Getting your film out into the world is the final boss of filmmaking.

The film is done, and you want people to finally experience it.

But how do you do that?

This week I’m sharing the journey we went on with my feature film, Wild Boys.

• What is an aggregator, and how we ended up with one
• How we released Wild Boys
• What I’m taking away for my next film

The distribution space is the most opaque part of filmmaking. Most filmmakers are clueless about what happens when their film is done. I’ve learned a ton from releasing my first feature, and I would love for you not to make the same mistakes we did.

Let’s roll.

The dream scenario

Most filmmakers think distribution will happen like this:

• Get into a great festival
• Sign with a distributor or sales agent
• They handle the release
• You wait for the check to come in the mail

This can happen.

But rarely.

Only a small percentage of films get distribution deals from festival screenings, and few ever make their money back.

Although we got into a few festivals with Wild Boys, we didn’t get interest from distributors or sales agents. After doing some research and talking to fellow filmmakers who had gone with traditional distributors, it didn’t feel like the right path for us.

So we ended up going with a company called IndieRights. They’re technically a distribution company, but they operate more like an aggregator.

What’s that? And how are they different?

Let me show you.

What is an aggregator?

First, let’s define what a distributor is and does, so I can explain how aggregators are different. A distributor, you guessed it, distributes films. That means that they handle getting your film to an exhibitor: movie theater, streaming platform, airplanes, you name it.

Often they’ll pay the filmmakers a fee upfront, what is called a minimum guarantee (MG) to distribute the film.

Distributors come up with a release strategy for your film and negotiate deals with all the companies that want to show your film. They deliver the film in the right formats to each platform and make sure everything is above board.

They also handle marketing, or P&A (press and advertising). This is a big one because they normally front the marketing costs and recoup those as soon as the film starts making revenue.

This is where a lot of filmmakers get f****d by sketchy accounting.

How’s an aggregator different?

The first thing that differentiates an aggregator is that there is no money upfront for you. Normally, aggregators work with a revenue share model. In our case we had an 80/20 split, in our favor. This is a far better split than what you’ll get from a traditional distributor.

The second big difference is that aggregators don’t do any marketing for you. When we signed with IndieRights we knew they wouldn’t front any marketing costs or do any of the heavy lifting on that end. And that’s part of the deal when working with an aggregator.

You’re taking on that job yourself.

What an aggregator does is help you get your film on all the relevant platforms.

They have relationships and a large catalog of films. They tend to get better deals and placements than what you would be able to get on your own if you went straight to the platforms.

One thing I liked about IndieRights compared to other aggregators is that even thought they don’t do the marketing for you, they share their knowledge about what works and what doesn’t for organic content marketing. They also have a group for filmmakers to talk and share ideas and experiences.

How we released Wild Boys

After signing the contract and getting all the legal stuff out of the way, we had to deliver the film to IndieRights so they could work their magic.

This included:

• The final export of the film in the right format
• Posters, stills, and behind-the-scenes photos
• Trailer
• Captions

Once we’d done our part, we had to wait about 45 days before the film release started.

Here’s the sequence of our release:

• 1st window: Exclusively for rent/purchase on Amazon and Google Play (YouTube Movies)
• 2nd window: Tubi (free to watch with ads)
• 3rd window: YouTube (IndieRights has a big YouTube channel where they release full movies, and they get paid for ads shown on the films.)

We were available for rent/purchase only for about 3 months before the film went to Tubi, and after 9 months, the film went on YouTube. The goal with this release was to get the most out of each platform before we went to the next phase.

The film has since been licensed to a few other platforms, as well as to some other YouTube channels.

What I’m taking with me to my next film

Our biggest mistake was not having a budget or strategy for our marketing.

No one is waiting to see your film.

Well, maybe a couple of people, but not a lot.

If I were to take the aggregator route again, the one thing I would do differently is take marketing seriously.

• Spend time learning it
• Budget for it, whether I’m going DIY or hiring an agency to help
• Start thinking about it in pre-production

I will also make audience-building a big part of the production itself.

The hardest lesson I learned when releasing Wild Boys was that “make it and they will come” doesn’t work.

You need to put in the work and effort to make people interested.

This newsletter is part of that effort, but I would also do a lot more stuff related to the film itself.

• Focus on filming and sharing behind-the-scenes content.
• Connect with the audience regularly.
• Incentivize early supporters with exclusive access, special events, etc.
• Make the making of the film an experience.

The more I learn about the distribution space, the more I think a semi-DIY route might be the best way for me to go about it. I will probably still work with an aggregator to get on the big platforms, but I also want to explore other ways of reaching my audience.

And cut!

That does it for this week. Here are the key takeaways I want you to bring with you into your directing career from today:

• Aggregators are companies that help you get your film on streaming platforms and other outlets. They often offer better deals than distributors, but you take on a lot of the responsibilities yourself when it comes to getting your film seen.
• We launched Wild Boys digitally in three windows to maximize the reach and revenue from each one.
• My biggest lesson from this experience is the need to learn and understand how to market my films and to connect with an audience way in advance of the film premiering.

As always, thank you for reading.

‍