Television is a market that is hard to monetize if you DIY. You should get yourself a TV sales agent if you can. These agents/reps deal with television buyers all the time; they also go to specific television sales markets throughout the world.

Like foreign sales reps, foreign television sales reps typically take 25 percent of the sale as a fee, less expenses. Make sure you limit the foreign or TV rep’s expenses in your agreement. At most, you should be paying a percentage of their market expenses (split with the other films they represent on a proportional basis). At best, you should not be required to reimburse them for market expenses, since they attend these markets with a large slate of films.

Join me in Cannes on May 15th at the Producer’s Network Breakfast at 9am and on May 16th where Liz Rosenthal and I will be doing a presentation at the Short Film Corner from 4pm to 5pm. Check out my blog, for more information. Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.