These questions are for professionals in the field (I think there are a couple here) or anyone else who can supply answers.

I am very noncommittally considering starting a DVD production company dealing exclusively with rare and overlooked films. Needless to say, my purpose is not to make millions, but to get certain films I like, or would like to see, more exposure on DVD.
I have done a bit of desultory research here and there, but it seems there's little to be gleaned from internet search engines.

Questions:

1. Where do I find the names and contact info for copyright owners? Is there a worldwide database that stocks such info? And how do I find out if a movie is public domain? I guess these are the first steps.

2. I'm sure it varies greatly, but what is a ballpark figure for acquiring distribution rights to movies? If it's usually in the thousands, I won't even bother, since I really have very little to start, and because it wouldn't be prudent to pay a lot for something that will give a marginal return.

3. Instead of an upfront cost, can one negotiate with rights holders to instead accept royalties on sales? That would be hugely beneficial to me. The arrangement would probably not be a windfall for either the owner or me, but at least he would be assured that someone else is not getting rich from something for which he was paid a small one-time amount.


These are basically the initial steps in the process, I guess. When these concerns have been addressed, then one can figure out such issues as remastering, distribution, etc. As I said though, I'm not hell-bent on doing this. I'm just mulling it over as a possibility.

I appreciate any advice.

i am not in the know at all here, but if thousands scares you away, this is going to be the wrong venture for you.

You're probably going to need millions of dollars for film rights, disc design and mastering, DVD production, advertising and distributions costs. And no one will consider dealing with you unless you have significant financial backing by investors.

I'm not thinking of blockbusters here, but low-profile foreign films, Canadian films (which are tragically under-represented on the market) TV movies, maybe documentaries. Do companies like Anchor Bay or VCI spend millions for film rights? I doubt it. Why would I fork over even in the thousands for a DVD that will sell maybe 50 copies? The whole point is to get these films out there for the few people who love them and want to have them in their collections, or for people who have had them on their "to see" lists for years.

This article has some good food for thought about niche dvd markets.

Millions is right. For the major studios it would be an investment in the billions.

Your aware that even companies like the defunct Home Vision Entertainment were worth many millions of dollars?

anchor bay made alot of money on workout videos and with that were able to get there hands on some horror films, but if you think films in franchises like Halloween, Evil Dead, and Phantasm aren't worth millions, then i think your in the wrong boat. even being in the public domain dollar movie business will cost millions to get going if your ever going to make profit.

There were words in my post after "film rights," but you didn't seem to read them.

First, you'll have to pay to license the titles you want to release. The rights owner would then provide you with a film print of the movie, or if you're very lucky, a copy of the film that has already been transferred to video. But if they're obscure films that are not available on video, let's bet on the former. If that's the case, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to have a film print transferred to video.

Now that you have the film on video, you have to author the DVD. This includes designing menus, etc. This is going to cost a few thousand dollars, even if you do it on the cheap. Unless you happen to own the equipment and know how to do it yourself.

Once the disc is authored, you'll have to design a cover. Are you a graphic artist? Get out your checkbook. And you're going to have to pay a printer to print the cover art. And you'll need to buy empty keepcases to put the discs in.

Now you're ready to have your DVDs pressed. This might not be as expensive as you'd think, but there will be a minimum. A pressing plant isn't going to waste its time unless you're having at least a few hundred, or maybe a few thousand, pressed. Cha-ching.

You have your packaged discs in hand. But how will people know what you've got to sell? You're going to have to advertise. I'm sure Geoff will cut you a deal, but DVD Talk is just one outlet. How much are you willing to spend?

So no, it's not as easy as paying copyright owners $100 to let you sell their property as a hobby. Starting a business --- any business --- takes some cash. Believe me, I know a few people who have done it.

And at some point, you'll need a lawyer to look everything over to make sure you have properly secured the rights to every little thing. Are there actors who will be owed residuals? Do you have legal clearance for all the music? What about photos used in your artwork?

You don't set the licensing fees, the copyright holders do. You'll fork over what they ask for or you can walk away. You'll discover that movie studios are not charities.

I don't think pressing 50 copies for, presumably, 50 fans of a single film is cost-justified. Unless they're paying a few K per disc?

Okay, so I guess it's not feasible to do this on the scale I was thinking. The avarice of the business world never fails to amaze me. If you own the rights to some ignored, cobwebbed old movie, wouldn't you rather get it out there at a doable cost than wait for a jackpot that's never going to come? Just a thought.

As for it costing buckets of money to develop a DVD, there must be ways to do it on the cheap, otherwise companies like Brentwood (whose titles I'm sure are public domain, so that aspect is not an issue) wouldn't be able to crank out 50-film collections for under $20. Of course, the quality is shitty and there's no love for the films.

the quality may be shitty but they still have the equipment to do telecine transfers and author DVDs. Professional DVD-authoring software is very expensive--thousands.

Hell, it will cost you thousands just to get the lawyers to figure out who owns the rights to more obscure titles alone.

An idea, it could be rewarding and easier to find local films on dvd, like your own, or friends, and burn them on your computer. Look for good equipment, and do it all yourself.

Actually, I think the public domain route is a good way to start. I believe you can look that up online, or at least that's what I've been lead to believe in regards to PD books.

On such a small scale there are units that will "press" the DVDs for you at a price point I would think may be doable. I have seen machinces ranging from a few grand up that burn from a master and print artwork.

Designing covers and having them printed could be done at home for a few grand as well. I know I could do it in my home office if I would buy a decent high end printer.

