International Sales, Rights and Press Materials — Getting Your Film Ready to Sell

• Sales — Presents the film to distributors, platforms and broadcasters in each country and signs license agreements.
• Markets — Takes a booth at film markets and schedules buyer screenings and meetings.
• Materials — Reviews whether the trailer, poster and press kit work for international buyers and gives feedback.
• Contracts and collections — Oversees contract performance, confirms delivery, collects license fees and sends revenue reports.

Agents earn a commission on sales and may also recoup expenses such as market costs from sales revenue. The rates and what can be deducted vary by contract. When you sign, check carefully which territories and media you’re handing over, the term, which expenses can be deducted and any cap, how often you’ll get reports, and the conditions under which unsold rights come back to you.

A film market is a trade event where rights are bought and sold. Some run alongside major festivals and some stand alone; agents and buyers meet at booths, watch screenings and negotiate terms. It isn’t only finished films that trade — projects in development or production can be pre-sold too, and pre-sales can help finance the budget.

• One-sheet — title, genre, running time, logline, key image, director and lead cast
• Trailer or promo — for an unfinished film, a short promo reel instead
• Screener for buyers — a private link, ideally one that tracks viewing
• Rights availability chart — territories and media already sold, and what’s still open
• Contacts and follow-up materials — a press kit and technical details ready to send right after the meeting

• Territory — A single country, or a group of countries sharing a language or region.
• Media — Theatrical, subscription streaming, buy or rent, free or pay TV, and specialty windows such as airlines and ships.
• Term — Every license has a period during which the rights can be used; when it ends, the rights revert.
• Exclusivity — Whether one buyer has the cell to itself (exclusive) or several share it (non-exclusive).
• Language — Who makes the subtitles and dubs, and which languages the film can be released in.

Overlapping sales lead to disputes, so keep one rights chart and fill in the cells with every deal. You also can’t sell more than the rights you cleared during production. First check that your music, source material, location and likeness releases cover the territories, media and term you plan to sell.

Make separate materials in English for international use. Once you settle the English title, the spelling of character names and the credit order, use them identically across the poster, trailer subtitles and press kit so buyers and press aren’t confused. Also check that the music, photos and fonts in the poster and trailer are licensed for promotional use in every territory.