Sales Agents

How do I find a sales agent?

It’s a good idea to start exploring sales agents early on at international workshops, festivals and markets. This enables you to gain exposure for your project while it’s still in development.

There are only a handful of (specialised) sales agents that take on (small) non-English language films. The sales agents that are willing to sell Dutch films, do this primarily because they have an affinity with these films. So, before approaching a sales agent, you should familiarise yourself with what sort of films they have in the catalogue.

What does a sales agent do?

A sales agent brings your film to the attention of the appropriate target groups, such as international festival programmers, distributors and the media, with the ultimate objective of selling the film to a foreign distributor who will then release it in their territory.

Approaching a sales agent yourself

Of course, you can approach sales agents yourself. It’s important to approach agents with a line-up or catalogue which more or less ‘matches’ your film. Make sure to present your film properly, preferably by means of a well-crafted package of information, including: depending on the production phase a screenplay or a screening link, budget, synopsis, stills, director and producer’s filmography and statements, information about the cast, references and rationale indicating why you’re approaching this particular sales agent.

At the very least, a sales agent will always want to know what the film is about (theme, genre), what its target audience(s) is/are and, if the film is still in development, how the film is going to be produced (screenplay, budget, cast, crew).

Being selected for a major festival increases your chances of finding a sales agent.