Selling a educational license of my Documentary

[Pierre Le Blanc]

Hi, I usually won't be asking this but this is a very unusual request I had, I recently finished an hour documentary that now I'm trying to get some distribution showing it at some festivals. I expend about $25K from my pocket plus all the hour of work that are not included in that amount. an of course was filmed with a Red

A interactive learning centre recently contact me to buy an "educational license" of the film to have it display in their centre. they are willing to pay for it but I have not idea how much to charge for such license. Any Clue or help will be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Ryan Williams]

Pierre,

I'd recommend doing a bit of research and talking with other documentary makers who've sold similar licenses to their film(s). I realize that it might be hard to track down said information given how "niche" it is. An alternative is to use a standard licensing model (again I'd recommend reaching out to other film makers who've licensed their stuff before) and then apply an educational discount to the price of the license, as their intention is not to use it commercially. However, I do not like to give discounts as a general business rule. It doesn't mean I don't do them, but I feel that it devalues my business. Everyone is different though, so feel free to make your own judgement call here. I'd lean towards doing a value based license but that may not be your style.

***Caveat: I'm not there and can't judge the requesting entity so you'll need to use your best judgement.*** My opinion here...is that it doesn't sound like it is going to be used for in the fashion I'd label as "educational" if the interactive learning center is a commercial entity. It sounds like they just want your documentary under the guise of "educational use" so they can save money rather than paying for a full license. If they are a non-profit and you determine that they are only using it for educational/teaching purposes, then you'll need to decide if you want to discount it or not.

 

[Jim Skinner]

It really depends on what the center is going to do with the film. If they are going to promote it in advertising and such then other venues may consider that your "premiere". If so you will be giving away something of immense value. If they are going to silently play it in a corner of an exhibition then maybe it's just free money and you can still try to work the festival circuit. The first thing you are asked on the festival forms is "will this be your premiere?". Once you have traded away the clout of your premiere you will have less going for the film.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

I don't have a lot of experience with distribution but from what I have gleaned from various panels and presentations I have seen, you might do well to contact a distribution company that specializes in the educational market. I am sure there are several out there but I have developed a very positive sense for a company called RoCo Films. They seem very approachable and might be worth a phone call; even if just to gather information.

http://www.rocofilms.com

Note: I have no personal or business connection with the company.

 

[Tom Dowler]

Check out the pricing that Tugg uses for educational distribution. Probs a good starting point.

In fact, you could do the licensing through Tugg so they take care of all the legal stuff.

http://eduhome.tugg.com/

 

[Tom Dowler]

Also think about approaching a distributor - either a regular doc distributor like Gravitas (who will sub-license out to edu-specific distribs) or an edu-specific distrib.

If you already have one sale lined up, that's great for them.

 

[Pierre Le Blanc]

Great Thanks so Much

Check out the pricing that Tugg uses for educational distribution. Probs a good starting point.

In fact, you could do the licensing through Tugg so they take care of all the legal stuff.

http://eduhome.tugg.com/