If you are an Independent Producer, Filmmaker, Writer or Talent our primary targets are threefold:
Create direct sales for your film product
Introduce your work to studio/distributors and talent agents
Recoup your investors and generate profits
As your career develops, you can become rich and famous in your next films.
Conventional MPAA distributors and AFM distributors typically charge between 30 and 45 percent to distribute feature films, thus we are abhorred to see some of the fees being charged by our competitors for Internet distribution of films. What we are seeing is Internet distribution fees of 60 and 90 percent disguised as "revenue sharing plans." Remember, if someone is "sharing" 40% with you, this means they are TAKING 60% from you to market your film over the Internet. We feel this is excessive, especially in light of the economies the Internet provides in the distribution/exhibition process. So just don't sign with such companies.
Matrixx Internet Distribution only charges a 25% distribution fee. This means you get 75% of the money generated by your film, as you should. In other words, OUR "revenue sharing plan" is you get 75%, not 10% or 40%, which amounts to an exorbitant distribution fee.
Under no circumstances should you give any company the right to market your film ANYWHERE if they are going to take more than 35% of the cash flow as a distribution fee. To the degree filmmakers don't demand the largest share of the pie for their creative work and demand their private investors recoup, the independent scene will suffer. Distribution fees in excess of 35% are excessive, especially when it takes little or no effort to distribute movies over the Net as opposed to conventional media.
Also, the copyright of a film, in the absence of a specific transfer agreement, always remains with the AUTHOR of that film (i.e., the producer/filmmaker(s)). Lastly, be warned that if you give away the Internet Distribution Rights to a FEATURE, you may not be able to get a good, or any, theatrical distribution deal as you will have pre-maturely sold off the "down-side rights" to your film. This is NOT a scare tactic. This is a very real situation, one that you may be quite aware of were you around when the homevideo cassette revolution took off in the mid 1980s. Producers and copyright owners who sold off their home video rights for a quick buck were quite rudely awakened to find that they had seriously compromised the value of their other rights, especially theatrical. So be careful who you give your film to, especially if they are playing down this issue and if you have an expensive picture that has a good theatrical potential. Consult a good entertainment attorney before signing your film with anyone, including us.
In a world of fair distribution, the people responsible for creating and financing independent motion pictures from sources outside the film industry, would be held in higher regard. As Lee Garmes and the ISPA pointed out early and as victims through various law suits have pointed out more recently, a new paradigm of distribution may be in order for a number of reasons.
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The terms and phrases "Home Video Network," "Pay-per-view.com," "Movies-on-Demand," "Automatically Parced Royalties," "Email Parsed Royalties," "The World's First Internet Distribution Company for Video-on-Demand™ as well as this "Distribution Agreement" and the business process described and used herewith, are trademarks of MEC, a Delaware corporation. This business process and Distribution Agreement may not be copied, in full or in part, or used without express written permission from the copyright owner.
MID was founded on February 15, 1996.