licensing is the process by which a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film. In distribution, licensing itself can take place on two levels.
International distribution ensures that films find their way to the 90+ market 'territories' around the world. The major US studios generally have their own distribution offices in all the major territories. By contrast, independent producers have to sell their films to different distributors in each territory. Independent production companies are usually small concerns, sometimes set up for one film and often lacking the necessary knowledge or contacts of each of the territories around the world. Instead of doing this themselves, they might choose to hire a specialist sales agent, whose function is to understand the value of a film in many different markets. The sales agent will then set up stall at the film markets that take place throughout the year.
Then there is 'local' distribution, which involves the distributor acquiring the licence to release and exploit the film in a particular country. The distributor will usually pay the producer a minimum guarantee for the licence. This fee will vary depending on the status and perceived commercial potential of the film, and on the range of rights that the distributor chooses to exploit. A distributor will usually be offered theatrical rights, for showing the film in cinemas; video rights, for video and DVD exploitation; and TV rights, if the distributor is able to sell the film to a broadcaster.
In addition to paying a fee to secure the film, the licence will stipulate that the distributor will also pay royalties to the producer, taken from the profits that the film generates. A local distributor will conventionally share profits equally with the producer for the theatrical leg, pay back higher royalties for broadcast rights, and lower for video/DVD.
Once the licence has been agreed, it is then the distributor's job to launch the film. In the UK, feature films are released initially theatrically (in cinemas). A theatrical opening is seen as the most effective way to create interest in a new film. The big screen is still the optimum setting for a film for both audiences and the filmmakers.
Some months following the theatrical release, a film will be packaged and released on DVD and VHS video, then on various forms of pay television and eventually, two years after opening in cinemas, on free-to-air television. The value of the film built up by its theatrical release reaps dividends throughout its release cycle, influencing the audiences and commercial value it subsequently commands.At every stage, the successful distributor must have an in-depth knowledge of the marketplace - which cinemas, video outlets and broadcasters can best draw an audience for its films - and of the variable marketing costs involved in releasing a film in that territory. The trick is to weigh up the two factors, to invest as much as is needed in promoting the film to draw out the maximum returns.
Distribution
The history of film is usually related through the achievements of producers, directors, writers and performers. Making films, production, has always been perceived as a glamorous pursuit.
Alternatively, our personal understanding and appreciation of film is shaped by our experiences at the cinema. The exhibition of film is a commonplace, shared cultural activity highly visible in every city and town in Britain, constantly feeding the popular memory.
By contrast, distribution, the third part of the film supply chain, is often referred to as 'the invisible art', a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else.
Yet arguably, distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience.
So what is involved in this invisible process? Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company. In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets.
In the independent film sector, vertical integration does not operate so commonly. Producers tend not to have long-term economic links with distributors, who likewise have no formal connections with exhibitors. Here, as the pig-in-the-middle, distribution is necessarily a collaborative process, requiring the materials and rights of the producer and the cooperation of the exhibitor to promote and show the film in the best way possible. In this sector, distribution can be divided into three stages - licensing, marketing and logistics.
Logistics of Distribution
The distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain 'play-dates'. It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across the UK. Logistics represents the phase of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres, of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply. The showing of films in cinemas is a time-pressured activity. Cinemas spend their money publicising film play-dates and times in local papers or through published programmes. There's an imperative for the distributor to deliver the film on time.
For UK theatrical exhibition, the distributor typically handles 35mm film prints. Each print can cost around £1,000 - or twice that if subtitled - so a degree of care is required of everyone involved in handling the print. In the UK, prints are generally broken down for ease of handling into smaller reels, each lasting around 18-20 mins when run through a projector at 24 frames per second. So a feature print, in its physical form, will usually be 5 or 6 reels, stored and supplied in a single hard case, weighing in at 20-25kgs. Prints are hired by the exhibitor for the duration of their play-dates, and therefore each print is made for repeat use. It's easy to see from this that, during the course of even a short theatrical release period, any single print needs to be moved many times from the main print warehouse, onto a delivery van, to the cinema, onto an assembly bench, through the projector and then back through the process and onto the next cinema.
35mm theatrical prints invariably suffer cumulative damage as they pass through different projectors, and the hands of various projectionists. There are also overheads incurred by the distributor for the storage of prints at the UK's central print warehouse in West London. For these reasons, each theatrical print has a finite lifespan.
Distributor will invest in sufficient prints to provide optimum coverage through the first period of theatrical release, usually lasting up to 6 months. From this point on, many of the now used release prints will be destroyed, leaving only a small number to be used for second-run and repertory theatrical bookings through the remainder of the film's licenced period.
Towards the end of 2005, the UK distribution and exhibition sectors were starting to move towards digital distribution and exhibition. For exhibitors, digital projection, especially when married to the increasing use digital formats in production, can now replicate - if not surpass - the image quality of conventional 35mm cinema presentation. And, of course, digital sound systems have been used in cinemas for some time.
