ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

7 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

That's a really good question, and the answer isn't obvious!

Firstly, think about your motivation for wanting to exhibit In cinemas. Do you want to make money? Get your name out? Have a story that must be shared? Exhibition is expensive, so you're needing to either pay for that, or get someone else to.

Paying for it yourself is as simple as going to the cinemas you think it suits and doing a deal for a screen at a cinema. They can sell tickets for you, or you can sell your own. They can put up a poster for you if you provide one, they can get you in their mailouts and on their website, but you'll need to do your own promotion work too. The work is high, but you get all the ticket revenue. You may also get a deal with the cinema where they'll take a minimum guarantee from you and then you'll see profit after they've taken that.

Getting someone else to pay is what getting a distribution deal is all about. A distributor will either take a fee or give you an advance. If you pay them, they're doing pretty much what you could do yourself. If they pay you it'll be an advance, and then you'll receive pretty much nothing further as like any advance account, every cost gets added to it, then you're back to the above scenario, but with a company in between you and the cinemas.

In all cases, it's a lot cheaper to be on screen on a Tuesday lunchtime than a Thursday evening. Rather you'll need to guarantee the house a higher level of occupancy. You'll fight for screen space against other films, so pick your cinemas with care.

There's a third option, OurScreen. You do all the promotion and they'll arrange the screening if you sell enough seats. I don't think you'll see any profit this way, but you may make it work for you and reduces your upfront spend.

Any help?

7 years, 3 months ago - Jimmy Edmonds

I am currently in a similar position - though we have completed our feature doc. To give you some idea of the tasks involved - making the film has taken 2 years and costs approx £50K - trying to find a distributor/sales agent has taken another year and a half without success. One distributor offered to take it on for £20K but with no guarantee of results. In the end we are in a sense self publishing but have spent £6000 on a PR agent and £1000 on a cinema booker. This we hope is worth it although the results so far are meagre especially in terms of theatrical slots - of the dates we have so far most have come from our own efforts of first emailing various independent cinemas and then following up with phone calls. Most deals are 50/50 on the basis that we attend for Q&A's. Last thought : compared to the work of getting the film promoted and distributed, making it in the first place was a doddle!!

7 years, 3 months ago - Jimmy Edmonds

Ps agree with Paddy - OURSCREEN is an option though you cant book more than 3 months in advance and as yet audiences are really up for buying tickets in advance - has worked for us in the past especially re screenings in the larger chains - VUE and PICTURE HOUSE in particluar

7 years, 3 months ago - Tony Oldham

You can approach and hire independent cinemas. If you want a distributor you must make sure you have all the paperwork signed off on what these days needs to be a very good movie in light of the volume of movies coming thru on the micro budget spectrum. Most cinema runs lose money but are there to prep the films marketing for online sales and tv etc.

7 years, 3 months ago - Jimmy Edmonds

Ps agree with Paddy - OURSCREEN is an option though you cant book more than 3 months in advance and as yet audiences are really up for buying tickets in advance - has worked for us in the past especially re screenings in the larger chains - VUE and PICTURE HOUSE in particluar