The Basic Guide to Doing Your Own Film Distribution

By Gini Graham Scott PhD

The Basic Guide to Doing Your Own Film Distribution provides the essential guidelines for distributing your own film. After an overview in Part I of the various steps to take to be successful, the next four parts deal with the major ways to increase awareness and sales.

Part II covers setting up theatrical screenings. Part III describe setting up and promoting local screenings. Part IV discusses getting into film festivals and winning awards.  Part V offers tips on how to set up online sales through aggregators, video on demand platforms, and your own website or landing page.

The book is formatted like a journal, so readers can write down their ideas for what to do after reading each tip.

            The book is part of a series of short books, in which each book features tips and techniques for becoming more successful in the film industry.

GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, PhD is a screenplay writer, indie film producer, and TV game/reality show developer, plus a nonfiction writer who has published over 200 books, 50 for traditional publishers and 150 for her own company Changemakers Publishing. She also writes, reviews, and ghostwrites scripts and books for clients. She has written scripts for 20 feature films and has written and executive produced 10 films and TV projects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changemakers Publishing
• Release date: Apr 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201095192

Gini Graham Scott PhD

Gini Graham Scott is a screenplay writer, executive producer, and TV game show developer, plus a nonfiction writer who has published over 200 books, 50 for traditional publishers and 150 for her own company Changemakers Publishing. She also writes, reviews, and ghostwrites scripts and books for clients. She has written scripts for 20 feature films and has written and executive produced 11 film and TV projects. These include Me, My Dog, and I and Rescue Me, distributed by Random Media,  Driver, distributed by Gravitas Ventures, Deadly Infidelity, distributed by Green Apple,  Death’s Door, a TV series based on a co-written book. At Death’s Door, published by Rowman & Littlefield, The New Age of Aging, distributed by Factory Films, and Reversal distributed by Shami Media Group. Several other films have just been completed or are in production: Courage to Continue and Bad Relationships She has recently developed a TV series The Neanderthals Return, based on a series of books about the Neanderthals coming back into modern society. She has written and produced over 60 short films, including dramas, book and film trailers, TV show pilots, documentaries, and promotional videos.  Her IMDB resume is at http://imdb.me/ginigrahamscott. She is the author of four books on filming, including So You Want to Turn Your Book Into a Film?, The Basic Guide to Pitching, Producing, and Distributing Your Film, and The Basic Guide to Doing Your Own Film Distribution, Finding Funds for Your Film or TV Project.  and The Complete Guide to Distributing an Indie Film. She has been hired to write over two dozen scripts for clients, adapted from their novels, memoirs, or script ideas. She reviews books for their film potential and writes treatments and scripts for three major companies that publish books and promote them for authors. Her scripts include action/adventure scripts, suspense thrillers, psychological character films, and contemporary dramas.  Some recent scripts are the sci-fi suspense thrillers Brain Swap, Dead No More, Deadly Deposit, and Reverse Murder.  Other scripts include the crime action thrillers Rich and Dead and Deadly Affair; and the suspense thriller Bankrupt.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

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Ideally, it’s best to find a major distributor to take on your book, and if not that, one of the smaller established distributors, since they already have their channels for distribution set up.  You also have the advantage of their reputation and prestige backing your film.

However, if you don’t yet have a distributor or simply want to do your own distribution, despite the difficulties, then the following tips will help you do so successfully.  Besides resulting in increased sales, your own successful distribution can contribute to a major distributor taking you on, even though they originally turned you down.

To this end, the books covers the major ways to do your own distribution, including setting up theatrical releases, putting on local screenings, and pitching your film to the major streaming and sales channels, including Amazon and Amazon Prime.  It is probably not possible to get a new film or series from a new producer on the major networks or cable channels, such as Netflix, though you can always try.

The book is divided according to these different distribution strategies.  Part I provides an overview of the distribution channels.  Part II focuses on theatrical screenings.  Part III describes how to set up local screenings.  Part IV deals with getting into film festivals.  Part V covers selling your film through online and video on demand (VOD) distribution.

Note that there is a blank page before each tip so you can write down your thoughts on how to apply that tip to distributing your own film.

PART I: AN OVERVIEW OF HOW TO DO YOUR OWN DISTRIBUTION

CHAPTER 1: 10 KEYS FOR DOING YOUR OWN FILM DISTRIBUTION

What if you can’t initially find a distributor?  What if you initially contacted prospective distributors at the American Film Market or did a mailing to potential distributors and sales agents but they didn’t respond or turned you down?

This problem of finding a distributor happens, because this is a very competitive field, with thousands of films looking for distribution each year, and distributors only pick up a few hundred of them. So you have about 1 in 10 or even 1 in 20 or more odds of getting a distributor.

