8 Essential Elements To Create Your Distribution Strategy

Every film and filmmaking team is different and hence every film needs its unique distribution and marketing strategy.

It is crucial for filmmakers to have a roadmap/strategy for how they will release their films without being dependent on a streamer or distributor. Filmmakers must create this strategy no later than post production - before film festivals. This is not news. In this second Distribution 101 post I am going to outline the system I use when working with filmmakers to help them create their distribution strategies.  This is also the same rubric that I will use when examining case studies in this Substack.  

But first, here are the 8 essential elements of creating your distribution strategy: 

1. Your Goal - which I wrote about extensively here: 

   • What is a win for you and your team?

2. Your Film 

   • What unique attributes distinguishes your film from anything else in the marketplace?  Best to think about this in the conception stage.  

   • What is the “brand” of your film and how does that relate to your brand as filmmakers?  As a former neo-Marxist economics student and punk - I understand the objections with using this term. I still remember a near riot that occurred in the IFP Filmmaker Lab when I was introducing this concept. Use this concept as a tool. 

3. Stage: Where are you at in the process? 

   • Where are you at in the process of distribution (e.g. have you had a premiere festival yet, if it is a festival film)?

   • Are there existing distribution deals in place that will affect your release? 

4. Your Audiences

   • What niche audiences make sense for your film?

   • What are the core(s) audiences within those niches? 

   • Note core and niche are different - do not use them interchangeably. 

5. How to Reach Those Audiences

   • What is your overall marketing strategy? How does this accomplish your goal?  Create your marketing strategy by breaking it down into:  

   1. Shared Media Strategy:

      1. Partnerships - What organizations and/or businesses might you engage for the release? Why would they? 

      2. What is your organic social strategy? 

      3. Influencer strategy?

   2. Owned Media Strategy:

      1. Short form content strategy including trailer. 

      2. Key art/graphic strategy. 

      3. Email/newsletter/Substack strategy.

      4. Website strategy.

   3. Earned Media Strategy

      1. Film publicity - national and regional.

      2. Niche/interest group publicity. 

      3. Review marketing

   4. Paid Media Strategy

      1. Social ads 

      2. Programatic ads

      3. Radio/Podcast

6. Film Rights/Split Rights

   • What is your overall distribution strategy?  How does this help you accomplish your goal?

   • How does your audience consume media?  Do they go to festivals? Are they at conferences? Will they engage with a live event or will they only watch online etc.  

   • How will you engage with the following broad rights categories? Which of these makes sense for your film, your audience, your resources?: 

   1. Event/Theatrical

      1. Festivals

      2. Community screenings/Non-theatrical both in person and on-line - including conferences

      3. Theatrical

   2. Digital including VOD and broadcast

      Which of the following are possible or work best for your film?  

      1. Broadcast/SVOD

      2. TVOD Will your audience pay to rent/own? Some will. Some won’t. How can you improve your chances?  This would include PVOD and film drops. 

      3. AVOD/FAST

      4. Airline/hotel/cruise ship

   3. Educational Rights

   4. Merchandise

      1. DVD/BluRay

         • Note since DVD/BluRay tend to follow a collector model these days and they are in fact merchandise I put them in merch instead of traditional “home video”.

      2. T-shirts, vinyl, books, fanzines, posters etc. 

7. Timing/Windowing your release.

   • Are there aspects of the subject, themes, cast etc that affect timing?

   • Are there distribution events that affect timing?   

   • How do you window the various distribution channels indicated above?

8. Your Resources

   • What resources both in terms of money and time do you have?

   • What is your budget for the release?

   • Have you/how are you raising funds? 

Over the next year I will be diving into each of the above elements and sub-elements in these Distribution 101 posts. 

I would love your thoughts about the content and overall structure above. 

See you at the Hundreds of Beavers case study later today.

8 Above Distribution Lab Winter 2025 Cohort

I helped create and run the aforementioned IFP/Gotham Filmmaker Lab for ten years which is now on hiatus.  A year ago as traditional outlets for distribution increasingly dried up, I created the 8 Above Distribution Lab. In the Lab we workshop the distribution and marketing of up to ten film teams through the ever changing landscape of distribution and marketing.  We are just finishing the second iteration of the lab and the third starts in December 2024/January 2025.  The next information session is Friday October 25th at Noon ET - you can sign up here.