RealBigHits
FAQ / unfinished
Frequently Asked Questions

How does Real Big Hits work?

RBH works as your digital agent with one specific goal- to match you with the right buyer or partner to buy, fund, or coproduce your project.

“Digital” refers to the realbighits.com portal, where your content can be discovered by buyers worldwide looking for content: a virtual pitch.

“Agency” refers to the RBH team actively leveraging its industry relationships and experience to promote your content in meetings, by phone, and at markets and festivals.

Where is all the content?

RBH represents many projects that are unfinished and not publically available, so it takes the protection of content seriously. Only qualified buyers may look at content in the library, and only within the library. Without a valid buyer login, nobody can look at the content.

What are my chances of selling a script or film using RBH?

As an emerging screenwriter or filmmaker with limited contacts in the entertainment industry, you can leverage our relationships to gain exposure to network and studio executives.

Development in the television and film industry is not an exact science. Anticipating what buyers need is difficult to predict and is constantly changing. A buyer who might have passed in June may rediscover it in October, thanks to RBH’s consistent promotion and the online library it provides.

What happens when there is interest in my project?

Each situation is different, depending on your interest, the buyer/partner, and the content. RBH staff works directly with you when there is interest, coordinating and guiding the process. Passionate creatives sometimes lack the experience to best present ideas and to negotiate the best deal possible.

The ownership of your project is yours alone. Your guidance and approval is needed for every partnership, sale, or license.

How many Buyers are on RBH?

The number is constantly changing and growing. RBH is part of the Empress family of companies, with experience and connections dating back to 1998. We have a thousands number of active portal buyers and a huge number of prospects to whom we promote our service as well as individual titles.

Seller Sign Up

Who can sign up?

Any aspiring creative person over the age of 18 or any organization that produces or has IP. You or your organization must agree to the posted Terms of Service and have the authority to sell or license the content.

What information do I need to sign up?

Signup is quick and easy.

A valid email address, basic contact information, and year of birth. Your information is used only for the purposes of our service: we do not provide your information to other organizations for any other purposes.

Some information is optional, such as creative history and IMDB page. It is best to tag your content as thoroughly and carefully to make sure that buyers looking for your type of content will be sure to find it.

What happens after I sign up?

Your signup information is usually processed the same business day. You will receive an email with login information as well as some quick tips to upload content. RBH support is available during New York business hours by phone (212) 643-4898 or anytime via email.

Should I sign up as a Premium or Premium Plus seller?

A Premium Seller membership allows for upload of 5 files (PDF, MOV, MP3, etc.). Premium Plus Seller membership allows for a total upload of 25 files.

Both accounts provide additional exposure to buyers, and also provide additional entries to the Film/TV contest.

Can I sign up as both a Buyer and as a Seller?

That is possible, but be aware that buyers are subject to qualification. Buyers must be authorized representatives of established organizations that have the means and authority to purchase content. Buyers must have a valid corporate email (no/Gmail/Yahoo/etc.). and pass other qualifications. Please read the Terms of Service.

Do I need content to sign up as a seller?

After an account is setup, you can upload content at your convenience. Bear in mind there are submission deadlines for contests, and promotional activities often revolve around major markets and festivals.

Do I have to be based in the US to sign up?

Not at all. You are joining a worldwide community of buyers and sellers.

Does RBH offer a student discount?

Yes. We give a 20% discount for a Premium or Premium Plus account. Verification required.

Uploading Content

How do I upload content?

Login to your account and click on the upload button, as indicated in the workspace. First, select the file(s) for upload, then enter the metadata/genre information, tags and click “Upload”. Once the upload is complete, you will get a confirmation.

What kind of files can I upload?

You may upload any digital file, however, a brief sizzle video clip (MP4) and PDF/Office files are best in this setting since they may be easily previewed by buyers.

What type of content can I upload? Does it have to be a video file, or can I upload a script?

You can submit either a video file (trailer, sizzle, excerpt, scene) or a PDF (screenplay, treatment, log line, synopsis). You should always include a log line, describing in 1-3 captivating sentences the premise of your project. Sometimes all you need is one idea, but it must be compelling enough to draw the attention of a prospective buyer/partner.

What kind of information should I provide when uploading?

You will need basic information about the file/project such as title, brief synopsis, total run time (TRT) of the movie or episode, tags (short keywords such as “mystery”, “murder”, “orient”, “express”), and most importantly, genre information– Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Children/ Young Adult. You can also choose a subgenre at ingest. Listing under the correct genres is essential for finding the right kind of buyers. You should also enter in the genre section: “Selling Points”, ”Who to Pitch to”, and basic “demographic information” (who is the likely audience for your content?)

