Overview

This four-week online course will offer you deep insight into the strategies and practicalities of preparing your documentaries’ distribution.

The programme will cover festivals, sales and distribution, and give filmmakers and producers a strong understanding of how to position, package and promote their film from pre-production through to premiere and beyond.

The course combines a series of presentations, lectures, brainstorming sessions, practical tasks, and feedback, and you will leave with a renewed energy and understanding of distribution strategy.

Course content

Week 1

An overview of film festivals, strategising your film and distribution plan. We cover schedules, submissions, and tactics of approach.
Homework: create a festival strategy for your film

Week 2

A focus on sales and distribution – how do you engage a sales agent, what use are they? What are distributors looking for?

Week 3

Windows, Rights, Contracts – A week about the messy complexities and the business side of filmmaking.
Homework: Create a press pack for your project

Week 4

How to attend and work a film festival. This week covers what to expect, to prepare and how to make the most of your film festival journey.
 

Course team

Luke W. Moody

Luke W Moody is a creative producer and curator developing new work with LONO studio. From 2017-2019 he was Director of Film Programming at the world-leading non-fiction film festival Sheffield Doc/Fest curating the 200 film programme across short and long-form documentary film and producing live events. Previously he was Head of Film at Doc Society, co-commissioning long-form documentary cinema across six international film funds from development to completion including Oscar-winning CITIZENFOUR, and Oscar-nominated Virunga, The Square and Dirty Wars, and creative non-fiction works such as Shirkers, Black Mother, Hale County This Morning This Evening, and Bisbee 17. Additionally, he executive produced feature-length Indian documentary An Insignificant Man (Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London, IDFA) in 2016 and led on filmmaker outreach globally for Doc Society, managing UK impact distribution campaigns, innovating new means of creating social impact with documentary film. He also co-founded and curated creative documentary festival FRAMES of REPRESENTATION film festival at ICA, London and online curation platform Something Real.

Course information last modified: 25 Jan 2023, 17:16