 SERVICES |
|---|
| Show Distribution |
| Required Reading |
| FAQs |
| Audio / Podcasts |
| Video / Vodcasts |
| Science Writing / Editing |
Fulldome Show Distribution
Loch Ness Productions is a long-time planetarium show producer.
Back when we started the company, there wasn't really such a thing as a planetarium show package. A few planetaria would produce their own shows for themselves, and then some made efforts to share some of their materials with other interested colleagues. We pioneered the concept of a commercial show package in 1983 — a taped soundtrack, boxes of 35mm film slides intended for standardized arrays of slide projectors, an annotated script and instructions on how to put it all together. 
We carved out a new market where none had existed before. We sold thousands.
As film went away, we moved on to create fulldome shows, and demoed our first digital production efforts in 2002. Our shows were often bundled with fulldome projector systems — Sky-Skan Definiti PD, Konica-Minolta MEDIAGLOBE, Ash Enterprises WarpedMedia, and others. We've sold hundreds (and counting).
After 40+ years in the business, most every planetarium in the world knows who we are. We've shipped products to more than 1,100 of them in the U.S. and 60 other countries (and counting).
Today Loch Ness Productions is also a fulldome show distributor.
As our own fulldome shows became widespread, theater customers began coming to us with their shopping lists. They wanted not only our shows, but some from other producers too. Just as in the '80s, there was no general marketplace for fulldome shows; the primary outlet was through hardware vendor installations.
So we said, "We've done this before, we can do it again!" — and worked to become the first major independent distributor of fulldome shows.
We are always interested in helping to distribute quality fulldome shows to our customer base. Have a project you want to get out to the fulldome world? Contact us!
Here's what we do for producers...
• Our Web site is the primary means of getting word out to customers. We prepare extensive sets of pages for every show:
1) your show's detailed info;
2) online previews of the full-length show, as well as trailers in 360° spherical video and flat-screen forms; and
3) published pricing for all to compare.
• We get your fulldome movies to customers worldwide. We don't ship dome masters to customer sites; we format the movies to work with all the fulldome projector systems we can — a constantly changing panoply.
• We handle the ordering process, both online (credit card processing or PayPal), and through the traditional Estimate/Quote -> Purchase Order -> Invoice -> Accounts Payable routine.
• We handle the licensing process. Customers sign our agreement form, or you can provide your own.
• We report license sales instantly and automatically when we ship the shows, providing you the customer's contact info, projection system, and more.
• Ask any of our producer partners — they'll tell you that we always pay promptly; no waiting for months or years.
• Our usual promotional efforts include creation of one-sheets and collections of flyers as catalogs, postal mailings, occasional print advertisements, and more. We'll be happy to work with you on custom campaigns.
And we do all this for a reasonable retained percentage of the show license fees. You get the lion's share of the money.
Other unique services...
For shows we distribute with long-term licenses, we also offer producers the opportunity for added income, through our rental/streaming service, FULLDOME OnDemand — another novel concept we launched in 2015. 
Every month, we pay out hundreds of dollars in rental fees to producers around the globe.
We also offer producers even more potential income, through VR Dome Theater — turning the group experience of a fulldome theater into an individual one, as consumer retail products for display in VR headsets and devices.
Let us do what we do... for you!
With more than two decades of show distribution under our belts, we can safely say Loch Ness Productions continues to be a force in the evolving fulldome world. We've developed some pretty compelling insights about the marketplace, and can bring a realistic viewpoint to your project's ultimate distribution.
Can I set the license prices for my show?
Yes. It's your show, after all. We just ask that you use an unambiguous, accountable, consumer-friendly pricing model for determining who qualifies for your license(s). We recommend our movie-size "T-shirt" pricing model.
Can you advise me on what to charge for my show licenses?
Yes. But here on our site, you can do your own market research. Since we publish prices, you can see for yourself how other shows do it. Go comparison shopping!
What is your retained percentage fee?
It varies; 20-40% is the usual range. Some producers are generous, others more mingy.
Do you do exclusive deals?
Really, the market is way too small to expect that.
How do you gain interest for my movie from new clients?
After 40+ years in the biz, there aren't many "new clients" we don't know about already. These days, most "new" theaters are actually existing theaters renovating their facilities. There are only about a dozen brand-new theaters built each year worldwide, most of which we know about long before they are opened. It's only the places that have built or installed their own projector systems (portables, mostly) we have no easy way finding out about. We send out postal mailings to theaters we do know about several times a year, usually when we have a new show addition.
My show won an award at a festival! We need to get it out to the world. What can you do?
Congrats. We can advise you with this bit of realism. Festivals often award a show based on its artistry, without any consideration of commercial salability. Most dome theaters have PLANETARIUM in their names and on their walls. Their mission statements are to teach things astronomy-related. For topics outside this purpose, we tend to find limited budgets. In other words, people may like your show... but that does not necessarily mean they can or will fork over thousands of dollars to buy a license for it.
Okay, I want you to distribute my movie. What's the process?
The process usually goes like this:
First, obviously, we need to see your show. Send us a link to a preview, so we'll know what we're talking about.
Next, we'll reply to discuss what kind of prices you have in mind for your show licenses.
Then if we decide it's something we can represent, we'll reply with some legalese: our standard Distribution Agreement that lets us do what we say we're going to do in general, and a Program Order for each show that spells out the specifics, including the money split. (Yes, we do have these already prepared.)
If you're in agreement with all this, we go through the checklist of what you need to send us:
the completed, signed distribution agreement and program order(s).
a USB drive with your show content. We'll keep your drive for insurance, as one of our backups. (Read this presentation we made at the 2014 IMERSA Summit Ingestion Indigestion for guidelines on what we want to see on the drive you send.) In summary:
FRAMES: Usually 4096x4096px dome masters. We prefer JPGs, with only black in the corners (no text or frame numbers). 30fps, please.
We need both show and trailer frames. If your show doesn't have a trailer, you'll need to create one. Be sure narration is included; people want to judge how the voice sounds (especially international customers, if there are accents to deal with.)
AUDIO: 48k, 16-bit stereo WAVs are what we want primarily. A few theaters can use 5.1 surround, so you can provide six mono WAVs for those in additon to the stereo.
GRAPHICS for posters and promo: Browse through our listings to see examples of how they will appear on pages (vertical format for traditional license page posters; horizontal in player viewers). Still frame grabs are useful too.
SCRIPT: PDF or Word text documents, so customers can use these as reference, and to adapt for use in their captioning systems.
TEXT: You know best what message you want to convey about your show to theater customers, so eloquence will work in your favor. Provide as much copy as you can for the Web pages — especially a one-line blurb, and a 2- or 3-sentence synopsis. We can edit, but we need material to work from.
PRODUCER LOGO: Ideally, a square graphic that iconizes well to 32px.
When we get all that from you, we'll get to work preparing the Web pages. We'll let you know when things are ready, for you to give a quality check before we go live.
