PFD Agreement
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | A deal where a distributor, often a big studio, agrees to directly pay for a movie's entire budget, in exchange for producing, financing, and distribution rights all at once. |
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| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Cash-Flowing, Negative Pickup, Studio |
Imagine one single friend agreeing to pay for every single supply your lemonade stand needs, cover any surprise costs along the way, and then also be the one who sells it at the farmers market. One person handling the whole thing from start to finish, instead of stitching together several separate deals.
A PFD agreement, short for production, financing, and distribution agreement, works this way for a movie. A distributor, typically a Studio, agrees to cash-flow, meaning directly pay for as it happens, the entire budget of a film, in exchange for producing, financing, and distribution rights all bundled together in one deal.
Fun facts
- A PFD agreement is simpler for a producer than juggling separate loans, presales, and distribution deals, but it usually means giving up more control to the studio.
- Unlike a Negative Pickup, where the distributor only pays once the movie is delivered, a PFD agreement has the distributor paying for costs directly as they happen during production.
- PFD agreements are most common with major studios, since covering an entire movie's budget directly takes serious financial resources.