Well, part of what the national distributors are paying for is the exclusive right to distribute the film within their territory. Cash up front front from an established distributor looks a lot nicer in the business plan than possible future download revenue combined with having to do your own advertising in each language market. If you can't pre-sell the exhibition/video/broadcast rights, then essentially you have to borrow at a high rate of interest to compensate people for the significant downside risks.
The fact that producer, consumer and distributor interests are not aligned doesn't mean they're oppositional. Consumers aren't incentivized or sufficiently experienced or organized to provide forward financing in most cases, distributors aren't incenitvized to give away free copies because they're trying to recoup their risky investment.
The fact that producer, consumer and distributor interests are not aligned doesn't mean they're oppositional. Consumers aren't incentivized or sufficiently experienced or organized to provide forward financing in most cases, distributors aren't incenitvized to give away free copies because they're trying to recoup their risky investment.