In distribution terms, the advantages of digital technology are even clearer, though perhaps longer term. Digital technology is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light alternative to the tried and trusted, but unwieldy model of 35mm print distribution described above. It will, eventually, be cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to cinemas across the UK, than to transport 20-25kg tins of film in the back of a van.
Digital distribution and exhibition on a large scale has started to appear in certain parts of the world, notably China and Brazil, where conventional logistics cannot, for one reason or another, efficiently bring together supply and demand.
In the UK, digital technology has been embraced by the non-theatrical sector, in film societies and schools, where the use of DVD and mid-range digital projection has replaced 16mm.
The force of this change, coupled with the new capacity of technology to replicate 35mm imaging, has led the UK Film Council to establish a digital distribution and exhibition programme for the theatrical sector at the end of 2005. Entitled the Digital Screen Network (DSN), it will eventually support new facilities in 211 screens across the country (out of a total of just over 3,300 screens in the UK), and is seen as a small but important step change towards full digital cinema.
The DSN will initially work with files transferred from a high definition digital master (either HDD5, or HD Cam). The compressed and encrypted files will be sent directly to cinemas to be downloaded, de-encrypted (unlocked) and opened as files for screening with digital projection equipment.
In principle, digital distribution will, in time, change the paradigm of 35mm print logistics. It will be possible for the distributor to send feature film files electronically, via broadband networks, thus eliminating dependence on transportation.
There is little doubt that the advent of digital distribution has the potential radically to alter the modus operandi of distributors around the world. The comparatively low cost of film copies and additional logistical effectiveness of digital distribution provide the distributor with greater flexibility. It will be less expensive in the coming years to offer a wide theatrical opening with many copies, and also conversely, to screen a film for just one performance at any cinema.
In theory at least, it will be possible for both distributors and exhibitors to respond more precisely to audience demand.
All this suggests that in the future, more titles, both mainstream and specialised, will receive wide theatrical openings, and that this broadening of access at the point of release will dramatically reduce the overall theatrical period from 3-6 months to perhaps 1-3 months. Thereafter, films will enter into a second-run and repertory programming market aided by lower costs.
The shortened first-run period will in turn bring forward the distributor's release of the DVD. And there's the rub. The adoption of digital technologies offers greater opportunities for distributors to create joined-up campaigns for theatrical and DVD releases, in which, increasingly, the theatrical opening is used as a way of providing a loss-leading marketing platform for the highly lucrative DVD leg.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution2.html
Showing posts with label Distribution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Distribution. Show all posts
Thursday, 7 March 2013
New technology in production
• To print an 80-minute feature film on 35mm can cost US$1,500 to $2,500 and has limited usage.
• In contrast, at the maximum 250 megabit-per-second data rate (as defined by DCI for digital cinema), a feature-length movie can be stored on a 300gb hard drive for a minuscule fraction of the cost.
• Hard drives can be returned to distributors for reuse. The industry could save billions of dollars.
• The film industry has been dominated by a small number of distributors for many years due to a high barrier of entry for new competition.
• This is caused by high costs and a lack of access to well-established production and distribution networks.
• By replacing film prints with hard disks the barrier to entry is significantly reduced, opening the market to much stiffer competition.
The Good
• Greater protection for content
• The possibility of greater protection against piracy.
– With traditional film prints, distributors typically stagger the film's release in various markets, shipping the film prints around the globe. In the subsequent markets, pirated copies of a film may be available before the movie is released in that market.
– A simultaneous worldwide release would mitigate this problem to some degree. Simultaneous worldwide releases on film have been used on The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, amongst others.
– With digital distribution, a simultaneous worldwide release would not cost significantly more than a staggered release.
3D
• 3D films cannot be shown on 35mm projectors.
• Therefore bigger distribution companies are supporting the move to digital in the fact that they can showcase 3D films which cost more to make/edit – creating a USP.
• How can smaller British companies take advantage?
Costs
• Costs for converting theaters to digital are high: up to $150,000 per screen or more.
• Theaters have been reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with film distributors.
• This means a move to the Virtual Print License Fee
New Information
• As competition increases, market forces reduce an industry's profit margins and decrease the market share of individual companies.
• The desire to retain market share is one reason established distributors are looking to other ways of digital cinema rollout.
What is the VPF (Virtual Print Fee) Model?
• The big question over digital cinema is who is going to pay for it? One proposed solution is what is known as the Virtual Print Fee model – which involves both exhibitors and distributors contributing towards the cost of the equipment.
• The way it works is:
– A third party pays up front for the digital equipment.
– Distributors and exhibitors pay over time to recoup the cost.
– Exhibitors sign up to agreed service & maintenance commitments, as well as paying a ‘usage fee’ to cover cost of lease.
