01
A distributor acquires it
Someone buys the rights, books the screens and pays for the prints and the advertising. The path everyone means when they say they got distribution, and the one with the most fine print.
Theatrical release
Getting into a cinema is a logistics problem.
Almost no independent film reaches a screen because somebody loved it. It reaches a screen because the deliverables were ready, a city plan existed, and somebody could prove an audience would turn up on the Friday. This is the system for that.
Free to start. Nothing here promises you a release.
MODULES 22REQUIREMENTS 104PATHS 5COST TO START 0
01 Five ways a film reaches a screen
02
A sales agent shops it
They sell territory by territory, usually on commission plus recoupable expenses. A sales agent alone does not put your film on a chain calendar. You still need someone booking screens.
03
A booker books it on revenue share
A boutique theatrical booker takes a fee, not your film. They get better terms and more screens than a first-time filmmaker cold-calling a chain, because the theatre already knows them.
04
You four-wall it yourself
You rent the auditorium, keep the box office, and become the distributor: booking, advertising, the DCP and the keys are all yours. Expensive to scale, and the fastest way to prove a room fills.
05
You prove it, then pitch the chain
Limited dates, documented. Sold-out rooms and a survey with numbers on it are the argument a programmer can take to their own boss.
02 The readiness checklist
It knows what stops a release, and what merely delays one.
Requirements are weighted, and the critical ones outrank the rest. Applicability is resolved by your goal, so an awards run asks for things a calling-card release never will.
A QUIET KIND OF LOUDDOCUMENTARY / BOX OFFICE
Music licences cover theatrical
Chain of title complete
DCP built to SMPTE
Captions or subtitles
E and O insurance bound
Weighted score, next best action, and the reason each one matters.
03 Read a finished one
Four plans, open to read
Every claim on this page is a screen you can open right now. Four worked plans, each showing a different way a film actually reaches a cinema. No account, nothing to fill in.
04 Where you sit
The same release looks different depending on what you do for a living.
05 Questions people actually ask
Does this get my film into cinemas?
No. Nothing does, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. What this does is make sure that when a booker asks for your DCP spec, your caption format, your E and O certificate and your city plan, you have all four, and that you can show them an audience already exists.
I already have a distributor.
Then the parts you want are the deliverables tracker and the deal review. A distribution contract has a delivery schedule in it that is usually longer and more expensive than the film expected, and four clauses that decide whether you ever see money.
My film is finished. Is it too late to start?
No, but the clearances are the thing to check first. A festival music licence does not cover a theatrical run, and there is no retroactive fix an insurer accepts.
Storyline
Rather be pitched than read a page?
Three minutes, swipeable, and it makes the whole case for you rather than listing what the product has.
See every storylineStart where you are.
Free. Takes about a minute to see where you stand. You will be asked to make an account first.
