ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

9 years, 9 months ago - Hank Starrs

Hi Sally,
Docs can certainly do well in theatres in the UK. Titles that have seen good distribution over the last few years would include, Senna, Amy, Searching for Sugerman, Blackfish, An Act of Killing, etcetera.

There are a number of UK distributors that handle factual content as well as drama including, Curzon, Signature, Arrow, Kaleidoscope, The Works, BFI, EONE, Sony Picture Classics and more. Depending on the number of territories you've sold already, perhaps an international sales agent would be the way to go? There are a number of these in the UK also and I assume you have some in Paris.

In terms of a sales agent - It depends on whether you want to sell all rights to the UK or do a hybrid deal where you retain certain platforms. Sales agents prefer to sell all rights. If the film has sold to the US and with that subject matter, I'd say it would Deff have an audience in the UK!

9 years, 9 months ago - John Lubran

Lots of learned advice being given here. There are however other paradigms to explore. All of the above suggestions are manifested within the paradigm of a business model that has had a very long innings. The fact of that reality bubbles entrenched existence doesn't mean it's the only one. The World Wide Web is an entirely different reality bubble that allows completely new ways to fund and distribute. Things like Kickstarter and Indigogo point to some of them but even they, especially Kickstarter, only provide a limited view of this brave new world. It’s true that within the business model of selling programmes to an audience, factual programmes are not easy to get distributed through corporate entities, though public broadcasters such as the BBC continue to provide some opportunities. But even with feature fiction movies the odds of corporate interest are no better than for those making factuals, as many a film maker on these lists can conform.

The World Wide Web however can allow factual projects to get fully front loaded (providing all the funding up front for both production and distribution in addition to paying everyone a fair fee and the producer a fair profit commensurate with industry standards). Such projects require no commercial distribution because they can be distributed freely to any platform or audience. If a project is good enough then public sector and commercial broadcasters will take it, because it’s free. (One does need to give them first dibs on an exclusive rights agreement limited in time and territory before further distribution in that territory is pursued) Because it’s possible to achieve very large audiences through this business model, and even on massive scale beyond many commercial distributions, further opportunities for sponsorship, advertising and product placement may also be possible if very carefully considered. For once it’s the special virtue of a factual feature over movie fiction. Crowd funding can be achieved by more than selling gifts and/or deferred shares if the subject matter and intent of the film shares an ethos with enough people. It doesn’t take the brains of a quantum physicist to apply this reality to a project. These crowds are not as interested in egocentric arts as they are in disseminating information as widely as possible. For example the campaigning group 38 Degrees not only keeps growing at currently over 3,500,000 members in the UK alone, they have also raised millions of pounds in support of a diverse range of issues. Around the world there are several similar outfits, but they don’t need to be that big for our purposes; there are many entities with potent web presence that have specific interest in the subject matter of your projects and great many other projects, those entities can provide powerful initial platforms for viral crowd funding campaigns to develop.

In any event, in order to achieve access to broadcast platforms, producers will need to think professionally and responsibly with regard to all the usual practices to ensure that your film has cleared all rights properly and is legal, both technically and lawfully. It must be a given that production values will also need to be exemplary.

One last thing, it’s not as easy as falling off a log, but we’ll be seeing a great number of these entities in the coming years, because it’s a no brainer. One of the interesting aspects of this business model is that the producers will need to sell themselves almost as much as the film they hope to make. The Crowd will need to love you in a way that many producers won’t be able to achieve. It’s a spiritual ethos thing.

9 years, 9 months ago - Marlom Tander

We have docus in theatres? Maybe in a few big cities but out in multiplex land I suspect the only docu in the last 20m years that made proper distribution was Man on Wire.

I would guess there's maybe a limited number of urban art house / indie cinemas that might be interested and you could contact them yourself.

My take - I'd be trying to talk to BBC 2, 4 or C4 - it sounds like you have got something high quality and they all schedule one off docs. Not a lot, but enough to try them. Cold calling might be hard, but if you're on at any fests with markets that they might attend that would boost your odds.