THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #52

YOU CAN NOW REACH THE WHOLE WORLD!

By Peter Broderick

58750577_m_normal_none CROP

Virtual screenings and virtual events are invaluable tools in the New World of Distribution. They enable you to reach viewers nationally and globally.

Physical vs. virtual screenings

Virtual events can empower you to:


  • Maximize Revenues - permitting you to increase distribution revenues and attract production funding
  • Maximize Audience - allowing you to connect with viewers across the country and around the world
  • Maximize Impact - facilitating partnerships with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, government agencies, and companies, to make real change
  • Maximize Career - helping you build a personal audience you can take with you to your future films

If you have not yet embraced virtual events, here is your crash course:

  1. SEIZE YOUR DISTRIBUTION - my TIFF presentation provides an overview of the latest New World opportunities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQERNgj5IU
  2. ONE VIRTUAL PREMIERE, ONE MILLION VIEWS - analyzes the breakthrough virtual success of FIVE SEASONS: https://www.peterbroderick.com/distributionbulletins/files/9ba9fd852931cccb323c7c7c91014c6e-47.html
  3. REVOLUTIONARY DISTRIBUTION - highlights the lessons from the unprecedented global release of THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA: https://www.peterbroderick.com/distributionbulletins/files/3518403dfebf0ec37de0340180f0f62f-58.html


After you have absorbed this information, there are two innovative, experienced, and filmmaker-friendly organizations that have built platforms you can use for your virtual events:


Show&Tell logo

SHOW&TELL
www.ShowandTell.film


Kinema logo
KINEMA
www.Kinema.com


- Peter Broderick


© 2024 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #51

SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR DISTRIBUTION

By Peter Broderick

ā€ˇFirst Slide CROP

Here's how to take control! 

I premiered this presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last fall. It received a remarkable response and the festival has now put it on YouTube for a worldwide audience.

In 2009, Thom Powers, TIFF's head of documentary programming, invited me to deliver a Declaration of Independence at the festival that ushered in a new era of hybrid distribution. In 2023, Thom asked me to return with a cutting-edge presentation to empower filmmakers with the latest strategies. 


CU Podium 2

My goal was to explain what documentary filmmakers need to know now to survive and hopefully thrive. The presentation covers:

  • what's new and what's old in documentary distribution
  • a tale of 2 Sundances (2019 and 2023)
  • 10 ways to maximize your distribution
  • golden opportunities in the New World of Distribution
  • 3 breakthrough success stories
  • how to succeed as a New World filmmaker 

My 33 minute presentation is followed by a lively Q&A.

Here's the presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQERNgj5IU

Feel free to share it with your teammates and colleagues.

Special thanks to Thom Powers, the TIFF AV team, Lex Ryan who designed the Keynote presentation, and Mark Stolaroff who designs and distributes my Distribution Bulletins.

- Peter Broderick

© 2024 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #50

HOW TO AVOID DISASTER - Part 1

By Peter Broderick

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The writing is on the wall. Countless independent films will continue to be abandoned by failing distributors. 

There are key things you should do to protect your film and yourself.

Recent Disasters

The body count has been high in the past few years.

Hundreds of filmmakers were devastated by the collapse of Passion River Films in 2022:

https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/blog/2023/10/the-implosion-of-distributor-passion-river-and-what-it-means-for-you/

https://distributionadvocates.substack.com/p/passion-river-leaves-filmmakers-up

Hundreds were seriously harmed by the failure of TUGG in 2020.

Hundreds were badly damaged by the bankruptcy of Distribber in 2019.

These were multi-dimensional disasters for the filmmakers:
  • they lost much needed revenues
  • they lost some or all of the deals their distributor had made for their films
  • they no longer had a distributor
  • they are now back at square one with a film other distributors considered old 
 
Due Diligence
 
How can you minimize the chance of this happening to you?

Your essential first step is “due diligence." In the case of a distribution deal, this means thoroughly researching the potential distributor. Many filmmakers fail to do this and soon regret it. 

Due diligence should be done before you enter into negotiations. If you learn that the company is not one you want to be in business with, you will not need to waste time, energy, and money negotiating a deal with them.

  1. Begin by reviewing the potential distributor’s website. Do they have a solid track record distributing films like yours? If your film is a social issue documentary and the company has mainly distributed genre features and only a few celebrity docs, they are probably not the right fit.
  2. If they do have significant experience handling films like yours, look for the ones closest to your film in content and core audiences. Films the company has been distributing for 12-18 months will give you the most relevant information. NOTE: Don't ask the distributor for references because they will never recommend filmmakers who are unhappy with them.
  3. Reach out to the producers or directors of four or five of the films you've targeted. It will take some time and effort to connect with them, but most filmmakers will be willing to have an off-the-record  conversation.


Key Questions

These are the essential questions to ask:

  • Did the distributor do what they said they would do?
  • Have they reported and paid on time? 
  • Do the numbers seem accurate?
  • Has it ever been necessary to chase them for reports or revenues?
  • Have the revenues been consistent with the company's projections? (NOTE: Some filmmakers will be willing to share revenue numbers or at least say what range the revenues have been in (e.g. 5 or 6 figures), but this is not essential.)
  • Has the company been diligent in marketing your film?
  • Are they easy to reach and responsive?
  • Are they collaborative?

If one source loves the distributor and another source loathes them, you should speak with more sources. Often where there's smoke, there's fire. Don't rely on filmmakers who have just started working with a company; they are likely to still be in the honeymoon period.

Information Is Power
 
After you have spoken with four or five filmmakers, you will be able to avoid bad distributors who have not reported and paid properly or failed filmmakers in other critical ways. 

Due diligence will enable you to choose good distributors with great track records. The information you have gained on these companies will make it easier to negotiate fair deals with them that are genuinely win-win.

The bottom line is that due diligence is a vitally important tool that every filmmaker should use while searching for the best distribution partner or partners. It can  make the difference between great distribution with an excellent partner and disastrous distribution with a failed distributor who keeps your revenues, becomes unreachable, and ultimately abandons your film.

--------------


Stay tuned for my upcoming Bulletin on the other steps you need to take to avoid disaster. Due diligence is an essential way to identify good distributors, but you also need protection from good distributors that encounter financial setbacks and fail. 


- Peter Broderick

© 2023 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #49

SPECIAL REPORT: SUNDANCE 2023 AND BEYOND - Stark Realities, Golden Opportunities

By Peter Broderick

Sundance 2023 Image

“Every independent filmmaker should learn the lessons of Sundance. This year’s festival revealed critically important developments in the indie ecosystem.” Let’s start with the same two sentences that began my Special Report on Sundance 2019. At the end of that bullish report, I wrote ”I hope we are at the beginning of a Golden Age, but it will require progress on several fronts to achieve.”

Four years later, Sundance revealed that the Golden Age of major sales and numerous acquisitions is over for documentary filmmakers. Later in this report I’ll highlight Golden Opportunities in the New World of Distribution.


This year I saw 31 films at Sundance, as I had in 2019. The quality of the documentaries was exceptional as usual, but the lack of response from distributors was alarming.

Documentary sales during Sundance were the worst in years

Twelve US docs in competition = zero sales

Twelve World docs in competition = one major sale: The Eternal Memory. The rumored sales price was $3 million to MTV Documentary Films.

Plus a doc from the Next section = one sale, Kokomo City to Magnolia.

Two U.S. docs in competition sold before Sundance:
Little Richard: I Am Everything to Magnolia, and Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV, to Greenwich Entertainment/PBS Films.

Among the other World competition docs, some sales were made before, during, or after Sundance.
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood made international territory sales and was picked up by Greenwich Entertainment for the U.S. Fantastic Machine also made international territory sales.

More sales of U.S. competition docs were expected to be announced at the European Film Market (which takes place during the Berlin Film Festival), but none were. Months later no more sales of U.S. competition docs had been announced.


This was a complete reversal of what happened four years earlier when I reported, “Acquisitions at Sundance 2019 were at a fever pitch, breaking all past records… The percentage of docs acquired from US Documentary Competition may have been the highest ever.”

Streamers bought no docs at Sundance
 
Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Hulu didn’t buy a single doc in Park City or in the following months. This was a sharp contrast with their acquisitions at recent Sundance festivals, some of which were at breathtaking prices.

Streamers paid the highest prices for fiction features. Netflix bought Fair Play for $20 million. Apple TV+ purchased Flora and Son for $20 million.

Streamers brought their own celebrity-driven docs to Sundance

These included:

Still: A Michael J. Fox Story  (Apple TV+)

Stephen Curry: Underrated  (Apple TV+)

Judy Blume Forever  (Amazon Prime Video)
 
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields  (Hulu via ABC News)

Streamers have sharply narrowed their doc priorities
 
The clearest example of this is Netflix, which was targeting:
  • celebrity-driven docs
  • true crime docs
  • music docs

There is one other amorphous category:
  • docs with great worldwide appeal

In 2019, Netflix brought to Sundance The Edge of Democracy and The Great Hack, and bought American Factory and Knock Down the House.  Provocative political documentaries seem to have no place in Netflix’s current doc priorities and may also fall outside the priorities of other streamers and distributors. In addition to Knock Down the House, Boys State sold for $12 million to Apple TV+ and A24. Fire of Love (National Geographic) had a mid-to-low eight figure sale. If they had premiered at Sundance 2023, would they have been purchased at all? Narrowed priorities are a critical problem throughout the industry. Many of the excellent docs at Sundance this year that remain unsold would have had multiple suitors at previous Sundance festivals. 

BEYOND SUNDANCE
 
Sundance 2023 was a wake-up call for documentary filmmakers. It highlighted the chilling ways the Old World of Distribution is changing. Shrunken acquisition priorities are greatly limiting opportunities for independent filmmakers hoping to be picked up by streamers and other distributors. It is now clear that even the top festivals can have little impact on sales.

Sundance provided invaluable lessons for filmmakers ready to learn them:

Transform your festival strategy

Stop your magical thinking about festivals. Understand that they can be helpful but are not essential. Many docs that have been extremely successful never went to a single festival. Most festivals will have little or no impact on your distribution. A few select ones can be helpful but there is no guarantee they will be. 

Too many filmmakers spend too much time applying and obsessing and too little time researching and strategizing. There are good reasons to attend festivals, even if they don’t lead directly to distribution. There can be a lot to learn and many networking opportunities. They can be helpful in building a profile. Instead of blanketing festivals with applications, I recommend designing a customized strategy that is selective, realistic, and up to date.

Avoid looking backwards

The industry is plagued by memories of the ways things used to work. We are living in a time of rapid and seemingly constant change. The Old World of Distribution is crumbling before our eyes. There is inertia everywhere we look. Out-of-date distribution agreements are still being used that include rights no longer important but fail to include new rights of great value. The focus on territory-by-territory rights ignores new global opportunities, including worldwide virtual premieres like the record-breaking one for The Wisdom of Trauma.

During the Covid years, many industry leaders acknowledged that things were changing rapidly. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any clear sense of how to make the most of these changes. They failed to come up with new ideas and didn’t try new approaches. They just settled back into familiar ruts.

Don’t be seduced by algorithms

Algorithms can only look at what's already there. To quote my brilliant friend, Sheila Hayman, who is making a film with a different view of artificial intelligence, “Algorithms don't understand anything: culture, humanity, relationships, politics, humor. Having no concepts and no understanding, they can't predict what might come next. All they can give you is a mashup of what's already happened. They may find content to fill slots. They won’t help streamers find ground-breaking films." 

EIGHT GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

I’m very hopeful that Sundance will inspire independent doc filmmakers to look beyond Old World Distribution models that are no longer working. 

Here are eight Golden Opportunities in the New World of Distribution: 

Global virtual screenings – Five Seasons pioneered global screenings online. It went viral in 72 hours and reached an audience of more than 1.5 million viewers around the world.

Direct distribution worldwide – The Wisdom of Trauma revolutionized direct distribution reaching 4 million viewers in 236 countries and territories during its 7-day virtual premiere. The filmmakers launched their film with an online summit. They kept all their rights except educational and connected with viewers directly.

Hybrid distribution strategies – Distribution control is as important as creative control. Splitting rights among distribution partners and retaining some key ones enable filmmakers to design customized strategies. Implementing these strategies stage by stage maximizes revenues, audience, and impact.

Fast forward revenues – All The Lonely People created an innovative model to generate money, awareness, and partnerships during production. The team designed interactive presentations with scenes from their unfinished film and used them for special events across the country.

PBS plus underwriting – Many filmmakers have worked with NETA to have their films screened on PBS stations around the country. A number of them have attracted significant underwriting, with totals as high as $480,000, which doesn’t have to be split with PBS or the stations.

Strategic partnerships – Partnering with nonprofits, companies, and government agencies can help build awareness and excitement in target audiences, generate revenues, and increase impact. Since Age of Champions blazed this trail, many filmmakers have received critical in-kind and financial support from key partners.

Conferences - Making plenary presentations at annual conferences can be a very effective way to reach leaders and key organizations in the field that your film focuses on. This can provide perfect networking opportunities, great word-of-mouth, and speaking fees.

Affiliate marketing – Pioneered by Food Matters and Hungry for Change, this approach incentivizes organizations/influencers to urge their members/followers to rent or buy your film directly from your website. In return, they receive a percentage of the revenues their recommendations generate.

Independents need to be as creative about bringing their films into the world as they are making them. They can experiment with new approaches and embrace innovation, which Old World distributors seem incapable of doing. Filmmakers shouldn’t forget the contrasting fates of Netflix and Kodak. In 2007 Netflix took a huge risk. After delivering a billion DVDs, it began digital delivery, an innovation that transformed the company. Kodak’s fear of innovation doomed it. Kodak could have changed its image from “the film company” to “the image company.” Sadly it saw the iceberg up ahead but couldn’t turn the ship.


Filmmakers should seize this opportunity. I’m very excited about all the innovations that will come from independents with nothing to lose and everything to gain!

- Peter Broderick

© 2023 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #48

REVOLUTIONARY DISTRIBUTION: THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA - An Exclusive Special Report

By Peter Broderick


Attention Guinness World Records:

THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA was viewed over 4 million times during its 7-day global virtual premiere. The revenues in the first week were more than enough to cover the film’s entire budget and fully finance the filmmakers’ next film.

This unprecedented release was designed and executed completely independently by the filmmakers and their teammates. No distributors were needed, and none were involved.

Among the hundreds of films I’ve consulted on, this feature documentary, with its fresh and empathetic analysis of trauma, has the most timely and useful lessons for independent filmmakers trying to reach a global audience.

This Special Report reveals how this unprecedented global independent release succeeded. Things are very grim in the crumbling Old World of documentary distribution. THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA blazed a thrilling trail in the New World of documentary distribution.

Wisdom of Trauma Poster


The Team
 
The story begins with a meeting not a master plan. The dynamic husband-and-wife team of Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo met Dr. Gabor Maté in late 2017 and were inspired to make a film about him and his work. 

Zaya and Maurizio were very impressed by Dr. Maté and his expertise on addiction and trauma. A charismatic speaker and best-selling author, Dr. Maté co-developed a therapeutic approach called Compassionate Inquiry, that is studied by therapists, physicians, and counselors.

