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Simply put, deliverables are the materials that a distributor needs in order to release a film. Without a negative of some sort, the distributor can't create theatrical release prints. Without a color-corrected video version, the distributor can't broadcast it on TV or release it to your local video chain. Without a legal trail proving that the producer in fact owns the film and all its elements, the distributor won't undertake the legal risk of releasing it. And without a good many color slides, black-and- white prints and quirky anecdotes about the shoot, the distributor won't have the means to publicize the film's release. Deliverables fall into those three categories: print materials, legal documents, and publicity materials, and the bulk of the expense for the deliverables process lies in the first of them.

Creation of deliverables is a huge and consuming process that accompanies any film lucky enough to get any level of sales or distribution. From the distributor's perspective, a timely and high-quality delivery is the backbone of a film's release. But from the producer's perspective, delivery can make the difference between a film's profitability and further debt. And for the low and no-budget filmmaker who has already plumbed the depths of fundraising and charity, the creation of deliverables can be a desperate struggle.

"The filmmaker always expects the distributor to pay for all the delivery items, and it becomes the biggest area of friction," says Marcus Hu from Strand Releasing, which has released the low-budget art house films Crush and Grief. "But on a borderline film, if the filmmaker balks at creating necessary delivery materials, we may decide not to distribute the film at all."

Unfortunately, there's no way around delivery, no El Mariachi-no-budget shortcut, but there are a few hints about how to cash flow the process and juggle the elements so that a producer can ensure that the film does get delivered, and maybe with a few bucks left over afterwards.

• Print Materials
• Legal Materials
• Publicity Materials
• Delivery Shortcuts

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