Declaration of Independence: The Ten Principles of Hybrid Distribution by Peter Broderick (September 21, 2009)
Peter Broderick, this morning in Manhattan. Photo by indieWIRE
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That whenever any form of distribution becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new distribution most likely to effect their livelihood and happiness. When a long train of abuses and usurpations reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such distribution. - Thomas Jefferson (liberties taken by Peter Broderick) Hybrid distribution is the state-of-the-art model more and more filmmakers are using to succeed. It enables them to have unprecedented access to audiences, to maintain overall control of their distribution, and to receive a significantly larger share of revenues. This article is a sequel to my report, “Welcome to the New World of Distribution,” which was published exactly a year ago in indieWIRE. Since the report appeared, the Old World of Distribution has continued to decline. The vast majority of filmmakers making Old World deals (in which they give all of their distribution rights to one company for up to 25 years) are ending up dissatisfied, including producers and directors who had previously succeeded in the Old World. Many of them have told me that the traditional distribution system is broken and that they are determined to find a new approach. Meanwhile it has been a banner year in the New World. Hybrid distribution has come into its own with such successes as “Valentino: The Last Emperor” and “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” both of which hired service deal companies to handle their theatrical distribution. Working with Abramorama, ANVIL has grossed over $675,000 in U.S. theaters. Through Truly Indie and Vitagraph Films, “Valentino” grossed more than $1,755,000 theatrically. In addition to consulting on “Valentino,” I also consulted on a number of other films that successfully combined theatrical service deals and semi-theatrical runs, including “The Singing Revolution” (Abramorama), “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” (theatrical: Balcony Releasing; semi-theatrical: Film Sprout), “Note by Note” (Argot Pictures) and “Throw Down Your Heart” (Argot Pictures). I coined the term “hybrid distribution” in 2005 to describe the innovative model I had been developing for several years alongside a handful of pioneering independents. Inspired by the example of “Reversal” (which Jimi Petulla sold so lucratively from his website), I helped design the strategy for one of the first hybrid breakthroughs—Mark Neale’s documentary “Faster.” Since then I’ve worked with hundreds of filmmakers to develop and implement hybrid strategies. Each film I’ve consulted on—from features such as “Ballast” and “Good Dick” to documentaries like “King Corn” and “The Future of Food”—has helped me refine the hybrid distribution model. As this model has been used more widely, the meaning of the term “hybrid distribution” has become less precise. When Thom Powers asked me to give a presentation at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival, I took the opportunity to define the core principles of hybrid distribution. My goal was to break the concept into essential components that filmmakers can use to create customized distribution strategies. This article expands on my Toronto presentation. Let’s start with a definition. Hybrid distribution combines direct sales by filmmakers with distribution by third parties (e.g. DVD distributors, TV channels, VOD companies, educational distributors). In the Old World of Distribution, Plan A was to give all your distribution rights to one company and Plan B was self-distribution. In the New World, Plan A is doing your own direct sales while splitting up the other rights; Plan B is making an all-rights deal with one company.
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Peter,
Great article. I’m glad to see someone spelling out some specific ideas for filmmakers to find realistic distribution amongst all the madness going on in the industry these days.
I wrote a little follow up with my own take on things, here: http://thefutureofmovies.com/2009/10/the-future-of-movie-marketing-and-distribution-hybrid-distribution/
-The Future of Movies
Some distributors actually agree with Peter’s overall take; 7th Art was created to support the indie habit. I can see the Hollywood sign from my window, but could not be further from it. How can we find self sufficient ways to keep picking up the kinds of films we like? -
Let’s admit it: chasing the money where you can’t really find much of it (try DVD companies, or of late “new media”) has become a big part of the problem. indiewood is struggling; we see it daily.
As a small- one stop shopping- boutique – we have to multitask; our middle ground is somewhere between “Distribution company’ and DIY- in other words HYBRID.
However, Peter does not highlight the downside of going at it alone; overcorrection into DIY has hurt many filmmakers. So in searching for the right balance, we have established close collaborations with filmmakers; This has been working for us very well for years now.
Udy Epstein
http://www.7thart.com
Thank you Peter.
For true independence to usher in, an independent distribution model has to be developed.
Also, other then their home audience, the current crop of independent film makers fail to nurture audiences in small foreign territories, hence failing to monetize their assets in these small pockets of audiences, which lie in neglect.
I believe a revenue sharing model is the best way to go forward for such territories, where a certain percentage of revenue is committed by the distributor. This permits a larger collection of independent films to be taken abroad, to a wider audience in smaller territories, which otherwise is not possible in the old distribution model owing to the limited and evolving size of the small offshore territory. I believe this is a true hybrid independent distribution model, and gives all stakeholders involved a greater freedom and opportunity to monetize their assets.
