2013 Post 22- Film Distribution

A filmmaker’s general reason for creating films would be because they have something to say or a vision to share with the world, thus having as wide an audience as possible would be ideal. The filmmaker’s goal for what they would like their film to achieve plays a key part in a potential distributor’s decision on investing in their project. The larger a film’s budget, the more effort should be put in to ensure the widest audience possible can reach it.

There are different ways of getting a film seen, Film Festivals are most important for independent films that have not spent a lot of effort in distribution, but ultimately a theatrical release is still the most economic way of distributing films. Many short films today follow these promotional ways of exposing their films: Film Festivals, sell to sales agents to appear on television, DVD sales and finally Internet exposure. Sales agents have a range of contacts that can help give a short film the exposure necessary to reach a wide audience, usually globally by setting up connections with television companies. Money is gained from advertisements of the film or per download of the content online, but DVD releases can also be made through an agent, wherein the film could be sold as a single or in a compilation with other short films on online sites such as Ebay or Amazon.

 

Short films usually don’t make as much money as feature length films on theatrical releases and festival screenings, but it would be unwise to skip the festival screening option. These festivals screen to audiences looking for new, unique films and potential distributors, with awards for the best that draw in attention. The lifespan for a short film at festivals is around 2 years as many will not accept content older than this age, but an online lifespan can last much longer if effort is put into keeping it alive. Digital distribution however, is quickly gaining in popularity for streaming short films online; with this a filmmaker can use viral marketing to promote their film on the internet where millions of people can potentially view it, for example on iTunes or Youtube. All short films have the opportunity to reach as wide an audience as feature-length projects, it is just up to the producer of the film to put in the effort required to successfully distribute it.

A link to a popular distribution company for short films: http://www.dazzlefilms.co.uk/

I researched film distribution from this useful booklet: http://www.scottishscreen.com/images/documents/short_film_distribution_guide.pdf