– Distributors save money every time a digital (rather than 35mm) print is shipped, therefore;
– Every time a digital print is shipped, distributors pay a Virtual Print Fee towards recoupment of equipment. Approximately 80% of costs will be paid for by Hollywood studios.
– When cost is recouped, the cinema will own the equipment.
Also …
• A theater can purchase a film projector for US$50,000 and expect an average life of 30–40 years
• A digital cinema playback system including server/media block/and projector can cost 3–4 times as much, and is at higher risk for component failures and technological obsolescence.
• Average economic lifetimes of digital systems can be only 5 years with some units lasting until about 10 years before they are replaced.
Effects of Digital
• As a result the net cost of film production increases and profit margins decrease for all distributors.
• This works to the advantage of entrenched distributors by making it more difficult for new distributors to gain investors, raise enough capital to enter the market, and gain market share.
Digital Distribution
• Prior to the VPF model the digital cinema rollout was stalled (as can be seen by major equipment purchases and future commitments to new equipment during this time).
• Exhibitors acknowledged that they would not purchase equipment to replace projectors since the savings would be seen not by themselves but by distribution companies.
• Given that digital projectors make low volume distribution at last an economic possibility it is the studios' support of the VPF model that has accelerated the introduction of competition, both in terms of alternative distributors and also alternative content including cinematic series.
In the UK
• In February 2005, Arts Alliance Media was selected to roll out the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN), a $20M contract to install and operate Europe’s largest 2K digital cinema network. By March 2007, 230 of the 241 screens had been installed on schedule, with the remaining 11 to be installed later in 2007 when cinemas have completed building works or construction.
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Rise of Digital
As far as the major studios and distributors are concerned, digital technology offers great potential to increase profits and dangers in equal measure. Digital distribution will certainly transform the film industry more than any previous technological change since sound. Once it becomes the norm to download film via broadband, the potential for a new form of ‘blanket distribution' is obvious—not only do you no longer need multiple prints, you can also bypass the cinemas (although the big screen offers a separate experience that is likely to remain attractive).
Digital film has the advantage of offering identical versions of the film to each viewer, and this will without doubt save billions of pounds at the distribution phase. Despite the 'hype' over piracy and the digital enabling of this illegal activity, industry commentators believe that one advantage of digital distribution will be control and security, as most piracy is the result of a cinema-goer with a hidden camera distributing a poor quality version of a film to parts of the world where it has not yet been released (because the prints are currently somewhere else). Simultaneous global distribution via the internet will put an end to this 'time gap' and thus its exploitation by pirates. One issue for debate is about the quality of digital movies. Whereas some film makers and critics argue that the 'binary reduction' of images in the digital compression process reduces the complexity of image and light, it appears that just as music in MP3 comes without the parts that the human ear cannot hear, so digital films remove the degrees of texture that most viewers wouldn't notice anyway.
Digital film has the advantage of offering identical versions of the film to each viewer, and this will without doubt save billions of pounds at the distribution phase. Despite the 'hype' over piracy and the digital enabling of this illegal activity, industry commentators believe that one advantage of digital distribution will be control and security, as most piracy is the result of a cinema-goer with a hidden camera distributing a poor quality version of a film to parts of the world where it has not yet been released (because the prints are currently somewhere else). Simultaneous global distribution via the internet will put an end to this 'time gap' and thus its exploitation by pirates. One issue for debate is about the quality of digital movies. Whereas some film makers and critics argue that the 'binary reduction' of images in the digital compression process reduces the complexity of image and light, it appears that just as music in MP3 comes without the parts that the human ear cannot hear, so digital films remove the degrees of texture that most viewers wouldn't notice anyway.
Distribution
Distribution
A distributor can help market and generate sales for your film.
What is a Distributor?
In terms of shorts, a distributor is an individual or organisation who will represent your film at festivals and markets around the world and who will attempt to sell it to television (including terrestrial, cable and satellite), airlines and other companies that show short films. The major short film distributors in the UK are (in alphabetical order): Dazzle, Futureshorts, Network Ireland TV and Shorts International.
In terms of features, a distributor is generally an organisation who handles the theatrical release of a film in a particular country as well as the marketing and circulation of films for home viewing (DVD, Video-On-Demand, Download, Television etc). Often feature films have different distributors representing them in different territories and different distributors handling the home-viewing circulation. Independent film distribution in the UK is generally managed by indie distributors such as Metrodome, Optimum Releasing and Momentum.
Distributors will source new films to represent in their distribution catalogue at film festivals and markets around the world such as Cannes, Rotterdam, Berlinale, AFM and Sundance festivals (features) and Clermont-Ferrand, Tampere, Encounters and Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival (shorts).
Although they may be interested in unsolicited submissions or work in progress, the majority of films that distributors acquire, are completed films sourced at film festivals and related markets. Having said that if your film hasn't been picked up on the festival circuit it is worth making contact with distribution companies and forwarding a DVD copy of your short film or emailing a link to your film online to see if they are interested and if so what they offer you in terms of a deal.
