This first session is usually about an hour long, and in that hour I will go through the full spectrum of distribution opportunities and give the people my ideas and my sense of all the permutations and how all these things can fit together and all the distribution possibilities.
Filmmakers generally come out of that consultation feeling overwhelmed with all the information and ideas but that is sort of how it is designed. I want them to see all the possibilities. Then they go off and kind of think about how to (fit everything together) and narrow down all those choices.
Then we do a second session of about an hour where we actually define a distribution strategy customized to their film and their audiences and for different possible versions of the film that they might be making.
In the third and final session, I talk to them about next steps and suggest some people that might be good partners for them in terms of bringing their film into the world.
After that process, I am available on an as-needed basis as the filmmaker moves through their distribution sequence.
Filmmakers often have many choices along the way. It might be choices between festivals, it might be choices between distributors, it might be choices among sequences and I can help them figure those out.
If they start getting distribution offers I can talk to them about the particular company, and whether I think it is a good company. When I look at an offer, I always ask myself if there is any way that we can structure a deal that would be better for the filmmaker. I suggest ways filmmakers can negotiate their deal so they get a fair deal with good companies.
After the initial consultation, I am just there and available along the way. Sometimes I stay in touch with filmmakers over a couple years. I may not hear from them for months at time and then it is a five-minute question. But I am accessible to them. When things come up, they can get in touch with me. The additional consulting time is billed on an hourly rate, and it is just how much time they need.
TL: Do you negotiate deals for filmmakers?
PB: There are some situations where I agree to negotiate deals for filmmakers but I am not a rep (distribution representative). I am not the person who goes out and pitches the movie to every distributor in town. I am really a strategist.
I only agree to negotiate a deal if somebody gets an offer from a company that I think is a good company. Then I can be the point person with the distributor, negotiating the deal, because I have had a lot of experience with a lot of companies and a lot of deals.
TL: Should filmmakers try to negotiate these deals themselves?
PB: I do not recommend that filmmakers negotiate deals themselves, because whoever is on the other side is going to have a thousand times more knowledge and experience. I can bring much more knowledge and experience to the negotiation and the filmmaker can end up—hopefully—getting a fair deal, a good deal. If there is no good deal to be had, then I do not recommend that they take it. I think that no deal is better than a bad deal.
