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A film distributor is responsible for the
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
of a
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
. The distribution company may be the same with, or different from, the
production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film. The distributor may set the
release date ''Release Date'' is the 12th studio album by the Finnish avant-garde progressive metal band Waltari. The track "Spokebone" is a collaboration between Waltari, Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis, and the Finnish folk group Värttinä. Track listing # "Ge ...
of a film and the method by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing; for example, directly to the public either theatrically or for home viewing (
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
,
video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
,
download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...
,
television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
s through
broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
etc.). A distributor may do this directly, if the distributor owns the theaters or
film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...
networks, or through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors. A limited distributor may deal only with particular products, such as DVDs or Blu-ray, or may act in a particular country or market. The primary distributor will often receive credit in the film's credits,
one sheet In the entertainment industry, a one sheet (or one-sheet) is a single document that summarizes a product for publicity and sales. Cinema A one sheet is a specific size (typically before 1985; after 1985) of film poster advertising. Multiple ...
or other marketing material.


Theatrical distribution

If a distributor is working with a theatrical exhibitor, the distributor secures a written
contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
stipulating the amount of the gross ticket sales the exhibitor will be allowed to retain (usually a percentage of the gross). The distributor collects the amount due,
audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...
s the exhibitor's ticket sales as necessary to ensure the gross reported by the exhibitor is accurate, secures the distributor's share of these proceeds, surrenders the exhibitor's portion to it, and transmits the remainder to the production company (or to any other ntermediary such as a film release agent). The distributor must also ensure that enough film prints are struck to service all contracted exhibitors on the contract-based
opening day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...
, ensure their physical delivery to the theater by the opening day, monitor exhibitors to make sure the film is in fact shown in the particular theatre with the minimum number of seats and show times, and ensure the prints' return to the distributor's office or other storage resource also on the contract-based return date. In practical terms, this includes the physical production of
release print A release print is a copy of a film that is provided to a movie theater for exhibition. Definitions Release prints are not to be confused with other types of prints used in the photochemical post-production process: * Rush prints, or dailies, ...
s and their
shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...
around the world (a process that is being replaced by
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...
in most developed markets) as well as the creation of
poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
s, newspaper and magazine
advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
s,
television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s, trailers, and other types of ads. The distributor is also responsible for ensuring a full line of advertising material is available for each film which it believes will help the exhibitor attract the largest possible audience, create such advertising if it is not provided by the production company, and arrange for the physical delivery of the advertising items selected by the exhibitor at intervals prior to the opening day. Film distributors spend between $3.5 billion and $4.0 billion a year in the United States alone on direct buys of advertising such as TV commercials, billboards, online banner ads, radio commercials and the like. That distributor-spending figure doesn't include additional costs for publicity, film trailers and promotions, which aren't classified as advertising but also market films to audiences. Distributors typically enter into one of the two types of film booking contracts. The most common is the aggregate deal where total box office revenue that a given film generates is split by a pre-determined mutually-agreed percentage between distributor and movie theater. The other method is the sliding scale deal, where the percentage of box office revenue taken by theaters declines each week of a given film's run. The sliding scale actually has two pieces that starts with a minimum amount of money that theater is to keep—often called "the house nut"—after which the sliding scale kicks in for revenue generated above the house nut. However, this sliding scale method is falling out of use. Whatever the method, box office revenue is usually shared roughly 50/50 between film distributors and theaters.


International distribution

If the distributor is handling an imported or
foreign film World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive d ...
, it may also be responsible for securing
dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...
or
subtitling Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
for the film, and securing
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
or other legal or organizational "approval" for the exhibition of the film in the country/territory in which it does business, prior to approaching the exhibitors for booking. Depending on which studio that is distributing the film, the studio will either have offices around the world, by themselves or partnered with another studio, to distribute films in other countries. If a studio decides to partner with a native distributor, upon release both names will appear. The foreign distributor may license the film for a certain amount of time, but the studio will retain the copyright of the film. When a film is produced and distributed by an independent production company and independent distributor (meaning outside the studios), generally an international sales agent handles the licensing of international rights to the film. The international sales agent will find a local distributor in each individual international territory and license the exclusive rights to the film for a certain amount of time but in the same case as the studios described above, the production company will retain the copyright of the film. This means that this distributor in a certain territory has the exclusive right to exploit the film in various media (theatrical, TV, home entertainment, etc.) for a certain amount of time.