For a film to be distributable, you will need to make sure you have all the right assets in place.
As well as assets, distributors will require a clear paper chain - clear contracts and license deals so that they know that you are legally allowed to sell all the different elements of your film on to a third party.
Distribution Deals
It is up to you to negotiate the rights a distributor will acquire in your film i.e. you may want to hold back distribution rights in certain territories. If you conclude a deal it should be formalised in a written distribution agreement. Some clauses to look out for are:
Territory: this specifies the countries in which the film can be distributed by the distributor.
Term: this sets out the period of time the distributor will hold distribution rights in the film.
Rights granted: the agreement should distinguish between the media rights granted to the distributor (theatrical, video and DVD, television rights etc.) and those media rights which are reserved to the producer e.g. radio rights. You should determine whether the rights granted are exclusive or non-exclusive. If you agree to exclusive rights, it will stop you allowing others to show your film within the specified media/territory/term.
Producer's warranties and representations: the producer will be asked to provide assurances that there is no infringement of copyright.
Gross receipts: this means all monies actually received by the distributor from the exploitation of the film before any deductions have been made.
Net proceeds: this is the amount payable to the producer from the proceeds derived from the exploitation of the film after costs incurred by the distributor have been deducted. Costs can include distributor fees, commission and expenses.
Expense caps: there should be expense caps in order to prevent the distributor claiming unreasonable amounts, which would reduce the amount left for the producer to recoup.
Distributor's obligations: Distributors should use their best efforts to realise gross receipts from marketing and exploitation of the film.
Accounting: The distributor should be under obligations to maintain accurate and true records of sales and expenditure and the producer should have the right to receive regular accounting statements on the film.
Termination: You should pay special attention to the circumstances in which you can terminate the relationship with the distributor. If your distribution agreement is for a long period of time and a better deal comes along during that period, the wording of such a clause will often determine as to whether you can end the existing agreement.
One of the best ways to be clear on what is a good deal is to talk to other short filmmakers about their experiences. If you are still not sure, you can get advice from your regional screen agency.
The best policy is not to sign any agreement that you don't fully understand until you are clear about all of the terms. There are plenty of people who can offer advice to help you along the way towards the successful distribution of your short film.
Distributors generally offer a percentage royalties on any sales made, which should be net after any marketing, production and promotional costs the distributor incurs from the film's release. They almost always want exclusive rights to sell the film in the selected territories, so that they effectively manage the film's commercial life within that territory. One film may have several distributors, specific to each territory, so that a local marketing campaign and versioning is ensured. The deal also could include an advance fee on any sales the distributor makes, which is then recouped later on future sales.
Sales Agents
More rarely, both short and feature films can benefit from the skills of a Sales Agent, who works on selling a smaller range of films on behalf of the film's rights holder / producer. Agents are responsible for setting up the deals, but do not necessarily deal with all the contracts paperwork, taking a percentage fee from any sales that arise from their work. They tend to take slightly lower fees than distributors as they do not have such large overheads and provide no guarantees of sales. However you may need to pay them a retainer until they achieve a sale. They can also be responsible for setting up deals with film distributors per territory. Talent Agents can also act as Sales Agents.
In the case of short films, sales agents often do the same role as distributors.
Sales & Income
It is very rare to make a profit on selling a short film. It is not a good idea to overspend on budget with the hope that you will get it back afterwards from selling the film. You probably won't. Short film distributors tend to sell films in packages to make their profit margins sustainable, with a slant on high production values, romance /comedy / drama genres and avoidance of overly ‘adult' themes. However, if you are interested in getting your short on TV across the world, on seatback airplane TVs, and on iTunes, distributors have the right contacts and will do the heavy, complicated paperwork it takes to achieve this.
TV license fees tend to pay per minute, ranging from 50EURO to 250EURO per minute. Clearly, this means longer films make more money, but most broadcasters will not license a film that is over 15 minutes long. More active buyers will attend film festivals in order to source new films for their channel, so it is possible, if bureaucratic, to sell shorts directly to TV channels.
Withholding Tax on Licensed Films
It is worth noting that countries outside of the UK, including the EU member states and the USA, can legally withhold up to 40% of the due license fee as withholding tax, until you are able to provide the Licensee with a Certificate of Residency from your local tax office, where your company is registered. If you do not have a registered company, you will not be able to avoid the tax. The certificate changes annually and is needed in order to prove that your main business takes place in the UK, not from an overseas office. If you have a distributor, they will be able to deal with this for you, as they will have submitted annual Certificates of Residency to each international Licensee / Broadcaster.
In the USA you will also need to register for an UIN (Unique Identification Number) and fill out the W1/BEN form from the Inland Revenue in the USA to avoid additional taxation.
A distributor can help market and generate sales for your film.
What is a Distributor?
