WHAT IS A DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Film Program License Agreement / Photo Credit: Nimia

WHAT IS A DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT? (In the Entertainment industry.)  

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductions.com/

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What is a Distribution Agreement?

A distribution contract is a memorialization of the agreement between the owner of distribution rights in a film or video (usually the producer), and a company engaged in the business of marketing such works to users and purchasers (usually a distributor).

Many agreements are ambiguously referred to as “distribution agreements” and are unclear as to whether the intent is to grant a license of rights or to create a sales agent relationship. In most cases, these agreements contain pivotal wording referring to a “grant” of rights, resulting in such agreements being licenses, not sales agent agreements.

A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company is usually different from the production company. ... 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 distribution company determines how many copies (prints) of the film to make. The distribution company shows the movie (screening) to prospective buyers representing the theaters.

There are many new distribution options for the independent producer. The old media includes theatrical, broadcast/cable, home video; new media’s alphabet soup includes TVOD, SVOD, AVOD, EST, PPV, streaming and nontraditional theatrical. As new distribution channels develop, new distribution companies emerge. But not all distributors are effective in all mediums and markets. Just as you would not expect Netflix or Vimeo to release your work theatrically (Netflix’s recent self-originated productions to the contrary). As a consequence of all these new distribution channels and the splitting up of rights in the works among multiple distributors, distribution contracts have changed and evolved.

The distributor may set the release date 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, video-on-demand, download, television programs through broadcast syndication etc.). A distributor may do this directly, if the distributor owns the theaters or film distribution 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 or other marketing material.

References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, History Channel, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, Film Site, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Studio Binder, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Careers Hub, Screen Play Scripts, Elements of Cinema, Script Doctor, ASCAP, Film Independent, Any Possibility, CTLsites, NYFA, Future Learn, VOM Productions, Mad Studios, Rewire, DP School, Film Reference, DGA, IATSE, ASC, MPAA, HFPA, MPSE, CDG, AFI, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Indie Film Hustle, The Numbers, Netflix, Vimeo, Instagram, Pinterest, Metacritic, Hulu, Reddit, NATO, Mental Floss, Slate, Locations Hub, Film Industry Statistics, Guinness World Records, The Audiopedia, Imagination for People, Literary Devices, Start Up Film Maker, On Post Modernism, Dan Satorius

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Film Program License Agreement / Photo Credit: Nimia