What’s the Difference between a Sales Agent and Distributor?
As a Producer’s Rep, one of the questions I get asked the most is what exactly do I do? The term is somewhat ubiquitous and often mean different things to different people. So I thought it might be a good idea to settle the matter. In this post, I’ll outline what a producer’s rep is, and how we interact with sales agents, investors, filmmakers, and direct distribution channels. But first, we need a little background on some of the terms we’ll be using, and what they mean. These terms vary a bit depending on who you ask, but this is what I’ve been able to gather.
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DISTRIBUTOR / BUYER
A distributor is someone who takes the product to an end user. This can be anything a buyer for a theater chain, a PayTV channel, a VOD platform, to an entertainment media buyer for a large retail chain like Wal-Mart, Target, or Best Buy. The rights Distributors take are generally broken up both by media type and by territory.
For Instance, if you were to sell a film to someone like Starz, they would likely take at least the US PayTV and SVOD rights, so that it could stream on premium television and their own app which appears on other SVOD services like Amazon Prime, or Hulu. They make take additional territories as well.
Conversely, it’s not uncommon to sell all of France or Germany in one go. It should are often sold by the language, so sometimes French Canada will sell with France. This is less common as of late.
Generally, these entities will pay real money via a wire transfer, and almost deal directly only with a sales agent. Although sometimes to a producer’s rep, and VOD platforms will generally deal with an aggregator. The traditional model of film finance is built around presales to these sorts of entities, but that presale model has recently shifted.
Recently, more sales agents have begun distributing in their territory of origin. XYZ is a good example of this. Some distributors have branched out into international sales. This is something that we did while I was at the Helm of Mutiny Pictures, to allow us to deal with filmmakers directly in a more comprehensive way.
Sales Agents
A Sales agent is a person or company with deep connections in the world of international sales. They specialize in segmenting and selling rights to individual territories. Often, they will be distributors themselves within their country of origin. This business is entirely relationship based, and the sales agents who have been around a while have very long-term business relationships with buyers all around the world. That’s why they travel to all of the major film markets.
Examples on the medium-large end would be Magnolia Pictures international, Tri-Coast Entertainment, and Multivissionaire. WonderPhil is up and coming as well, as is OneTwoThree Media. Lionsgate and Focus Features would also be considered distributors/sales agents, but they’re very hard to approach. They also both focus on Distribution over sales.
Generally, these sales specialists will work on commission. They may offer a minimum guarantee when you sign the film but that is not common unless you have names in your movie. Generally, they will charge recoupable expenses which mean you won’t see any money until after they’re recouped a certain amount. In general, these expenses will range between 10k and 30k, with the bulk falling between 20 and 25k. If it’s higher than 30k without a substantial screen guarantee, you should probably find another sales agent. There are ways around this, but I’ll have to touch on this in a later blog [or book].
A sales agent commission will be between 20% and 35%, this is variable depending on several factors, but generally 25% or under is generally good, and over 30% is a sign you should read more into this sales agent. Lately, this has been trending towards 20% with a slight uptick in expenses.
Aggregators
Aggregators are companies that help you get on VOD platforms. The most important service they provide is helping you conform to technical specifications required by various VOD platforms. This job is not as easy as you would think it is, which is why they charge so much. Additionally, they have better access to some VOD platforms than others. These days, it’s very difficult to get on iTunes or most platforms other than Amazon’s Transactional section without one.
Generally, aggregators charge a not insubstantial fee to get you on these platforms, and they offer little to help you market the project. Companies like this include Bitmax and arguably filmhub or IndieRights.
There are merits to going this this route, but they can be expensive, often costing about one thousand USD upfront and growing from there. If they operate on a commission like Filmhub or Indierights, they won’t help you with marketing so you’ll have to spend a decent amount there in order to get your film seen.
Producer of Marketing & Distribution (PMD)
In the words of Former ICM agent Jim Jeramanok, PMDs are worth their weight in gold. A PMD is a producer who helps you develop your marketing and social media strategy, your Festival strategy, and your distribution strategy. They’re also quite likely to have some connections in distribution. They’re there to give your film the best possible chance at making money when it’s done.
Generally, they’re paid just as any other producer would be, but if they’re good, they’re worth every penny. With a good PMD on board, your project’s chances for monetary success are exponentially better.
If you’re an investor reading this, you want any film you invest in to at least have access to a PMD or Producer’s Rep, if not a preferred sales agent or at least domestic distribution. (Not Financial Advice)
Executive Producer (EP)
In the independent film world, these are producers who are hyper-focused on the business of independent film. They either help raise money to make the film, or they help bring money back to those who put money into it in the first place. As such, the traditional definition in of an indiefilm executive producer is someone who helps you package projects by attaching, bankable talent, investors, or other forms of financing. They’ll also help you design a beneficial financial mix, [I.E. where can you best utilize tax incentives, presales, brand integration, and equity, and gap debt.] in order to help your project have the best chance of success. They can also play a significant role in distribution. The latter is where most of my EP credits come from.
Often, they’ll take a percentage of what they raise or what they bring in. sometimes they’ll require a retainer, but most of the time they should have some degree of deliverables such as business plans, decks, or similar as part of that. These fees should not be huge, but they will be enough to give you pause due to the amount of specialized work involved in doing these jobs.
Producer’s Reps
I’ll go into this much more deeply next week, But Producer’s Reps are essentially a connector between all of these sorts of people and companies. Producer’s Reps will connect you do sales agents, aggregators, buyers, and investors. But more than that, a good one will help you figure out how and when to contact each one. Most often, they’re credited as an executive producer or a consulting producer as the PGA does not have a separate title that applies to this particular skillset. For a more detailed analysis of what exactly a Producer's Rep does, Check out THIS BLOG!
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