Documentary Film Distributors and Wholesalers Key Terms

Use documentary film distributors and wholesalers key terms to establish yourself professionally

By Christine Pollock

Many documentary film businesses find that purchasing wholesale equipment saves them time and money. They turn to distributors and wholesalers for bulk purchase items like documentary films. Knowing documentary film distributors and wholesalers key terms benefits both the distributor and the business.

With a keen understanding of documentary film distributors and wholesalers key terms, businesses and wholesalers communicate effectively. The knowledge makes it easier to understand specifically which type of documentary a consumer is looking for and which titles the wholesaler or distributor provides.

Wholesaler

A wholesaler is a person who purchases large quantities of goods, such as documentary videos, then resells the titles to merchants as opposed to selling directly to customers.
Try: KnowThis defines the benefits of becoming a wholesaler, including the benefits to the consumer. It describes the job in detail.

Documentary film

A documentary film is a type of film that portrays reality in one form or another. A documentary frequently includes interviews. Many wholesalers look for the documentary genre since it appeals to many consumers.
Try: WiseGEEK offers a brief history of the term documentary. It discusses the type of filming along with explanations of how filmmakers use documentaries.

Genres

There are many genres, or categories, in documentary and nonfiction. Some of these include autobiographical or ethnographic documentary, direct cinema, compilation films and television documentary journalism. Non-fiction includes memoirs and autobiographies.
Try: DocumentaryFilms.Net offers an example of different types of genres for documentary film. It demonstrates how a documentary could be a drama, an independent title, a classic title or some other genre.

Narrative film

This type of film covers a series of events in a structured format. Using cause and effect, the events themselves provide the plot for the films. The story lines tend to run in a linear or chronological format.
Try: Examiner.com details ways that a filmmaker can take a narrative and use it in a documentary. It discusses the idea of narrative in documentaries.

Adaptation

An adaptation takes one art form and presents it in another medium. For example, an adaptation could include a film version of a popular book or a stage version of a film. The adaptation maintains historical settings and a majority of the original dialogue.
Try: Acorn Media Group provides a list of films it offers in its wholesale catalog, including adaptations such as "Marple" and "Village Affair."

Distributor

A distributor is a third party who sells products from a company to the consumer, often at wholesale prices.
Try: The International Documentary Association is a rich resource for learning how to distribute your documentary films. It offers tips on research and strategies for independent documentary film distribution.