ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXCan anyone offer any advice on US-governed distribution deals or recommend an attorney?
9 years, 9 months ago - Jon Rosling
Last year we agreed an international distribution deal with a company based in California.
The company verbally pledged limited theatrical distribution in the least, followed by guaranteed (written in the Deal Memo) physical distribution in the US and Canada, particularly through key US retailers such as Walmart.
The company have delivered on neither of these so far and their marketing efforts have been substandard
e.g. marketing the film with the wrong artwork, log-lines, synopsis and cast;
altering the production budget of the film in copy to make it look bigger budget;
changing the art work to something that does not represent the film at all;
refusing to change the credit block in line with legal agreements despite repeated requests;
announcing a release date for the film via sell thru (Amazon, etc.) then not distributing any actual sales because they didn't hit a minimum;
They are now claiming that digital distribution counts as physical distribution because there is a physical process in each step of preparing the film for digital distribution, which we dispute and is the basis of us wishing to terminate the deal.
They have also begun to add in a rider to their emails that they will ensure digital and new media distribution "if the film passes QC" - we see this as laying the groundwork for not paying for aggregation for a digital release.
We have asked for the rights of our film back so that we can distribute it ourselves in the UK and Europe.
Anyone who can offer advice in either direction would be appreciated. Obviously I cannot name the said company but I do know of shooters who have had similar experiences. If you are in that boat yourself feel free to contact me in confidence via private messaging.
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9 years, 9 months ago - Dan Selakovich
So sorry to hear of your troubles. This kind of thing is typical of distributors, I'm afraid. What seems odd, is that you've given them world wide rights? Is that correct? If you've only given them North American rights, you are free to distribute in the U.K. and the rest of Europe without their permission. Unless it's a major distributor, international rights is not a normal thing. But you are where you are, I guess.
If they are able to add a rider in an email, of all things, you've signed a god awful contract. Are you sure you really want to pursue this? It could cost a great deal, and even if you win, it could amount to nothing; meaning the distributor could fold up shop, sell the business to themselves and open under a new name.
You'd probably have better success suing your original attorney for gross negligence (I'm assuming you had an attorney go over the distribution contract before you signed). For example, unless physical distribution is defined in the contract, it can be anything the distributor wants it to be. If the credit block is not defined in the contract, the distributor can put "Bugs Bunny" as the director if they want. How many cities does the contract say they'll open the film in? It's usually 2 (Los Angeles and New York). Typically, a distributor will give it a half-assed effort on the theatrical, and then toss it directly into DVD and streaming. But unless a theatrical is defined in detail, you're sunk. I've heard a lot about distributors ignoring contracts, and have actually invited the producer to sue them. But this contract doesn't sound anything like that if you've represented your issues correctly in this post. It sounds like a shit contract. Plus, you called it a "deal memo". A Deal Memo is a vague, and intentionally so, contract that is usually a part of what you'd sign with a crew member for pay and screen credit issues. Not an agreement that you've given world wide rights to distribute a film.
Distribution agreements are huge and detailed contracts. For example, are they carrying E and O insurance, or is that up to you? You'd probably find this under "deliverables" in your contract. If it's going out into the world without E and O, perhaps it's a good thing they've fucked up distribution. Guess who gets sued if the credit block isn't right? You do. You're the one that made the deal with the crew member, not the distributor. It was up to you to make sure that credit block was correct in the contract WITH the distributor. Speaking of deliverables, is that spelled out? That can be pages and pages in a contract and can be a huge cost to the film's producer. For example, outside the normal stuff, the distributor might ask you for a trailer, art work, a 35mm print, production stills... deliverables can cost tens of thousands of dollars and can exceed the advance the distributor has paid you. Has your film gone through the MPAA ratings system? If not, getting a theatrical release would be difficult. While you don't legally need a rating, most theaters in the U.S. won't show a film without one. And most distributors will put this in the contract. Is it in yours?
Is there a time period where rights refer back to you? It's usually 5 years or "in perpetuity" (the distributor has the rights forever). If there is a time period clause, perhaps it would be better just to wait it out.
I guess what I'm getting at is it's better not to sign a contract at all with a distributor unless an attorney OKs it first. And if you can't afford an attorney, never sign that contract in the first place.
But to answer your question, these guys deal with indie filmmakers a lot:
http://www.donaldsoncallif.com
Response from 9 years, 9 months ago - Dan Selakovich SHOW