Filmmakers tend to make four common mistakes when they set out to distribute their films.
- Submitting the film to festivals and distributors before it is as good as it can possibly be. Filmmakers often fail to do test screenings of their movie with 'real' audiences. Instead, they only get feedback from friends and family.
- Becoming obsessed with theatrical distribution, and not paying enough attention to other avenues of distribution. Many filmmakers hang all their hopes on theatrical release. Then, when a theatrical release does not happen, they give up.
- Spending precious and limited resources trying to qualify for Academy consideration. Often, it would make more sense to spend these scarce resources on distribution.
- Approaching distribution with the wrong attitude. Filmmakers tend to be reactive rather than proactive when it comes to distribution. Instead of designing and implementing a distribution strategy, they tend to sit back and wait for distribution offers that may never come.
I asked Broderick what steps a micro-budget filmmaker could take to create a workable distribution strategy. He listed ten things, in order of importance.
1. Create a film festival strategy.
The first thing to do is to figure out if you are going to start at film festivals. Film festivals are not appropriate for all films. You may decide that film festivals do not matter for your film. If that is the case, then it is not worth spending your time and energy on festivals.
For many films, however, festivals are helpful. Even if a festival does not help a filmmaker find a distributor, the festival can be a good way to build awareness of the film. Festivals can also be helpful in terms of a filmmaker's career. The fact that a filmmaker has had a film at this festival or that festival makes the filmmaker seem more legitimate in the eyes of those people who might want to invest in the filmmaker some time in the future.
Festivals are complicated. They take time, and money. You cannot do a shotgun approach to festivals and expect to succeed. Instead, you need a strategy. You need to figure out which festivals are most helpful, and you need to apply to festivals in a certain sequence. Generally, you apply first to the festivals that matter the most to you. Then you wait to see what the results are, and decide where to apply next based on how the film did.
2. Create a theatrical strategy.
The next thing to decide is whether your film should have theatrical distribution. Unfortunately, it is tough in theaters right now for independent films. It is particularly tough for no-budget films without famous actors.
Even so, you still might be able to get a theatrical release for your film. If the subject matter of your film is compelling, or if you have highly motivated core audiences who want to see the film, it might make sense to do a theatrical release.
A good way to find out if your film justifies the expense and difficulty of a theatrical release is to test the possibilities by opening the movie in one theater for one week, in one city, and see what happens.
If, after your test, you decide a theatrical release is justified and realistic, the next thing to do is to figure out what city, what theater, and whether you are going to do it as a 'four wall' or whether you are going to do a regular theatrical booking. (In a 'four wall', you are essentially renting the theater for a week and keeping the ticket sales).
