Distribution

Horrorxscifi.com focuses on dark fantasy, horror, scifi and thriller. It launches tomorrow with the found footage film Caiman. Producers or reps with completed in-genre features can submit for consideration on the platform. Maybe Deadhouse would like to connect on it's out of festival strategies.

Genre festivals can still open doors, but timing matters. A horror film can lose momentum if it spends too long on the festival circuit without a clear sales plan. Festival and distribution strategies really need to work together from the start.

Hi Oscar Spinelli! While I'm not a genre writer, I couldn't agree more about your festival strategy insights. Having a clear plan going into festival submissions is key to saving time, money, and momentum. Have any genre projects on the festival circuit now? If so, where are they headed next?

Hi Lisa Steadman, appreciated your message. We have actually a horror short film running for festivals, and we had a clear path from the very beginning. For example we had an European premiere at Sitges, which is very important for the audience and for the industry with their events and networking, followed by an Australian Premiere and Italian premiere (it's an Italian film), in an important fantastic festival. Going to have an UK Premiere in London soon.

Thanks, Maurice! Have you ever been to the festival? Curious to hear from folks who have. Enjoy your weekend.

You're welcome, @Lisa. I haven't. I haven't been to any festivals, but hopefully one day! Enjoy the rest of your week!

I see festivals in your future Maurice Vaughan!

Congratulations, Lisa! An opening-night screening is a great opportunity. I'd suggest identifying a few producers or distributors you'd like to meet beforehand and arranging follow-ups while you're still at the festival. Those connections can be just as valuable as the screening itself. Enjoy the experience!

This is great advice Zoltan! How would I find out about attending producers and distributors?

Congrats Adrian! Where can we read the interview?

Congratulations, Adrian! It's great to see an interview develop into something that adds lasting value to a film's release. A well-deserved recognition of your work!

How was your weekend?

Once the film is finished, the conversation changes pretty dramatically. You’re no longer selling the promise of what the movie could be, you’re selling the actual movie, which is both better and harder. Better because buyers can see exactly what they’re getting, harder because there’s no longer much room to “package around” weaknesses.

Beyond a strong trailer, I’d focus on a very clean package: key art, logline/synopsis, cast and filmmaker bios, any meaningful underlying IP or audience data, festival strategy/status, press if you have it, and most importantly a clear understanding of who the audience is and how you expect to reach them.

And I would absolutely look at self-distribution as a real option rather than only as a fallback. For a low-budget family Christmas movie especially, there may be a very definable audience and seasonal window. Sometimes the economics of controlling the release yourself, using an aggregator/platform strategy, targeted digital marketing, transactional/VOD, and niche partnerships can be better than taking a weak distribution deal just to say you have one.

Where I see first-timers waste time is chasing major streamers directly, assuming a festival will solve distribution, or waiting endlessly for a sales agent to “discover” the film. At this stage, I’d be running two tracks at once: pursue sales/distribution conversations, but also build a realistic self-distribution plan so you actually have leverage and options.

Katie, once the film is finished, you’re no longer selling the promise of the screenplay - you’re selling evidence that the film works and that there is an identifiable audience for it. Alongside a strong trailer, you should have polished key art, a concise synopsis and pitch, clear genre/comps, cast and IP value, audience positioning, festival strategy and confirmation that rights, music and delivery materials are in order. In my role, I often see first-timers waste time approaching major streamers directly, rather than identifying the sales agents and distributors genuinely active in that budget and genre space.

Lots of great answers on here! If you haven’t got a full delivery requirements list I’d keep some money back for things like a QC report, any additional work needed to make it pass QC, completing technical delivery and chasing down paperwork. US distributors usually have the most stringent requirements, so if your technical and supporting delivery materials match their needs you’re good to go for most other countries as well. Most will have a standard list that includes a huge amount of stuff, so ask for what they actually need (last I looked a lot of companies still ask for HDCAM SR tapes which no one has needed in years). When looking for distributors and sales agents to target, IMDb is a great resource. Look for recent, similar titles and go to the companies tab on their page. There will be a list of distribution companies on there and the territory they picked the film up for. The sales agent is usually the company who’s territory is listed as “worldwide”.

Really appreciate the valuable insights, everyone! I'm learning from y'all. @katrina where can we learn more about self distribution?

This is great, Kevin! Thanks for writing and sharing here. I just left a comment on the blog for you.