In terms of shorts, a distributor is an individual or organisation who will represent your film at festivals and markets around the world and who will attempt to sell it to television (including terrestrial, cable and satellite), airlines and other companies that show short films. The major short film distributors in the UK are (in alphabetical order): Dazzle, Futureshorts, Network Ireland TV and Shorts International.
In terms of features, a distributor is generally an organisation who handles the theatrical release of a film in a particular country as well as the marketing and circulation of films for home viewing (DVD, Video-On-Demand, Download, Television etc). Often feature films have different distributors representing them in different territories and different distributors handling the home-viewing circulation. Independent film distribution in the UK is generally managed by indie distributors such as Metrodome, Optimum Releasing and Momentum.
Distributors will source new films to represent in their distribution catalogue at film festivals and markets around the world such as Cannes, Rotterdam, Berlinale, AFM and Sundance festivals (features) and Clermont-Ferrand, Tampere, Encounters and Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival (shorts).
Although they may be interested in unsolicited submissions or work in progress, the majority of films that distributors acquire, are completed films sourced at film festivals and related markets. Having said that if your film hasn't been picked up on the festival circuit it is worth making contact with distribution companies and forwarding a DVD copy of your short film or emailing a link to your film online to see if they are interested and if so what they offer you in terms of a deal.
For a film to be distributable, you will need to make sure you have all the right assets in place.
As well as assets, distributors will require a clear paper chain - clear contracts and license deals so that they know that you are legally allowed to sell all the different elements of your film on to a third party.
Distribution Deals
It is up to you to negotiate the rights a distributor will acquire in your film i.e. you may want to hold back distribution rights in certain territories. If you conclude a deal it should be formalised in a written distribution agreement. Some clauses to look out for are:
Territory: this specifies the countries in which the film can be distributed by the distributor.
Term: this sets out the period of time the distributor will hold distribution rights in the film.
Rights granted: the agreement should distinguish between the media rights granted to the distributor (theatrical, video and DVD, television rights etc.) and those media rights which are reserved to the producer e.g. radio rights. You should determine whether the rights granted are exclusive or non-exclusive. If you agree to exclusive rights, it will stop you allowing others to show your film within the specified media/territory/term.
Producer's warranties and representations: the producer will be asked to provide assurances that there is no infringement of copyright.
Gross receipts: this means all monies actually received by the distributor from the exploitation of the film before any deductions have been made.
Net proceeds: this is the amount payable to the producer from the proceeds derived from the exploitation of the film after costs incurred by the distributor have been deducted. Costs can include distributor fees, commission and expenses.
Expense caps: there should be expense caps in order to prevent the distributor claiming unreasonable amounts, which would reduce the amount left for the producer to recoup.
Distributor's obligations: Distributors should use their best efforts to realise gross receipts from marketing and exploitation of the film.
Accounting: The distributor should be under obligations to maintain accurate and true records of sales and expenditure and the producer should have the right to receive regular accounting statements on the film.
Termination: You should pay special attention to the circumstances in which you can terminate the relationship with the distributor. If your distribution agreement is for a long period of time and a better deal comes along during that period, the wording of such a clause will often determine as to whether you can end the existing agreement.
One of the best ways to be clear on what is a good deal is to talk to other short filmmakers about their experiences. If you are still not sure, you can get advice from your regional screen agency.
The best policy is not to sign any agreement that you don't fully understand until you are clear about all of the terms. There are plenty of people who can offer advice to help you along the way towards the successful distribution of your short film.
Distributors generally offer a percentage royalties on any sales made, which should be net after any marketing, production and promotional costs the distributor incurs from the film's release. They almost always want exclusive rights to sell the film in the selected territories, so that they effectively manage the film's commercial life within that territory. One film may have several distributors, specific to each territory, so that a local marketing campaign and versioning is ensured. The deal also could include an advance fee on any sales the distributor makes, which is then recouped later on future sales.
Sales Agents
More rarely, both short and feature films can benefit from the skills of a Sales Agent, who works on selling a smaller range of films on behalf of the film's rights holder / producer. Agents are responsible for setting up the deals, but do not necessarily deal with all the contracts paperwork, taking a percentage fee from any sales that arise from their work. They tend to take slightly lower fees than distributors as they do not have such large overheads and provide no guarantees of sales. However you may need to pay them a retainer until they achieve a sale. They can also be responsible for setting up deals with film distributors per territory. Talent Agents can also act as Sales Agents.
In the case of short films, sales agents often do the same role as distributors.
Sales & Income
It is very rare to make a profit on selling a short film. It is not a good idea to overspend on budget with the hope that you will get it back afterwards from selling the film. You probably won't. Short film distributors tend to sell films in packages to make their profit margins sustainable, with a slant on high production values, romance /comedy / drama genres and avoidance of overly ‘adult' themes. However, if you are interested in getting your short on TV across the world, on seatback airplane TVs, and on iTunes, distributors have the right contacts and will do the heavy, complicated paperwork it takes to achieve this.
