Beware of bottom-feeders

It used to be that when you made a good film you took it to market and sold it to the highest bidder.   Now when you have a good film you have to fight off the people who want to charge you money to sell it.

They go by many names these people.  They call themselves consultants, producer’s representatives, service distributors, sometimes even PR companies.  They all share one goal – making you pay them for the opportunity to have your film seen by others. 

The worst ones will charge you a retainer up to $15,000 for the privilege of selling your work.  They will not guarantee you one sale.  You may never recoup one dollar of your investment from them.  If they do sell your work, then they will sometimes also help themselves to a nice percentage of each sale.  I call these people the bottom feeders.

They’re bottom feeders because they live off the people with the least money and the most exploitable hopes - independent producers.   How can they get away with this? 

Once independent producers have pulled off the miracle of finishing a film they are usually desperate to sell it.  They’re usually way in debt and they’re starved for income and recognition.  You’d think being in debt would be reason enough not to go into further debt, to raise still more money in order to pay someone to help sell your movie.  But you’d be wrong.  Welcome to the fevered dream of indie filmmakers.  Heroin’s got nothing on this dream.

Bottom feeders will tell you you can’t hope to get your film seen in theaters, sold to TV, distributed widely, even seen in festivals, without their expertise and contacts.  Many of these people used to have nice jobs at distribution companies.  They used to be paid to seek and acquire and sell good independent films.  Their salaries were paid by those distribution companies out of the profits the company made selling films.  That was before the bottom dropped out of the distribution business.

Now, partly in a last desperate effort to stay in the business since so many of them have been fired, or their companies have closed altogether, they turn around and try to make a living charging producers for their services.  

I would love to name names.  But they are everywhere.  You can recognize them by their hard pitch, by their “you can’t do this without me” attitude, and by their unwillingness to guarantee you anything in writing.  Most of all you can recognize them because you will pay them.  Bottom feeders.  Beware.

(to be continued)