How to Price Your Fulldome Show for Distribution

Producers ask me about pricing more than almost anything else. The honest answer is there is a structure but no single right number. There are the right questions to ask first.

DISTRIBUTION

6/20/20262 min read

Small portable inflatable dome beside a large fixed planetarium theatre, size comparison.

Start With Two Questions

Before setting any price, consider two things.

Is this an evergreen show or one likely to be shown occasionally? An evergreen title with timeless themes has a long commercial life and can be licensed repeatedly for years. A show with a shorter relevance window needs a different approach.

What kind of venue is it being sold to? The dome size and the venue's annual attendance are the two main factors that should drive pricing. A portable inflatable dome holding around 30 people operates on completely different economics to a large, fixed dome seating 200 or 300.

The Pricing Tiers

I use roughly six increments when pricing a show for distribution: portable inflatable domes around 30 seats, fixed domes under 50 seats, 50 to 100 seats, 100 seats and above, 150 seats and the larger venues at 200 and 300 plus.

Each tier has a different price point based on what the venue can reasonably generate from a run of the show. Annual attendance matters too. A 100-seat dome in a busy science centre that runs four shows a day is a very different conversation to one in a small regional museum that opens at weekends only.

The Different Licensing Models

A one-off licence means the venue pays once for the right to screen the show over an agreed period of time. A gate share is an agreed percentage split of ticket revenue with the venue. Some producers go further still and rent the venue themselves, handle all their own marketing and keep all the revenue.

A Note On Starting Out

My advice to producers setting prices for the first time is not to overthink it. The best approach is often to do some market research, then set a price, see how the market responds and adjust. The producers who wait until they have the perfect pricing model before approaching venues often wait too long. Get the show in front of people, have real conversations with venues and distributors, and the pricing picture becomes clearer quickly.

Pricing strategy, distribution models and licensing terms are things I work through with clients regularly. If you want guidance on how to price your show before going to market, get in touch.