Loved this! Thanks for Sharing. As a poster designer, actually I always discuss with the directors about this

Luis Taveras hi Luis, and thanks for posting your comment.

I think in the UK that the world loves ‘English’ films and ‘English’ stories with guess what, with ‘English’ actors and I think some Producers feed off that and think that’s all there is to producing their films.

However, like you say, they have to be market-ready and also have a story that people want to experience and not just have English window dressing.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai so Shadow, I get that the old system is broken, but what needs to emerge to take its place? It has to be appealing to investors, or they’ll not bite and part with their finance.

Geoff Hall Yeah, but it's an entrepreneurial industry. Until the late 1990s, filmmakers found the money, made the movie and exploited it. Distributors PAID advances for the license to distribute, as they should. Filmmakers have to do that again and stop hoping that someone is just going to hand them a check and let them play on set. No businessperson should give their product to a distributor for free or on spec, that's pathological and isn't done in any actual industry. There are lots of ways to take control of your own marketing and revenue streams these days. As far as investors... regardless of the industry you have to find the right one. An "investor" who thinks that independent film has anything in common with studio economics is not an agile thinker, and perhaps is not the right fit.

Sad news. It was a good initiative from one of the most experienced distributors in the UK. Unfortunately the UK is one of the hardest marketplaces for an independent distribution company and it has only gotten harder over the last 10 years. Stephen Follows did an interesting analysis of this shortly after the news of True Brit broke.

Ewan Dunbar thanks Ewan, I will check that how. How are you doing?

If you listen to The Town podcast, you may have heard a few episodes where they talk about how movie theaters are bringing older films back to increase ticket sales on slower days as well as just get people back into theaters.

Lisa Steadman thanks Lisa. That’s an interesting development. I’m not sure that Megalopolis qualifies as an older film. It seems to me that it’s Mr Coppola’s using his industry muscle to get his film back in to theatres and not the theatres themselves.

Are you interested in going to see the film?

Shadow Dragu-Mihai indeed Shadow, it’s not a regular roll out. It seems to me that it’s all about the Producer who is calling the shots.

However, a $120m budget film has an awful lot of ground to make up, from its $14m box office.

I won't be going to see the film Geoff Hall. Have you seen it?

Lisa Steadman Hi Lisa, yes I went with my son and usually on the way home from the cinema, we talk a lot about the film.

We got half way home without a word passing between us and then my son said, “let’s just agree, shall we. That was a bad film.”

And that was about that. I think it was probably one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.

Lisa Steadman I would like to point out that Obsession and Backrooms were both picked up and marketed by very wealthy companies, who leveraged the early audience (especially for Backrooms) to kickstart their marketing campaigns. They therefore are not as relevant to independent filmmakers as one might think. In contrast, Iron Lung, by independent filmmaker Mark Fischbach ("Markiplier" on youtube) is an important case study, as he built his audience and then arranged his own theatrical wide release (3015 screens domestically, ~4200 screens world-wide). He did this by building and addressing his own audience base primarily through YouTube, and adapting some of the strategies of certain influencer campaigns. Other creators, including the Backrooms people, essentially have just sold their idea to to a studio/distributor. Mark Fischbach owns his IP and his product, in the mold of independent filmmakers who have largely disappeared in the 2000s.

Excellent points, Shadow! And you're right. Markiplier is a far better example. I need to see his film. Did you see it? Curious to hear your thoughts.

Lisa Steadman I made a point of seeing it. Unusual, well done, not for everyone. Not what you would see out of a major studio, but with artistic merit. And that's the point for independent expression, which the current and near future theatrical environment denies to the general audience.

Yes! That IS the point of independent expression. Thanks for sharing, Shadow!

Nice to meet you Luis Grimaldo! And congrats on being in the finishing stages of your short film. You're in for an exciting journey ahead! Have you considered working with a film festival consultant? They can be helpful in guiding you through the festival submission process and help eliminate wasted time, energy and money by advising on the best festivals for your particular film. Happy to share some referrals.

For context, I flew solo in the beginning of my festival run and without a clear strategy, I now see where I could have saved my resources. Hope this is helpful.

Hola Lisa, thanks for the advise, I think I might be like in the same stage you were at the beginning of your festival run, kind of having an idea of where to submit my short film but I don't have a clear strategy yet, so I'd really appreciate if you could share not only the referrals you have but also your insights on the whole process. Thank you!