ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 1 month ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Madrid Intl Film Festival - do they have buyers attending? If not, then the festival is a bit of fun and sharing and showing with fellow filmmakers. If any serious buyers are present then if they watch and like the film they'll want to make you an offer on it - take all their details and don't say yes on the spot, or be flattered into it - you may get better offers later in the cold light of day. Then you can get a rep to guide you through which are *actually* the best deals (it is easy to bury terms and caveats in deals and contracts that can spanner things.

Sales contracts are incredibly complex with a whole list of deliverables required - basically every contract or deal, notarised declarations, chain of title - this is why you need advice before saying 'yes' to any buyer as the headline figures can be very different once certain weasel words are accounted for.

But be aware, May is Cannes, that's a full-on market where sales and buyers /all/ go, so they'll tend to go there instead. Most likely you'll have a bit of fun and glory at the festi, then come home again.

11 years ago - David Graham Scott

I just won for Best UK documentary at Open City Docs Fest in London. Got some chocolates and a certificate. It did get me some nice publicity on Vice magazine but other than that no big offers.

11 years ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

@Dan Selakovich That scam is just horrible! I have to say there appear to be a lot of outright crooks and sharks in film, but I suppose Hollywood was grown with Mob money so it's hardly surprising.

11 years, 1 month ago - Raed Abbas

a producer's representative? good point. Where do I find one?

11 years ago - Raed Abbas

@Dan Selakovich
Thank you very much.. this is awesome.. I really appreciate every single word up there.. well done :)

11 years ago - Raed Abbas

Beautiful, thanks a lot Donna. Wish you the same. And well done on your Doc.
One thing tho, mine is thriller feature film not doc but I got your point.
I'm not completely new but this is my first feature which I want to experience the business of making films :)
I hope to see your work on the big screen and you on the Oscar stage :)

Thanks again
Raed

11 years, 1 month ago - Dan Selakovich

You need a producer's rep. Now is good. don't wait.

11 years ago - Donna Lipowitz

Hello Raed,
Film Markets are the best places to have your film selected for and have the best chance of gaining real Distributor attention. Most bigger film festivals have Doc Markets attached. Hot Docs Canada, Dok Leipzig Germany, Krakow Film Festival Poland.
I was lucky to get the attention of a small Canadian Distributor via Hot Dok Market for my first longer Doc.
It wasn't a buy out, but they worked kind of as my agent and sold the film to a couple of places, including cable TV in the UK.
I'm not wealthy from the experience, haha :) but I made back my expenses. As a new Doc filmmaker I was pretty pleased with the outcome overall.
It depends on how far you are along experience wise. If this is new to you then my advice is to stay smalltime until you have a valid reason to justify spending £ on extras. Don't spend what you can't afford to lose. Remember why you make films in the first place, don't get too overwhelmed by the business.
Smaller film festivals are brilliant to get to meet other filmmakers and to have your film screened in front of an audience, an opportunity for publicity and are generally just lots of fun. Especially great if you are starting out.
I find a lot of the advice here on SP overly technical, complicated and not practical to the average small time filmmaker sitting in their kitchen editing their latest masterpiece :)
And... there is a lot of luck involved. Right place, right film, right time and all that.
You could also have a look at distributors you like and see what films they are signing. For them it is a business and some things are marketable and some things are not.
Raed I don't know you or your film and I just read your post before starting to edit my film this morning, but I wish you the best of luck and hope you manage to find what you need.
Donna