10/05/2011

A new London-based sales company, especially tailored for independent filmmakers, is making its inaugural visit to Cannes this year. 7&7 Producers’ Sales Service offers a “new model” to enable producers of independent features to retain control of their projects throughout the sales process by selling directly to distributors.

In a bid to stop independent films from getting “eaten alive during the sales process,” founders Maura and Anthony Ford say they have found a new way for these low-budget films to still get a “significant return” during the sales process.

“My husband and I…have both advised informally on lower budget films and despaired at how many independent filmmakers rarely see a significant return for all their hard work. We decided to do something about it we created a company to enable producers to sell their films directly to distributors,” she said.

As per Anthony Ford, the company is more of a producers’ sales service than a sales company. “We work on behalf of the producer all the way from advising on final cut and the market potential for the film; to finding buyers in all the territories and negotiating the most favorable distribution terms, as well as helping the producer to analyze reports and chase collections,” he said.

All deals are signed directly between the producers and the buyers. Ford explains: “Our philosophy is very simple. It’s your film, made with your investors’ money, and your talent’s skill – keep control of it. We’ll find buyers, negotiate the deal as a sales agent would, but the deal is directly between the producer and the buyer. We then invoice for our commission once the money arrives in the producer’s account. The producer remains responsible for all the costs for promoting their film: the screenings, the screeners, the leaflets and promotion.

“These are all expenses that would be charged back by a regular sales agent anyway. In our case we’ll advise, on how best to market the film to buyers, but the producer will decide how much and what to spend the money on. If 7&7 does pay out for expenses on behalf of the producer, we do so only if pre-approved. We don’t charge a mark up on the expenses, so there is no incentive for us to encourage any higher spend than absolutely necessary.”