How to DIY Your Theatrical Release and Get Your Film Into 300+ Theaters

Here are her 6 top tips in securing a theatrical release yourself:

1. Find public databases of theater owners online 

It’s easy to contact them and pitch them. If you have compelling artwork and a few box office wins already then those theater owners will be interested.

2. You might not have to pay lawyers. 

Contracts aren’t necessarily essential. For example, Stella secured her 200+ theatre deal with Regal via email. 

3. Don’t do it all at once. 

Roll out your film sequentially. Whenever you achieve financial success with a theater, you should get those public numbers and make that success story part of your pitch to the next theater owner. 

4. Short notice is OK. Just move fast.

Most theater owners aren’t thinking ahead more than a few weeks of what they will book. The first contact was usually just a few weeks before the theater showed the movie. So make sure you have everything ready to go. 

5. Personal contacts within your network go a long way.

Stella’s husband had an old business contact at Regal, which ultimately helped Tulsa secure their first deal. Most people have more extensive networks than they realize. Trawl through your contacts list and see if there’s anyone you can connect with. 

6. Budget for it.  

Filmmakers rarely budget for publicity, let alone self-distribution of theatrical releases. However, there are many extra costs involved that you should be aware of before you begin filming. These include FB ads, VPF’s, poster printing and many more.

About the Director, Gloria Stella

Gloria Stella is an award-winning film producer, director, author and speaker. She is most widely known for producing the theatrical film “Tulsa” (2020) starring John Schneider that also served as her directorial debut. Prior to “Tulsa”, Gloria produced the feature film, “Blackbear” (2019) starring Eric Roberts and was part of the producing teams for the feature film, “Stand Your Ground” starring “Overcomer” Cameron Arnett (2014) and the first season of the nationally broadcast TV talk show, “The Christian View.”

About the Author

While studying Film Theory at King’s College London Efosa began creating visual content for fashion brands and musicians. In recent years Efosa has since made the foray into cinema as a producer / production manager. With a keen eye for narrative detail and the creative side of producing. From working with some of the biggest names in music, Efosa has risen up the ranks at a rapid pace having only been in the industry less than 5 years. In that time he has worked on productions with Game of Thrones stars and other internationally renowned actors and had films screened stateside.