By Phil Hall
It starts by making you really think about your film. Does it have a market? Is it good enough for release? Are you fully prepared (press kit? website?) to tackle the distributors? Assuming you are, we then dip into how to approach distributors and how to respond to an offer or, more likely, a rejection and the low-down on lawyers, publicists and so on.
Hall then delves into the murky world of festivals (like..ahem..this one) and discusses the view from 15 years ago and again what it's like now with around 2,500 festivals to choose from world wide and whether they are in fact worth the bother. If you think they are, then we talk about how to approach them, selection criteria and so on. This is followed by discussion about self-distribution - service deals, four-walling cinemas, packaging and so on - and then into Direct-to-Video, or these days, DVD, and finally onto the internet and the newer forms of self distribution available.
The whole book is comprised of war stories of folk who've tried the various options discussed here and it's full of interviews with those involved. Written in a casual and engaging style, the content flows effortlessly from topic to topic and the subject matter is broken down into very easily understandable chunks so you'll never feel lost despite the huge depth of information contained in its 300-odd pages. If I have one gripe it's that little effort is made to discuss cable/satellite TV which, in Europe at least, is a very viable option and I can only assume that this is because, as a US-centric writer, Hall hasn't seen beyond the US TV situation.
Still, once again MWP has given us a book that will stand repeated visits as a truly useful reference manual. Anyone planning to make a film or with a film looking for a home, would do well to check it out because with the right plan, they just might beat the odds.
Independent Film Distribution is published by Michael Wiese Books and is available from Play.com, Blackwell and all good book stores.