You are a new filmmaker, a scriptwriter or a creative producer and you have a great project, a great film to be made. You want to offer the world the new “Casablanca” or the more innovative “Star Wars”, yet you don’t have the money to finance your movie. Financing a feature film whether an indie movie or an in house project has never been easy, but movies are made every day because there is a market. Filmmakers have to go through many loops to finance their films, but with talent, determination and a good knowledge of how to finance a movie, they can often secure a good amount of money to put towards their production budget through pre-sales and distributor advance.
What is a film pre-sale?
If you are working on a bigger budget movie pre-sales is the way to go. Pre-sales are generally based on the cast rumored or attached to the project and the script. Against a certain amount of money the right to distribute the film in certain territories will be bought by distributors when the film is still in development or in preproduction.
A pre-sale agreement is like collateral that you can take to leverage money with a bank for instance. However as a film producer you must understand that distributors will expect from you that you deliver certain points agreed upon (i.e. cast, script). Depending on the selected cast, film director, producers involved in the proposed package, the amount of money you can except to raise from a pre-sale deal vary greatly. In the USA, because of the financial crisis, it has become more difficult to pre-sale a project which is at the development stage and it has become the general rule for many distributors to only buy a project once it is completed.
In the best case and with the right names attached to your project you can expect to raise 40% of your film budget from U.S domestic pre-sales so you will have to seek the missing 60% from foreign pre-sales. As an indie filmmaker the task is even more complex as you will probably not have the star power to secure domestic pre-sales in America without first having raised a certain amount of your movie budget through equity financing and foreign pre-sales. But you know you have a good project and you believe you will interest foreign distributors, you just don't know how to gain access to them.
As a first time filmmaker, go to the professionals. My advice to you would be to either hire an international sales agent or a producers representative.
What is an international sales agent?
An international sales agent is a person who has the right contacts in the major territories whether with world-wide buyers or distributors. International Sales agent have privileged relationships with foreign buyers and distributors as they constantly seek ways to sell and distribute movies all over the world. They know perfectly:
- What types of film will sell well in which territory.
- What genre of film is best considered in various countries.
- What are buyers looking for in different part of the world.
- Which film buyers pay correctly and which ones don't.
Hiring a competent international sales agent doesn't come cheap though, as the best ones will charge you up to 35% of the gross receipts made in each territory your film will sell in. The good thing though is that if they make money it means you make money. However it is not always easy to interest a competent sales agent if you are new in the business… so hiring a producer's representative if often the road to go.
What is a film producer's representative?
A producer's representative will be more involved in the production of your movie from its financing aspect all the way to its marketing and distribution. As a filmmaker, you will lose a certain autonomy but remember, competent film producer's representative know what they are doing and if you are new in the business they certainly know what you don't know.
A well respected producers representative has the "ear" of powerful distributors and sales agents and when or if they push your film project, it highly increases the chances of your movie to be made and to be a success. The rule of thumb is simple, the sooner the better! The sooner you partner with a producers representative the better your chances to have your movie made, which means that you should seek a competent producers representative during the beginning of your film's development stage.
Competent film producer representatives don't come cheap but they are cheaper than international sales agents. If you have the money you can hire one for a flat fee (about 15% of your film budget) or if you don't have a dime to your name but have a project interesting enough, on a commission fee in the range of 10% to 20% of the revenue generated by your movie.
These numbers seem high, I know. You have an amazing project and a great script, so why should you spend so much money on people when you are the creator - the one with the creative vision? The answer is simple. Without a distributor your amazing script is only worth the paper it is printed on.
Jose Da Silveira - Thank you so much for visiting my profile. I am a writer, a painter, a movie producer and a professor of management. As a writer, I ...
