Working with Distributors

Even if you do make a deal with a distributor — particularly a commercial distributor — they may be concerned about your impact efforts. It’s likely that they want to reach the largest number of paying audience members they can and could see your impact work as a turn-off to a segment of those potential audience members. They might balk at your desire to increase access to the film by making it available free of charge to select audiences. They may get a little jumpy at the thought of engaging on contentious policy issues because it could anger their corporate leadership, stockholders, or political leadership, or — in the case of state-led or supported distributors — because it could put their funding and sustainability at risk.

According to the Center for Media & Social Impact and Negotiating Social Impact Rights for Documentary Film: A Best Practices Guide , the key is to hold onto your film’s “educational rights,” which can be broadly defined to include community engagement.

Keep the following in mind as well, when you speak with a potential distributor. Determine in advance what you are willing to concede to get them to sign on the dotted line, and what could lead you to get up and walk away from an offer.

Timing

Would your film be able to have a greater impact on the issue you are trying to influence if it was released at a certain time? Will that impact decrease if you release it too early or too late? How do your ideas about timing align with the distributor’s, which may be informed by marketing goals and strategies and the release schedule for other films on their docket?

Free Screenings

Do you want to be able to carve out a certain number of OR a set time frame for free screenings? Do you want to identify a small group of impact-related specific events where you want to be able to offer a free screening? Be ready with these proposals and understand how they could affect awards eligibility and theatrical runs if you do arrange these screenings. Some filmmakers make the decision simply to carve out impact and community screenings from the sale of their film to ensure they will not run into any conflicts midstream.

Messaging

Will you be free to say what you want to say about the issue you are trying to impact? What about your film’s participants; will they be constrained in any way? Will you be expected to keep your distributor in the loop on your media outreach, allow them to take the lead, or get their approval before you speak? Know this from the outset and establish ground rules you can live with — or be ready to walk away.

Online Engagement

Do you have any input on the film’s website? Are you able to include impact messages and calls to action? Will they allow you go it alone and launch your own website over which they have no control? What about what you post about the film on your social media channels? Is there content to which they are going to object? Is it as simple as keeping their branding away from anything they see as “controversial”?

It is entirely possible that the distributor with which you work shares your impact goals and will collaborate to support their achievement. They may — as they should — see that building relationships with organizations, movements, and individual audience members who will champion your film or creating buzz online or in the press will build word of mouth that will be an asset to their sales goals. Nevertheless, as with all negotiations, you should always be prepared by knowing what matters most to you — and knowing when you want to walk away.