How do I get a indie film distributed?

Well, me and some friends are making an indie film and are also going to edit it to make it better and such.





However, how do we get an indie film distributed??





PS. We are in a drama group, we are not some random guys making some crappy movie thing.





Also, this applies to britain and not the usa or whatever.|||Ah, now here's a good question and there are entire books, volumes of books devoted to this subject so my answer isn't going to come close to all there is to know about film distribution even if I did know everything, which I most certainly do not.





Film distribution is not limited to just one country, it is now and has for some time been a global endeavor. International buyers come from all over the world to attend film festivals and markets like Cannes, Berlin, American Film Market (AFM in Santa Monica CA), SXSW, Sundance and Toronto to name just a few of the big market/festivals. So whether you are in Britain, Norway, France or in the U.S., it's all pretty much the same. Also keep in mind there's a difference between a film festival and a market and most of these events have both running simultaneously.





You can take your completed film and enter it into festivals with the hope that sales agents or distribution companies themselves notice your film. Sales agents or brokers are middlemen that would market your film to buyers, if your film is good enough (marketable), a distributor would try to tie up all the rights themselves. 99.9% of films however end up with a sales agent whose job it is to travel around to the various markets which are like any other business conventions and use his or her network to sell your film into as many territories as possible. For instance, a British sales agent may be responsible for marketing your film within and beyond Britain but is also in the business of buying the licensing rights for films from the world to show in theaters or put on shelves within Britain.





Because of the steep commissions and costs involved when dealing with a sales agent or broker and the relatively low licensing fees most films garner on the open market, some indie producers are choosing to self distribute via the web, and using storefront software and social media to drive traffic to their site where they sell not only the film but all kinds of ancillary stuff like T shirts, hats or coffee mugs.





Also, you should know that starless dramas are a hard sell in the market. Horror and action move the quickest, even when somewhat poorly done. Dramas, documentaries and comedies are a much tougher sell. You owe it to yourself to spend a few hundred dollars and visit one of these film markets so you can see what you will be dealing with. You should also familiarize yourself with the technical aspects of "Delivery" which ALL buyers both domestic and foreign are going to require of you before buying your film. Delivery covers all aspects from your legal paperwork being in order to the master tapes and sound passing QC (Quality Control) checks before releasing payment to you. The vast majority of first time filmmakers get blindsided by delivery issues both in cost and technical involvement and it train wrecks their projects. Getting through the delivery process of your film often adds several thousand dollars to the cost of production which you never thought about or even accounted for.