Distribution is the process of getting your movie seen by your audience. Every time your movie appears at a festival or you hold an outreach screening you are distributing your work. Another way to get your movie seen by as many people as possible is to make your movie available for purchase by movie theatres, television broadcasters, home video watchers, schools and universities.

Self-distributing

There are several reasons why self-distribution might be a great option for you:

- If you can't find any distributor who wants to include your movie in their catalogue.
- If you don't want most of the profit that comes from the sale of your movie to go to a distributor instead of to you.
- If you already have contacts and relationships with potential markets through your partnerships and outreach work.
- If you want to have complete control over where your movie is shown.
- If you want to distribute your movie for free (or just for the cost of shipping).

Self-distribution is the answer to all of these concerns, but it does take time, effort and money. If you are interested in getting your movie theatrically distributed i.e. shown in movie theatres, you need to work with a distributor -- they are the ones who have agreements with movie theatres around the country and around the world. But more likely than not, you are interested in getting your film shown on TV and/or making it available for purchase for home video or educational purposes. If you want your movie to be broadcast, you should check out our broadcast section. If you are planning to self-distribute your film in a serious way, promotion and marketing are key. Whenever you mention your film in any promotional materials, you should include information regarding purchasing. You should also list your film in the YMDi.org databasewith a link to the ordering page of your Web site.

If you are going to self-distribute or sell VHS or DVD copies of your piece, you might want to make a nice cover or design for the packaging. Check out the promotional material section for some ideas.

Self-distributing online

If you are interested in the home video and educational markets, you can successfully distribute your movie through your Web site. When you make your site for your movie, make a page called "Order Your Copy" or "Home Video." When visitors to your site go to this page, they will be able to get all the information that they need to order a copy. It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to charge for the movie or if you are willing to fulfill orders for just the price of shipping. Just remember, people value what they pay for, so there is nothing wrong with asking people to pay for your product.

You will, of course, have to decide how much you want to charge and this should be based on average prices for similar movies (do some research and find out what people are charging) and how much you think people will be willing to pay. It is also very common to have two or three prices -- home video, educational rate and nonprofit rate. Generally, the educational rate is the highest (up to $300) because it is intended for universities, libraries and schools, nonprofit rate is a bit cheaper (up to $200) and the home video rate is the cheapest (up to $50). You also need to decide if you are going to have an online order form by using a service like PayPal, or if you want people to send you an e-mail with their ordering information. The minimum information that you will need is their name, address, whether they are ordering on the behalf of an educational institution or a nonprofit organization or whether they are ordering as an individual. Depending on your interests, you may also want to gather other information from your customers such as how they intend to use the film, what issues are most important to them and how they found out about your movie.

It is unsafe for people to give you their credit card information via e-mail, so unless you are using a secure order form through PayPal or another service, you'll either have to get credit card information by phone or fax, or have people pay by check. It is up to you to decide whether or not you will accept personal checks. Personal checks are not guaranteed to come through, so if you do accept this form of payment you may want to make sure the check deposits before you fulfill the order. If you are making money from selling your movie, you will need to pay the appropriate taxes. You should consult with an accountant and make sure that you save a percentage of your profits for the IRS.

If you are selling your movie online by distributing VHS or DVD copies, you need to come up with a plan for fulfillment. Fulfillment is not the path to spiritual enlightenment -- rather, it is the process of making copies of your movie, taking orders and mailing out copies to customers. If yours is a small-scale operation (0-20 orders a month) then you can probably handle this on your own (or with the help of some volunteers or a partnering organization). If you are getting more than 20 orders a month, you should consider using a video fulfillment house. A fulfillment house makes copies of your movie and stores them, takes phone and online orders, and mails out your film. If you use one of these companies, they'll send you a monthly check and a statement that tells you how many orders were made. Like a distributor, a fulfillment house takes a cut of the profit. Unlike a distributor, they do not do any marketing, promotion or outreach for your film.

Selling copies in person

Another way to self-distribute your film is by selling copies face-to-face at various events. You will need to come prepared with cash that you can use as change, copies of your movie, and a clipboard with blank forms where people can fill out their contact information. You might also want to put a comment card or postcard in with each copy you sell so people can let you know what they think of your work! If you organize an outdoor screening, you can set up a table where you sell copies of your movie on VHS or DVD.

More at YMDi.org:
Distributors
Distributor basics
Things to consider
How to find a distributor
Distributor contracts