How does distribution work?

[Ledrak]

Sorry Im bumping an old thread here, but I thought there were some good points made in here and Im sure distribution will be my biggest problem with the whole film making process.

The more I read, the more interested I become in self distribution. Undoubtedly, every distribution company is gonna want a cut of the sales revenue, or the rights to your video. But I dont want to give anyone a cut of my sales if I dont have to.

Once I produce my video... I can edit, master, and manufacture the dvd's and box covers on my own without much expense. The only thing I really need a distributor for is the connections to be able to get my product in the stores and available to the mass market. But Im even starting to think that I can do that on my own (of course I could be WAY wrong). But every single porn distributor I've seen is also a production company. So if you have a production company, and you get picked up by one of those distributors, then your company automatically becomes a subsidiary of "their" production company.... which most likely means you're going to give up some control (and revenue) to them. Which is obviously a turnoff for someone like myself who wants to be the guy at the top of the ladder. So then the question becomes, how do I get my product in the stores without going through a production/distribution company?

As you can see this is a problem with no easy solutions. Any opinions? Discussions??