PAYMENTS DISTRIBUTORS DVDs?

[juan luna]

Hello. I'm from Spain. Excuse my English, and if my questions do not belong to this forum. I'm new in this business. Can I make the following answers?
1: Percentage paid by distributors to producers of a DVD?
2: You can suggest me companies to duplicate DVDs in United States?
Thank you all for your replies.
Juan Luna.

[gaybucks_chip]

There are no absolutes. Distributors pay anywhere from $3 to $20 for gay titles, it depends on the studio, quality of the title, saleability, popularity, etc.

As for replication of DVDs, I'd wait and find a distributor first. Many times, the distributors will have one or more replicators they have a good relationship with, and you will want to try and get your product produced somewhere near where your distributor is, so you don't end up shipping the product across the country just to get it to your distrobutor.

You might start by talking to Chris at Pornteam.com, he works with a lot of producers in your situation and is a really great guy.

[juan luna]

Thank you for your warm response.

I would like other opinions from other people on the distributors.

¿Percent from distributors to producers?

Can anyone suggest, according to their experiences, for companies duplicating DVDs?

Greetings to all.

Juan Luna.

[AnthonyDeAngelo]

Hello. I'm from Spain. Excuse my English, and if my questions do not belong to this forum. I'm new in this business. Can I make the following answers?
1: Percentage paid by distributors to producers of a DVD?
2: You can suggest me companies to duplicate DVDs in United States?
Thank you all for your replies.
Juan Luna.

A distributor should not be paying you a percentage. They should be paying you for each unit you sell them. You should not be selling them the rights...you should retain all rights.

And like Chip said, the price for each replicated and packaged DVD delivered fob their place of business, should be between $3 and $25 depending upon quality, numbers of performers, numbers of scenes, popularity of niche, unique content and creative merit...

So I would do what we did, first, produce your dvd in its entirety. Shoot it, edit it and create a DVD master for replication - then create a box cover and get the entire project packaged up.

Present that as a "screener" to a number of reputable distributors and see what they offer you. Then, strike a deal and start production on your next title. Distributors like to know what your next projects are and when they can expect them. They will think you are serious about your work and will count on you for more titles down the road. Does that make sense to you?

We shot three movies when we started out so that we would have them on the shelf and ready to go as needed. This is crucial to becoming successful and being taken seriously. Its not cheap but its a very important step. And if you plan accordingly, you can cut deals.

When we first started out, a distributor offered us a good price on our first tile BAREBACK MASTER, INC., however, he wanted to handle the printing, replication, etc... and wanted to deduct those costs from the price he would pay us. We rejected his offer and are glad we did primarily because of QUALITY CONTROL. If you handle your project from beginning to end, you'll enjoy the rewards of seeing the project through yourself. And that title is the backbone of our business with a large number sold worldwide.

But since you are in Spain, you may need to do what our friend who started High Octane did... he would come into LA from France on regular intervals with his finished disc in hand and oversee the replication, box printing, etc and then work with his distributor at Paladin and have time for lunch with us... good arrangement!

[BabyMaker]

As for replication of DVDs, I'd wait and find a distributor first. Many times, the distributors will have one or more replicators they have a good relationship with



Yikes! Are you serious you don't actually trust this do you?? When i was in record biz, a distributor that also pressed records, shit no one would do that??

It just seems odd to me, maybe you know them and trust them??

If you are even charging them $3 on your low estimate and they can duplicate a dvd for 50 cents it seems unless they really care about you you're gonna get fucked.

[gaybucks_chip]

Yikes! Are you serious you don't actually trust this do you?? When i was in record biz, a distributor that also pressed records, shit no one would do that??

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I would NEVER trust a distributor to replicate our titles, but, for example, a distributor can tell you which replicators they've worked with and which ones to stay away from. We generally have all units shipped to us, and we reship to our distributor. That way, there's no funny business.

For example, one replicator we used, in the space of a year:

-- Sent 1000 packaged DVDs to our distributor, 300 of which, while properly packaged, and even silkscreened with the correct title, actually contacined a Falcon leather title (we produce twink content)

-- Sent 1000 of another DVD to our distributor, nearly all of which were falling out of their cases

-- Sent us 1000 each of two different titles, each of which was in the opposite packaging (disc A in the packaging for disc B, and vice versa)

We were too nice and believed them when they said that these were "one in a million" errors. We probably lost about $40,000 on those fiascos. Needless to say, we don't use them any more. In the one case where we had them do a single, simple, quick job for us a year after we'd switched to a different replicator, they managed to screw that up too.

Another replicator we've never used is notorious for promising 3 week delivery, but actually delivering in anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months.

Yet another was caught some years back shipping 600 units by mistake to a distributor that didn't carry that studio... while having shipped the full 1000 units that had been ordered to the correct distributor. In other words, they were backdooring product.

So... having a distributor you trust means they'll have a good handle on which replicators are sloppy, shady, or have poor delivery schedules.

And... having the replicator within a short distance from the distributor will save a fortune on shipping.

[gaybucks_chip]

The other thing Tony touched on...

A distributor won't be interested in one title. These days, it's hard to get a distributor interested in ANY new studios, because the flake factor is so high. (Studio promises 10 new releases, does 1 or 2, then flakes, studio is left high and dry, promoting a studio that can't release titles.)

As Tony said, producing one or two titles (or even more) as complete DVD-R screeners, with cover art aand authoring, will give a good idea of what you can produce, but our experience is that very few distributors worth going with will be interested unless you have a half dozen or maybe even a dozen titles in the can ready to be released. There are simply too many studios and too much flakiness.

[AnthonyDeAngelo]

The other thing Tony touched on...

As Tony said, producing one or two titles (or even more) as complete DVD-R screeners, with cover art aand authoring, will give a good idea of what you can produce, but our experience is that very few distributors worth going with will be interested unless you have a half dozen or maybe even a dozen titles in the can ready to be released. There are simply too many studios and too much flakiness.

And this is where capital comes into play - like I've mentioned someplace before, having necessary capital to float your new start-up venture is imperative. Amounts can vary dependent upon your short term/long term business plan...

I would not suggest the Spike Lee method - he financed his first movie using his credit cards (I think he only charged 30k on cards which is very modest by today's standards) and since banks are hesitant to lend these days and a mortgage on your home may not be in the cards... well, that's all part of finance which is a different topic all together although one worth discussing at some time when I'm in the mood...

[juan luna]

Hi guys.

My special thanks for their answers to GayBucks_Chip and AnthonyDeAngelo; also BabyMaker.

A big hug.

Juan Luna.

[HunkMoneyLuke]

Looks like you have been taken care of in this thread...so I will just say "Welcome to the forum" :)

cheers,
Luke

[juan luna]

Luke:
Thank you. I am willing to learn a lot in this forum.
Juan Luna.