Film buyer (film booker)

The buyer sits between the cinema and the distributors. Clark Film Buying, a US service that books for independent cinemas, describes the role in its FAQ: buyers negotiate which films play in which theaters, the length of the run, and the terms on which film rental is billed. Film buyer, film booker and movie booker are used for the same job.

Bookers at an International Documentary Association session drew a useful distinction. A film buyer weighs the commercial case for a title. A circuit buyer does the same for a chain. A film programmer more often books for curatorial or cultural reasons. Many independent cinemas need all three instincts in one person.

A buyer books films. Most do not run payroll, marketing or concessions, and at least one buying service states that it does not pay rental on the cinema's behalf: the exhibitor pays the distributor directly. The weekly box office report, which counts tickets sold each day at each price point across the play week, is usually the cinema's job, though some services file it for a fee.

That division is where cinemas lose time. The buyer's booking sheet, the cinema's schedule and the box office figures live in three places. A planning tool that turns bookings into showtimes, and a box office whose reports feed settlement, closes most of the gap. See film booking for the negotiation itself.