A Distribution legend

What do believe is more important, a great production company or a great distributor? Yes you do need a movie in order to distribute, but there are a lot of horrible “B” and Indy movies that are seen by millions of viewers. Millions of viewers mean millions of dollars in revenue, and how is this happening? Distribution!!

A Distribution Company is whom a studio licenses their film or television show rights to, in order for both companies to make money. The distribution company is responsible for screening the film or TV product for theater execs and prospective buyers. The Theaters then leases the films for a select time or engagement; and home entertainment media printing companies make the Blu-rays and DVD’s we watch. There are many different forms of distributing media, but the point is all the same, get the product to the masses so the filmmaker, studio, and distributor can deposit a check.

One of the oldest and well known film companies whose only business involves distribution these days, is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGMpictures. Because of financial woes, MGM does not partake in the production of film and Television anymore. What keeps MGM alive is their massive library of classics and their copyrights to each one of them; classics such as Gone with the wind, Rocky, and part ownership in the Bond Franchise.

MGM leases their rights to other film studios, allowing them to produce a new film or even re-distribute and old favorite, but all for a nice percentage. Maybe that’s why their mascot is a Lion, king of the copyrights eh. 

MGM may not have the resources or funds to produce their own films, but they do commonly co-finance productions. Sony pictures have been a major partner with MGM pictures, co-financing the last three Bond movies; Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Sky fall. Sony also has an agreement with MGM which allows Sony to distribute MGM films and episodic.

So once again the production company has the camera, but if you want to see the picture, the distributor has the ticket for sale or the price tag on the DVD gift set. Be supportive of your distributing partner, such as movie theaters, legal Hard and digital copies of media. The less support- the higher the prices get. One way or the other your favorite producer or director is going to the bank, with a check written by the distributor.