Yet there is hope, so don’t give up. You can set up your own distribution, and besides generating awareness and sales, your success at self-distribution can result in a traditional distributor becoming interested and even offering a better deal than possible if you didn’t first successfully distribute your film yourself. Then, again, you may do so well through self-distribution that you might want to continue to market and promote your film this way.

Following are the major advantages of self-distribution and the different ways to distribute your film. In the following chapters, I will describe how to set up distribution in different channels.

Use the blank page before each tip to write down your thoughts about how to apply that in your own project.

1) A big benefit of self-distribution is you gain visibility, so you show you have a film that appeals to the market.  As you attract more attention, apart from any income you receive from sales, you get distributors to take you more seriously.

2) The more you gain sales in one channel, the more buyers in other channels will be interested in marketing your film, so you build awareness.  As a result, eventually your film may break through and gain even wider distribution, whether you find a distributor or decide to continue distributing your film yourself.

3) You need to allocate a budget for distribution, because you have to pay for advertising, entering festivals, hiring a publicist, setting up theatrical showings, putting up a film website, or have other expenses, depending how you decide to market and promote your film.

4) You have to assess the best market for your film in order to best decide the way to reach that audience. For example, if it’s an adventure or fantasy film appealing to a younger audience, you might want to consider advertising on influencer sites, offering coupons on Instagram, or entering it in festivals that appeal to a younger demographic.  If it’s a more serious drama that appeals to an older audience, you might want to set up showings at local theaters or contact organizations that cater to high-income older viewers.

5) You want to consider the different platforms where you can promote and sell your film. Some of these platforms include the following:

- Selling DVDs on Amazon, through an Amazon seller’s account;

- Setting up distribution through other major online outlets for films, such as iTunes and Vimeo; 

- Creating a website for the film, and selling DVDs or access to streaming the film there;

Other approaches that involve setting up showings are:

- Contacting organizations to set up screenings at local events around the country;

- Entering the film in selected festivals to build an audience, get recognition, and win awards you can use to promote the film;

- Setting up showings in selected theaters in major cities and marketing these showings to gain publicity and attract a local audience;

Still other approaches are these:

- Advertising the film on selected social media appealing to your market in order to sell DVDs or access to online screenings;

- Making an agreement with a charity relevant to your film, so you can use that in promoting your film;

- Setting up a crowdfunding campaign if your film is related to an issue or charity where you might attract attention from those supporting that issue or charity;

- Creating a special event that features your film, such as a dinner or social mixer where you show your film, followed by some Q&A with the producers, actors, and directors.

- Contacting chains and local retailers, such as Walmart, to market your film;

- Arranging for special sales through businesses related to the topic of your film. For instance, if you film is about health or overcoming a physical challenge, contact health clubs and fitness centers about selling DVDs; if your film is about sports, contact retailers who sell sports equipment;

- Setting up links on the social media to your film website or to other major sellers of your film.

You can probably think of still other possibilities.

6) Once you have set up some online sources for buying your film, such as your website, Amazon, or iTunes, start promoting it through posts or ads on the social media that most appeals to your market. 

7) Use various online tools to automate your posts to multiple social media accounts and schedule them ahead, so you spend less time doing these posts.  For instance, use Hootsuite or Buffer. 

8) Hire a publicist or PR company or do mailings through various PR services, such as PR Newswire, Cision, or Meltwater, to promote your film to the traditional media.

9) Create copy for your social media posts and press releases, or hire a virtual assistant, PR associate, or copywriter to create your material for you. 

10) As you get publicity or show your film in a theater, especially for a launch showing, keep a list of the publicity you receive, indicating when and where this occurred. You might also create a booklet featuring photographs from your showings, articles about your film, your social media posts, and more.

In short, do what you can to create a buzz for your film, which will not only generate more sales but can attract interest from major distributors.  Even if they once turned you down, after you show that your film can generate growing interest and sales, they may now become interested in talking to you.  And you will often get a better deal, since you now have a proven track record, rather than if you initially contacted the distributors cold with just a trailer and screener to show them.

PART II: GETTING YOUR FILM INTO THEATERS

CHAPTER 2: 10 TIPS FOR ARRANGING AN INITIAL THEATRICAL SCREENING TO GAIN PRESS AND DISTRIBUTOR INTEREST

One way to build interest as well as make sales is arranging for theatrical screenings, when doing your own distribution or seeking to interest a distributor in picking up your film. You can think of your first screening like a world premiere, and do everything you can to attract the public and press. 

You can use this screening to invite potential distributors, if you would rather sign with a distributor than continue your own distribution. In either case, build on your opening to get more theatrical showings, as well as reviews, press clippings, and videos of the event you can use to build more buzz