One of the most effective ways to disseminate work, especially internationally, is through a distributor who will represent your work to potential exhibitors and deal with the large amount of administration this involves.

Most distribution organisations that specialise in artists’ film and video are non-profit and/or public-funded and their distribution activity is part of their cultural activities, often fulfilling a remit for access and advocacy. Many of these organisations were set up to provide an alternative model to commercial film distribution which is difficult for independents to access, especially those making experimental work. All of the organisations listed below deal with artists’ work and as such do not limit their activities to cinema distribution. Other exhibitors, such as galleries, colleges and museums are equally important.

What can distributors do for you?
Distributors can’t do everything, and it is better to think of them as working in collaboration with you. Most of them are non-profit organisations with limited resources and they cannot cover all bases. You need to be clear about what they can and cannot do at the start, and have a realistic expectation of the opportunities.

On the most basic level, having a distributor is having someone on your side who has a vested interest in promoting your work with the experience to give you good advice. Becoming part of a distribution collection, perhaps alongside historically important works, can also have a very positive association for your work. Curators and exhibitors frequently use distributors to access work and will approach them directly to see new work. They will also have relationships in place with exhibitors and buyers that are difficult for an individual to develop. For exhibition and sales they are able to deal with all of the administration involved and as they can represent large collections of work, they can be in a stronger position to negotiate better terms than an individual. It is important to note that the job distributors do is greatly enhanced by the quality of promotional material that you provide them with (see promotional materials section).

How distributors work
The main activities of film and video distributors are:

Other services distributors may offer incluce: advice about self-promotion for artists, curatorial advice for those wishing to access work they handle, organisation of touring programmes and exhibitions, research and screening facilities.

Most distributors have a procedure for selecting the work that they take on, although some have an open access policy in which any artist can deposit work with them. Usually you need to submit a preview with supporting materials that will be considered by the distributor’s acquisition panel. Each distributor has a slightly different character so criteria can vary significantly. Basic things they may consider are: creative use of the medium, working practice, aesthetic quality and suitability in terms of other works in their distribution collection. The selection process can take up to three months before you are notified of the decision.

If your work is selected, the distributor is likely to issue a contract, the terms of which can vary widely; most will seek some exclusive rights, at least in their territory. As many of these organisations are non-commercial, there is usually a good amount of freedom left to artists to promote their work independently as well and it is usually possible for distributors to include special clauses in the contract when required by the artist. Contract periods usually run from two to five years but can be terminated on either side with notice. Distribution contracts will not usually indemnify artists if their work includes uncleared material, and in fact, they will usually state that this remains the artists ’ responsibility.

Unlike mainstream feature distributors, organisations handling artists’ work usually do not pay advances for the distribution rights; instead they will pay the artist a percentage of the royalties generated from the hire and sale of their work. The royalty percentage varies but is usually between 50% - 75% to the artist, and paid on a yearly basis along with an activity report detailing all of the screenings and sales. The fees charged by distributors to exhibitors for your work usually operate on an established price structure of some sort; some allow the artist to set the fees for the hire and sale of their work, and most allow some flexibility in consultation with the artist.

To effectively promote your work a distributor would require at least one film print (if relevant), a high quality video sub-master on DVcam, BetaSP or Digibeta (this copy will be used to dub exhibition copies from). They will also require good support materials including work description/artist statement, biography, stills, and if available a press pack.

Promotion activities by distributors fall into two types: the reactive and the proactive. The reactive distributors mainly trade on the strength of their collection and catalogue to attract curators and programmers to them. New works will be entered into the catalogue and may be previewed but will not be prioritised over and above other works in the collection. The proactive distributors will have a programme of promotion for new work, so for a period of time they will send out preview tapes, enter festivals and make special efforts to push it to curators and programmers. Apart from the new work aspect, distributors may also promote work in special interest areas such as women artists, gay and lesbian work, animation etc, and will actively assist curators and programmers to access the kind of work they are looking for.

Many distributors will enter work to festivals, but it is unlikely that they will deal with festivals that charge entry fees and they may focus on festivals that will pay a screening fee for the work (although this is not always the case). It is a good idea to discuss this with your distributor so that you can cover the festivals they don’t deal with. Distributors will deal with all of the entry administration and provide the screening copy for festivals they cover. If there is an opportunity for the artist to attend the distributor may be able to assist but it is usually the individual’s responsibility to pay their way.

Apart from festivals, the distributor will deal with other kinds of hires, mainly cinema and special event exhibition for which a fee per screening would be charged to the exhibitor. For gallery exhibition, which can be work shown on a monitor or projected, maybe as a loop, in an exhibition space, or a library / videotheque where the public can select and watch the work, distributors would charge a flat fee, reflecting the period of the exhibition and possibly the nature of the venue (funded / unfunded for example).

Sales are often agreed in consultation with the artist. There are a number of different kinds of sales; distributors mostly focus on institution sales but some allow artists to set a price for sales to individuals also. Most distributors only deal with unlimited ‘editions’ of work, so copies can be sold an unlimited number of times. A collection sale is the most expensive and would involve an institution buying the rights for public exhibition within their institution; they would receive a film print or a video sub-master and would hold rights for the lifetime of that object. For video a sale may confer rights to copy from the tape for exhibition purposes and to prolong the life of the sub-master. The cheapest sale is an institutional study copy that is intended for study use only in libraries and colleges. This is usually a VHS tape supplied for the life of the tape only with no copying rights.

Most distributors also deal with sales rights for broadcast, again usually in negotiation with the artist. The terms of these sales can vary enormously from broadcaster to broadcaster. To negotiate this, the distributor will need to have information on all the clearances and the territories and rights that are available (see Television section for more details).