Gatekeeping in the Evolving Business of Independent Film Distribution, 1st ed. 2019
Palgrave Global Media Policy and Business Series

This book is about the business of distribution, around which the international film business revolves. Considering sales agents and distributors as primary gatekeepers, the book examines the networks in which they operate, how they operate, how their practices have evolved, and the power and control they exert over the business of independent film distribution. Critically, it also considers how they are affected by the powerful influence of Netflix and Amazon in the online era. At a time of disruption and change to traditional business models and industry professions, Roderik Smits argues that gatekeepers remain equally ? if not more ? crucial to the distribution and circulation of films in international markets.

1. Film Distribution and the Role of Gatekeepers.-2. The Historical Development of Film Sales Markets.-3. The Film Sales Process at the European Film Market.-4. Analysing Sales Agents as Gatekeepers.-5. Sales Agents and their Gatekeeper Functions.-6. The Gatekeeper Role of Distributors in the Netherlands.-7. VOD platforms in the Era of Online Availability.-8. The Powerful Influence of Netflix and Amazon Studios.-9. Changing Circumstances of Gatekeepers.-10. Experiments with Direct Distribution in the UK.-11. Conclusion.

Roderik Smits is Research Associate in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York, UK. He is interested in the changing nature of the film industry and his research has been published in Poetics, Studies in European Cinema, Arts and the Market, Cultural Trends and the Journal of British Cinema and Television.