TV license fees tend to pay per minute, ranging from 50EURO to 250EURO per minute. Clearly, this means longer films make more money, but most broadcasters will not license a film that is over 15 minutes long. More active buyers will attend film festivals in order to source new films for their channel, so it is possible, if bureaucratic, to sell shorts directly to TV channels.
Withholding Tax on Licensed Films
It is worth noting that countries outside of the UK, including the EU member states and the USA, can legally withhold up to 40% of the due license fee as withholding tax, until you are able to provide the Licensee with a Certificate of Residency from your local tax office, where your company is registered. If you do not have a registered company, you will not be able to avoid the tax. The certificate changes annually and is needed in order to prove that your main business takes place in the UK, not from an overseas office. If you have a distributor, they will be able to deal with this for you, as they will have submitted annual Certificates of Residency to each international Licensee / Broadcaster.
In the USA you will also need to register for an UIN (Unique Identification Number) and fill out the W1/BEN form from the Inland Revenue in the USA to avoid additional taxation.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Seven Areas - Possible Points
1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice.
- Move to large media conglomerates makes it more difficult for a smaller company to gain a foothold
- Smaller companies often are bought out by bigger companies – the conglomerate has subsidiary companies to help market their product
- Emergence of horizontal integration – companies having interest in cross-media platforms
- Vertical integration and concentration of media ownership means that smaller productions cannot avoid conglomerates if they want consumption to occur.
- Smaller companies do not have vertical integration and so need to seek others means e.g. – independent companies, television companies, government bodies, co-production agreements
- American companies can create a conflict of interest with a British company – companies may need to use synergy – are any products truly “independent”?
- Lack of ownership/control over social media makes it difficult to control success of media products
- Move to more ‘cult’ products and niche market mean that those companies are having success
- Exhibition ownership means that film releases need to be negotiated with – certain times of the year make it difficult for certain scenes
2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing.
- Channel 4’s ownership of different media platform-based companies make it easier to produce, distribute and market films/productions.
- Issues with synergy and needing to get other companies involved
- The impact of increased media availability to consumers means that companies have to diversify their product (e.g. film4 channeling their production on Film4 on demand)
- The target audience’s own preferences of marketing channels and consumption channels
- Issue of piracy and ease of copying.
- Cross-media convergence makes it easier to start marketing earlier.
- Distribution now happens across many platforms and styles which means more potential viewers but also means more cost.
3. The technologies that have been produced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange.
- New technology increases the availability of the product on different platforms for greater ways of consumption
- Allow for essentially four releases of the same product (cinema, DVD, Blu-ray and streaming)
- In principle it is cheaper – more commercially available products and different consumption products makes the cost of making media products cheaper (e.g. warp films)
- In production there is a variety of products now to make filming easier and better quality – the influx of HD cameras make professional looking shots for a cheaper price and the SI-2K camera allows for more authentic filming on location instead of studio-based (film4 does social realism well), equally the availability of editing device such as the ipad and available software such as adobe premiere and final cut have made editing on the go far easier and made marketing more commercially available as “sneak peeks” can be released in advance.
- In distribution, the majority of films are made in digital which makes the distribution of many products far easier as a digital copy can be made instead of a reel – easier for global release, easier to encrypt the data.
- Conversion of digital screens
4. The significance of the proliferation of hardware and content for institutions and audiences.
- The improvements in technology have meant as less clear audience consumption rate – for every box office ticket counted, it is harder to see where the other copies are being consumed.
- The impact of having the same product available on several different platforms means easier consumption but less easier to judge the amount of viewers.
- Cinema still fronts the majority of new technology e.g. 3D films and markets itself as a ‘viewing experience’ rather than just watching a film. Equally independent cinema are finding other ways of showing media products such as opera, football and theatre.
- People expect to have more of a relationship with their films across media platforms such as trailers, youtube extras, interviews etc – more must now be spent on marketing – Dyer’s star theory – audience want to know their actors
- Portable devices now means media consumption can happen anywhere to anyone – difficult to judge
- Consumers can do have more control of what, when and how they consume their media – which means producers have to work harder to gain audiences and consumption
- Production costs in film budgets are now smaller than distribution/marketing costs as content is prolific but the devices of viewing are just as prolific
- Films are now being made in different style for different genres and different audiences e.g. social realism vs fantastical special effects, realistic animation vs cgi vs hand-drawn animation – long tail theory
5. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences.
- The availability of internet anywhere can now make the making , distribution and maketing of film immediately visible to the consuming audience – facebook, twitter, footage, youtube, trailers etc.
- Companies taking advantage of their other interests to exploit their other products (e.g. film4 and c4 tv shows/films cross pollination)
- The importance of online work (streaming, marketing, appeal to audience through email/social network)
- The ability of new technological device to perform multiple tasks which make the making of media products faster, more accessible and
- These devices also make it easier to update audiences on the progress of the film and generate more hyper and appeal.