Early distribution windows

Although there are now numerous distribution techniques, in the past the studios and networks were slow to change and did not experiment with different distribution processes. Studios believed that new distribution methods would cause their old methods of revenue to be destroyed. With time, the development of new distribution did prove to be beneficial. The studios revenue was gained from myriad distribution windows. These windows created many opportunities in the industry and allowed networks to make a profit and eliminate failure. These new distribution methods benefited audiences that were normally too small to reach and expanded the content of television. With the new age of technology, networks accepted the fact that it was a consumer demand industry and accepted the new models of distribution.Lotz, Amanda. The Television Will Be Revolutionized


Non-theatrical distribution

This term, used mainly in the British film industry, describes the distribution of feature films for screening to a gathered audience, but not in theatres at which individual tickets are sold to members of the public. The defining distinctions between a theatrical and a non-theatrical screening are that the latter has to be to a closed audience in some way, e.g. pupils of a school, members of a social club or passengers on an airline, and that there can be no individual admission charge. Most non-theatrical screening contracts also specify that the screening must not be advertised, except within the group that is eligible to attend (e.g. in a membership organisation's
newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...
or an
in-flight magazine An inflight magazine (or in-flight magazine) is a free magazine distributed via the seats of an airplane, by an airline company, or in an airport lounge. Overview Many airline companies, or a few key content creating companies, produce in-fligh ...
). Non-theatrical distribution includes the
airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...
and
film societies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
. Non-theatrical distribution is generally handled by companies that specialize in this market, of which Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC) and Film bank media are the two largest:
Motion Picture Licensing CompanyFilm bank media
Representing the major Hollywood studios and independent producers. Home video media is sold with a licence that permits viewing in the home only. Until these technologies were widespread, most non-theatrical screenings were on
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserve ...
supplied by the distributor. Today, the most common
business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...
is for a distributor to sell the exhibitor a licence that permits the legal projection of a copy of the film, which the exhibitor buys separately on a home video format. These licences can either be for individual, one-off screenings, or cover an unlimited number of screenings of titles represented by that distributor for a specified time period. The latter are often purchased by
pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
and
students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
s, to enable them to show occasional feature films on a TV in their bars.


Home video distribution

Some distributors only handle home video distribution or some sub-set of home video distribution such as DVD or Blu-ray distribution. The remaining home video rights may be licensed by the producer to other distributors or the distributor may sub-license them to other distributors. If a distributor is going to distribute a movie on a physical format such as DVD, they must arrange for the creation of the artwork for the case and the face of the DVD and arrange with a DVD replicator to create a glass master to press quantities of the DVD. Some movie producers use a process called "DVD-on-demand." In DVD-on-demand, a company will burn a DVD-R (a process called "duplication") when a copy of the DVD is ordered, and then ship it to the customer. A distributor may also maintain contact with wholesalers who sell and ship DVDs to retail outlets as well as online stores, and arrange for them to carry the DVD. The distributor may also place ads in magazines and online and send copies of the DVD to reviewers.


Distribution credits

The primary distribution companies will usually receive some billing for the film. For example, ''Gone With the Wind'' was shown on the
one sheet In the entertainment industry, a one sheet (or one-sheet) is a single document that summarizes a product for publicity and sales. Cinema A one sheet is a specific size (typically before 1985; after 1985) of film poster advertising. Multiple ...
as "A
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
Release". A modern example, ''Jurassic Park'', would be the credit "
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
presents ...". The Universal
production logo A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production company, production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a tel ...
also opened the film's trailer. In some cases, there is split distribution as in the case of ''Titanic'' (1997): "
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
and
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
present ...". Both companies helped to finance the film.


See also

*
Bel Air Circuit The Bel Air Circuit, more recently known as the Bel Air Digital Circuit, is an exclusive movie distribution service provided by the main Hollywood studios, offered to a group of movie executives, actors, as well as other wealthy individuals, in and ...
*
List of film distributors by country This is a list of motion picture distributors, past and present, sorted alphabetically by country. Albania * Constantin Film * United International Pictures Argentina * Star Distribution * Warner Bros. * Sony Pictures * Fox Distribut ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Film Distributor Film and video terminology