Distribber News + I Plow Forward

I'm gonna be seeing a lot of this come November...

First things first. I've heard a couple of reports about problems with Distribber. For those who don't know, they're an aggregator that helps place movies to different platforms(like Netflix, Itunes, etc) for filmmakers.

I've talked about them before in this blog. I've considered using them, but never really wanted to pony up the thousands of dollars to try it.

I've talked to one of the head guys there, Jason, and he's always seemed pretty straightforward and up front.

But my deal is that I'm always looking for a PARTNER for my movies, a partner being someone who benefits only when I benefit. That's how you know they believe in you.

And the problem at Distribber was that they'd profit even if my movie didn't. This is also why it's a little hard to understand how they're failing.

Anyway, it sounds like they aren't returning calls to filmmakers, and have missed payments. Also sounds like Jason doesn't work there any more. You can find the details at indiefilmhustle, which is a good web site in general for indie filmmakers.

https://indiefilmhustle.com/distribber-review-bankrupt/

It certainly appears this has been going on for a few months, so I'm surprised I'm just hearing about it now.

NEW regarding Netflix:
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/netflix-distribber-godigital-1202188326/?fbclid=IwAR0VTO14JE5M0fDVOpphWY_JFJ5Ge1tb00FnnDPpWEHmYaiFfugxNxewUl0

NEW Variety Article 11/1/2019
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/distribber-creditors-refunds-not-coming-2020-1203389718/

Indiewire Article (10/5/2019)
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/distribber-aggregator-independent-filmmakers-bankruptcy-1202176434/

ANOTHER UPDATE(10/2/2019) - A Warning
https://indiefilmhustle.com/film-aggregators/

VARIETY ARTICLE(10/1/2019)
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/independent-distribution-companies-distribber-close-down-1203354408/

MOST RECENT UPDATE(9/30/2019):
https://nofilmschool.com/why-distribber-died
(this one goes pretty in-depth behind-the-scenes)

UPDATE ARTICLE(9/20/2019) : A new article on nofilmschool also raises some points.
https://nofilmschool.com/is-distribber-really-bankrupt

ANOTHER UPDATED ARTICLE(9/23/2019)
https://stephenfollows.com/what-kinds-of-movies-did-distribber-attract/

I haven't looked into these yet, so do the diligence first before submitting.

A couple of other options to explore are:
https://www.themovieagency.com/submit-your-film
They claim to charge no fees upfront whatsoever, and take a small commission when they sell your flick. That sounds reasonable. In fact, one guy that works there named Phil Galliano posted this on FB:

Hi guys, I am not an aggregator but as a sales agent, I am willing to offer you a six month contract with no fees with my sales agency. If you aren't satisfied after 6 months, you are free to go. I am offering you to represent your movie, sell it wherever I can. If I get you an offer, I let you know and you make the decision. You may decline an offer, no pressure.

I don't sign any contracts for you or without your prior consent. You will be able to deal direct with the distributor, and even get any money transfer directly from them. Once you get paid, the only thing I am asking is to pay me 15% commission.

No hidden fees, no upfront fees, no deduction whatsoever! 

I mean, that sounds exactly like what you want. I'd still look into it first to see if I could find a filmmaker that would vouch for them. Some people are like "Why would you want to give a cut of your profits, instead of just paying money upfront?", and I'd point DIRECTLY at the Distribber debacle as proof that my way is better. My way, you don't need additional money, and there's no way you can lose any more money than you've spent on your film. The other way, you just paid $3K-$5K, and got NOTHING.

These people below say they're completely legit, and basically dare you to go ahead and ask any filmmaker they've worked with. (which is sound policy with ANY distributor)
https://www.indierights.com/distribution

Here's another company that's thrown its hat into the ring, but they sound suspiciously like Distribber in their model. Would need to look into it more, and I just don't have time.
https://www.bitmax.net/

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I've decided to go full steam forward with this new film. I'm not sure exactly HOW it's all gonna get done. The script was finished a couple of weeks ago and I sent it to most of the people I've already cast. They all liked it a lot.

I've created a schedule--an 8 day schedule--that will be tight, but doable. I'm working on the shooting script now. That's reverse of how I usually do it.

Usually I do the shooting script first, then you allocate enough time to each scene depending on how many shots you have to get done.

This time I've given myself some time, and then I have to figure out how few shots we can do in that time.

I've got to cast some of the roles that are open, find some locations that I don't have right now, gather props, figure out how to do some special effects that I wrote into the script, and some other stuff.

I may not talk too much about it, because there's a good chance I'm going to have to crowd source a small amount of money to finish the film, and I figure I'll make a $1 tier where people will have access to a private blog with not just the details on the making of this film, but some other crazy stuff I haven't shown publicly before.

Also, did you know that I did a limited run of TERRORTORY 2 and GARDEN OF HEDON on dvd for that convention I did last month? Only 100 copies of each exist.

I didn't quite sell out, so if you want a copy you can paypal $19 to cs@kangaskahnfilms.com with the name of which one you want, and I'll ship it to you anywhere in the US. Or, if you want both, send $34.

If I refund your money, it's because they sold out before you ordered.

If you'd rather buy it from our square store, leave me a comment and I'll add them there. The store is here, in case you were wondering.
https://squareup.com/store/kkfilms