Verified Deal Benchmarks Across Global Film Markets
The FilmTake Advance Index compiles and enhances documented minimum guarantee deals across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America—directly drawn from hundreds of independent and mid-budget films representing over over 1,300 territorial distribution arrangements worldwide.
It tracks how distributors have valued features with budgets between $500,000 and $60 million—revealing what buyers have actually paid for comparable titles by region, genre, and budget level.
Each entry includes Country of Origin, Language, Distributor by Territory, Sales Representative, Budget, Genre, and Minimum Guarantee (MG), with fictitious film titles used to protect proprietary data while preserving accuracy.
What the Data Reveals
The FilmTake Advance Index replaces speculation with verified evidence—showing what distributors actually pay, how territory counts have collapsed, and which genres and regions still sustain meaningful MGs.
Divided into four datasets, it captures every layer of the independent market:
- Tier A (Prestige, Breakout): Features with festival pedigree, marquee cast, or auteur recognition. These films drive the few remaining competitive auctions and command the highest MGs across multiple major and minor territories.
- Tier B (Commercial, Elevated Genre): Thrillers, elevated horror, crime, and cast-driven action titles that sustain mid-range MGs and remain the most active category in today’s market.
- Tier C (Arthouse, Quiet Drama): Critically regarded films with modest commercial pull—still viable in France, Japan, and select European territories where curatorial buyers remain.
- Global Advance Index: The full benchmark dataset across all tiers—capturing advances by budget, genre, region, and distributor.
Verified Datasets Covering Every Level of the Market
FULL DATASET
Global
Complete Distribution Advance Index
$875
22-page XLSX dataset
- All 1,300 verified minimum guarantee benchmarks across all Tiers A, B, C.
- Territory-by-territory advance data and regional averages.
- Budget, genre, and buyer segmentation
- Ideal for professional negotiators, producers, distributors, and film investment funds.
Most Popular
Tier A
Prestige / Breakout / Festival Winners
$625
9-page XLSX dataset
- Verified 515 MG benchmarks for prestige and festival breakouts.
- Territorial benchmarks by region, genre, and buyer.
- Covers advances from major English-speaking and international markets.
- Ideal for producers, financiers, and acquisition executives seeking valuation accuracy.
Most Popular
Tier B
Commercial & Elevated Genre / Cast-Driven
$550
8-page XLSX dataset
- Verified 480 MG benchmarks for thrillers, elevated horror, crime, and cast-driven action.
- Territory-level advance bands and regional averages.
- Comparative MG data across English-speaking and ROW markets.
- Ideal for sales agents, distributors, and teams tracking deal trends.
Most Popular
Tier C
Arthouse / Quiet Drama
$375
5-page XLSX dataset
- Verified 300 MG comparables for arthouse and festival-caliber drama and comedy.
- Regional MG ranges across Europe, Asia, and North America.
- Buyer profiles and advance levels by territory.
- Ideal for labs, first-time producers, film funds, and sales assistants.
The Market Before and After 2020
For nearly a decade, advances held steady: a strong indie premiere could routinely sell 20–35 territories, with meaningful MGs across Europe, Asia, and Latin America—sometimes even in smaller ancillary markets.
The post-2020 market reset shattered the old territory-by-territory economics. Films that once sold 25+ territories now routinely close in the 8–18 range, and MG levels have contracted sharply across most of the map.
The current marketplace tells a clear story:
- France stands alone as the most stable MG market, reliably backing auteur, prestige, and elevated commercial titles.
- Japan continues to pay selectively, rewarding emotionally resonant or genre-specific films with real advances.
- GCC and the wider Middle East are emerging as a rare growth zone, particularly for cast-driven thrillers and commercial fare.
Conversely, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Korea, and Latin America increasingly default to low advances or revenue-share models, and China’s role has diminished to near-zero in the independent ecosystem.
The broader trend is unmistakable: buyers are cautious, relying on smaller commitments and giving far less weight to downstream TV and streaming rights than during the peak SVOD acquisition era.
FilmTake Advance Index — Samples