Zaya and Maurizio are the leaders of Science and Nonduality (SAND), the 501(c)(3) nonprofit they co-founded to bring members together for live and virtual events with visionaries, scientists, spiritual teachers, and artists.  After 15 years, SAND’s membership had grown to more than 60,000 people.

The filmmakers shot and edited the film over 3 ½ years. THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA presents Dr. Maté’s compelling understanding of trauma. He sees trauma as the invisible force that shapes the way we live, the way we love, and the way we make sense of the world.

Planning for the release began in April 2021. Zaya and Maurizio repurposed their small SAND team to support the global virtual release of the film. Their 7-member team included associates located in Argentina, Poland, Brazil, Austria, and the U.S. While each of their teammates worked part time, Zaya and Maurizio worked more than full time (as they had on the production of the film). Altogether the team had a wide range of complementary skills.

The one thing missing was professional marketing expertise. Zaya and Maurizio were determined to find a great partner. They approached Richard Taubinger, CEO of Conscious Marketer, whose clients have included Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and other conscious luminaries. While he had extensive experience marketing books, Taubinger had little or no experience marketing films. Zaya and Maurizio were sure he was the right fit and convinced him to work with them.

The Summit

The next decision Zaya and Maurizio made was also inspired. They decided to build a major online summit around their film’s premiere. They had never done this before and were unaware of any other filmmakers who had.  They had previous experience organizing conferences, courses, and small summits online. They were already connected to many speakers and were only one degree of separation from many others. They had the expertise and team to handle all the logistics. 

Highlighting your documentary at key conferences can be a very effective way to build awareness in core audiences (see THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #35). The goal of this strategy is to alert conference attendees (leaders and their organizations) to your film and its potential impact.

Instead of attending annual conferences put on by others, the WISDOM team organized its own Summit/conference. They were able to get an impressive roster of leading authorities on trauma from around the world to participate, as well as musicians (including Sia) and actors who had previously experienced trauma.

The Launch - June 8-14,2021
 
The Summit and the world premiere of the film coincided. Zaya and Maurizio had modest expectations for their film.  They thought of the Summit as the main course and the film as dessert. Their initial target audience was American therapists. They had no expectation that their film would attract a large, diverse worldwide audience of nonprofessionals. 

The first indication of what was to come was the exceptional response to the Facebook ads highlighting the upcoming release of the film. On June 8 the Summit began and the film premiered. It was made available worldwide directly and exclusively from the filmmakers’ website (using Vimeo for delivery). The film exploded into the world. Viewers recommended it to friends and associates, who were able to watch it immediately. It went viral on Day 1.

The demand to see the film from around the world was so great, Zaya and Maurizio had to scramble to expand their team. In the first week they received 16,000 customer service requests. By adding individuals from Singapore and the Ukraine to a team that was already spread across the globe, they were able to respond more quickly to requests from far flung time zones.
 
During its 7-day virtual premiere, WISDOM was viewed more than 4 million times. The number of people who watched the film was even greater, since it was often viewed by groups of 2 or more. It was watched in 236 countries and territories (out of the 252 listed by Google Ads).



Psychedelic Session

Dr. Maté facilitates a therapy session


The Donation Model

 
The filmmakers made a third inspired decision. They created a donation model.

They were advised to make the film available for free. Standard operating procedure in the summit marketing world is a free offer followed by the upsell of related products. But Zaya and Maurizio resisted, remembering the warning from the documentary THE SOCIAL DILEMMA, “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” 

They were unwilling to treat their viewers as products. Instead, the suggested donation to watch the film was $20. People could pay what they wished, even $0 was acceptable. Zaya and Maurizio wanted as many people as possible to see their film, so no one was turned away, even if they donated nothing. Viewers could also buy the whole package for $189, which included over 40 hours of conversations with Dr. Maté and his guests.

By creating a “by donation” model, the filmmakers were able to achieve the best of both worlds:

  • historic audience numbers
  • exceptional revenues
  • no one who wanted to see the film was turned away (leading to good will, good word-of-mouth, and more sign-ups)

2.5% of the 4,000,000 views attracted donations for a total of 100,000 donations. 97.5% of views were without donations for a total of 3,900,000 additional views

If they had required a $20 payment, the audience for the film would have been substantially reduced, possibly by more than 80%. If the film had been free, they would not have received revenues from 100,000 viewers. The revenues received during the film’s 7-day premiere by SAND (the filmmakers’ nonprofit) were substantial, exceeding the total cost of WISDOM plus Zaya and Maurizio’s new film. 

During the Summit, there were three or four conversations every day, almost all included Dr. Maté.  They were free to watch the day they were live. If you missed them on the free day, you needed to purchase access to the full Summit for $189. The film was still available 24/7 by donation.

Ads and Affiliates
 
The success of the film’s premiere was driven by 3 key factors:

  • Facebook ads which accounted for 20-25% of views
  • Affiliates which accounted for 20-25% of views
  • Word-of-mouth which accounted for 50-60% of views

Facebook ads played a critical role in marketing the film. They started 6 weeks before the Summit/film premiere. They were used to test and refine marketing and to make targeting more precise.

Zaya and Maurizio devoted a lot of energy to building and maximizing their relationships with affiliates. They developed some of these relationships before they made the film. Some were formed around the Summit. Many were developed once the film was launched and took off. Altogether they worked with 20-30 major affiliates, plus another 70-80 smaller organizations and networks.

Affiliate marketing has been a key component of many of the most successful independent documentary releases, including FOOD MATTERS and HUNGRY FOR CHANGE.

The ideal affiliate is an organization or network with many members or an influential individual with many followers. The arrangement is win-win. The affiliate recommends the film to its members or followers and shares a customized link to the film’s website, where the film can be purchased (or receive a donation). In return, the filmmakers  give the affiliate a substantial share (often as high as 50%) of all revenues generated by the affiliate’s customized link. 

Zaya and Maurizio made the process of becoming an affiliate very simple. There was no cost to sign up. Organizations were incentivized to become affiliates by the potential to earn substantial revenues by recommending the film. The more persuasive and frequent their recommendations, the more their members or followers donated, the greater the revenues they shared. 

Prison Circle

Inmates gather for the Compassion Trauma Circle



Release Timing
 
Instead of a continuing release, the filmmakers limited the initial availability of WISDOM to three special event windows spread over 4 months. 

Following the premiere/Summit week June 8-14, 2021, the film went dark. There was no way to watch it for another 6 weeks. The second release window was July 28 – August 1, 2021. It included a special rebroadcast of the “Talks on Trauma” Teaching Series from the Summit.

The third and final release window was October 4-10, 2021. This included a new series of conversations, Part 2 of the “Talks on Trauma” series.

Alternating shorter special event periods when the film was widely available with longer periods when it was completely unavailable made the limited opportunities to see WISDOM more urgent.

Following the third window, the film went dark again. Later that year, the film was finally made available from the WISDOM website for: 

  • organizations to rent the film for screenings
  • individuals to stream the film. It is now available in over 30 languages (all of the translations were donated by native speakers around the world). There are also 14 websites totally translated into different languages so viewers who don’t speak English are easily able to reach the page and view the film (donating if they wish) without the barrier of the English language.

In May 2022, Zaya and Maurizio took their film and Dr. Maté on a very successful European tour, which included Prague, Berlin, Sofia, and Istanbul. 
 
Direct Distribution
 
Before the launch, the filmmakers had watched more brands use the internet and social media to go directly to consumers. Instead of relying on third parties to sell their products, these brands were able to connect with individuals and turn many of them into regular customers.  
 
Zaya and Maurizio have kept tight control of their distribution. Starting with the premiere, the film has been exclusively available to viewers to stream (not purchase) from the WISDOM website. This has enabled them to:

  • build an audience around the film that will be supportive of their future work 
  • dramatically expand the membership of SAND, their organization
  • directly receive 100% of donations and other revenues

So far, they have only made a few exceptions to this approach. They licensed the film to The Video Project for educational sales. 

To maintain overall control of their distribution, they have had to fight an ongoing battle with pirates. While piracy is little or no problem for most documentary filmmakers, the spectacular success of WISDOM quickly attracted pirates around the world. Maurizio was determined to fight them off and has succeeded after too many hours of tedious efforts. He has already had it taken down from YouTube over 600 times and remains vigilant.

14 Take Aways
 
WISDOM is succeeding beyond the filmmakers’ wildest dreams. 

It has reached a larger, wider virtual audience faster than any documentary that I know of.

It has been and continues to be very financially successful.

It has enabled the filmmakers to build a global audience for their work.

It has deepened the world’s understanding of trauma and provided comfort and inspiration to countless individuals.

Zaya and Maurizio designed and implemented a distribution strategy customized to their film, their audiences, and their goals. It included many cutting-edge elements.

14 Point Checklist


I recommend that documentary filmmakers designing proactive distribution strategies review this checklist and consider which elements will be the best fit. 

Zaya and Maurizio tested a range of new approaches that worked for them and will work for many other filmmakers. 


Zaya & Maurizio

Zaya Benazzo and Maurizio Benazzo,
co-producers and co-directors of THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA



The Future
 
So far, WISDOM has been viewed over 7 million times. If an average of 1.5 viewers have watched it each time, that would mean over 10 million people have seen it.

The WISDOM website is the only place to watch the movie online. 50,000 to 100,000 people are visiting the website every month. Many are streaming the film for a suggested donation of $7.99 or more or less. Many are buying THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA All Access Pass, which includes the film, a course, and many talks, for a suggested price of $197.

The SAND mailing list grew from 60,000 names before WISDOM to 900,000 after WISDOM.  The filmmakers have removed inactive subscribers, so it is now down to 600,000.

Zaya and Maurizio are already in production on their new fully financed film. Their global audience awaits! 

- Peter Broderick

© 2023 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #47

FAST FORWARD REVENUES: HOW TO MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU FINISH YOUR FILM
- A Crash Course -


By Peter Broderick & Keith Ochwat


Tired of waiting months, years, or forever to begin earning money from your films?

You can now start making money before picture lock!
 
Most filmmakers struggle to cover continuing and seemingly endless costs: pre-production, production, post, festivals, delivery, and marketing. The wait for meaningful revenues is long or very long.
 
Joe Applebaum and Stu Maddux are pioneering a bold new strategy to fast-forward revenues. They have discovered three ways to make money while making their films.


CRASH COURSE


Joe and Stu generated over $250,000 in revenues while they were making their latest film, ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE. They revealed how they did it to Keith and me during a recent Show&Tell webinar. We also did a series of interviews with them to learn the key lessons to share with you in this Bulletin.

ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE still

Andrea Richie is bed bound. She opened up about her struggle
with isolation in ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE



Stu and Joe believe there should be “no secrets” among independent filmmakers. They are committed to being open and transparent about their methods and their revenues, confident it will be helpful to other independents.
Keith and I have created this mini-crash course to empower you to fast forward revenues.

It includes three written modules:

  • How to create a powerful clip presentation during production
  • How to secure corporate and nonprofit partners early
  • How to partner with government agencies before picture lock

This crash course also includes three webinars:





How to Create a Powerful Clip Presentation During Production

ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE is a feature documentary about “the epidemic of social isolation and chronic loneliness.” During production, the pandemic dramatically increased loneliness worldwide, making the need for their film even more urgent.


Stu and Joe are principals of the social enterprise the Clowder Group. They are a dynamic team, combining entrepreneurial DNA with passionate social consciences. The innovative strategy they devised for ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE started with an opportunity rather than a plan. When they were invited to show their film at a major conference, they declined because it was far from done. Conference organizers wouldn’t take no for an answer and asked them to show something. Joe and Stu agreed to present five three-minute clips from their work-in-progress. They designed an interactive presentation around these short videos.

The presentation was an unexpected hit, and Joe and Stu soon began receiving invitations from other conferences and AARP state chapters. Refining the presentations as they continued to do them, they developed a format that was extremely effective and in real demand. They did 13 presentations (almost all virtual) during post, from March 2020 through November 2021. Audiences ranged from 100-400. The standard fee was $4500.
 
Stu and Joe were careful to circumscribe their role in these presentations. They provided the clips and the overall format and one of them participated in each hour-long, live virtual event. They were not responsible for the technology, platform, or the marketing of the events, all of which were handled by the host organizations.

There is a great deal to learn from watching their presentation.


The AARP North Carolina clip presentation 3 of 3

AARP ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE presentation. From left to right: Val Walker (Author – Consultant – Educator); Rebecca Chaplin (Associate State Director, AARP North Carolina Mountain Region); Stu Maddux (Director of "All The Lonely People")


Here are the key elements that made it work so well:


  1. It is personal. Stu begins by explaining why he was compelled to make the film. “I’m lonely. I’m aging. I’m worried about it.”
  2. It is well-structured. It highlights at the start the elements of the presentation viewers won’t want to miss so they will keep watching.
  3. A teaser previews the future film.
  4. An excellent host and a knowledgeable expert complement Stu and make for a dynamic threesome.
  5. Moving clips show how people around the world are faring during this epidemic of loneliness.
  6. The event is very interactive. Audience members are invited to ask questions, make comments in the chat, participate in polls, and take the Loneliness Quiz.
  7. The Loneliness Quiz is irresistible. Viewers grade themselves and share their results, as the hosts compare their scores.
  8. Feedback is solicited. Stu invites the audience to be part of shaping the film. Stu and Joe valued these events as focus groups with strangers. They learned which characters viewers responded to the most and which story lines weren’t working.
  9. The event has personal utility for lonely and isolated viewers. They learn from the insights and tips provided by Stu and his co-presenters. The presentation highlights the “caravan of support” and resources available to viewers.
  10. Empathy The overall tone was warm, caring, and understanding. Viewers are not lectured at, condescended to, or persuaded to buy anything.
 
These 13 presentations netted $42,700 before picture lock.

They fast-forwarded the arrival of the film’s first meaningful revenues by 1 or 2 years.

The presentations also greatly increased the value of the money by making it available when it could defray the costs of making the film rather than years later, long after the film was finished.

As valuable as these initial revenues were, the ultimate impacts of the presentations were far greater.
 
THE PRESENTATIONS OPENED DOORS TO MORE REVENUE

The presentations raised critical awareness within target audiences and enabled Joe and Stu to build powerful partnerships. These partnerships propelled them to receive commitments of over $250,000 in support for their film—all before picture lock.

Partners ranged from large healthcare companies to senior living facilities to government agencies. All shared an appreciation for the message of ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE.

The presentations demonstrated to the partners how useful the film will be in their work with customers and communities.

They made clear that:

  • the subjects of loneliness and isolation were attracting large audiences
  • Stu and Joe’s clips captured these subjects effectively
  • viewers were engaged and kept watching
  • viewers found the presentations hopeful and helpful

Unlike hard to evaluate written proposals for films yet to be made, the presentations made real the value and potential impact of ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE even though it was unfinished.
 
 

How to Secure Corporate and Nonprofit Partners Early


ļ»æYou don’t need a finished film to start building relationships that can provide the support you need. Joe and Stu started building awareness of their film and pursuing partnerships almost two years before picture lock.

Joe Applebaum - Headshot crop

Joe Applebaum (Producer of "All The Lonely People") Credit: Stu Maddux


They began proactively reaching out directly to potential partners. Their successful presentations generated word-of-mouth and possible partners started approaching them.