6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically British) by international or global institutions
- A more diversified audience now means more diversified films – look at the different markets film4 goes for.
- British films often have difficulty in American markets due to content or approach
- Now more of a ‘global’ market
- Dominance of American companies means it is difficult to be independent – relying on independent cinemas to show their product restricts their product to the bigger, student-oriented cities e.g. London, Cambridge etc
- British companies often need synergy to market their product beyond a local audience
- Proliferation of different films for different consumers – long-tail theory – aiming wholly at a niche audience is often more beneficial for a smaller, British company.
- Britain shares language with America – makes it easier for cross pollination, equally Britain and India share cultural apsects
Certain times of the year for showing certain products
- Move to large media conglomerates makes it more difficult for a smaller company to gain a foothold
- Smaller companies often are bought out by bigger companies – the conglomerate has subsidiary companies to help market their product
- Emergence of horizontal integration – companies having interest in cross-media platforms
- Vertical integration and concentration of media ownership means that smaller productions cannot avoid conglomerates if they want consumption to occur.
- Smaller companies do not have vertical integration and so need to seek others means e.g. – independent companies, television companies, government bodies, co-production agreements
- American companies can create a conflict of interest with a British company – companies may need to use synergy – are any products truly “independent”?
- Lack of ownership/control over social media makes it difficult to control success of media products
- Move to more ‘cult’ products and niche market mean that those companies are having success
- Exhibition ownership means that film releases need to be negotiated with – certain times of the year make it difficult for certain scenes
2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing.
- Channel 4’s ownership of different media platform-based companies make it easier to produce, distribute and market films/productions.
- Issues with synergy and needing to get other companies involved
- The impact of increased media availability to consumers means that companies have to diversify their product (e.g. film4 channeling their production on Film4 on demand)
- The target audience’s own preferences of marketing channels and consumption channels
- Issue of piracy and ease of copying.
- Cross-media convergence makes it easier to start marketing earlier.
- Distribution now happens across many platforms and styles which means more potential viewers but also means more cost.
3. The technologies that have been produced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange.
- New technology increases the availability of the product on different platforms for greater ways of consumption
- Allow for essentially four releases of the same product (cinema, DVD, Blu-ray and streaming)
- In principle it is cheaper – more commercially available products and different consumption products makes the cost of making media products cheaper (e.g. warp films)
- In production there is a variety of products now to make filming easier and better quality – the influx of HD cameras make professional looking shots for a cheaper price and the SI-2K camera allows for more authentic filming on location instead of studio-based (film4 does social realism well), equally the availability of editing device such as the ipad and available software such as adobe premiere and final cut have made editing on the go far easier and made marketing more commercially available as “sneak peeks” can be released in advance.
- In distribution, the majority of films are made in digital which makes the distribution of many products far easier as a digital copy can be made instead of a reel – easier for global release, easier to encrypt the data.
- Conversion of digital screens
4. The significance of the proliferation of hardware and content for institutions and audiences.
- The improvements in technology have meant as less clear audience consumption rate – for every box office ticket counted, it is harder to see where the other copies are being consumed.
- The impact of having the same product available on several different platforms means easier consumption but less easier to judge the amount of viewers.
- Cinema still fronts the majority of new technology e.g. 3D films and markets itself as a ‘viewing experience’ rather than just watching a film. Equally independent cinema are finding other ways of showing media products such as opera, football and theatre.
- People expect to have more of a relationship with their films across media platforms such as trailers, youtube extras, interviews etc – more must now be spent on marketing – Dyer’s star theory – audience want to know their actors
- Portable devices now means media consumption can happen anywhere to anyone – difficult to judge
- Consumers can do have more control of what, when and how they consume their media – which means producers have to work harder to gain audiences and consumption
- Production costs in film budgets are now smaller than distribution/marketing costs as content is prolific but the devices of viewing are just as prolific
- Films are now being made in different style for different genres and different audiences e.g. social realism vs fantastical special effects, realistic animation vs cgi vs hand-drawn animation – long tail theory
5. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences.
- The availability of internet anywhere can now make the making , distribution and maketing of film immediately visible to the consuming audience – facebook, twitter, footage, youtube, trailers etc.
- Companies taking advantage of their other interests to exploit their other products (e.g. film4 and c4 tv shows/films cross pollination)
- The importance of online work (streaming, marketing, appeal to audience through email/social network)
- The ability of new technological device to perform multiple tasks which make the making of media products faster, more accessible and
- These devices also make it easier to update audiences on the progress of the film and generate more hyper and appeal.
6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically British) by international or global institutions
- A more diversified audience now means more diversified films – look at the different markets film4 goes for.
- British films often have difficulty in American markets due to content or approach
- Now more of a ‘global’ market
- Dominance of American companies means it is difficult to be independent – relying on independent cinemas to show their product restricts their product to the bigger, student-oriented cities e.g. London, Cambridge etc
- British companies often need synergy to market their product beyond a local audience
- Proliferation of different films for different consumers – long-tail theory – aiming wholly at a niche audience is often more beneficial for a smaller, British company.
