Distributor acquires finished negative rather than financing production — producer bears risk, not the studio. Standard indie deal structure.
The producer finishes shooting their film, bears the costs, and then looks for a distributor. This is the Negative Pickup — a deal where distributors buy the finished negative (or today: DCP, digital master) instead of investing money beforehand. The production financing is borne by the producer themselves or through other sources (banks, investors, state film funds). The distributor only comes into play when picture and sound are locked. The risk lies entirely with the filmmaker.
In practice, it works like this: You have a budget from somewhere — private investors, crowdfunding, production loan — shoot your film, go into editing, do the DI and sound finishing. In parallel or afterward, you send a rough cut or finished material to distributors. They look at what you have and say: Yes, we'll buy the distribution rights for Germany/Austria/Switzerland from you for X euros. Done. You get a sum, hopefully cover production costs, and the distributor now bears the marketing costs and the box office risk.
The classic model for independent films, especially after festivals or competitions. You win Venice or Berlin, suddenly have interest from several distributors, and practically auction off your negative. But it also works for smaller productions: Regional films, documentaries, genre cinema — if the distributor believes it can be sold, they buy the finished product.
Practical Pitfall: The money from a Negative Pickup is not guaranteed. You must be able to finance your film completely WITHOUT knowing if and at what price a distributor will acquire it. Some productions fail financially because they are finished and then no distributor shows interest. Or the offered price is not enough to cover production costs. That's why producers often work with presales — i.e., with commitments from distributors while post-production is still ongoing — to minimize risk. This is then a hybrid between a true Negative Pickup and pre-financing. With true Negative Pickups, this is not the case: finished is finished, only then are negotiations held.