The presentations also illustrate a key factor that few filmmakers understand. Most potential partners in the corporate, philanthropic, and public sectors can make better use of shorter material than a feature length film. They can do much more with a 15-minute version of a feature, a short, a series of clips, or a spot. They can be used as part of a conference keynote, presented during a webinar, shown on television, or spread online.

In addition to video content, many partners want an experience, like a presentation or Q&A (live or virtual), that adds complementary insights and value. Joe and Stu learned this first-hand as they booked events months before locking their film. By integrating their clips in an interactive presentation, Joe and Stu demonstrated how their partners can have the greatest impact with their material. Potential partners became partners after attending live presentations and being wowed.

Here are nine essential steps to secure corporate and nonprofit partners:


Identify the right partners

  • Create a hit list of potential partners. This list should be large and include companies, nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy groups
  • Prioritize partners with a clear track record of supporting communities, causes, issues, conferences, or legislative advocacy related to your film’s message
  • Track down the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of potential partners by using tools like LinkedIn and RocketReach, with a focus on staff working in marketing and communications


Emphasize your alignment and share short clips

  • Email your leads and be prepared to practice polite persistence because most unsolicited emails go unanswered
  • Speak on the phone with a few of your prioritized partners to make clear why you think your film is relevant to their work and understand how your film can be useful to them
  • Share a simple pitch deck (just a couple of pages, short and sweet!) and either your trailer or clips from your film. No need to share your film at this stage. If they ask for it, let them know when you expect the full cut will be done

Host an event together and start the ripple effect

  • Offer to host a work-in-progress virtual event with a presentation and ask for a fee. Position it as a fun community engagement event, joint fundraising event, or training session for employees
  • Host events to spread the word about your film, which will lead to more opportunities
  • Collect email addresses from attendees (some of whom may want to host their own events) and a glowing quote from your partner to use in future outreach
 
Joe and Stu secured a partnership with the healthcare company Humana months before picture lock. Humana had learned about ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE after attending one of Joe and Stu’s presentations and expressed interest in working together. The film complements Humana’s existing Loneliness & Social Isolation programming. Joe and Stu pitched Humana on sponsoring a series of 11 virtual events focused on cities the company had prioritized for community engagement. Humana is paying $20,000 for 3 initial events and will pay an additional fee for another 8 planned events.
 

How to Partner with Government Agencies Before Picture Lock


Government agencies are partnering with documentary filmmakers more frequently. Previously many independents thought the only government agencies that supported film were the National Endowment of the Arts and National Endowment of the Humanities. Today more and more filmmakers are securing partnerships leading to significant funding and promotion from a variety of local, state, and federal agencies, as well as court systems and Governor’s offices.

Here are three essential steps to effectively pitch government agencies:

Find the right agencies to target

  • Get started by thinking about what your film is about, what issues are at its core, and then identify parts of the government that are involved in those issues 
  • If your film is about international issues, reach out to the State Department
  • If your film is about sustainable farming, reach out to the Department of Agriculture or a local office of the USDA
  • If your film is about domestic violence, reach out to the public information officer of your local Family Court

Align your film with agency’s needs

  • It can be included in their internal training content for employees
  • It can be used to engage their constituents and communities they serve
  • Clips from your film can be included in their website and social media 

Get your foot in the door with the right person

  • Start with public information and community engagement offices
  • Begin locally and then move up to the state and national levels
  • Introduce yourself and your film. Don't worry if you're not sure exactly what to pitch. Sometimes by just getting on their radar will spark good ideas and promising opportunities

During post, Joe and Stu reached out to state social services departments in California and New York. The agencies determined that the film will be a valuable tool in their efforts to combat loneliness. 

The California Department of Social Services paid $30,000 to license a five-minute clip of ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE that they will put on their website. Stu and Joe also agreed to create additional content for the Department—the beginning of a continuing partnership.

The New York State Department of Aging paid $60,000 for 15 screenings of ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE. The Department is also interested in doing 15 additional screenings next spring for an additional $60,000.

THE BENEFITS
 
What began simply with a request from a conference to show something of the film they were making ended up transforming its distribution opportunities.
 
The extremely effective clip presentation Joe and Stu created enabled them to:
 
  • fast forward immediate and future revenues
  • attract potential partners and build solid partnerships with them
  • gain valuable feedback that helped them make a better film
  • test core audiences to learn which ones to focus on
  • refine their pitch and positioning of the film
  • provide helpful insights to viewers struggling with loneliness
  • create positive awareness among viewers and more potential partners
 
We strongly recommend you watch these two invaluable webinars.
 


They will empower and inspire you!

© 2022 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #46

FREE = AWARENESS + AUDIENCE + REVENUE
By Peter Broderick

Uncover The Secrets v2

The power of free can transform your distribution.

Don’t miss this special opportunity to learn how to use ­free virtual screenings to:

  • Increase awareness of your film
  • Build your audience
  • Generate revenues

12 Inspiring Films v2

The masters of free, James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch, are presenting a Free Worldwide Online Screening of their films for 10 days, September 20-30, 2021.

Laurentine and James

Laurentine ten Bosch and James Colquhoun

This special event includes:

  • Hungry for Change - definitively demonstrated the power of free in 2012. When it premiered online worldwide for free for ten days, there were 453,841 views across the globe. People who viewed the film gratis purchased over $1.02 million worth of DVDs and recipe books. Here is my previous Bulletin on Hungry for Change.

Hungry For Change Poster


  • Food Matters - James and Laurentine’s first film sold hundreds of thousands of DVDs online. They discovered the power of free during its release:

  • Free, in-person public screenings increased their DVD sales

  • Free dynamic video content was available on their website to everyone who registered. Here is my previous Bulletin on Food Matters.
 
  • Transcendence - James and Laurentine made this 10-part series after releasing Food Matters and Hungry for Change. It explores how people can transcend limiting beliefs and improve their physical, emotional, and mental health.

Beginning with Food Matters, James and Laurentine have maintained an entrepreneurial attitude to the distribution and marketing of their films. Instead of following a traditional path, they have blazed their own trail through the New World of Distribution. They have tested many new approaches, learned which worked, and then refined them. This has enabled them to build a very large and loyal personal audience around the world.

There are valuable lessons to learn from the upcoming event:

  • How to position and market a free event to attract new viewers as well as your subscribers
 
  • How to customize and time pre-event promotion

  • How to most effectively attract event sign-ups

  • How to use free gifts to increase opt-ins for your mailing list

  • How to convert free viewers into buyers of your film, related products, and courses

Sign Up v2

I’ve learned a lot from consulting with the Food Matters team (which includes Grace Mora, VP of Content) during the past 10 years. Even if you don’t have time to watch their extremely successful films, there is a great deal you can learn from this free-to-all special event.


© 2021 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #45

PITCHING PARTNERS - A Step-By-Step Guide
By Keith Ochwat

checklist 1


Partnerships are powerful tools that can enable you to maximize your film’s reach and revenue.

The dynamics of distributing documentaries have changed dramatically. In years past, a single distribution deal might have been enough to make your film successful. Today it’s critical to build direct connections with audiences and organizations who align with your film.

Enter partnership strategy. I first learned how to build partnerships during the distribution of
Age of Champions, my documentary about the Senior Olympics. We had a Netflix deal, a PBS national broadcast, and a Kanopy educational release, but the keys to our success were partnerships with allies that shared a passion for our film’s message. Working with AARP, Cigna Health, and other nonprofit groups in the senior living worlds, I was able to create a campaign that resulted in over 3,000 community screenings and generated $1,543,000—only $64,000 of it came from our distributors. 96% ($1,479,000) came directly from the promotion and support of our partners.

Successful partnerships can give you the control, flexibility, and connection to the core audiences you need to thrive in today’s environment. Since my
Age of Champions experience, I’ve worked with Peter to help hundreds of other filmmakers build their own partnership strategies.

Whether you’re creating a partnership with a nonprofit, a company, or an advocacy group, understanding how to effectively pitch partners is essential.

age-of-champions-key-art_small


Why Pitch Partners?

A good partner can provide funding, help raise critical awareness, and generate substantial impact. The two most important qualities of major partners are:

  • they are aligned with the issue or topic(s) central to your film
  • they have an active audience that will be receptive to your film’s message

Partners come in all shapes and sizes, including:

  • A nonprofit advocacy group
  • A Fortune 500 company
  • An Instagram influencer that backs you financially and opens doors to more support
  • The organizer of a conference of academics focused on issues connected to your film
  • Government officials, departments, and policy makers
  • Foundations committed to support causes related to your film

If partners are who you work with, partnerships are how you work with them. The most important aspect of any successful partnership is that it is mutually beneficial! It’s all about the win-win.


STEP 1: Make Your Target List

The first step to pitching partners is identifying the right ones to approach. You should make a list of influential partners that have a track record of supporting the issues central to your film.

Your film’s central issues are its essential themes and message—not simply the topic or storyline of your film. For example, although
Age of Champions tells the stories of senior athletes, our central issue was active aging. By focusing on the most prominent and influential companies and nonprofits that had a history of supporting programs, conferences, and other initiatives related to active aging, we were able to prioritize our research.

Pro tip: A good way to find prospective partners is to do reverse research. This is the most effective way to multiply one good potential partner to highlight several more. First, identify an organization that is a promising partner, then work backwards to find other organizations in their network. For example, if you find a nonprofit that could be an excellent partner, look at the affiliations of their board members. The companies and organizations they are part of could also be interested in your film.

You can also:

  • Look up any nonprofit’s tax forms online (they are called a Form 990) to find out who funds them
  • Look at the companies that sponsor related conferences
  • Find out which celebrities are involved in causes related to your central issues
  • Identify which companies are buying advertising in niche media outlets relevant to your film’s central issues
  • Research foundations and other nonprofits that fund or operate relevant programs and initiatives

If a potential partner has a track record of supporting the issues relevant to your film, chances are they’ll want to hear about your distribution plans—so put them on your list!

When I was building my partners target list for
Age of Champions, I looked for prominent and influential entities that already had a clear track record of supporting programs, conferences, and other initiatives related to active aging. I assembled a list of over 300 potential partners, which fell naturally into different groups with similar characteristics. I whittled them down by emailing or calling two organizations in each group to gauge their interest and assess the overall potential of their group. I then focused on certain groups and eliminated others.

When reaching out to a potential partner, I was looking for unbridled enthusiasm for my film. A lukewarm response wouldn't do. It's important to determine which partners are most interested in your film and the possibility of collaborating. The most common mistake filmmakers make is creating a large list of potential partners and then trying to pursue them all with an equal amount of energy. This is a great way to exhaust yourself and give up before connecting with the right potential partners. 

Over the course of my research and outreach via email and phone calls, 300 possibilities became 100 then 25 promising potential partners. By the end of our distribution, I had developed meaningful relationships with six partners—five of whom had long track records of engagement in the active aging world.

1-HANDSHAKE

STEP 2: Give Them Your Best Ideas

I next focused on coming up with ideas for mutually beneficial ways to work together. Note: a prospective partner should never get the impression that you view them merely as an avenue for promotion to their network! They should value your partnership as providing them with something highly desirable in its own right. That’s where your good ideas come in—and your suggestions should be based on the goals and characteristics
of your partner.

Effective partnerships leverage the strengths of a partner and respect its limits. Different partners bring different assets. Be sure when you are brainstorming to focus on these assets and their potential. Some partners have large networks they can promote your film to. Others have deep pockets. A partnership with a large company will likely include financial support. While most nonprofits won’t be able to provide funding, they can provide very valuable in-kind support, which can include leveraging their massive email lists.

You can also build partnerships which bring together multiple organizations with complementary strengths. Imagine you’ve got a nonprofit partner that has a valuable national network for raising awareness but can’t provide any funding. At the same time, there’s a company or foundation that has resources but no network to promote your film. If those organizations are interested in a joint collaboration—bullseye.

This complementary strength approach worked for a feature documentary Peter and I advised about narrative medicine—the idea that one’s physical and mental health can benefit from revisiting the stories we tell ourselves. The film is called Is Your Story Making You Sick? We contacted an enthusiastic potential partner, the International Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, which connects 4,500 medical professionals interested in narrative medicine from around the world. The problem: they had no budget for a partnership. We then looked for the biggest funders of the narrative medicine movement and identified the Andrew Weil Foundation, which has a track record of supporting this area of research. They were excited about our film and were open to supporting a partnership with the International Fellowship. We applied for and received a $7,500 grant to do one virtual screening event, including the film and a live Zoom training session with the Fellowship’s large global network.

STORY HORIZONTAL 11.4.19

STEP 3: Prepare Your Tools and Pitch

Consider this: chances are your prospective partners have never partnered with a film. This means that you need to clearly and simply explain what it entails and why a partnership will benefit them.

Many promising partnership conversations never get past this fateful phrase, “we’re interested in your film but will get back to you on how we can get involved.” Another common dead end is for a prospective partner to make a suggestion that is easy for them but nearly useless to you. (“We’ll post your trailer on our social media.”)

The way to get ahead of these roadblocks is to clearly articulate your ideas for what the partnership will consist of, and how it will work. Be sure to emphasize how it will be good for your potential partner—the “win-win” message is critical. This will help you establish a partnership on your terms rather than agreeing to what is least inconvenient for your partner.

Pick up the phone and reach out. Sharing your ideas on the phone rather than over email, will help you learn what is possible and when pivoting is needed.

Emails are really good for quickly reaching a lot of people—casting a wide net. You can make an initial introduction and hopefully get someone to agree to speak with you on the phone. Phone calls are important for building a relationship and for dialogue. A partnership can’t happen if you don't have some level of relationship with people at the partnering organization. You won't build that relationship unless you listen to them and understand what their needs are and how your film can help them. You goal is to lead the conversation with a clear explanation of the opportunity you’re offering and how they will benefit.

Another powerful tool to pitch partners is sharing a virtual event page. Don't just tell a potential partner how you might work together—show them! Director Ward Serrill has used this tactic very effectively when approaching nonprofit organizations in the classical music world. He offers them virtual screenings of his film, The Bowmakers, along with a win-win split of ticket sales, donations, and DVD sales. Ward creates a sample virtual event page to make clear how a partnership will work. By giving these entities a valuable way to raise money and engage donors and supporters during a time when live events aren’t possible, he has generated significant revenues and ignited broader interest in his film. Check out a virtual event page for The Bowmakers.

4-PHONE

STEP 4: Follow Up!

Here’s where you get to practice the skills you’ve no doubt learned in other aspects of filmmaking – being polite and persistent.

Key decision makers in partner organizations are busy. After your initial contact/conversation, you must be willing to call and email again and again with pleasant but regular reminders that you have a great opportunity to share.

Polite persistence is your best strategy. If you aren’t breaking through, diversify your outreach and try the second or third in command as a way to get the conversation started. If you’re convinced that you may have a meaningful partnership on your hands, continue to follow up. Try to provide new information each time you check in. Always give the impression that you and your team will add value to what they’re doing.


STEP 5: Start Small and Grow

Starting small and delivering on what you promised is the first step in any meaningful partnership. Even if your film is a perfect fit, a partner usually won’t write the large check or agree to a prominent virtual event right off the bat.

Building trust comes from doing what you promise and meeting or exceeding their expectations each step of the way. One way to foster trust is by sharing the positive feedback you’ve received for your initial collaborations. Show your partner that your film is resonating with the people in their network. A quote or testimonial from a colleague or relevant influencer can help you grow your partnership.

