ALMT-ThTh: Dirty Step Upstage is in Cannes (and how sales agents work)

On ALMT-Theatrical Thursdays I write about movies.

Just to keep y’all updated, we got the word earlier this week that Dirty Step Upstage has been selected for the Cannes Independent Film Festival. Not to be mistaken for the Festival du Cannes, the CIFF takes place at the same time of year as the most prestigious festival in the world! Recently a sales agent said it was rumored to be like Slamdance is to Sundance.

Speaking of sales agents, I have had the very pleasant experience of having sales agents come to us! For those new to the film biz, here’s basically how it works:

1. 1. 1. Make your film.
   2. 2. Research sales agents.  A great way to find out who’s reputable is to check out Film Specific.  I’ve been working with Stacey Parks for about 3 years now and I really trust her judgement.
   3. 3. Visit the agents’ web sites. Watch the trailers.  See what looks like your film: genre, budget, stars (or lack of).  In other words, don’t send a low-budget horror film to an A-list agency.
   4. 4. Email the appropriate sales agents with a direct link to your trailer. A MUST!
   5. 5. At this point you wait a week. Repeat step four.
   6. 6. If the sales agents are interested, they will ask for a screener.
   7. 7. Negotiations follow. Ask Stacey Parks (see step 2) for advise on what kind of deal you want.

Once you have a sales agent, they’ll take your film to markets, like the Cannes market that happens during the festival (May), Berlinale (Feb), or AFM in Santa Monica (Oct/Nov).  There are other markets too, but those three are the big ones. They’ll set up booths with posters, one sheets and trailers of the films they represent, and the ‘buyers’ will shop. The buyers are distributors. They’ll buy your film rights, probably packaged within a collection of other films, for their territory.  Other factors like Theatrical, Broadcast, VOD (Video On Demand), and the like are part of that deal.

No one told me it would be this complicated when I set off to make my little story back in 2007. So, imagine my glee when sales agents actually started contacting us, saying they had been keeping an eye on the film.  We’ll probably be selecting our sales agent in the next month or so and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how that goes. Hopefully we’ll have an agent for Cannes, while the film is playing there.

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