Register here: https://webinar.filmlaunch.ai
Here’s why I built it, and what I’ll cover.
Ten years ago, distribution was simple to describe, even when it was hard to do. You finished your film, you got into a few festivals, a sales agent picked it up, and you waited. The system was slow and often unfair, but it was a system.
That system is gone.
Festival submission portals are now flooded with AI-generated shorts and features, over 10,000 of them in the last twelve months alone. Acquisitions executives who used to sit through a full screener now give an unsolicited film about three minutes before deciding. Ninety percent of finished independent films never secure a meaningful distribution deal. And the window you have to make something happen, from picture lock to a real distribution decision, has shrunk to about six months. Miss it, and your film ages out.
I have lived through every version of this business, the old system and the one replacing it. My film Sawah was turned down by numerous sales agents before I repositioned it around a single, sharp angle and it ended up in the Netflix Top 10 in more than 20 countries. Les Fameux Gars had no distributor and no festival support, so I built momentum myself, from a trailer that spread on its own to 200 billboards and roughly 10,000 DVDs sold in a country of under 700,000 people.
None of that happened by accident, and none of it would happen the same way today. The tools changed. The buyers changed. What a good festival strategy looks like changed. Tonight, I’m walking through all of it in one 90-minute live session.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
Why finished films, even good ones, are dying in 2026, and what replaced the old path to a deal
What AI changed for distributors and streamers, and why their algorithms now filter for things they never used to check
The six-month distribution window, mapped week by week, so you know what to do and when
How to choose the 10 to 12 festivals that lead somewhere, instead of submitting to 40 and hoping
How to build momentum before you have a distributor, using the same trailer-and-press sequence that turned a festival rejection into a three-week theatrical run
What still makes a film stand out when everyone else is using AI, and why that’s your advantage now, not your handicap
This is free, live, and capped so I can answer real questions on real films instead of talking at a screen. If you register, you also get a 48-hour replay.
If tonight doesn’t work, I’m running this same session every Monday and Thursday at 19:00 CET going forward, so you have more chances to catch it live. But if your film is finishing soon or already has a festival date on the calendar, tonight is the one to make time for. The clock on your distribution window is already running.
Register here: https://webinar.filmlaunch.ai
About Adolf El Assal
Adolf El Assal is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer, and international consultant. His films have screened at leading festivals and reached audiences worldwide through Netflix, Amazon Prime, and international theatrical releases.
Explore his work, book consulting sessions, or get in touch at www.adolfelassal.com.
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