A sales agent and a distributor aren't two words for the same person.

This is part one of two. Today, who these people are. Next time, what they cost. Calling the wrong one first costs first-time filmmakers more money than almost any other mistake.

The sales agent works for you. They take your finished film, sometimes just your package, and go find buyers. Territory by territory, platform by platform, at the markets. AFM. Berlin. The Marche at Cannes. They price it, position it, place it. They never buy your movie.

The distributor is the buyer. They license or acquire the rights for a territory or a platform and then release the thing. Theatrical, streaming, transactional, home. They pay a minimum guarantee, or take a share of revenue, or both. They control the date, the art, and the campaign.

So who do you call. The sales agent, and earlier than feels natural. Before the festival, not after, because a good one helps you choose your premiere instead of reacting to it. You don't cold call a distributor at all. That's the agent's job, or your premiere does it for you.

One warning. A lot of the companies that come at first-time filmmakers are neither of these. They're aggregators, and they charge you a fee to put your film on a platform. So ask one question. Who's writing the check. If it's you, that's a service you're buying, not a deal you're closing.

And whoever you sign with, ask for the deliverables list before you sign, not after. E&O insurance, an M&E track, a QC'd master. That list is real money. More first features die at delivery than at the deal.

Part two next. Whether you need both of them, and whether you pay both.