This model has been thought of as i hail from India, which is a very small, young and evolving market for foreign language films; and hence is neglected. As such only a handful of Oscar or Cannes certified (they are like vetting monopolies) foreign language films, and big studios produced Hollywood production make it to my country.
I have been trying to establish this idea into a business model in my country, so that a larger number of foreign language films can be bought to the audience of my country. But it still needs a wider acceptance from the independent film maker community.
Shaishav Todi
Great stuff. But unlike JenniOlsonSF above, if you’re quoting the Constitution, it should be a “quote”, IE “endowed by their Creator with…
I guess the Constitution isn’t PC.
Keep up your good work for those out here struggling to get their stories told.
Right on njayanty! Its all about positioning yourself to negotiate for that first dollar gross and instilling those cost control measures on how your P&A gets spent!!!
Thank you for distilling this new model into clearly discernible tenets! I think it is important to point out why the Old Model really hinders the success of indie films, which is a disconnect between traditional marketing methods and indie audiences.
When was the last time you clicked a banner ad, or looked up a movie time in the New York Times, or visited a URL posted all over your favorite New York Subway stations for a new film? As the indie audience is composed of tastemakers and cultural influencers that bring the ‘new and different’ to so-called hip consumers, they are the most targeted audience, and concurrently the most resistant to traditional marketing efforts…but that still doesn’t stop your Old World distributors from pre-buying print ads at bulk rates. And just to provide some context, wrapping one car on the NY Subway costs $200K. That is the budget of most of indie fare getting produced today…so as an indie, how do you make a dent in an over saturated market without spending what the Old World spends? Now paid and earned media dancing together creates the best campaigns, a combination of strategically placed ads lets the audience know a product is at the market, but the earned side (publicity, social networking, buzz, and word of mouth) influence you to pay money for that product.
Cultivating a niche audience is the obvious step, but it is a slow burn, so for those of you who want to have your cake and eat to, it is important to distill what these tenets really prescribe: Negotiate from a position of strength at all times. A marketing plan and a quantifiable audience gives you the ability to make a quantitative argument to any partner scrutinizing your marketing reach, which gives you the leverage you need when convincing anyone that there’s an audience for your film, investors, distributors, and other marketing resources. Where indie film gets buried is when Old World distributors rack up marketing costs through ineffective shotgun marketing approaches before the indie film even finds its audience, which is probably a clearly definable niche, so how do you opt out of the traditional net deal? Bring your own marketing resource to the table! (I recommend adding a brand integration firm to develop strategic marketing partnerships to your distribution team as well).
The greatest barrier of entry for any independent artist is marketing support, so for filmmakers to negotiate from a position of strength at all times requires us to identify ways of supplementing P&A budgets or reducing P&A costs through strategic partnerships so our distribution teams have the ammo they need to leverage the deals Mr. Broderick so eloquently prescribes.
Dear Peter
All you say is correct, even if each film is different, and documentaries do not have a target audience as such. Does it only seem to me also like you are describing what we believe is the international sales job? With you as the “distribution strategist”...
We build those strategies for each title we represent, it is part of our job, next to securing the non-speculative income (thanks Jan! ;-), we are eager to learn all the time about anything new and sexy coming up, and by now we must have checked thoroughly in our Development and Research Department many dozens of models and platforms and initiatives, and found only very, very few that would honor the filmmaker’s work and investment. Today, for example, we read a contract that paid an advance of 500$ for a title, and the material requirements only took 28 pages! You can, of course, also work with revenue share models. That way, you do all the work up front, and never see a penny afterwards.
I truly believe that independent filmmaking deserves better than that. Let’s make sure also films in the niche are professionally made, and shown, around the world!
Esther van Messel
First Hand Films and curated by us also http://www.filmsbazaar.com
Hey Peter—You’re a great guy, always such an amazing champion and resource for filmmakers, and I truly thank you for this… but as long as you’re going ahead and taking liberties with the Constitution you really could go ahead and change the word “Men” to “People.” To reflect your Feminist consciousness. Righto? Thanks!
Infomercial.
Perfect Peter, you’ve done it again. Very good!
We at Films Transit ( documentary sales agent) have been implicating split rights in our foreign sales for decades, always leaving broadcast rights ( the only non-speculative income there is for filmmakers!) out of distribution deals and to keep for the filmmaker. I am delighted that these principles are now finally out in the open as a serious alternative and certainly for the documentary filmmakers out there, likely the only option
Jan Rofekamp
Films Transit International Inc.