Distribution : Theatrical Distribution for Indies after COVID19 by Damon Merchant

Harder, IMO. Those chains which are still standing are even more beholden to the idea of the big payday now - as a matter of economics. AMC is considering indie films - but wants the producer to have a $minumum 100K to spend on advertising... Just one example of the different world that independent and mainstream industry inhabit.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg Thanks for the response. That makes sense. Regarding AMC, how wide of a release do you think AMC would give you for a $100K marketing/advertising commitment?

Damon Merchant That's a good question, and they don't say. They are doing the passive (ie. lazy) come-to-us-insides website application. It asks you to lay out all of your production information for them, as well as how much money you can commit, etc, and wants to look it over before they even contact you. I consider this kind of maneuver to be among those of sleazy wannabe producers and am annoyed that AMC would do it.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg Hopefully, I'll get funding for my project and test out AMC's process. Then I'll report my experience back here. It would be nice if they had the formula posted on their website like: $1000 per theater with a $100K minimum. I'm sure they'll never do that, since they might need to factor in more than marketing/advertising dollars to determine how many theaters they'll give up.

Damon Merchant I had the impression it's a glorified 4-walling situation. The real question is what % of box office do they want? They don't say that either. I expect it's a matter of what they think they can make from your film. Remember, AMC is a landlord, not a distributor or film maker. As such, they view every penny as coming into the house as rightfully theirs and resent having to split anything at all. That's the landlord mentality.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg Excellent point!