I’ve often found that even if you have a big vision for a partnership, you may need to start small and grow. While it can be frustrating to go slow with partnerships, I’ve seen this pay off on many occasions. For example, I initially I pitched AARP on sponsoring a 20-state semi-theatrical tour for
Age of Champions. They said no. I scheduled a follow-up call and pitched them on sponsoring just one event in a city of their choice. We ended up doing a special screening event in Austin, TX with a Q&A. The Texas state AARP director was ecstatic about the response and gave a positive report back to headquarters. After two more one-off events in different cities that AARP sponsored (followed by a testimonial from the local AARP director), I went back to HQ and pitched them once more on the 20-state tour of the film. This time they said yes!

-----

I hope these five steps will help you on your journey identifying and pitching partners. Partnerships were hands down our most effective tool during the distribution of Age of Champions. In my work advising filmmakers on connecting with their own partners, I have seen the impact an effective partnership strategy has on raising critical awareness for a film.

However varied partners may be, what’s constant is that meaningful partnerships will transform your distribution. Filmmakers I’ve advised have grown their audience and generated significant revenue partnering with companies like 23andMe, professional groups like the National Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, and arts organizations like the Seattle Orchestra and Hauser & Wirth. Each of these partners transformed the filmmaker’s ability to connect with a national or global audience and to generate revenue.

This guide is meant to give you knowledge but also the confidence to try an approach to distributing your film that is outside of the norm. It can be intimidating to be on the frontier of distribution, but time and again, I've seen this strategy work—and work wonders.

Exclamation Blue


———————————


Keith is the Founder of
Show&Tell, a virtual screening platform. To learn more about hosting a screening of your film or learn the fundamental principles of how to launch an effective virtual event, visit www.showandtell.film.

Check out this sample Show&Tell virtual event for a feature documentary that has held 22 events raising $66,000.

© 2021 Keith Ochwat

Illustrations by Sofia Lacin

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #44

VIRTUAL SCREENINGS - A Step-By-Step Guide

The-Bowmakers-Poster Crop

Virtual screenings are game changers! They empower independent filmmakers to do the impossible:

  • to reach widespread audiences directly
  • to exponentially increase awareness of their films
  • to generate substantial revenue rapidly
  • to enable their films to go viral quickly
  • to retain control of their distribution

No distributors are required
.

Virtual screenings are
pandemic proof.

I define virtual screenings as events
presented online to a physically dispersed audience – a film can be made privately available to members of a single organization or it can be made publicly available to a global audience.

This Bulletin is
a one-of-a-kind guide to virtual screenings. My client, Ward Serrill, is a very experienced and talented filmmaker. When the release of his documentary The Bowmakers was halted by Covid-19, he became an entrepreneur on the virtual frontier. He quickly developed deep expertise in presenting successful virtual screenings with partners.

This step-by-step guide is
invaluable. Whether you have started doing virtual screenings, are planning them, or are just learning about them, this Bulletin provides the nuts-and-bolts information you need. Don’t proceed without reading it first.

I want to thank Ward for all the time and effort he spent to create this guide and for his generosity in sharing his hard-won knowledge with everyone. I trust his example will
inspire others to share what they learn, enabling independent filmmakers to collectively thrive in the unprecedented virtual future.

-Peter Broderick

Bowmakers Poster

VIRTUAL SCREENINGS:
A Step-by-Step Guide


By Ward Serrill

I had just completed my latest film, The Bowmakers, about “the most important instrument you’ve never heard of.” It explores the world of the bow and the extraordinary masters who make them.

We were in the fifth week of a strong opening theatrical run, with upwards of 75% capacity at all screenings, when Covid-19 shut us down. As we waited for the smoke to clear, it became apparent that our theatrical run was over for good.

What to do? We knew we had a film that audiences were embracing, with some people coming to it two or three times. Like filmmakers around the world, we faced an uncertain future with no way to get our film to its audience.

We developed a new vision of our release with the help of
Show&Tell, a start-up dedicated to enabling filmmakers to do virtual screenings. We decided to present online screening events in partnership with music organizations around the country. These events would enable us to create revenue for the film as well as for orchestras and symphonies struggling with the economic challenges of Covid-19.

See our current virtual screening event with Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
here.

We were challenged by a steep learning curve. Over nine months, we learned many valuable lessons on the frontier of the New World of Distribution. Here is our step-by-step guide to creating successful online screening events.

1. THE IDEA

A. We designed a win-win model that enabled:
  • the symphony or organization to benefit economically and stay connected to their audience.
  • us to get our film directly to its target market and generate revenue from each event.

B. The partner organization hosts a screening, which runs for a week to ten days. The economics are:
  • $3,000 fee paid to us upfront
  • 50/50 split of ticket sales
  • 100% of additional donations go to the host organization. (Ticket buyers have the option to add a donation to their ticket purchase)
  • 100% of sponsorship revenue for event is kept by the host organization.
  • 100% of DVD or product sales (offered on the event’s website) go to us.

Lesson Learned:

In order to reduce or eliminate the burden of the $3,000 upfront cost to the organization, we encourage them to ask sponsors or key donors to cover this cost. Some organizations raised half the $3,000 from sponsors and some raised the entire amount. Others didn’t try this approach.


IPO Virtual Screening Homepage
Homepage of current virtual event with Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Credit: Ward Serrill

2. IDENTIFYING OUR TARGET PARTNERS

A. While I always hope my films will appeal to a general audience, I have learned that it is essential to first target core audiences. During our five-week theater run, we learned which groups the film appealed to most strongly.

The core audiences we identified are:
  • Classical musicians
  • Organizations that support or promote classical music
  • Classical music fans
  • Instrument makers

B. One of my teammates focused on identifying possible partners across the country whose core audiences matched ours. She compiled a database of symphonies, orchestras, chamber music groups, music conservatories, and chamber music festivals organized by region.

C. By looking at each organization’s reach, sponsors, and donor levels, we identified 140 nationwide to pitch our virtual event to.

D. We drilled down to find the right person or team in each organization. This usually was the development director or the CEO.

Screenshot of our spreadsheet of potential organizations:


Org Spreadsheet

Here is a link to the above Google Doc:
https://bit.ly/3lMDitj

Lessons Learned:

1. We discovered Rocket Reach, a great app to help locate email addresses for key personnel in organizations (as well as individuals not part of organizations).

2. We recommend targeting two or more contacts in each organization. Since during the pandemic many people are working from home, have been furloughed, or have had their hours reduced, give yourself multiple chances that someone in the organization will take notice. If the Development Director misses it, maybe the CEO will see it and think it’s a great idea.

3. OUTREACH TO POTENTIAL PARTNERS

A. I developed an email to put our best foot forward. It included a teaser about the virtual event and the film’s trailer.

Here is the email we sent out that included a visual header:


=======================================

The-Bowmakers-Header-email

Dear XXX,

THE BOWMAKERS is a new, feature-length documentary that explores the world of the bow and the extraordinary masters who make them. It is a film about music and the innate human impulse to create beauty.

We are partnering with classical music organizations around the country in presenting virtual screenings as a powerful way to engage audiences and a source of new fundraising.

Is there a good time for us to talk about a virtual screening event for your organization?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Watch the Trailer!

Sincerely,

Ward Serrill
Writer/Director 
Woody Creek Pictures
www.woodycreekpictures.com

"Anyone who loves music, who loves art, who loves craft will appreciate this lovely, illuminating film.”   —Nicholas Kazan, Screenwriter

=======================================

B. We initially sent emails to 140 organizations. 10 responded.

Lessons Learned:

1. Send follow-up emails to the organizations that don’t respond.


2. The best way to engage organizations that do respond is calling the contact and doing a short phone pitch (or leaving a message) and then following up with the email.

3. We let people on our mailing list know about our plans to hold virtual screening events. We asked them to share contacts they knew in music organizations and then reached out to them.

4. When we got more events under our belts, we asked the heads of our partner organizations to suggest contacts we could approach at other organizations.

4. PITCHING THE SCREENING

A. We initially pitched to the ten organizations that responded. Working closely with Show&Tell, we developed a persuasive template for a virtual event site.

B. We did all pitch sessions via Zoom. Sharing my screen with the organization’s team, we walked them through what their screening site would look like and how it would function.

C. Our pitch went like this:

  1. Introductions
  2. We are reimagining ourselves as filmmakers and how to get our film out just as you are reimagining your organization and how to stay connected to your audience.
  3. Our model allows you to host an exclusive screening event specifically for your audience. These ticketed events can run a week, ten days, or as long as you want.
  4. We explained the three ways they can make money:
  1. A 50/50 split of ticket sales
  2. 100% of added donations
  3. Additional sponsorship revenue
  1. We shared our screen and walked them through the site.
  2. We answered any questions.
  3. Finally, we said that we wouldn’t expect a decision without them first seeing the film. We followed up by providing their decision makers with a password protected link to the film.

D. These Zoom calls lasted no more than 30 minutes.

E. We got seven confirmed events from our initial ten pitch sessions. Right off the bat, we had $21,000 (7 x $3,000) in the bank, plus our 50% of ticket sales to come and additional revenue from sales of our DVD and downloads of the film.


Lesson Learned:

Organizations which may be interested respond first with questions over email. These usually have to do with cost. We learned not to respond to these questions via email, instead suggesting, “Let’s set up a Zoom call so we can show you the model and answer all those questions.”


Bowmaker Stephane

Bowmaker Stephane Thomachot in France, sighting a bow. Photo: Ward Serrill


5. SECURING THE SALE

After an organization has seen the film (via our password protected screener) and decided to do an event, we:
  1. Worked with them to secure dates for the screening.
  2. Helped them decide on a price for the event.
  3. Explained what marketing materials we will need from them and when we needed them. These materials were: description of the organization, 5-6 high quality photographs, and an introductory video.
  4. Worked with them to make their event more exclusive by developing a premiere status to use in their marketing (World Virtual Premiere, East Coast Premiere, World Conservatory Premiere, Southwest Premiere, Rocky Mountain Premiere, and Midwest Premiere).
  5. Sent them a simple Letter of Agreement outlining terms to be signed by the appropriate officer of the organization.

Lessons Learned:

1. After we shared the screener with them, it took patience and follow-up to get them to commit. If they loved the film, we knew we had a good shot. But often other decision makers also had to watch it before there was a final decision.

2.
Run your event over two weekends (10 days). Like theatrical releases, you will have the most traffic on weekends.

3.
Price point for tickets. Most organizations picked our suggested $15. One tried $30-$35 but sales were much lower than they are for lower priced events. One organization did presales at $15 and changed midstream to $25. As soon as they raised the price, the bottom fell out of ticket sales. We have concluded that $15-18 is tops.

4. Nonprofits are overwrought now; employees have been cut or furloughed from their marketing departments.
You must simplify the model for organizations and assure them it is not a big lift marketing wise.

6. EVENT WEBSITE ELEMENTS

The Screening event website should include:
  1. A Home page that features the partner organization
  2. An “About the Organization” page

IPO About Section
About section of virtual screening website with Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Credit: IPO

  1. An introductory 15-45 second video produced by the organization that precedes the film and is seen by all viewers. This video can also feature sponsors.
  2. Presale tickets so the organization can begin marketing and selling in advance. (The presale price can be at a discount).
  3. A live Zoom webinar Event with the filmmakers and stars of the film for closing weekend. These events are hosted by the organization and feature a bowmaker, a key musician from the film, and myself. The organization provides the facilitator and additional panelists.

Lessons Learned:

1. Some organizations may not be prepared to create a short introductory video. Show them samples that other organizations have produced. Offer to create it for them if they can’t do it. They need to provide you with:

  1. An audio of the narration: “XXX organization is proud to present the Midwest premiere of….etc.”
  2. High resolution photographs
  3. Organization logo
  4. Logos or list of any sponsors
  5. A piece of music

2.
Live Q&A tip: While the partner organization is responsible for hosting the Zoom live event, you must help them do it well. In most cases, doing a live Webinar is new to them. I coach them on how to set up their screen to produce a good image and proper framing. I provide them a list of possible questions to ask guests. I have them start the Q&A by asking me how I got the idea for the film. I can get the ball rolling and engage the audience right off.

7. MARKETING THE EVENTS

A. For us to succeed, the organization has to succeed. It is their audience we need to connect with. I had to become a marking consultant for the organization. Doing virtual screenings was a first for many of them. Their bread and butter was live music events. They relied on us to learn how to promote a film.

B. Over time, I discovered it was easier for us to create templates for their marketing materials. We shared with them: descriptions of the film, key photographs and poster art, and our design files for creating a flyer for sponsors. We also created draft emails for them to send to potential viewers.

Sponsor Flyer
Sponsor Outreach flyer for Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Credit: Ward Serrill

C. Organizations marketed the film by:
  1. Posting the event on their website Home page
  2. Sending emails to their audience list. (Three different ones sent out – see “Lessons Learned” below)
  3. Getting local print and radio media to cover the event. The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra was able to get two newspaper reviews of the event, plus have it featured on their local public radio station
  4. Social media
  5. Doing dinner-and-a-movie events with local restaurants providing take-out meals
  6. Getting local schools or educational organizations involved

Link to article on film and event in Chicago Tribune: https://bit.ly/Chic-Trib

Lessons Learned:

1. We counsel organizations to send three email blasts. The first a few days before the event, the second on opening weekend, and the third just prior to closing weekend emphasizing the Live Q&A event.

2. Offer a Sneak Preview. We are offering our current partner organizations a free 2-4 day sneak preview for their musicians or key influencers before the film is offered live to the public. The Illinois Philharmonic offered the sneak preview free to its 60-member orchestra and then asked them to share the ticketed site with 5 of their friends and colleagues.

8. RESULTS

We have secured partnerships with seven organizations (with two more pending decision).
  • Seattle Orchestra and Chamber Singers
  • Harford Symphony Orchestra
  • Curtis Institute of Music
  • Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
  • Friends of Chamber Music Denver
  • Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival

A. The four events held so far have averaged total revenue between $7,000-$11,000 each, with average ticket sales of 300. Half the viewers also made an added donation to the organization. 10% purchased a DVD or download.

B. Financial returns are not the only measure of success. As a filmmaker at a crossroads (or a wall) when Covid struck, I am now getting my film directly into the living rooms of my target audience.

C. It also feels deeply satisfying to be helping nonprofit organizations now, especially music organizations frozen out from hosting live events. Art heals, and putting beauty to work for good is never more essential than during such challenging times.


Lessons Learned:

1. Marketing a streaming film is hard. There is a bumper crop of streaming content available to audiences right now. From studios releasing directly online to added competition from streaming sites (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Disney) to film festivals now entirely online, audiences are awash in content. Your film is unlikely to sell itself. You have to stay at it and work with organizations to get your film in front of their audiences multiple times.

2. Hire a Customer Service Representative. This was our biggest lesson. Any streaming offering will present a host of issues: viewers credit card transactions not working; the film not playing over the multiverse of different browsers and devices (computer, iPad, phone) available, etc. We prepared a set of FAQ’s on the site to help people troubleshoot. We provided them a direct email to our customer service representative, who over time became skilled at resolving customer issues. Issues will come up. Our experience was that 5% of viewers will have problems. You don’t want them contacting the organization to resolve them.