- Britain shares language with America – makes it easier for cross pollination, equally Britain and India share cultural apsects
Certain times of the year for showing certain products
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Film Distribution
Logistics of Distribution
The distributor will enter into an agreement with the cinema to screen the film on certain 'play-dates'. It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across the UK. Logistics represents the phase of distribution at its most basic - supplying and circulating copies of the film to theatres, of tapes and DVDs to shops and video rental stores, and managing the effectiveness of the supply. The showing of films in cinemas is a time-pressured activity. Cinemas spend their money publicising film play-dates and times in local papers or through published programmes. There's an imperative for the distributor to deliver the film on time.
For UK theatrical exhibition, the distributor typically handles 35mm film prints. Each print can cost around £1,000 - or twice that if subtitled - so a degree of care is required of everyone involved in handling the print. In the UK, prints are generally broken down for ease of handling into smaller reels, each lasting around 18-20 mins when run through a projector at 24 frames per second. So a feature print, in its physical form, will usually be 5 or 6 reels, stored and supplied in a single hard case, weighing in at 20-25kgs. Prints are hired by the exhibitor for the duration of their play-dates, and therefore each print is made for repeat use. It's easy to see from this that, during the course of even a short theatrical release period, any single print needs to be moved many times from the main print warehouse, onto a delivery van, to the cinema, onto an assembly bench, through the projector and then back through the process and onto the next cinema.
35mm theatrical prints invariably suffer cumulative damage as they pass through different projectors, and the hands of various projectionists. There are also overheads incurred by the distributor for the storage of prints at the UK's central print warehouse in West London. For these reasons, each theatrical print has a finite lifespan. Distributor will invest in sufficient prints to provide optimum coverage through the first period of theatrical release, usually lasting up to 6 months. From this point on, many of the now used release prints will be destroyed, leaving only a small number to be used for second-run and repertory theatrical bookings through the remainder of the film's licenced period.
Towards the end of 2005, the UK distribution and exhibition sectors were starting to move towards digital distribution and exhibition. For exhibitors, digital projection, especially when married to the increasing use digital formats in production, can now replicate - if not surpass - the image quality of conventional 35mm cinema presentation. And, of course, digital sound systems have been used in cinemas for some time.
In distribution terms, the advantages of digital technology are even clearer, though perhaps longer term. Digital technology is seen to offer a more cost effective and logistics-light alternative to the tried and trusted, but unwieldy model of 35mm print distribution described above. It will, eventually, be cheaper and much less stressful to send films as computer files to cinemas across the UK, than to transport 20-25kg tins of film in the back of a van.
Digital distribution and exhibition on a large scale has started to appear in certain parts of the world, notably China and Brazil, where conventional logistics cannot, for one reason or another, efficiently bring together supply and demand. In the UK, digital technology has been embraced by the non-theatrical sector, in film societies and schools, where the use of DVD and mid-range digital projection has replaced 16mm.
The force of this change, coupled with the new capacity of technology to replicate 35mm imaging, has led the UK Film Council to establish a digital distribution and exhibition programme for the theatrical sector at the end of 2005. Entitled the Digital Screen Network (DSN), it will eventually support new facilities in 211 screens across the country (out of a total of just over 3,300 screens in the UK), and is seen as a small but important step change towards full digital cinema.
The DSN will initially work with files transferred from a high definition digital master (either HDD5, or HD Cam). The compressed and encrypted files will be sent directly to cinemas to be downloaded, de-encrypted (unlocked) and opened as files for screening with digital projection equipment. In principle, digital distribution will, in time, change the paradigm of 35mm print logistics. It will be possible for the distributor to send feature film files electronically, via broadband networks, thus eliminating dependence on transportation.
There is little doubt that the advent of digital distribution has the potential radically to alter the modus operandi of distributors around the world. The comparatively low cost of film copies and additional logistical effectiveness of digital distribution provide the distributor with greater flexibility. It will be less expensive in the coming years to offer a wide theatrical opening with many copies, and also conversely, to screen a film for just one performance at any cinema. In theory at least, it will be possible for both distributors and exhibitors to respond more precisely to audience demand.
All this suggests that in the future, more titles, both mainstream and specialised, will receive wide theatrical openings, and that this broadening of access at the point of release will dramatically reduce the overall theatrical period from 3-6 months to perhaps 1-3 months. Thereafter, films will enter into a second-run and repertory programming market aided by lower costs.
The shortened first-run period will in turn bring forward the distributor's release of the DVD. And there's the rub. The adoption of digital technologies offers greater opportunities for distributors to create joined-up campaigns for theatrical and DVD releases, in which, increasingly, the theatrical opening is used as a way of providing a loss-leading marketing platform for the highly lucrative DVD leg.
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