Getting Distribution for your Movie - Part 1

This is from an article by Jerome Courshon in the print version of Southern Screen Report. . He discusses some of myths about movie distribution and puts his take on them. I am paraphrasing:
1. Myth #1: I'm a creative person. Don't need to worry about biz side or selling.
Resp: Bullshit. As Orson Welles famously said, "It's about 2% movie making and 98% hustling."

2. Myth #2: Distributors are calling me and want to see my film. I'm giong to become famous and rich!
Resp: Bullshit. If you send them a DVD of the movie you will not get a theatrical distribution deal. You must "unveil" your movie in the right place at the right time such as a top film festival.

3. Myth #3: My movie has been selected for Sundance/Cannes/Toronto. All I have to do is showup and get a deal!
Resp: Bullshit. You need to assemble a team of people for PR, agent, attorney etc strategize and position your movie - before it premieres - as a very desirable movie that distributors must have.

4. Myth #4: I've submitted my movie to 15 home video companies. If they all say "NO", then I'm screwed.
Resp: Bullshit. There are literally over 75 home video companies in the marketplace, all operating under their own label. On top of that are additional companies that pick up movies and programming that have output deals with these distributors. So if you've submitted to only 15 companies, you've got a long way to go.

Of particular interest to me are #1 and #4. Perhaps one day my MBA plus my creative skills will indeed come together into a project or even career that will actually brings me money. I think I understand the importance of not falling prey to Myth #1 pretty well. But Myth #4 is even more important. Every time I try to convince a group of friends that we could actually do a movie - they are skeptical. A play is, to them, a more likely way to recoup financial and emotional investments but a movie is daunting. How you even start? While I was not fully aware of the paths avaialable to distribution, I knew in my gut that there had to be more options. Finally, this article points me to a significant new avenue.

Now all I have to do is find a script, pull together a team, find the investors and shoot a movie.
Easy. Just watch.