3. Be prepared to have an ongoing working relationship with the staff at the organization. Once you have set up and launched a site, be ready to respond to questions and issues on nearly a daily basis. Eventually you will learn responses and quick workarounds for any issues that arise.

4. Ticketed events are not the only way to go. If an organization just wants to present your film to their audience, you can charge them an overall screening fee and then allow them to offer it free to their audience during the screening period.

5. Keep learning, keep growing
. Even today as of this writing, I’ve been in touch with the good folks at Show&Tell with another idea to make their site work better for the organizations and the viewers.

Initially, I resisted the move toward virtual screenings, only forced into them by the pandemic. But since embracing them and becoming more entrepreneurial minded as a filmmaker, I now see them as a centerpiece of any film distribution strategy I’ll have in the future. Virtual screenings enable me to connect directly with my target audience and to bring in respectable cash flow. They have also given me a special opportunity to meaningfully interact with viewers remotely.


Ward Serrill.Director
Credit: Woody Creek Pictures

Ward Serrill is the award-winning director of The Heart of the Game, released by Miramax to wide critical acclaim. His third full length documentary The Bowmakers is now in release. He is currently at work on his fourth, Dancing with the Dead: The Life and Times of Red Pine. https://woodycreekpictures.com/


==============================

Additional Resources

My partner Keith Ochwat is presenting weekly webinars on virtual screening tactics via Show&Tell’s website.

My recent Distribution Bulletins highlighted the breakthrough virtual successes of Five Seasons and The Great 14th.


© 2020 Peter Broderick

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #43

THE DALAI LAMA'S
GLOBAL VIRTUAL PREMIERE

by Peter Broderick

THEGREAT14TH_filmstill5_TW

A Virtual Premiere = Global Awareness + Worldwide Audiences + Substantial Donations 


Rosemary Rawcliffe’s THE GREAT 14th shows that virtual screenings can achieve multiple goals if they are carefully planned and skillfully executed.
 
This singular documentary is the story of the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. It is the only film to ever feature the Dalai Lama as both subject and narrator, presenting an intimate view of his life story and personal philosophy. The film combines present day scenes with the Dalai Lama and very rare footage of him in Tibet in the 1950s and of his early years in India in the 1960s.

Its global virtual premiere, on June 27 and 28, 2020, celebrated the Dalai Lama’s 85th birthday. The film achieved worldwide awareness, attracting over 48,000 views from 146 countries in 48 hours. It was made available free as a gift for the Dalai Lama. Donations were also welcomed to create additional language versions of the film, which is now available in 21 subtitled versions (in addition to English). These versions honor the 21 Taras, the female enlightened Buddha.

Rosemary hired Keely Badger and the team at 360 MEDIA to help organize the virtual premiere and handle social media. With only a few weeks lead time, 360 MEDIA was able to spread the word widely. The response exceeded Rosemary’s expectations. She was thrilled to watch countries wake up and go online to view the film as the sun traveled around the world.

Rosemary previously considered charging to view the film, but was glad she decided to combine 
free availability with pay-what-you-wish donations. This decision earned her substantially more money than she would have made at $1 per view. It also generated more good will.
 
THE GREAT 14th was almost lost forever. During post-production, burglars broke into Rosemary’s office and stole her computers, monitors, servers, and the hard drives containing the film. Rosemary miraculously escaped complete disaster. The thieves missed one small drive that contained the picture-locked film, which was to be sent to the composer. Recovering this overlooked drive, Rosemary was able to complete the film just in time for its Mill Valley Film Festival premiere.
 
The global virtual premiere demonstrated the film’s true potential. There are an estimated 470 million practicing Buddhists worldwide. This is the only film in which the Dalai Lama tells his story in his own words. This premiere just reached the surface of her global audience. Rosemary understands that her film is a much-needed healing tool that the world needs now.

THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #42

HOW A GLOBAL VIRTUAL PREMIERE
ATTRACTED 1.5 MILLION VIEWERS

by Peter Broderick

Tom Piper Screen Shot

Virtual screenings are a revolutionary new tool available to all independent filmmakers.

They can enable films to:
  • reach core audiences nationally and internationally
  • achieve critically important awareness
  • increase short and long term revenues

  • To learn the latest on virtual screenings, watch this exclusive interview with Tom Piper, the director of Five Seasons. His film broke all virtual screening records. It attracted 1 million views (equivalent to 1.5 million viewers) in three days.
     
    Watching his interview, you will learn:
  • why it is essential to find the right partner
  • how to achieve the best of both worlds by using a 72-hour screening window
  • the importance of properly publicizing a virtual screening
  • how the film was able to reach its core audience and jump the fence to other audiences
  • the ways the premiere benefited the film and Tom
  • the value of reaching audiences directly
  •  
    You can also read my last Distribution Bulletin, which includes a case study of Five Seasons and an overview of the potential of virtual screenings.

    Tom Piper Interview on Vimeo

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #41

    ONE VIRTUAL PREMIERE, ONE MILLION VIEWS
    by Peter Broderick

    Attention Guinness World Records: During its 3-day virtual premiere, Five Seasons was viewed over 1 million times around the world. No distributor required.

    Five Seasons Poster BIG

    This documentary about garden design attracted a larger audience in a single weekend than most documentaries ever achieve in their entire lifetimes.

    Five Seasons powerfully demonstrates the unprecedented potential of virtual screenings.

    I define a virtual screening as the online availability of a film during a limited time period (usually 2-72 hours). Unlike physical screenings that are limited to a single venue with a certain number of seats, virtual screenings can be viewed worldwide by an unlimited number of people.

    FIVE SEASONS PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION

    Shot, produced, and directed by Tom Piper, Five Seasons shows how “the revolutionary landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, upends our conventional notions of nature, public space, and, ultimately, beauty itself.” I’ve been consulting with Tom on the distribution of Five Seasons in North America and abroad for three years. Tom has diligently implemented a customized distribution strategy stage-by-stage. The film was distributed theatrically in North America by Argot Pictures. It is distributed in the UK by Dartmouth Films. It did very well in Australian theaters without a distributor. Working without a foreign sales agent, Tom continued to book many physical festival and special event screenings around the world.

    #2 Tom Piper Shooting
    Tom Piper shooting. Photo: Malcolm Wyer


    FIVE SEASONS
    VIRTUAL DISTRIBUTION

    Earlier this year, the devastating spread of Covid-19 made it impossible to do any more physical screenings. Then, on April 9, 2020, Tom received an invitation for the virtual premiere of Five Seasons from Hauser & Wirth, the global art gallery.

    Piet Oudolf had landscaped the gallery’s location in Somerset, England. Hauser & Wirth had previously done physical screenings of the film at six of its galleries around the world, including Somerset. It was enthusiastic about
    Five Seasons and eager to present the virtual premiere via its website.

    Tom quickly accepted their offer. On Earth Day (April 22
    nd), Hauser & Wirth sent their newsletter to 50,000 subscribers around the world announcing the free digital premiere of Five Seasons during the following weekend (April 24-26). They supported the event with some social media posts and ads and a second email blast on Saturday. They also generated some press coverage in Town & Country and Gardens Illustrated.

    #3 Drone Shot
    Drone shot of Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth Somerset.
    Photo: Film still from Five Seasons

    #4 Planting Design
    Planting design for Oudolf Field at Hauser & Wirth Somerset.
    Credit: Piet Oudolf


    The response was overwhelming. 1 million views equal 1.5 million viewers, assuming many views were by 2 or more people. The average viewing time was a remarkable 71 minutes, meaning that almost all viewers watched the full, 75-minute film, with or without end credits. Viewership was widely dispersed among more than 50 countries. Here’s a global view highlighting the top ten countries.

    #5 Map

    Credit: Hauser & Wirth


    Views in the top ten territories were:

    U.S.
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx343,604
    U.K.
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx196,992
    Australia
    xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx43,269
    Brazil
    xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx x42,999
    Argentina
    xxxxxxxxxx xxxx39,159
    Israel
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx29,906
    Italy
    xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx x26,767
    Sweden
    xxxxx. x xxxxxxxxx26,181
    Bulgaria
    xxxxx. xxxxxxxxxx22,317
    Netherlands
    xxx. xxxxxxxxx22,282

    Tom was thrilled that so many people in so many countries watched his film. He was also really gratified that – in this era of so many choices available online and such short attention spans—so many viewers watched his film from beginning to end.

    The benefits to him included:
    • a screening fee
    • the addition of 3100 new subscribers to his mailing list and personal core audience
    • hundreds of requests from organizations and individuals, which will turn into paid screenings and sales. Tom has a section of his website devoted to helping organizations and individuals “organize a virtual screening”.
    • an amazing increase in worldwide awareness of Five Seasons

    This will enable him to build a long life for the film and maximize revenues. More importantly, this will enhance his opportunities to make more films and to have a sustainable career.

    OLD WORLD vs. NEW WORLD

    To understand the potential of virtual screenings, it is helpful to juxtapose their essential elements with those of traditional physical screenings. This chart compares Old World physical screenings with New World virtual screenings.

    #6 Old World v New World

    This chart overlaps in several ways with my chart contrasting Old World Festivals with
    New World Festivals.

    Among the key differences are:
    • the greater possible length of virtual screenings allows enough time for digital word-of-mouth to significantly expand the audience. I assume that many viewers who watched Five Seasons during the first day or two raved about it to others, significantly expanding the audience during the last day or two of the screening.
    • making the film available during a limited time period gives a virtual screening the feeling of a special event (as opposed to continuing availability on VOD). There was a spike in viewership Sunday night as time was running out.
    • many physical screenings are organized by distributors, who act as intermediaries between filmmakers and screening audiences. When filmmakers organize virtual screenings, they can have a much more direct connection with the audience. Viewers reached out to Tom on Instagram and he was able to engage with them in more satisfying ways than if they just asked questions during a Q and A following a physical screening.

    VIRTUAL SCREENING STRATEGY

    1. Partners are Key

    A great partner can connect your film with a substantial core audience. Hauser & Wirth was an ideal partner for Five Seasons. They highlighted the film twice to their 50,000 subscribers around the world and supported it with social media. News of the upcoming screening went viral as people alerted others during the 2 days leading up to the screening. Then people started watching it and sharing their enthusiasm with others. There were 500,000 views during the first half of the screening window and another 500,000 during the second half.

    #7 Piet & Tom
    Piet Oudolf and Tom Piper. Photo: Malcolm Wyer

    Partners are essential to maximizing the distribution of documentaries (see my partner Keith Ochwat’s special report on Harnessing Partnerships). Virtual screenings are a perfect example of this. Organizations can bring their members and supporters. Companies can bring their customers. Influencers can bring their followers. Government agencies can bring the public. Educational institutions can bring faculty and students. Inviting or alerting people to a virtual screening requires little time or effort.

    2. Private Virtual Screenings

    The benefits and limitations of public and private virtual screenings are quite different. This has historically also been true for physical screenings. Physical screenings limited to cast and crew, members of an organization, or attendees at a conference not open to the public are considered private and do not interfere with festival premieres.

    The same distinction should apply to virtual screenings. If they aren’t advertised to the public and the public can’t attend, they are private.

    Private virtual screenings are an unprecedented new tool that can empower filmmakers. These screenings are not limited by windows. They can be done before, during, and after the festival window. They can also be done during all other windows, including theatrical, educational, and consumer. They are not limited by venue or seating. They can be local, national, and global.

    #8 Piet Drawing
    Piet Oudolf drawing a garden plan. Photo: Film still from Five Seasons


    3.
    Succeeding with core audiences

    To succeed, documentary filmmakers must be able to define, test, and effectively reach core audiences. Virtual screenings are a perfect way to do this.

    The enormous response to
    Five Seasons was a revelation. Tom had previously focused on the very large garden audience and they showed up beyond his wildest imaginings. Growing in a few days from an alert to 50,000 people to an estimated total audience of 1.5 million demonstrated their level of enthusiasm.

    The screening also enabled
    Five Seasons “to jump the fence and go beyond its core audience,” as Tom explained. “Piet’s appeal transcends the garden world.” He also has fans in the art, design, architecture, and fashion worlds, who were attracted to the virtual premiere.

    Many filmmakers make mistaken assumptions about their core audiences. Virtual screenings are an ideal way to test these assumptions and determine which audiences are responding.

    4. Maximizing awareness

    No film will achieve its full potential if it doesn’t reach a critical level of awareness. Virtual screenings are a great way to increase awareness of a film.

    Five Seasons had been seen by an estimated 50,000 viewers as of the end of 2019, after one and a half years of distribution in North America, according to Tom’s rough calculation. 30 times as many viewers saw the film during its three-day virtual screening. This increased global awareness of Five Seasons exponentially.

    It is an important reminder of
    “the power of free”. No admission was charged so there was no cost to sample the film. Once a film achieves a substantial amount of awareness, it can have a life for years to come.

    #9 Piet
    Piet Oudolf. Photo: Film still from Five Seasons


    5. Maximizing revenue

    There are many ways virtual screenings can produce meaningful revenues for filmmakers:

    • admission can be charged. If viewing Five Seasons had cost $2.00 and there were 250,000 views, the gross would have been $500,000.
    • a screening can be a fundraiser. If the price had been $10.00 and there had been 100,000 views, the gross would have been $1 million, 50% to the partner and 50% to the filmmaker.
    • a filmmaker can be paid a fee by the partner organization to make the film available to its members (these fees can range from $250 to $5,000 and up).
    • filmmakers can sell online downloads, streams, tool kits, and other ancillaries following the screening.

    6. Maximizing impact

    Virtual screenings are a great tool to catalyze impact. A film can be shown to:

    • policymakers and their staffs
    • members of an organization to get them involved with an issue
    • funders to attract their support for a campaign

    7. Maximizing career

    Virtual screenings can be used to expand a filmmaker’s personal audience. The larger a personal audience, the greater the chances of having a sustainable career. If a filmmaker does not automatically receive the names and emails of everyone who watches their film during a virtual screening, they can encourage them to opt in to their mailing list.

    8. Invaluable uses

    Virtual screenings have as many possible uses as a Swiss Army knife. In addition to those already described, they can be used for:

    • test screenings followed by in-depth Zoom conversations with audiences as geographically dispersed as desired
    • press screenings followed by substantive Q and A’s with critics across the country or around the world
    • special screenings for funders and supporters, ranging from investors to Kickstarter donors

    Virtual screenings give you the possibility to create a compelling special event that people will be excited to be part of. This is very different from just sending someone a link that they may get around to watching at some point.

    9. The speed of virtual

    Tom learned how much faster things can happen in the New World of Distribution. His successful US theatrical premiere took six months to plan and prepare. Then
    Five Seasons had another 218 bookings across North America during the next 21 months. His virtual premiere was arranged 10 days in advance and announced 2 days before it began. As soon as the virtual screening started, viewers could share links with friends who could immediately watch Five Seasons.

    #10 Piet Shooting
    Piet in his own garden in Hummelo, Netherlands. Photo: Film still from Five Seasons

    10. No gatekeepers

    Independent filmmakers are constantly seeking the support of gatekeepers –investors, funders, agents, festival programmers, exhibitors, distributors, and film critics- so they can make their films and bring them into the world. Almost everywhere they look there are intermediaries between them and the audience they want to reach.

