STUDIO THINKING. INDEPENDENT FILMS.

For filmmakers who need experienced eyes on where their film is, what their realistic options are and what they should do next.

Before the session, I'll review your project information, trailer, materials and current situation.

Then we'll spend 75 minutes working through the release together.

You leave with clear priorities and practical next steps.

$395

For completed or nearly completed features preparing to enter the marketplace.

I'll review the film and its existing materials, positioning, audience, festival history and distribution plans.

We'll identify what is working, what is missing, where the risks lie and which release paths make sense for the film.

Includes:

• Full film review
• Distribution and positioning assessment
• Marketing and audience assessment
• 90-minute strategy consultation
• Written recommendations and next steps

$1,500

A complete producer-side release strategy for an independent feature.

This is designed for producers who want to approach distribution as part of the business plan rather than something that happens after the film is finished.

Depending on the project, the strategy can include:

• Film positioning and target audiences
• Theatrical viability and release scale
• Festival strategy
• Domestic distribution options
• International sales strategy
• Distributor and aggregator strategy
• Rights and windowing
• TVOD, SVOD and AVOD sequencing
• Marketing priorities
• Indicative release and marketing budget
• Release timeline
• Revenue and recoupment considerations
• Materials and deliverables
• Potential partners and approach strategy

Includes two strategy sessions and a written release roadmap.

$3,500

Sometimes you don't need a report.

You need someone beside you while the release is actually happening.

I work with a limited number of producers on an ongoing basis, helping evaluate opportunities, review distribution proposals, plan release strategy, challenge assumptions and navigate the inevitable problems that appear between finishing a film and finding its audience.

Retainers from $2,500/month.

Before you sign - make sure you understand it

A distribution offer can look attractive while shifting substantial cost, risk or control back onto the filmmaker.

I can provide an independent commercial and strategic review of an offer or term sheet, including:

• Rights
• Territory
• Term
• Distribution fees
• Expenses
• Marketing commitments
• Delivery requirements
• Revenue structure
• Release commitments
• Commercial implications

Then we'll go through it together so you understand what the deal actually means for the film.

$650

This is commercial and strategic analysis, not legal advice. Distribution agreements should always be reviewed by qualified entertainment counsel before signing.

My latest feature, The Observance, gave me the opportunity to put decades of studio experience through the rather less forgiving machinery of genuinely independent distribution.

We took the film through festivals, awards, theatrical exhibition, international sales and digital release.

Some things worked extraordinarily well.

Some didn't.

And some of the most useful lessons came from the things I would now do differently.

That experience became the basis of my book, The Indie Theatrical Playbook, and informs the work I now do with independent filmmakers.

There is plenty of theory about film distribution.

I'm much more interested in what actually happens when the film has to enter the market.