Is a cinema release worth it?

In the last 48 hours, I have had two detailed phone calls with good friends directors Piotr Szkopiak and Liam O Mochain about whether a cinema release is worth it for a small lowish budget film.

Increasingly more and more micro-budget to low budget British and Irish films are failing to have a cinema outing. Why?

With the exception of Alex Gibney’s ZERO DAYS, all I have released for the last 20 years are British & Irish films and usually ones that other distributors have turned down so I have learned a thing or two along the way that might be worth sharing. 

A film released theatrically will result in guaranteed reviews in an array of publications. Sometimes a straight to video/online release can bring some reviews but it is increasingly unlikely. 

For certain low budget films, my advice is to only ever release in the cinema in the country of origin. What some filmmakers seem to forget is that the losses from a cinema release are carried forward into other areas such as TV etc. I have released so many films where I have not returned any money to the sales agents/ filmmakers because of this. 

In the last 20 years when I have discussed with the filmmaker the option of forgoing the cinema because it would be better financially to go straight to other sectors, only one of them, Merlin Ward has opted for this route. I licensed his film to a broadcaster and once I had taken my commission his grateful investors had a decent return towards the recoupment of the budget.

That said my four most successful films in terms of ongoing TV sales Terry Ryans’ THE BRYLCREEM BOYS (4 different broadcasters), Ira Trattner’s TWO MEN WENT TO WAR (3 different broadcasters) and ADAM & PAUL (3 different broadcasters), Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe’s URBAN GHOST STORY (3 different broadcasters) only achieved this because they were released in the cinema which resulted in good solid reviews. However the first two I have not been able to license to TV for well over 10 years. 

Many films that I could have sold straight to TV first have later failed to sell to TV due to poor reviews the then received when released in the cinema. A bird in the hand. 

Also, many films I have released in the cinema have never sold to a UK broadcaster even with fairly good reviews. Unlike say in France, a cinema release does not guarantee a TV sale. 

This is not because these films are not good it is simply because of the huge volume of films that are made every single year. Chris Jones says this figure could be as high as 15,000 per year. 

I would seriously doubt that any more than 2,500 of these make it to the UK and that includes all forms of online and TV (TV show now fewer and fewer films each year).

Therefore, any low budget film that manages one week in the UK cinema these days on 5 prints or more and results in a few good reviews really is a winner. 

However, for broadcasters such as Netflix, there is a greater value to them for films that have not been seen on the big screen but debut on their platform. 

Ask yourself this. You have £10 to see a film on Friday and only one day free. Do you see the $200 million film set in outer space with lots of people, you have heard of or the £250,000 set in Penge with no one you have heard of?

Sometimes straight to TV/ online is the better option. 

A dilemma which only the filmmaker can really answer. 

Times they are a changing. 

A cheery note on the eve of The London Screenings.