    Virtual screenings give them the opportunity to connect directly with audiences. They don’t need approval or permission. No one can stop them.

    #11 Piet & Tom Chicago
    Piet Oudolf and Tom Piper in The Lurie Garden, Chicago.
    Photo: Adam Woodruff

    The pandemic has stopped physical film festivals, closed movie theaters, and halted nontheatrical screenings. Many filmmakers feel stuck in a crushing limbo, anxiously waiting to advance their projects.Virtual screenings are a new avenue to audiences. They are pandemic proof. They provide a way forward in these dark times.

    #12 Piet's Garden
    Piet’s own garden in Hummelo. Photo: Film still from Five Seasons

    © 2020 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #40

    SPECIAL REPORT: WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD OF FESTIVALS
    by Peter Broderick


    posters
    Photo: CPH:DOX

    The Old World of Film Festivals is on hold and a New World is dawning. The pandemic has made traditional, physical festivals too dangerous. While most festivals have been postponed or canceled, some are going virtual, blazing trails others will follow.

    This New World offers unprecedented opportunities and major challenges. It is beginning with purely virtual festivals, which will be followed by hybrid festivals combining virtual and physical dimensions once it is safe to gather again. While some festivals will remain in the Old World, steadfastly refusing to modify their physical model, most festivals will eventually take advantage of new virtual opportunities and emigrate to the New World as hybrid festivals.

    Since the Venice Film Festival was launched in 1932, the physical film festival has changed very little. Films are screened for audiences in one city for a few days or weeks once a year. As physical film festivals have multiplied, some combination of tradition, standard industry windows of distribution, inertia, and an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude has maintained the basic model for almost 90 years. Suddenly this March it was no longer possible to continue physical film festivals, and festivals were confronted with daunting challenges.


    CPH:DOX LEAPS INTO THE FUTURE


    The first major international film festival to go fully virtual was CPH:DOX, one of the leading documentary festivals in the world. After 16 years of being a physical festival, the festival team transformed CPH:DOX to a 100% digital event in six flat-out days. What they achieved was historic and remarkable. The lessons they learned are invaluable not only for other festivals, but also for filmmakers, distributors, the press, and the rest of the independent film ecosystem.

    CPH:DOX’s Festival Director, Tine Fischer, and Deputy Director and Head of Industry, Katrine Kiilgaard, led their intrepid team to organize and execute the first CPH:DOX online. During an exclusive interview a month after the festival, when the digital dust had settled, they told me the inside story.


    fest_directors
    Festival Director Tine Fischer (left) and Festival Deputy Director and Head of Industry Katrine Kiilgaard. Photos: CPH:DOX

    On March 11, 2020, Tine and Katrine and the rest of the CHP:DOX team finally heard Denmark’s Prime Minister announce she was shutting down the country and closing its borders. This made the physical festival that they had been planning and organizing for a year impossible. With CPH:DOX scheduled to start in six days, and posters all around Copenhagen, they faced the most important decision in the festival’s history – to create a virtual festival or cancel.

    cph_dox_team
    Festival staff watches Prime Minister close Denmark. Photo: Niklas Engstrøm

    The team decided to go for it. There were two main reasons. They had to generate income to sustain CPH:DOX and had no idea if there would be any additional support from the Ministry of Culture to do so. If they did not have Festival revenues or substantial government aid, they were facing a financial catastrophe that could have meant the end of CPH:DOX. The second reason for going virtual was that they were strongly committed to the films they had selected for the Festival and their filmmakers. They felt a huge responsibility not to let the entire ecosystem of the documentary down during a critical period that could last six months or longer. They were also very concerned for the Festival staff, who had worked so hard for an entire year to create the 2020 Festival.

    They were determined to organize something that had never been done on this scale before. Because of the pandemic, they were all working remotely from their apartments and homes, and had less than a week to invent their virtual Festival. They faced technical challenges every day in the run-up to the Festival, and then on opening night their platform crashed. Desperate to find a solution, Tine called Shift72, the digital streaming company in New Zealand. Shift72 saved the day and the Festival by uploading 150 films in 18 hours, enabling CPH:DOX to continue.


    spray_paint
    Transforming CPH:DOX into a digital event. Photo: CPH:DOX

    The planned physical CPH:DOX would have included 220 films. During the crazy days preparing the virtual festival, 150 of the selected films agreed to participate, including every film in competition but one. Tine explained the main reasons the others did not participate. Various producers/rights holders could not get their heads around the concept of a virtual festival, were not sure about how giving the Festival limited streaming rights would affect their distribution, or hoped the wait for future physical festivals would not be too long. A number of these producers later told the Festival that they regretted not participating.



    EDWARD SNOWDEN WORLDWIDE

    snowden
    Edward Snowden speaks to a worldwide audience (watch it here)

    The physical Festival also would have included 160 talks and panels with politicians, scientists, and NGOs. “We’ve managed to implement over 20 of those events, and with surprisingly great results,” explained the Festival’s head of programming, Niklas Engstrøm. The best example was Edward Snowden’s talk via Skype, previously scheduled for a 620-seat theater. Seating for the virtual event was not limited—more than 2,000 people watched Snowden’s talk live, and since then 90,000 more people have seen it. The virtual event already has a global audience almost 150 times larger than the local audience the physical event would have had.

    CPH:DOX also put its Industry Conference online. Panels and talks were presented online via a combination of Webinar Jam software and Facebook. In previous years, such events had only been accessible to the few hundred people who managed to be in the Conference room in Copenhagen. This year they were available live worldwide, and will continue to be available on YouTube for years to come. This greatly increased participation. Between Facebook and YouTube, total views were 5,653 compared with 1338 views in 2019 at the live Conference. Total participants in 2020 were 3,200. At the 2019 Conference participants were able to watch events in a room that seated only 200.

    youtube_playlistIndustry Conference online (watch it here)

    In previous years, the Co-financing Forum had been a key part of the Conference. Katrine explored holding an online pitch but decided against it after talking with a number of producers. Instead, the Conference was able to organize 450 Zoom meetings over three days, and then made 450 more matches for producers to follow up individually. The meetings worked very well.

    One very successful innovation was a virtual lobby where producers, distributors, and funders waited between Zoom meetings. They enjoyed connecting and networking with each other in this digital space. This may inspire new mechanisms for fostering virtual community.


    GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE AROUND THE RIGHT PROJECTS

    Katrine had a major revelation about the unique potential of the digital space to facilitate financing and attract other support for new projects. She explained that creating a new virtual model to replace or supplement location-based pitching forums provides the opportunity to “get the right people around the right projects.” Instead of just relying on the usual suspects who manage to be physically present in one room, you can proactively reach decision makers around the world unable or unwilling to travel to that room.

    CPH:DOX online reached a larger and more diverse audience than physical CPH:DOX ever had in its previous 16 years. Total views for films was 117,720 (estimating 1.7 people for each online screening). Adding 96,000 views for the special events and the Industry Conference, total views were around 210,000, almost doubling 2019’s record year of 114,400.

    The Festival’s reach in Denmark was wider than ever before. In previous years 90% of the CPH:DOX audience was from the Copenhagen metropolitan region. This year digital availability gave equal access to everyone in Denmark, tripling the participation of those outside the metropolitan area.

    Tickets were priced at 6 Euros, half the price of tickets for physical screenings the previous year. Ticket sales were initially limited to 1,000 per film (the equivalent of seating at three physical screenings). But whenever there was greater demand, the staff asked producers if the Festival could sell additional tickets and they all agreed.


    ENGAGED AUDIENCES


    Audiences engaged with the Festival in new ways. As Tine explained, “they created virtual campaigns around the Festival, something we had never seen before.” People also organized watch parties, synchronizing their viewing of films and then discussing them online. Many viewers treated CPH:DOX as a social event, sharing their experiences online.

    Viewers sent in photos capturing how they were participating in the Festival remotely and were thanked on Facebook --“We are beyond grateful for all of you sharing your home cinemas with us, it makes us feel like home.” In addition to heightened social media support, more viewers called and wrote the Festival than ever before. The Festival created the hashtag #stayhomestayreal, which took on a life of its own.

    child_and_dad
    Father and daughter watching at home.
    Photo: Emil Nørgaard Munk (with his daughter Bjørk)


    iguana_photo
    A more diverse audience member screening online.
    Photo: Anne Catherine Sauerberg of her bearded dragon, Abel

    Tine and Katrine are already looking forward to the 2021 Festival. They will be able to build on everything they learned this year and will have the luxury of 12 months to dream, plan, and organize. Tine said that “there has never been so much energy inside the CPH:DOX organization.” For years the team had wanted to reinvent the Festival, and now they are doing it.

    Tine noted that “with only a short time span to transform the Festival to a digital world, we had taken all the elements we usually have and put them online. Going forward, you have to think of completely different models and different formats for connecting people in the right way.”


    VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITIES


    Tine has noted that “CPH:DOX is transformed forever.” Tine, Katrine, and their team are beginning to explore virtual opportunities they did not have the time to realize this year. These include:

    • global premieres - Tine is looking forward to making films available during the Festival to viewers around the world. While the number of tickets can be limited, the potential reach of the Festival is unlimited.

    • global special events - the success of the Edward Snowden event demonstrated the potential of making events available worldwide.

    • planning a longer Festival - this year they extended the Festival on-the-fly twice. Originally scheduled for March 18-29, it ended up continuing until April 30, three times longer than planned, making it possibly the world’s longest major festival. While the logistics and costs of significantly extending a physical festival are prohibitive, a longer virtual festival has great economies of scale and will generate additional revenues.


    cph_dox_online_logo

    • customizing the presentation of films - instead of the Festival’s traditional one-size-fits-all approach to presenting films (e.g. every film received 3 screenings including 1 red carpet), virtual CPH:DOX will be able to customize how films are positioned and presented to a variety of audiences.

    • building community virtually - Katrine is determined to create solutions to the critical challenge of enabling people to make connections, develop relationships, and create community in a digital space.

    • enhancing opportunities for filmmakers - Tine noted that this year filmmakers were the one group that felt the most left out. ”They didn’t get to meet the audiences or have their films screened for the first time and that really was a loss.”

    • developing additional revenue streams - creating a pricing structure for purchasing tickets to global premiers and global special events, attending the global Industry Conference, and accessing Conference resources and archives.


    OLD WORLD vs. NEW WORLD


    To fully imagine the potential of virtual festivals, it is helpful to juxtapose their essential elements with those of traditional physical festivals. Here is a chart comparing the realities of Old World Festivals with the possibilities of New World Festivals.

    old_world_new_world_festivals_v2


    FILMMAKERS BUILDING GLOBAL AUDIENCES


    Virtual festivals can engage audiences in new ways, enable filmmakers to build awareness of their films, and foster connections between viewers and filmmakers.

    Every filmmaker can be given the option to create a personal video profile, an overview of prior films, and an introduction to their new film. Each filmmaker can also have the opportunity to participate in a substantive, moderated, and extended Q&A that will be recorded. These personal profiles, overviews of prior work, introductions, and enhanced Q&As will be available during festivals and afterwards. They will replace the traditional pro forma introductions and brief Q&As which can only be seen by viewers attending physical screenings when filmmakers can be present. In virtual festivals, viewers can be given an unprecedented opportunity to learn about filmmakers, their passion, and their previous work both before and after they see their film. They will also have the chance to participate in enhanced Q&As.

    This will be an unprecedented opportunity for filmmakers to increase awareness of their work and expand their personal audience. Viewers can be given a series of opportunities to opt in to a filmmaker’s audience when they purchase a ticket, after they screen the film, if they participate in a Q&A, and when they watch the filmmaker’s profile, overview, or introduction. Although filmmakers won’t be able to be present at public screenings of their films, they will be able to get a deeper understanding of how viewers responded to their films from the comments and feedback of those who have seen it virtually and opted in, as well as from enhanced Q&As.

    Going forward, filmmakers will be able to provide updates on their new work to their supporters, who will be able to support them in a variety of ways, including spreading the word about their films. The larger and more diverse a filmmaker’s personal audience, the greater the possibility she or he will have a sustainable career.

    neon_sign Photo: CPH:DOX

    FESTIVALS AS DISTRIBUTORS


    Virtual festivals will achieve things impossible for physical festivals. They will be able to:

    • create access to previous films. Old World festival catalogs usually include short bios of filmmakers listing their earlier films. Often many of these films are not in distribution or are hard to find. New World festivals can work with filmmakers to make available their films not in distribution and to make more accessible their films that are in distribution. Imagine a viewer’s excitement who sees a film at a virtual festival, discovers a very talented director, and then has the opportunity to immediately watch some or all of her previous work.

    • distribute festival films with limited or no distribution. Old World festivals are exhibitors not distributors. Many of the films shown at festivals never receive meaningful distribution. New World festivals that have a mechanism for selling tickets and streaming films could make them available post festival. Filmmakers will be able to first explore the full range of distribution options before deciding whether to give limited rights to a festival. If they have no compelling offers, they can choose to be part of a festival’s high quality catalog. They can also offer a festival older films no longer or never in distribution. Tine is very interested in exploring a new model that would enable CPH:DOX to distribute Festival films.

    • hold virtual global conferences that will supplement or replace Old World pitching forums. Instead of just relying on the attendance of a subset of decision makers, these conferences will facilitate the virtual participation of a larger and more diverse range of funders, buyers, filmmakers, and industry leaders. Conferences will be accessible worldwide (live and later) to viewers around the world, regardless of their ability or willingness to travel.

    The decades long run of the physical festival model ended in March when the coronavirus fast forwarded festivals into an uncertain future. While the Old World of Festivals is closed, the dynamic New World of Festivals is being created in real time. When the Old World does reopen, will it be able to remain unchanged any longer? Or will the traditional physical model need to add virtual dimensions to be sustainable?


    If you would like to share this Special Report, here is a link:

    https://bit.ly/PB_Medium1

    It's my first piece on Medium, which seems like a great platform.


    © 2020 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #39

    URGENT: A SINGULAR OPPORTUNITY

    Next month you will have a singular opportunity to raise money to:
    • make a short film
    • cash flow the distribution of an existing short film
    • enhance the distribution of an existing full-length documentary by making a short version
    During March, Kickstarter will highlight short films on its homepage for the very first time. The Kickstarter team is raising the visibility of shorts on the platform for one month. If you want to participate, you can launch your project anytime between March 1st – 31st, 2020. To take the greatest advantage of the increased visibility, the earlier you can launch in that window, the better. Read Long Story Short at https://www.kickstarter.com/short-films

    hair_love_still
     
    Kickstarter has been a key source of financing for many short films. During the past 10 years, 7,332 successful shorts raised more than $41 million. Kickstarter-funded Hair Love just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 4,981 backers pledged $284,058 to make the film. The previous year Period. End of Sentence won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. 358 backers pledged $45,076.
     
    THE NEW WORLD OF SHORT FILM DISTRIBUTION
     
    Kickstarter’s exciting initiative reflects the vibrant New World of Short Film Distribution. The channels of short film distribution have multiplied and now include the New York Times Op Docs, Guardian Docs, POV Docs, and the release of Academy Award shorts in theaters nationwide. In the Old World, the concern was that shorts weren’t long enough to get widespread distribution. In the New World, shorts are being seen in many places inaccessible to longer films and are capable of going viral.
     
