TV stations are buying relatively little independent work these days, and there are especially few outlets for more experimental work. These days broadcasters are focusing more on work that they have commissioned or which is ‘packaged’ as part of a programme to fit a broadcasting slot.

A television broadcast could achieve relatively large audiences for your work, even going out after midnight, and make some proper money in the process. Fees for television rights have dropped quite significantly in recent years, but you can still expect something in the region of £50-£200 per minute for terrestrial broadcasts and perhaps more if you include internet sales rights as well. The television sales market is now huge and diverse with every country having a plethora of terrestrial, satellite and cable stations all asking for different rights and paying very different fee schedules. On the whole, this expansion has so far meant more conservatism, as channels seek a slice of the same pie rather than diversification into more radical areas of programming. Having said that there are a few exceptions, such as independent cable stations (outside the UK) and even the large national broadcasters do sometimes show short work, although usually of the less experimental kind.

On the whole dealing with television sales to major broadcasters is difficult unless you have a sales agent or distributor to represent work on your behalf. This is because there is not really much of a culture of ‘cold calling’ in the world of television sales; instead sales are often brokered through established relationships or at film markets. Festivals can be good places contact with broadcasters. Many festivals, especially those with a market element will produce a list of guests and their contact details while there. Try and meet buyers at festivals to introduce yourself; it’s unlikely that you’ll strike a deal there and then, so concentrate on getting a contact so you can follow up after the event, and don’t appear to be too pushy! Many festivals produce guest directories listing all of the guests/participants by category, along with their office contacts. These are invaluable up-to-date guides as to who was there and what their interests might be. Clemont-Ferrand and Rotterdam festivals both produce especially good film market guides. Another useful way to get your work noticed by broadcasters is to win prizes at festivals, some festivals even include a broadcast sale as part of the prize.

Things to consider
Not all work is suitable for television. As a rule it should be finished to ‘broadcast quality’, though this a slightly vague definition that can vary quite substantially from broadcaster to broadcaster. It can include such things as ratio, white balance, image quality/stability and sound quality, or masters being on a high quality video format such as BetaSP or Digibeta. The other thing that many broadcasters are very cautious about these days is strobing or flashing images, because of the fear of inducing epileptic fits in their viewers, and the definition of this can be surprisingly conservative. Another key problem for a lot of artists’ work on television is copyright clearance. All images and sound must be cleared with the copyright owners before it can be broadcast. This can be extremely difficult to do and restrictively expensive, and it is highly unusual for a broadcaster to pay these costs on top of the fees for the broadcast. If your work does include images and/or sound that you do not own you will be expected to provide all of the clearance documentation and music cue sheets which give a breakdown of the sound used and its timings. If you do wish to clear rights for broadcast, the issues that will affect the price include the territories and period of time you wish to clear rights for. It is a difficult and time-consuming process and has to be done.

Generally the work mainstream broadcasters are looking for is short (ie under ten minutes), accessible, reasonably new and unseen (at least in their territory). If you are selling to a non-English speaking country and your work includes dialogue you may need to get it subtitled. If not, you will definitely be asked to provide a transcript, and some broadcasters may even dub it, in which case, it is very helpful if you have dialogue and music and sound effects on separate audio tracks.

Contracts
Another good reason to have a sales agent or distributor is to assist you with the complexities of broadcast sales contracts and negotiate on your behalf if necessary. The terms of broadcast contracts vary hugely but there are some basic things that they will usually contain:

When approaching broadcasters try and get information about their submissions procedure in advance and its important to get a direct contact for the person responsible for short film programming/purchasing. You should send a VHS preview tape (NTSC where appropriate) and keep it short, do not send a showreel. Include short and simple supporting materials such as description, technical details, a list of screenings, awards and a short biography. It may take up to 6 months for them to make a decision and there is little point trying to hurry them as they work to their own schedules.

Some of the television stations that show or have shown short and experimental work include: