ABSTRACT
Filmmakers can make the best film ever made, but if they do not know how to sell it – nobody’s gonna watch. This universal truism –that applies to all products, not just film – was alluded to again and again in the author's conversations with agents, producers and distributors. But these experts often beat around the bush because it is an uncomfortable reality – an unpleasant one too. “Filmmakers always insist that their films are so good. They don’t realize that sometime the quality of the film doesn’t matter,” the distributor said. There is the ideal way things should work – when a television station watches 200 films and buys the best 20 – where quality is the only thing that matters. Then there is the reality. To a potential viewer, the quality of our film will only be truly assessed after they’ve purchased and viewed it.
