DOMESTIC DISTRIBUTION
But, as the majors have gone in so heavily into the foreign market with trashy action flicks, they've left their flank wide open. They've ignored the quality story, the artistic handling and classical considerations of the "A-Movies"!
Here's where the savvy independent comes in! The foreign market has infected the majors with the same disease the majors spread among the independents. The major studio executives don't know a good movie anymore if a good movie hits them over the head. Someone even wrote a book about movies in the eighties that was entitled something like, "Nobody Knows Anything."
What you must remember now, is that you've got a golden opportunity to make quality movies. The exhibitors are hungry for family movies, movies that offer "role-models" for kids and teenagers, movies based on classical themes, classical plays, films with moral values, American values (the kind of values that have made USA the greatest nation on earth.) Now's the time for the independent to act independently and go for the "A-Movie" and wrest it away from the majors as their exclusive domain, especially from the studios that are owned by foreign national conglomerates who're only interested in the bottom line. Why should they care about American values!
You have a chance as a film maker if you're prepared, educated and proficient in the craft of making movies. Talent you always had, by virtue of the fact that God has blessed you with it, as he has given you a desire for freedom and respect for the rights and aspirations of all people.
As it stands now, domestic distribution is a nightmare. The big theater chains are being bought up by the majors and the small ones are at their mercy, because everyone is hungry for "first run" movies. (The theater chains which are owned by the majors get preferential treatment, you can be sure.) As an independent film maker you have to search out special relationships with small theater owners.
You can attend the NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) conventions and search out opportunities for placing your film into some theaters on a regional basis.
Don't let it bother you when you constantly hear that your film doesn't have "major stars" (just "stars" aren't enough anymore.) They'll tell you that your film is too "small" for theatrical release (they'll never tell you why they think it's small, because what they really mean is that you made it and if you're talking to them it must be a small movie and you're a small film producer. Keep plugging away and learn to talk their language and publicize your movie like it was a major release!
Domestic distribution success is all a matter of perception! You must not allow yourself to be intimidated by distributors, foreign or domestic. They are full of it. You know what I mean? They are envious that an individual like you goes out and makes a movie the way American writers like Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald used to quit their jobs and go out there with their rears in the wind and write, write, write!
Face it, you're an artist, you have to have confidence in yourself. Domestic movie distribution is a ball-breaker. It'll seem like your knocking your head on concrete, but don't lose heart, instead search relentlessly for ingenious ways to get your feature film out into theaters. When you do, you'll wonder how easy it was. You'll forget the pain and suffering. Because the experience of this sort of success is what the "American Dream" is all about!
Study demographic statistics done for entrepreneurs that operate certain theater chains. You'll learn which regions, which theaters are the best to open your movie in. Also, other factors such as time of year and special marketing campaigns have to be considered.
Try to get as much free publicity as you can. Go on as many talk-shows, cable-shows and radio programs as you're able to.
Prepare press releases. Learn how to do a "press book" and publicize your movie. Do a marketing plan, have it properly bound and present it to exhibitors. The more you provide them in advertising and marketing tools the better they can help you. Always be careful, but allow the other person to grab some money too. It's a tough racket for them, so give them some rope.