Are there restrictions on content I am uploading?

Content must not violate Terms of Service – you (seller) are responsible for reading and agreeing to Terms of Service. Generally, you must have rights to the content being uploaded (no DRM issues) and your content should be original and should not have direct contact information (phone, email, social media links, YouTube links, and websites) which may be edited out by RBH staff or result in submission rejection, at our sole discretion.

Can I upload/ transfer content from YouTube, Vimeo or other public facing/ social media site? Will your Uploader support this feature?

Yes.

What is the upload’s size limits?

Files are restricted to100MB in size and 5 minutes in length.

Exceptions may be made for distribution or private portal accounts

Long clips will take too long to upload and too long for a prospective buyer/partner to watch. Please make sure your video trailer fits this requirement or it may not upload properly.

What are the file formats supported by RBH?

MP4 is preferred for video assets, PDF for documents.

Please see the list below of supported formats. If your format is not supported, then you must transcode to a compatible format using applications such as Premiere Pro which can transcode to the desktop.

Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, Flash, DV25, DV50, DVCPro, DPS, DivX, JPEG 2000, DNxHD, AVCIntra, Image Sequences, Windows Media, RealVideo, HDV, MXF (including D-10/IMX), MPEG-2 PS, MPEG-2 TS, GXF, LXF, QuickTime, WMV, ASF, AVI, VOB, 3GPP, 3G2, WMA, WAV, Broadcast WAV

Audio: PCM, MP3, AAC, AMC, AMR-NB, WM Audio, RealAudio

Image: Bmp, Emf, Exif, Gif, Icon, Jpeg, Png, Tiff, Wmf

Document: Doc, Pdf, Xls, Ppt.

I’ve uploaded content but it does not appear in my workspace. What should I do?

Leave the upload window open for a minute or two after you receive a confirmation. Upload time will vary – larger files and/or slower connection speeds will increase upload time. After upload is complete additional time for processing/transcoding is required. Allow extra time for this process. Refresh at half hour intervals to check. If after several hours content does not appear in workspace after refresh/logout/login, you should contact support. (support@realbighits.com)

Privacy and Security

How secure is my information/ content?

RBH is powered by eMAM, a stable and proven media asset management software platform which is being used by large enterprise and workgroup clients for the last 7 years. eMAM includes multiple layers of security which prevents loss of content. We have become trusted in the industry for security as well as stability and scalability. See more information about eMAM at www.empressmam.com.

Will other sellers see my content?

No - your content is hidden from other sellers and the general public.

How does RBH protect my ideas?

Your content is date/time stamped the moment it is uploaded and ingested into the system so if there is a conflict, the date/time info may be used to prove otherwise. Unlike many other sites (such as YouTube or Vimeo) your ideas are protected from being seen by other sellers. It can only be seen by qualified buyers, who must agree to terms of the site.

How do Buyers see my content?

During registration buyers indicate which genres they want to see (e.g., Fiction/ Sci-Fi/ Drama, etc.). When sellers have matching content, it will appear in the buyers’ workspaces. They can search and preview, but to protect your IP, they cannot forward or download content on the site.

What will RBH do with my content? Will my idea be ripped off?

RBH does not use or buy content, it is a digital agency that matches up buyers and sellers of content. You retain full rights to your content at all times. RBH keeps history of all activities. To protect the interests of buyers, we do not report their activities to buyers, but we do hold the information which could be used for a legal action.

Rights Use

When I upload my footage, will I still maintain the rights to my work?

Yes, you will maintain the rights to your work. You may choose to give up some or all of your rights as part of a deal, but that would require your approval.

Once my work is sold, will I get 100% of the money that my project is sold for?

No. For unfinished content, RBH will get a commission of 25% (twenty-five percent) of all payments for the purchase or funding for the Content, unless you have an alternative signed agreement.

Will I still have creative control of my project once it is sold?

Hmmm….creative control of your project will be part of a deal negotiation. Depending on the prospective buyer/partner, it may be an issue.

Who are RBH’S Buyers?

The buyers come from longstanding Empress relationships or from current publicity or marketing efforts. Empress has been providing goods and services to the industry since 1998. Buyers are staff and executives from a range of production companies, traditional broadcast and cable networks, and digital platforms.