Is a booking agency right for me? And some other general booking questions

[Joshua McGillis]

Hey there! Seeking some booking / licensing advice, but some quick About Me context. I'm a new (about a year) exhibitor doing monthly, niche / repertory screenings that are considered 'non-theatrical'. I'm partnered with an events venue, but outside of those elements, I do everything myself. Since I only do monthly screenings, this is both manageable and affordable (I guess), so I never considered the need for a booking agent or film buyer. However, after reading through some of the threads here, I was surprised to see how frequently it was recommended, if not for scheduling then still for general cost-savings.

Being a monthly, DIY, non-theatrical event, would you still recommend using, or at least reaching out to, a film buyer (I've seen Clark mentioned a lot here)? Is it likely I would see cost savings over just booking with Swank, Criterion, studios, etc. directly? Or is that advice something more targeted to actual commercial cinemas? I'm generally quoted $150-300 per showing, with some outliers like Fortune Star asking for $1,500 (ha!).

Anyway, I did have some some other misc. licensing questions too...

I've reached out to or worked with most of the major firms, but are there any others you would recommend? I like looking through catalogs even if I don't end up booking as it helps round out programming availability. I've looked at Swank, Criterion, Janus, Sony Pictures Classics, Rialto.

Are some studios (that do first-party booking) selective about who they license to? If a studio gives a quote but then blows you off, is there a good way to build rapport or reputation to work with them or will some studios just not want to work with the small fish?

I saw some requests for Netflix booking information -- is that something they offer for titles they've purchased rights to? I've seen they offer educational licensing, but I haven't encountered anything about public exhibitions. I've seen some promotion for Netflix titles being screened as repertory films at fests, things like that, but dunno about exclusivity or expense.

I've seen promotion for ticketed (and sometimes free) screenings at commercial theaters for lots of obscure (generally direct-to-video) titles, but I cannot figure out where people are finding licenses for things like this! Stuff from places like Seasonal Film Corporation -- some titles are with Swank (like Drunken Master), some are with Kino Lorber (at least, I think No Retreat, No Surrender is...), others, like Bloodmoon or King of the Kickboxers, I can't find any information for at all. If anyone has a contact for these, or PM Entertainment titles like T-Force, Rage, Last Man Standing, or just obscure/direct-to-video titles in general, I would be forever grateful.

And on that note, are there resources available for determining who holds rights, etc.? I've tried looking through the US Copyright portal, IMDB Pro, studios directly, but those are all rarely useful, especially for older titles or defunct production companies. Maybe that's where the agent comes in, eh?

Anyway, this all kind of got away from me, and overall booking has been going well, but I appreciate any insights that anyone is willing to share!

[Armand Daiguillon]

If you are only doing non theatrical repetory stuff - you don't need a film buyer ..... you just need to get the contacts in the studios that handle that stuff, although most will be available through places you already mentioned (swank, critereon, etc) You also mentioned Netflix ....that won't happen unfortunately.
Is there a specific issue that you are having that you think a film buyer can address ?

[Scott Norwood]

I wouldn't discourage you from talking to a booker and asking what he can do for you. This wouldn't take long, and you might learn something.

That said, I don't personally see the point for repertory titles. There is not much price negotiation involved (though, if dealing with Swank, they can and will give volume discounts if you book a number of titles at once). Each distributor has different criteria to use to distingusih between theatrical and non-theatrical, so a venue like a performing-arts center (the type of place for which I have booked films) might be considered theatrical with some distributors and non-theatrical with others. If you can get classified as theatrical, you will generally get better film terms. In any case, once you are set up with the distributors, these bookings are basically done by making a phone call (or sending an email message) and writing a check. I suppose that a booker might save you some time by doing the research for you, but his time is not free.

A few possible situations where it might make sense: if you need someone who can make programming decisions (or, at least, recommendations) for you, if you need access to rare prints (including from collectors and archives) that are not just available to any venue, or if you might want to be able to play first-run or otherwise limited releases in the future.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I can tell you that the city of Richfield, UT got taken to court by one or more studios for playing movies that should have been licensed to show... but were not. So be careful there!!! This was in the early 2000's. I used to service the theater there...

[Martin McCaffery]

Just a warning, if you show Disney non-theatrical, then you cannot show Disney theatrical. It may never come up, but keep in mind that also includes the Fox catalog, which also includes Searchlight.
Of course, Disney can change this anytime it wants.

[Scotty Wright]

if dealing with Swank

my theater has used Swank for years and they’re reliable enough, but couple times this summer we’ve booked rep titles and then been told by them that a DCP isn’t available, only to see another theater booking the same title and screen it from a DCP. And at least once, when we tried to go directly through the studio, they told us to use Swank.

[Joshua McGillis]

If you are only doing non theatrical repetory stuff - you don't need a film buyer ..... you just need to get the contacts in the studios that handle that stuff, although most will be available through places you already mentioned (swank, critereon, etc) You also mentioned Netflix ....that won't happen unfortunately.
Is there a specific issue that you are having that you think a film buyer can address ?

No, not necessarily. But I'm always interested in cost-savings and expanding my available catalog, especially for some more obscure titles I haven't been able to track down.

I had pretty much assumed that was the case with Netflix, however, I did see they screened one of their older titles at a genre fest. Oh well.

[Joshua McGillis]

I can tell you that the city of Richfield, UT got taken to court by one or more studios for playing movies that should have been licensed to show... but were not. So be careful there!!! This was in the early 2000's. I used to service the theater there...

Heh, yes, I'm familiar with some theaters in my area having some recent clashes. I'm a very, very small part-time operation, but I do my best to keep things legitimate.