Gatekeeping in the Evolving Business of Independent Film Distribution

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.

• 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.