it takes 6 months to find a sign one, you have already lost 25% of the life cycle
- African buyers i.e. from the continent DSTV, Cana; Plus Diaspora buyers e.g. Africa Channel Nigerians etc abroad Black content buyers e.g. BET African American, carribean World cinema niche buyers
- Talk about Hard to Get example and XYZ and the Raid 1 & 2
- In US trailers cut by specific trailer companies Title adapted to territory or at least international Packaging done with marketing agencies or ad agencies who even decide the title e.g. wedding in title increases attendance by at least 10% Sales company will package according to what will sell the film the most. Not attached to certain images, actors, scenes etc like the filmmakers. Your favourite image, scene or actor may not sell the film best
- What does iNumber number mean to anyone overseas?
- Annecdote of Slumdog millionaire that took the film to festivals for one year screning it and inviting press and critcs
- SXSW (hesitant buyers because they waiting for Cannes)