There must be many forum members who have managed to finish a short movie of say 15-20- even 30 minutes and found it good enough to be published not only on Youtube but on a real video platform - like Amazon Prime, Itunes, Netflix, or the like. Not in order to gain a lot of money but in order to see the final outcome of so many hours hard work published on a real movie site.
I know that the big platforms had different policies throughout the years as to whether they allow access to small indie movies. There are quite a few videos on Youtube that try to give an update on this, it´s complicated but possible.
Nevertheles I would like to hear from you folks? If you have any experiences on this field?
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Hello ! I didn’t make a short film on my own, but if that’s your case you might look for a distribution company, or a company that do production and distribution. There are many of them and you should find one that is specialized in similar projects than yours that is probably animation short for adult / kids ?
You might find a distribution company that is specialized in live action feature film and therefore they won’t be interested.
If you don’t find any distributors, contact production companies as they are very likely to know distribution companies.
If the company like your project, their role is to send your film to any possible film festival, they are also in contact with diffusion company, like TV network, VOD etc…
Basically it’s a small world and these people always meet at events like cartoon forum stuff like that…
If you don’t find any distributor, well you’re good to do all that work on yourself. Maybe the first step is to send it to film festivals as if it win a price it will be simpler to convince other platforms. You might also meet people in the festival that might introduce you to people who could handle the diffusion and so on…
Anyway, instead of asking here which might not be the best place, I would look on vimeo or youtube for short films that win many prices on festivals, and eventually try to contact the authors and ask if they know a production company, or how if they manage to have someone to take care of all that work for them. Maybe try to find a short along the lines of your owns …
Good luck !
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It sure seems like a great accomplishment. Doesn’t it?
And it is!
However welcome to ranks of 10’s of thousands (am I being conservative?) of films each year that rise to this level of achievement.
Only a very small percentage of finished indie films ever find thier way into film festivals and then even small percentage of those make it to distribution.
And of those that make it to distribution, an even smaller percent make any money.
I know you are not looking only for the money angle.
For me the last feature I completed did eventually find a small film festival and we got a distributor - not from the festival but from hiring a producer’s rep.
For me it took the experience of a short ( which went nowhere) and a feature that also failed to get anyone interested before making my third film, a feature, that was finally recognized as a product and was sold to Netflix.
I never made any money from that deal. The distributor did, and with “creative accounting” was able to show there was no profit to pay us.
But in the end I was happy for about 10 years to have my film on Netflix.
A different time, a different market for Netflix.
The takeaway here is that once you get your head around the fact that it is so highly competitive, you should learn to forget all that, and also let go of the idea that just finishing a film is enough.
It is in the beginning because you should be making and finishing films!
That is the best way to learn!
The formula for success for me was to put the blinders on just work hard at making the best film I could make. And I worked real hard. I employed everything I learned. I kept my crew small and mobile. 1-3 on any day and found a way to put the best work in front of the camera.
Animation is another animal as far as production.
But the approach needs to be the same.
So now here you are with your film finished.
You have four options:
1 send to film festivals for the next year and a half and see what happens. This will cost 500-1000 USD in submission fees.
The best option here is Film Freeway
2 send to distributor directly and see what happens
3 send to agents who can help you find distributors (Most major streaming like Netflix won’t take your submission directly)
- Find a streaming service that will take your film directly other than YouTube. And if failing that upload on YouTube, find a way to advertise it to the world and see how it goes.
Finally get on to making your next film.
And make it the best film you can to help your chances of success.
Being aware of what is on the market can help but it is constantly changing.
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Thank you for your reply which I enjoyed to read. When it comes to festivals you are probably right that I should have given that top priority. I have the impression that the winning animation shorts at festivals are always super experimental and non-commercial…, but of course they can be a stepping stone for something else.
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Hello !
I don’t know a lot about festivals but I’m sure there are different kind and they might not focus on the same things, some of them are more geared to professionals, some more non-commercial stuff , some of them try to have the broadest content mixing a bit of everything…
Of course festivals are not an obligation but it should give you a hint of how your project is received and you might get more professional feedback on it and if it’s worth reaching TV networks and so on.
But as said, that’s something you might get done “for free” if you find some producers/distributors that will look into that for you…
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Festivals are a necessary part of the process.
They give 2 important things.
Just getting accepted into a festival is an achievement. And for this you can add “official selection” to your promotional materials.
Winning an award is a plus as well.
This gives your film value on the market.
The second thing you can get from a festival is to get the attention of people who are in a position to distribute your film or help you in that process.
If your film wins an award or in other ways gets people talking this can make it valuable on the market.
Having it screened is good too as you get a feel for how it is received by the audience.
You can absolutely skip festivals. It’s a long process of waiting and you may never be selected.
But I think you have to at least try.
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