Designing and authoring a DVD can be done with software packages that are not highly unreasonable. Just go to Apple.com and search around.

It is the getting film rights and moving them to the digital domain that is going to get you.

So on a similar note, anyone know how to get involved with an already established DVD production or distribution company, preferably based out of Chicago? Is Benten Films based out of Chicago?

As a soon to be law school graduate, I'm still struggling with the idea of combining my hobbies and passions with a viable career. Not having a tech. background has made it hard to really get intellectual property experience as it's impossible to find trademark and copyright jobs as opposed to patents, and I keep trying to think of ways to get involved in the business side of things, but possibly on a smaller scale and still be able to stay in the city I love.

With graduation looming, and a resume of jobs I know I would never be happy in long term, any suggestions? (This thread seems very off topic now)

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll shelve the whole idea though. It all sounds pretty cutthroat and hopeless for a smalltime operator.

thanks for opening this thread with an interesting question though. very informative imho

Geeez....do you guys think all these people like ELITE, or SYNAPSE, or RETROMEDIA or ANY of them started with MILLIONS? You gotta be kidding me.

All these post here have told you is WHY its NOT possible. Its crap, quite frankly. If its your dream to do it, give it your best shot. Start small, start with ONE thing and see where it goes. If it doesn't pan out, try path B. The mechanics of getting a disc pressed and packaged is not much. Rights negotiations don't have to involve money up front. People are not neccesarily lining up to purchase the rights to release alot of this stuff. In the digital age, lots can be done independent of expensive, professional video production services.

Take a look at what the guys at HPLHS have managed to do with a little film they MADE called CALL OF CTHUHLU. Or the guys at LURKER FILMS with their slate of discs. They started SMALL, trust me. And they did it and succeeded and they started where you are now....

there's a company called big screen films that makes imax movies. i applied for a job there but ending up leaving chicago shortly thereafter. they're based out of evanston, last i knew of though.

in regards to the original poster, considering that you're specifically thinking of doing this in regards to canadian films, there are bounds to be grants or government-sponsored business loans that would help you out. all in the aim of preserving the canadian arts.

you could do what film movement does and find small filmmakers at festivals and cheaply buy the rights to distribute on video. or put up the production costs and get free rights but then split the profits. you could model your business off cdbaby or cdbuy, I can't remember what it's called, but make the dvds one at a time at home and then when someone orders, you press it and send it.

also, if you printed up 30 extras at the beginning and mailed them "for review" to all the major sites then you could get free publicity that way. as well as getting local papers to write up about you.

i definitely think it's doable. but instead of going with PD stuff that's gonna look like crap due to time, maybe try and go for newer stuff (as someone mentioned above) with local filmmakers that, if they know what they're doing, should already be looking good and already be available in digital form.

You could try contacting some of these smaller publishers mentioned and see if they'll talk to you about how they got into it. The guy at Unearthed is approachable, for example. Worth a shot.

Great, I'm glad it has been useful for others.
Thanks for the pep talk. Problem is, I still have no clue where to find something elementary like a list of rights holders and contact numbers. If I had that I could at least contact someone directly. Then the conversation might go something like, "Oh, you want 50 Large upfront for the rights to The House by the Lake? Haha, thanks anyway. Goodbye."

Well...might try an informal question posed to the folks at some of the smaller DVD labels. They may be more willing help with advice than you would expect. Its always best to ask the folks directly who have done it before...

I really admire the thoughts of the original poster, but the best advice I have heard is from Bruce Williams. Don't even think about getting into a business as an owner unless you have worked in the industry.

Your motivation to bring smaller releases is something that I would love to see succeed, but the problems mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg. I realize the advice above sounds negative, but it is generally valid. You can't begin to understand how complex other jobs are until you have to depend on it for a living.

After all, how much does it cost to make a pizza, especially when you are using the economies of scale. And then you sell it for $12-$20. That's all pure profit, right?

When a caller asks Bruce (on his radio show) about starting a company that (insert idea here), the first question he asks is, "How much experience do you have in the field ?". If the reply is "None", he tells them to take a job for at least 6-12 months to learn what is involved, even at an entry level. The usual reply here is "But I can't afford to do that". "Well then, what makes you think you can afford to carry the whole thing?"

Even getting Small Business loans requires a major investment from the principal participants to secure. They will ask the exact same questions pertaining to your liquidity and qualifications. If you aren't willing to invest in yourself, why would anyone else?

Again, I think the OP's idea is great. There are so many films that will never see the light of day on DVD. This is a loss of part of our culture. It's possible that electronic distribution will bring some of these out, but many will still only be memories.

It will take the work of a Ted Turner (who will probably colorize them ) or a Steven Spielberg to be a little charitable to get this working. Bet even then, it will have to be at least a break even proposition to get going. This may be the best place to spend energy (as an individual) as compared to trying to start up in an already over-crowded field.

Maybe even a company like Criterion would be interested in a value line of films. They would name it something other than Criterion and not do the wonderful job of remastering that we are used to, but it would be better than what we see from public domain releases.

Again, I don't want to be a Negative Nancy, but it really is an uphill battle. Getting in contact with people already in the industry and getting even one person excited is probably the best route. I love the concept and wish you well if you choose to pursue it.

Join the forum at DVDmaniacs.net and post this question. Don May, Jr, president of Synapse Films is a member and probably has the most knowledge of anybody.

He's a good guy.

Hell, shoot him a PM.