"Hot Docs": Distribution Panel...
Filmmakers attending a Toronto "Hot Docs" distribution panel were told by Annie Roney, president of Roco Films International, that a new paradigm in distribution has emerged, one that sees producers and sales agents dividing up theatrical, broadcast, DVD and online media rights, before finding the best partner to exploit each venture.
“An all-rights deal may not turn out to be what a filmmaker hoped for", said Roney, "and may not serve them as well as an organic deal that parses rights.”
Louise Rosen, managing director of Louise Rosen Ltd., also urged that a back-end deal that launches a film in partnership with a sales agent “seems to be the most satisfying for the filmmaker” adding that factual films continue to find homes with broadcasters and a growing educational market.
Anais Clanet, head of sales/acquisitions at Paris-based Wide Management, noted that doc makers are drawing back from all-rights deals, but Laure Parsons, director of home media sales/marketing at Zeitgest Films said "If you 'piecemeal' a film, you may not get as large a bang for your buck.”
Zeitgeist recently acquired US rights to Jennifer Baichwal’s “Act of God,” which opened Hot Docs May 1...
