How to Find Distribution

In addition to the information below, our programming chair hosts quarterly distribution workshops to help new programmers learn the ropes. Please contact us if you have any questions about programming.

Nontheatrical distributors

There are many distributors that Doc does not - cannot - deal with. In fact, we never deal with Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Warner Brothers, United Artists, and many other (present and former) major Hollywood distributors. As a nontheatrical venue, we deal only with nontheatrical distributors - most often Swank Motion Pictures and Criterion Pictures, which own the rights to most Hollywood fare, old and new.

Independent distributors are another matter, however. We deal directly with many independents, though not all (e.g., Miramax is considered an independent, but their films are available only through Swank).

So, for example, do not list "Paramount" for your distribution. That does not count as a distributor. Instead, look up the film on Swank and Criterion. Chances are that one of them has it.

Finding distribution

Swank Motion Pictures and Criterion Pictures have almost all recent, mainstream American films and older and classic Hollywood films, as well as some foreign films and independents. Check these distributors first, before you look elsewhere.

If neither Swank nor Criterion has the film, your next step is to go to Internet Movie Data Base: First, look up the title of the film. When you've arrived at the film's webpage, click on "company credits" (on the left-hand side of the screen). Here, you'll see the distributor(s) listed. Once you have the name of the original distributor, check the list below to determine the current distributor.