    In the Old World, many shorts were conceived as calling cards to boost careers. Today more and more shorts are designed to change the world. The Impact Field Guide and Toolkit, published by Doc Society, is an invaluable resource for change-makers. When it was first published in 2013, it was focused on feature-length docs. Since then so much has happened with shorts, that the latest edition of The Impact Field Guide includes a major new section on “Making and Moving Shorts”.
     
    The importance of shorts is growing and crowdfunding can play an essential part in their financing and distribution. Crowdfunding campaigns have helped filmmakers in three main ways:
    • to increase awareness, which is essential to maximizing distribution
    • to build a network of support, including partner organizations
    • to raise money for production and distribution
     
    Now there is a fourth important benefit:
    • to enhance the distribution of a full-length film by enabling the creation of a shorter version

    During the past year, Keith Ochwat and I have frequently recommended that clients who are making a feature doc also edit a 15-minute version.  These short versions can be powerful tools to promote the longer film, to build partnerships, and to show at conferences.
     
    story_poster

    We suggested that director Frances Causey and her team make a shorter version of her feature documentary Is Your Story Making You Sick?, which shows the impact trauma has on our physical and mental well-being. They created a 15-minute version which greatly increased awareness of their feature, facilitated key partnerships, and took on a life of its own.
     
    THE CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITY
     
    Your goal at conferences is to reach everyone, ideally with a keynote. To achieve this, you must have a presentation that conference organizers see as valuable and easy to fit in their schedule.
     
    Conference schedules are typically organized in 60-minute blocks of time. A shortened version of your film coupled with a presentation highlighting your unique insights as the storyteller, gives you a valuable keynote presentation to offer.
     
    The 15-minute version of Is Your Story Making You Sick? helped the film team book more than 10 keynote presentations, including one that came with a speaking fee of $11,000 plus expenses. Their keynote presentation included a ‘double feature’: a screening of their short followed by a 45-minute lecture on the topic of the film. These presentations led to a direct connection with their audience, meaningful partnerships, and revenue. See our prior Bulletin on conference strategy for more information on how to make the most of conferences.
     
    THE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY
     
    You can create additional value for your partners with your short. A short version of your film gives partners more flexibility to use your film to accomplish their goals, while giving you an opportunity to expand your reach and generate revenue.
     
    Whether it’s training their staff, inspiring their members, or creatively branding with their customers, a short can fit into creative partnerships where a feature-length film cannot.
     
    The Is Your Story Making You Sick? team has partnered with mental health organizations across the country, using either their short or feature-length film, or both. One partner with a large online network of potential community screening hosts emailed a free online preview of their short, then followed up by offering for sale the full film with a discussion guide. This free screening benefited their partner, while generating sales of the film, requests for live screening events, and additional partnerships. See our prior Bulletin on partnership strategy for more tips on building effective partnerships.

    ACT NOW


    Time is of the essence if you decide to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the next few weeks.

     
    We recommend that you find an experienced crowdfunding consultant with an impressive Kickstarter track record to help you get up and running as quickly as possible. Here is a link to a list of vetted Kickstarter consultants that can be sorted for Film/Video expertise: https://www.kickstarter.com/experts
     
    We also recommend that you contact the Kickstarter film team at film@kickstarter.com to alert them to your project and ask questions.
     
    Finally, please email us at peter@peterbroderick.com or ko@keithochwat.com to let us know you are moving forward. If we learn any more useful information, we will gladly share it with you.
     
    Good luck!
     
    - Peter Broderick and Keith Ochwat
     
    © 2020 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #38

    RED ALERT: EMERGENCY MEASURES WHEN YOUR DISTRIBUTOR FAILS

    red_alert_image
     
    Read this if you:
    • have been using Distribber
    • need to know what to do if your distributor collapses
    • want to reduce the chance this will happen to you
     
    DISTRIBBER OVERVIEW
    When Distribber was launched in 2007, it provided a new way for filmmakers to get their films on iTunes and other digital platforms. Instead of having to find a traditional distributor and split the revenues from digital platforms, filmmakers paid Distribber a one-time fee and received 100% of the revenues from digital platforms. For many years Distribber provided this service to independents, guaranteeing they would get on iTunes, and passing on all of the revenues from TVOD platforms.
     
    It was shocking to hear that Distribber and its parent company GODIGITAL have collapsed financially. While much is still unclear, here’s a breakdown of what I’ve learned so far.
     
    NOTE: The following is not legal advice. I recommend you speak to an attorney for legal guidance.
     
    1. Distribber is in dire financial straits. It has not paid many filmmakers for many months the money it owes them from the revenues received from platforms. Some other filmmakers have paid Distribber to place their films on platforms but Distribber has not done so.
     
    2. Rather than entering into a bankruptcy process, Distribber is utilizing an ABC (Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors) process. 
     
    3. Distribber is using GlassRatner to manage the ABC process. Senior Managing Directors Seth Freeman (San Francisco Office: 425 California Street Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94104 – 415.839-.9280 x 700) and George Demos (Orange County Office: 19800 MacArthur Blvd Suite 820, Irvine, CA 92612 – 949.429.4288) will be leading the process. (see #8 below)
     
    4. The best way to contact Distribber is to email: support@distribber.com
    When filmmakers contact Distribber, they can: 
    • terminate their agreement with them (see termination language below)
    • request that Distribber take down their film from each platform
    • request that Distribber release all rights back to them
    • request that Distribber pay all monies owed to them and provide a full accounting of all revenues Distribber received on their behalf
    • request that Distribber ask the platforms to pay all future revenues directly to the filmmakers
    • request that Distribber refund any fees paid to them for services not provided
    5. Here is the termination language in many Distribber agreements: 
     
    Termination 
    Either Party may terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other:
    1   in the event of a material uncured breach or default by the other Party of any of its obligations under this Agreement, such to a thirty (30) day cure period (if the breach is curable); and/or
    2   in the event that the other Party (i) institutes or otherwise becomes a party, voluntarily or involuntarily, to a proceeding alleging or pertaining to the insolvency or bankruptcy of that Party; (ii) is dissolved or liquidated; (iii) makes an assignment of its material assets for the benefit of creditors; and/or (iv) initiates or is subject to the reorganization proceedings.
    Upon any such termination, GoDigital shall be relieved of all obligations to Licensor hereunder, provided Licensor shall remain obligated to pay the Delivery Fee.
     
    Under this language, filmmakers can terminate their agreement immediately. They do not have to allow a 30-day cure period since Distribber has already made “an assignment of its material assets for the benefit of creditors.”
     
    6. Filmmakers can also contact the platforms where their films are available:
    • alerting them to the fact that they have terminated their relationship with Distribber
    • requesting that all future payments be paid directly to them (rather than Distribber)
    Platforms never want to interact directly with filmmakers and make it very difficult for filmmakers to contact them. However, this is a critical situation affecting many filmmakers that the platforms are well aware of. Netflix is already transferring titles from Distribber to individual filmmakers, enabling them to receive payments directly.
     
    Filmmakers should request that all other platforms do the same. Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, and other platforms should follow Netflix’s example and help filmmakers through this crisis.
     
    While it is possible for platforms to simply change the payee as Netflix has done, some may require that each title be first taken down (by Distribber or the platform itself) before the film can be put back on that platform via another aggregator. This will require the filmmaker to find and pay another aggregator. I don’t know how much this will cost or how long it will take. 
     
    7. Filmmakers should be very careful selecting a new aggregator. They should do due diligence to make sure that the aggregator:
    • has direct deals with each platform Distribber put their film on
    • can efficiently place their film on these platforms and possibly others
    • has competitive rates
    • has good customer service, enabling filmmakers to speak with someone when needed
    • is financially stable, ideally part of larger business that generates income from other services

     
    8. Filmmakers can also contact GlassRatner directly to:
    • request the payment of all monies owed to them and a full accounting of all revenues Distribber received on their behalf
    • request the refund of all fees paid to Distribber for services not provided
    • request that all platforms be instructed to pay all future revenues directly to them

     
    9. Filmmakers whose films Distribber failed to put on platforms even though it was paid to do so, are in a special position. They don’t have to get their films removed from platforms; no revenues are owed them by Distribber.
     
    It’s possible that they may get their initial fees refunded via their credit card companies. See the following post from Protect Yourself From Distribber: 
     
    laura_somers_post

    Here is a copy of the letter that Laura sent to her credit card company:

     
    Dear ____,
    I am writing to dispute a charge on my Credit Card on November 14, 2018 to the company GoDigital in the amount of $1,520.00.   This was supposed to be for aggregator services to place my digital content on ITunes and Amazon.  I had sent them all the needed materials and they never completed the work.  My last day of communication with them was in March 2019 and I never heard from them again.  I just discovered that the company has recently closed down and is filing for bankruptcy and is currently working with bankruptcy specialist GlassRatner. GoDigital will be owing its clients hundreds of thousands of dollars and they have not been communicating with their clients.
    I would like this charge to be reversed.  Thank you!
    Kind regards,
     
     
    10. Filmmakers must be determined, persistent, and loud to maximize their chances of succeeding. When contacting Distribber, the platforms, and GlassRatner, filmmakers must be clear about what they want and unwilling to take no, or silence, for an answer. The squeakier the wheel, the better. Filmmakers can have an attorney write a letter discussing possible litigation or make it clear they will hire an attorney if they don’t get a satisfactory response. Either way they need to let the decision makers understand that they are serious and committed to achieving a fair outcome. They fought hard to make their film and bring it into the world and they must stay as tenacious as necessary.
     
    -----------------------------------------------------------
     
    WHAT TO DO IF YOUR DISTRIBUTOR GOES UNDER
     
    The Distribber situation is a cautionary tale. Here are the key takeaways.
     
    1) If your distributor becomes insolvent, files a petition for bankruptcy, or makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, act immediately. Speak with an attorney and other filmmakers to learn as much as you can.
     
    2) You may be able to easily terminate your agreement with your distributor.
     
    3) You can request that the distributor immediately provide letters of direction to all sublicenses exploiting your film directing the payment of all future advances, fees, royalties and commissions to you.
     
    4) You can request that your distributor pay all the monies owed to you and provide a full accounting of all revenues received.
     
    5) You can contact digital platforms, alert them to the fact that you have terminated your relationship with the distributor, and request that all future revenues be paid directly to you.
     
    6) If the distributor is using an assignment for the benefit of creditors process, you can contact the firm managing the ABC to request: the payment of all monies owed to you and a full accounting, the refund of any fees paid to the distributor for services not provided, and that all platforms be instructed to pay all future revenues directly to you.
     
    7) You may be able to get a full refund from your credit card company for any services paid for but not provided by your distributor.
     
    8) You must be determined, persistent, and loud to succeed.
    _____________________________________________________________
     
    HOW TO REDUCE THE CHANCE THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU
     
    1) Before you sign any agreement:
    • do due diligence about the company with 5 filmmakers currently working with them (in addition to any references the company provides)
    • make sure the agreement includes fair bankruptcy, termination, and dispute resolution language
    • have an experienced attorney or producer review your agreement before signing
    • negotiate for a shorter term
    • avoid automatic renewal clauses

     
    2) After you have signed your agreement:
    • make sure you receive revenue reports and payments on time and review them carefully. If they are delayed significantly, determine whether the delay is a sign of underlying financial instability. If so, take steps to protect yourself from an impending financial meltdown.
    • pay attention to reports and articles in various publications and online that may give you a sense of the distributor’s financial health


    – Peter Broderick

     
    HELPFUL RESOURCES:
    Protect Yourself From Distribber Facebook Group
    Indiewire Article  

    © 2019 Peter Broderick

     
    Here’s another useful post from the Facebook Group:
     
    ben_sharples_post
     

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #37

    HARNESS THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

    Every documentary needs a partnership strategy.  In the Old World of Distribution, a single company controls your distribution. In the New World, you can increase your control and your chances of success by splitting your rights among distribution partners and by building key partnerships beyond the entertainment industry. Nonprofits, for-profits, and government agencies can be essential to the success of your film by providing critical financial and in-kind support.
     
    This guide to building and sustaining partnerships is an invaluable tool for independent filmmakers.  Starting with his own film Age of Champions and continuing with his consultations with many other filmmakers, my teammate Keith Ochwat developed a unique approach to partnership strategy from the ground up.  Like the recommended steps in his previous report on conference strategy (link), each of his eight rules of engagement has been battle tested and refined.
     
    A successful partnership strategy customized to your film can enable you to:
    -  attract greater financial support
    -  reach more people in your core audiences
    -  make more revenue
    -  have greater impact
     
    While a state-of-the-art partnership strategy is compatible with traditional all right’s distribution deals, it is ideally suited to hybrid distribution, which provides greater opportunities to build and nurture partnerships.
     
    I am honored to premier Keith’s rules of partnership engagement in this Distribution Bulletin.

    - Peter Broderick

    Harness the Power of Partnerships

    The Eight Rules of Engagement
     
    By Keith Ochwat
    **
     
    Powerful partnerships can enable you to maximize your film’s reach and revenue. Partnerships can give you the control, flexibility, and connection to your core audience needed to thrive in our New World of Distribution.
     
    I first learned how to build partnerships during the distribution for Age of Champions, my documentary about the Senior Olympics. Since then I have refined these tactics while helping other filmmakers build their own partnerships. This report is the first time I have analyzed, integrated, and shared my strategy for creating powerful partnerships.
     
    For Age of Champions partnerships were more important than distributors. Our unconventional strategy of prioritizing partnerships felt risky at first; soon it became our biggest strength. Of the $1,543,000 we grossed during distribution, only about $64,000 came from our distributors. The remainder came directly from the promotion and support of our partners. 
     
    We connected with many partners during distribution but only six significantly helped us increase awareness, impact, and revenue. I call these game-changing allies power partners.
     
    Power partners can take many forms: an advocacy group with 50 state chapters; a Fortune 500 company that supports causes aligned with your film; an Executive Producer that backs you financially and opens doors to more support; the organizer of a national conference of influencers.
     
    After reflecting on my many experiences with power partners, I’ve found that whether you’re building a partnership with a nonprofit, company, or advocate, there are ways to increase your chances for success.
     
    Here are my eight rules of engagement to harness the power of partnerships.
     
    1-handshake

    Rule #1 — The earlier you approach potential partners the better
     
    Your goal should be to connect with power partners before your film is finished. You can start getting partners onboard with a teaser, your track record as a filmmaker, and a compelling synopsis and vision for distribution.
     
    By reaching out before your premiere, you can make clear you are seeking a meaningful, mutually beneficial partnership. This will increase the likelihood they will get behind your film. Once they support your film, they are more likely to do so again and again—a key characteristic of a power partner.
     
    After returning from our very first shoot for Age of Champions, I started making calls to companies and organizations I thought would make good partners. At first I reached out to ‘get our film on their radar’. Many weren’t interested but a handful felt our film complemented their work and asked ‘how can we get involved?’ Some of these early partners provided funding like Proctor & Gamble, the maker of Fixodent. Others like the National Council on Aging, a nonprofit for professionals working with seniors, ended up inviting us to their conference where we connected with other partners. Another early partner, the AARP, donated $25,000 towards production. Over the next two years, their support grew and they ended up becoming our most important power partner.
     
