Three Tables

A film doesn't get discovered. It gets sold.

After my financing video, one question kept coming back: where do you find all these distributors? There's an assumption buried in it, and it's the reason most indie films never get sold. Distributors aren't a place, a list, or a room you have to find. A film gets sold by a specific person, to a specific buyer, at a specific table. And there are only three tables.

Door oneA sales agent

A sales agent represents your finished film to buyers around the world, territory by territory. What you're paying for isn't their effort. It's their phone book: relationships with buyers who would never take a cold email from you. They take a commission plus their expenses off the top. And getting a sales agent is itself a sale. Every reason an agent passes is a reason a buyer would have passed too. They're just telling you sooner.

Door twoSell it yourself

During COVID I made Grounded, eight episodes with no crew. We went direct through Filmhub, an aggregator that delivers your show across a catalog of platforms, and it's on Tubi and Amazon today. Going direct, you keep most of the revenue and nobody has to say yes. What you give up is the upfront: no check on day one, paid in small increments over years. The whole door comes down to one question: do you have a way to reach the people who want this?

Door threeFestivals and markets

They are not the same thing. A festival legitimizes your film. A market (AFM, EFM, Cannes) is where deals get done. From working markets with Dept. H: know what buyers in each territory are looking for, book as many meetings in advance as you can, have your trailer, poster, and if possible the finished film ready, be honest about what stage you're at, and show them why your film works where they live.

The case study: The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

It premiered at the Austin Film Festival and won both the Jury Award and the Audience Award. That run got the film in front of HBO, and HBO loved it. So when we went to Gravitas Ventures, we weren't asking them to gamble. There was existing demand, which is why they paid a real minimum guarantee upfront, covering the HBO deal and a later streaming deal. Voltage Pictures took it out globally at the same time. The small theatrical release landed in the middle of COVID and underperformed, but the MG protected us, because the money had already moved. We didn't sell the film. We sold the demand that already existed for it.

Distribution isn't what happens to your film after you finish it. It's a second business, and it starts the day you decide what you're making and who it's for.

This week: write the sentence

1. Write one sentence about your film that makes a stranger want to see it.
2. Pick your table. Something a buyer can price? Sales agent. A community you can reach? Go direct.
3. If you can't write the sentence, that's the film telling you something while it's still cheap to listen.

Questions, answered

How do independent films get distribution?

Through three doors: a sales agent, going direct through an aggregator, or festivals and markets. Most successful films use more than one.

What does a film sales agent do?

They represent your finished film to distributors, platforms and broadcasters worldwide, taking a commission plus expenses.

Is self-distribution worth it?

It can be, if you have a way to reach your audience. You keep most of the revenue but give up money upfront.

What's the difference between a film festival and a film market?

A festival legitimizes your film. A market is a business event where buyers from every territory do deals.