A World of Insight into Distribution
Company: Worldwide Film Entertainment
Interviewee: Richard DeLong, SVP Acquisitions and Marketing
Recently, Richard DeLong of Worldwide Film Entertainment took some time to sit down for a question an answer session aimed at bringing insight to filmmakers and how to approach the task of distribution. DeLong, the Senior Vice President for Acquisitions and Marketing for Worldwide Film Entertainment, has been working within the industry and with company founder, Barbara Mudge, for more than 30 years.
“We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs in the market place,” notes DeLong on his 12 years with the company.
Filmmakers know how to get their movies made, but what happens next always seems to be the great industry mystery – after all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Hopefully, this article and Richard Delong can help shed some light on how to approach distribution as a filmmaker, preparing while in development and planning once the project is complete.
We started off by asking Mr. DeLong some of the more common questions filmmakers have. It seems as though filmmakers are always given the advice to start off by making a horror movie. Horror movies make money, they are told, or, they’re easier to do on a low budget.
SoCal: We wanted to address the issue of genre with DeLong, specifically, what type of genres (if any) does Worldwide Film Entertainment prefer?
DeLong: Just about anything that is decent storytelling. It’s really not a good business plan to specialize in one given type of movie (all family movies, all zombie movies). It’s kind of like a menu so your buyer can come in and take one from column A, B, C, D. We look at a lot of different movies and a lot of different genres. Number one, we like it to be good storytelling. Just tell me a story that’s going to keep my attention.
SoCal: Are there any genres you would recommend that an indie producer avoid?
DeLong: The obvious answer is no. Make the movie you feel is best suited for you. On a personal level, comedies, romantic comedies, independently, there just seems to be a lot of them out there. There are a lot of people making these as a first film, generally without a cast value and those kinds of films typically need a bit more financing than folks have budget for.
SoCal: How should filmmakers prepare for distribution prior to beginning production?
DeLong: I think it’s important to understand what happens in distribution. Number one: buyers, like at Cannes Film Fest and Market in May, do not show up at the market in May for release in June. They are buying anywhere for a minimum of 6 months to a year down the road. Ideally, when it comes time to shoot something … try and time things around markets to let buyers know what’s coming. At least so we can go to market with something, one scene something and that will start generating the interest. As the project moves through the process, there are buyers waiting for that completed film.
A mistake that happens, that we see, is people raise $750 thousand, they make themselves a little movie, spend 16 weeks posting, come looking for distribution, find us in July. That means the next market that will make a difference is in November, that is the AFM in Santa Monica, the whole time they have investors going, “when are we going to get some money back.”
And people today don’t make up there minds quite as fast as they used to. We now have buyers who see something in November and expect to have a decision at Cannes in May. You should have some idea about distribution before shooting. The goal is to get the movie made, well the goal is to get the movie made and sold. To achieve the second part of that it’s best to have some idea of what’s going to happen in distribution sooner then later.
SoCal: What are the drawbacks of the do-it-yourself distribution process?
DeLong: In the end, they [filmmakers] are probably going to be better off going with a company. My recommendation is due diligence. If you check out the company, see what kind of titles they have on their catalog, on their website and ask for references. I will save you the sales pitch on the company [Worldwide], Instead I will send you a list of references, as they speak for themselves. In my mind that is something anyone should be willing to hand over.
The pitfalls of trying to do it yourself — a movie screens at a festival, let’s say somebody ends up contacting [the filmmaker] at a festival [filmmakers] pass off a screener and you find out that it’s being sold or pirated somewhere overseas. We always ask, have you handed out screeners, if so, to who? You have to know what goes on — the 20% tax in India, the 10% tax in Australia. We do it because it is a full-time job. Filmmakers need to be spending their time making movies instead of trying to chase down their sales.
SoCal: What can filmmakers expect from a distribution deal?
DeLong: We generally take things on a project by project basis. It really is going to depend on the project. There is a boiler plate answer to that, but if anybody were to agree to that, I would begin to wonder. Everything is up for negotiation. It depends on what the movie is. If it’s a movie we really think we can do something with, of course we would take less of a commission, because there are more sells out there. We have our boilerplate answer, but we haven’t signed that deal yet. It’s always a variation of that somehow. The bottom line is it will end up being fair.
SoCal: How important is having a lawyer?
DeLong: I would have somebody available, unless somebody wants to do it on their own. We belong to IFTA and there are standard contracts used. Every company who is worth anything in this town uses IFTA standard contracts. If you are getting ready to sign anything, I would have a lawyer ready. It’s pretty standard stuff, but yes, legal assistance in signing the contract is probably a good idea. There probably should have been someone there to help them with production council anyway, especially if they’re shooting anything under a SAG agreement.
SoCal: Are recognizable names really that important to an indie production?
DeLong: The answer is, yes. It doesn’t have to be Brad Pitt, obviously. When there are plenty of more than competent actors out there like Robert Patrick and Lance Henrickson. There are a lot of people like that, journeymen actors that are more than willing and able to work in a reasonable independent project.
You don’t have to settle for the local theater company or the high school drama class. Start at the top of your wish list and work your way down. You might surprise yourself.
SoCal: Are there any common mistakes are pitfalls that you would like to encourage filmmakers to avoid or be wary of during the process?
DeLong: The number one common mistake is, don’t put it on IMDB. As happens with any independent project, you come up with a really good script, you try to get your money together and things have to be put on hold. Now if you put a start date on IMDB and they see a start date from two years ago, that will hurt your movie. A buyer will walk into my office and say “wow, it’s an old movie.” Let’s not talk about the budget or put the movie on IMDB until it’s done and ready to take to market. The price tag in territories is generally based on budget.
We’ve had it happen with people that should’ve known better. We had a movie that looked like 2.5 million with an ensemble cast. As it turns out, the members of the ensemble participated as a favor to the director. Now the movie was made for just over a million and when being interviewed, the director let the real budget out of the bag, and we still did great sales with it, but if it looks like more, that’s what we’re going to do on the international sales side to try and get a little more for it. Once you see something on there (IMDB), it’s almost impossible to get it off. Buyers will research your movie.
Also, bad trailers. Everybody runs out there and makes a feature, cut that together and cut a trailer and the trailer, the odds are it’s not what it’s going to take to sell the movie.
SoCal: How would you recommend a filmmaker contact you when shopping their project?
DeLong: Real simple, go to the website or email. We’re real accessible. Send any film that’s completed. As far as projects go, if you have a project, and you have at least half of the money for sure somewhere and you have some idea what your casting is, contact us via email or just call. For example, I’ve read two scripts already this afternoon.
If it’s under 500K we’re probably not going to be able to help financing, but we can do everything we can afterwards. We can also help with casting. There are a lot of actors willing to work in projects these days, you’d be surprised.
Don’t come to me and say you want to make a romantic comedy for 6.5 million starring nobody! I don’t mind if people contact me, but at least have a script and some idea of what kind of cast level and budget.
We are not capable of financing 100% of anything nor does it fit our business model. I’m not interested in reading scripts that don’t have any idea of their cast level or the budget and by budget, I don’t mean just a top sheet, but a detailed budget.