     
    Rule #2 — Identify your potential allies
     
    Develop a hit list of potential partners that you think will be excited about your film. Organize them by issue area. Prioritize a few leads that seem promising. Rehearse your elevator pitch and reach out.
     
    If you’re getting a positive response, deepen your research to more nonprofits, companies, and other types of potential partners in that area. When potential partners in an issue area don’t respond enthusiastically, shift your focus. Be prepared to repeat this process several times. I’ve never been right on my first guess.
     
    For Age of Champions I created a massive hit list of potential partners organized into the issues areas at the core of our film, including senior athletics, aging, and healthcare. I whittled down our initial list by emailing and calling a handful of folks in each area. 300 organizations became 100 then 25 promising potential partners. I first assumed partners in senior athletics were our best bet. Wrong. After several weeks of outreach and a few test screenings, I learned that the senior health world loved our film. I elevated the potential partners in that area and increased my outreach to them. By the end of our distribution, I had developed meaningful relationships with six power partners—five of whom were in the senior health area.

    2pros_cons

    Rule #3 — Analyze each partner’s potential and limits
     
    An effective partnership leverages the strengths of a partner and respects its limits. Some partners have large networks they can mobilize. Others have deep pockets. If you aren’t focusing a partnership with a Fortune 500 company on financial support, you’re missing an opportunity. If you ask a nonprofit partner with 50 state chapters for funding, you’ll be disappointed. Occasionally a partner that can raise awareness can also write a check.
     
    You can also build linked partnerships, which bring together multiple organizations with complementary strengths. Imagine you’ve got a nonprofit partner that has a valuable national network for raising awareness but can’t provide any funding. At the same time, there’s a company or foundation that has resources but no network to promote your film. If those organizations are interested in a joint collaboration—bullseye.
     
    During outreach for Age of Champions, we connected with the nonprofit that represents thousands of senior centers across the country. National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) felt that many of their members would want to host a screening of our film. The problem was they have limited funding. To move this partnership forward, we reached out to the Harrah’s Foundation, which supports programs at senior centers. We submitted a grant request to the Foundation highlighting NISC’s desire for our film and received $10,000. We ended up getting our film into cash-strapped senior centers that really wanted our film, while getting paid by a linked partner willing to write a check.
     
     
    Rule #4 — Determine the win-win
     
    Partnerships must be mutually beneficial. You need to show every potential partner how they will benefit from working with you. If they see your partnership as an opportunity that will gain them goodwill from their members or customers, or contribute to a cause important to them, they may become a power partner.
     
    The more they have to gain, the more supportive they will be. Do they have an annual conference where you can give an exciting keynote presentation (see my prior Bulletin on conference strategy)? Do they have an ongoing program that your film can support? Do they provide a service to a community that will want to screen your film? How can they use your film to accomplish their goals?
     
    While at a conference, I met the VP of a physical therapy company that provides services to senior living communities. He told me that they were looking for new ways to earn goodwill from the residents and staff at 30 communities they work with. I suggested that we create a branded community screening toolkit they could gift to these communities. It would be a new way they could underscore the importance of staying active, while earning goodwill from their clients. They purchased 30 branded kits for $330 each, which included a video message from the founder of the company, a logo on the DVD, and some printed physical therapy guides they created. Our partner benefited from this new way to interact with their clients. We had our film screened in 30 more communities and were paid to make it possible.
     
    3-pitch
    Rule #5 — Craft your pitch
     
    You need a pitch. This is a concise and compelling description of your film and your vision for distribution. Partners want to support a film on a topic they care about that will resonate with the people they want to connect with. Your pitch should clearly state why your film is right for them.
     
    You need a pitch deck. This is a written document that helps you begin substantive conversations. I’ve had success with a simple two-page format. It should combine strong images from your film, quotes from relevant influencers endorsing your film, and concise copy outlining your film’s story, its message, and your distribution plans.
     
    You need a website. You want to convey the information in your pitch and pitch deck so that a prospective partner can understand why your film is a good fit for them and how it will impact the world. Here are links to a two-part series of Peter’s Bulletins covering some best practices on creating an effective website (Part 1, Part 2).
     
    During my two years pitching Age of Champions, I was constantly reworking my tools. I remember feeling like a stand-up comedian. Every pitch I did on the phone or via email was an opportunity to test my material. I learned which words and phrases resonated with my partners. The way I pitched my film varied based on the issue area or type of partner I was speaking with. How I communicated with the association of university gerontologists and kinesiologists differed from my calls with the marketing team at a healthcare company. The more I customized my tools, the more effective I was.
     
     
    Rule #6 —Lead the Conversation
     
    Filmmakers must lead the conversations with potential partners. Many promising partnerships never get past: “we’re interested in your film but will get back to you on how we can get involved”. Other times, a partner will make a suggestion that is easy for them but nearly useless to you. i.e. “we’ll post your trailer on our social media”.
     
    You can combat this by getting specific about your win-win partnership ideas. This will help you establish a partnership on your terms rather than agreeing to what is least inconvenient for your partner. Sharing your ideas, ideally over the phone rather than email, will help you learn what is possible. By listening to their response and refining your pitch, you can develop a winning partnership.
     
    One of our most important power partners for Age of Champions was LeadingAge, an association for professionals at senior living communities. When I reached out and shared our trailer, I received an enthusiastic response and was able to schedule a call with one of their top-level staff. Before the call, I did some research and learned that they have a massive conference attracting over 8,000 of their members. When we got on the phone, they offered to write an article about our film in their quarterly magazine and post our trailer on their blog. I made a counter-suggestion that we present a clip of our film and do interactive Q&A at their annual conference. They agreed. I ended up presenting in the main auditorium to their thousands of attendees. The ripple effect from word-of-mouth reverberated for months, generating hundreds of grassroots screenings and well-paid speaking events. See my prior Bulletin on conference strategy for more details.
    4-phone
     

    Rule #7 — Pitch and persevere
     
    Getting a partner to commit takes patience and persistence. Even the best pitch has to be delivered to the right person at the right time to be effective.
     
    Your goal is to deliver your pitch to the decision-maker, who may be the VP of Marketing at a company, the executive director of a nonprofit, or the head of programming for a conference. Whatever their title, they are busy and we are competing for their attention against work deadlines, their kid’s soccer practice, and everything in between.
     
    We win this battle for attention if we are willing to call and email again and again with pleasant but persistent reminders that we have a great opportunity to share. If you aren’t breaking through, diversify your outreach and try the second or third in command as a way to get the conversation started. If you’re convinced that you may have a meaningful partnership on your hands, continue the polite persistence.
     
    After setting my sights on AARP as a potential partner, I tracked down the contact information for the AARP headquarters in Washington DC. I practiced my pitch a few times and called the main phone number. I left a short message for the director of the national brand office and sent an email. After not receiving a response, I spoke to a couple other staff in the office. They all said the director was the decider. Two to three times a month for the next six months, I would either call or email, never getting a response. My messages evolved from, “I’d like to share some details on my film…”, to “I understand you’re busy so I thought I’d check back in…” And from there, “please forgive my following up but I’m hoping you have a few minutes…” Finally, I received an email response. I scheduled a call and had my first conversation with the decider at what would become my most important power partner.
     
     
    Rule #8 — Start small and grow
     
    Starting small and delivering on what you promised can be the first step in a meaningful partnership. Even if your film is in perfect alignment with their work, a collaborator often won’t initially be willing to write the large check or agree to a prominent endorsement. Building trust comes from doing what you promise and meeting or exceeding their expectations.
     
    Share the positive feedback you receive for your initial collaborations. Show your partner that your film is resonating with the people they care about. A quote or testimonial from a colleague or relevant influencer can go a long way to helping you grow your partnership.
     
    Initially I pitched AARP on sponsoring a 20-state semi-theatrical tour. It was my dream partnership but they turned me down. I scheduled a follow-up call and pitched them on sponsoring just one event in a city of their choice. We ended up doing a special screening event in Austin, TX with a Q&A. The Texas state AARP director was ecstatic about the response and gave a positive report back to headquarters. Then I pitched AARP HQ on two more events in priority cities. Two more home runs. Finally, I went back to HQ and pitched them once more on the 20-state tour of the film. This time they agreed and cut a check for $100,000. Months later, after a successful tour, AARP ended up supporting us again by underwriting our PBS broadcast. All told, we grew our partnership with AARP into over $180,000 of revenue and priceless awareness to their millions of members.
    5-all_in

    Partnerships were our most effective tool to increase awareness and revenue. For this report, I compared the revenues we generated from partnerships to revenue from our conventional release of Age of Champions via film festivals, distributors, a national PBS broadcast, and streaming on Netflix. Only 4% of what we grossed came from sales and acquisition deals by our distributors. All of the other revenue, from PBS underwriting to live events to educational sales, resulted from our win-win partnerships.
     
    In my work helping filmmakers connect with their own power partners, I have seen again and again the effect partnerships can have. With some films, the difference between a failed distribution strategy and a remarkable success is just one power partner.
     
    Filmmakers I’ve worked with have generated significant revenue from win-win partnerships with companies like Google, 23andMe, Purina, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Others have connected with core audiences by partnering with organizations like the American Heart Association, James Beard Foundation, and Future Farmers of America.
     
    Power partners are more than a mouthpiece or a paycheck; they are members of your distribution team. Like all good teammates, their support will grow your ability to maximize awareness, impact, and revenue.
     
    Partnerships helped me and many of the filmmakers I work with transcend the tired, old norms of distribution. We used partnerships to supercharge our distribution. By following the eight rules of engagement you can too.
     
    © 2019 Keith Ochwat

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #36

    SPECIAL REPORT: SUNDANCE RULES

    egyptianmarquee

    Every independent filmmaker should learn the lessons of Sundance. This year’s Festival revealed critically important developments in the indie ecosystem. Women broke through and extraordinary sales demonstrated a growing demand for independent content.
     
    I’ve been regularly attending the Sundance Film Festival for decades. In 10 nonstop days this year, I saw 31 films. My teammate Keith Ochwat and I also organized 25 meetings with filmmakers and other colleagues. Sundance 2019 was immersive, challenging, and exhilarating.
     
    Two and a half weeks after exiting the whirlwind, I have had time to take in post-festival developments and try to make sense of it all.
     
    This year’s Festival was one of the best in years. Sundance strengthened its position as the top film festival in the US. It is also the most important film festival for American independent filmmakers in the world.
     
    Sundance is where so many promising careers and exceptional films are launched every year. The key to Sundance’s continued success has been excellent curation. US distributors and the press rely on Sundance to present a selection of the best new independent films every January.
     
    Almost every filmmaker in the US and many filmmakers abroad would like to premiere their films there. All the films at the Festival have an unparalleled opportunity to be seen by the industry and the media. This year the Festival’s programmers got to choose from 4,018 independent feature submissions, 2,293 narratives and 1,725 documentaries.
     
    Women Crash Through the Celluloid Ceiling
     
    The most important change at Sundance this year was the unprecedented success of women. US Dramatic Competition included nine films directed or co-directed by women and eight films directed or co-directed by men. This was a remarkable change from the consistent selection in each of the previous four years of eleven films directed by men and five directed by women. This year’s percentages: 53% women/ 41% people of color/ 18% who identify as LGBTQIA+
     
    US Documentary Competition included ten films directed or co-directed by men and eight films directed or co-directed by women. 44% women/ 22% people of color/ 5% LGBTQIA+
     
    Other categories at this year’s Sundance had lower percentages of women.  Midnight included eight male directors and two female directors, which probably reflects the lack of parity among indie directors making genre films.
     
    Overall women directed 39% of the dramatic and documentary features in all sections of the Festival.  
     
    These numbers contrast with those of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, which included three films directed by women in its twenty-one film main competition section, equaling 14%. The contrast with Hollywood was even starker, where in 2018 women directed 4% of the 100 highest grossing films, down from 8% in 2017.
     
    The impact of films by women far outstripped their numbers. Audiences, critics, juries, and buyers all responded enthusiastically. All four Sundance Grand Jury prizes were won by films directed or co-directed by women. Of the five Audience Awards winners, three were directed or co-directed by women.
     
    Thirteen of the twenty-three Sundance award-winning films were directed or co-directed by women. Eight were directed by one or more people of color.
     
    Critics gave their highest praise to films directed by women. In
    IndieWire’s Critics Survey of 102 journalists:
    • four of the top five features were directed by women
    • two of the top five docs were directed by women
    • four of the five best feature directors were women

    Distributors most avidly pursued films by and about women. Women directed five of the seven films that sold for the highest prices:

    BLINDED BY THE LIGHT ($15m)
    LATE NIGHT ($13m)
    KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE ($10m)
    THE FAREWELL ($6m)
    HONEY BOY ($5m)

    A sixth film focuses on a central female character:
    BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON ($14m)
     
    aoc_screenshot AOC Skypes in to KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE premiere.

    The hottest documentary at Sundance was KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE. Directed by Rachel Lears, it spotlights Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other women who also ran for Congress in 2018. I attended the rousing world premiere. AOC Skyped in from DC and received a standing ovation. Following the Festival, the film won Sundance’s top Audience Award — the Festival Favorite Award. The next day
    the story broke that KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE had been acquired by Netflix for $10 million. This appears to be the highest price ever paid for a documentary at  any  festival.
     
    Just before Sundance, the Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature were announced. All five films were produced or co-produced by women, two were directed or co-directed by women, and there were no white, male directors among the nominees.
     
    Record-Breaking Acquisitions

    Acquisitions at Sundance 2019 were at a fever pitch, breaking all past records. Following the Festival, Andreas Wiseman wrote in
    Deadline Hollywood that “buyers stumped up more than $120 million on almost 40 movies…”  Since this article appeared more sales have been announced. Many reports on Festival sales did not reveal the price of the acquisitions.
     
    Sales were at a level never seen before. The top six feature sales were $15 million, $14 million, $14 million, $13 million, $6 million, and $5 million. Docs sold for $10 million, $3 million, under $3 million, $2 million, under $1 million, and for many undisclosed amounts. The percentage of docs acquired from US Documentary Competition may have been the highest ever.
     
    One catalyst for the intense sales activity was Amazon. It made a statement early, buying LATE NIGHT for $13 million. Amazon continued on a buying spree, purchasing four features and one doc for more than $46 million, apparently the most one company has ever spent at a single festival.
     
    A key catalyst for the doc sales at Sundance this year was the remarkable theatrical success last year of four documentaries. Three had premiered at Sundance 2018: WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR ($23 million), RBG ($14 million), and THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS? ($12 million). The other hit was  FREE SOLO (with a currently estimated box office of $16 million.) Including these four films,
    The Wrap reported that fifteen documentaries made over $1 million in 2018.These historic results clearly demonstrate that the audience for documentaries has grown significantly and is continuing to expand.
     
    Netflix has played a central role in growing the audience for nonfiction worldwide. MAKING A MURDERER has attracted large numbers of viewers from the US to the Philippines. The importance Netflix places on documentaries was reflected by the two docs it had in the Festival – THE GREAT HACK and THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY and the two docs it bought – AMERICAN FACTORY for under $3 million and KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE for $10 million.
     
    Hulu had ASK DR. RUTH in the Festival and acquired the UNTITLED AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY for $2 million, and JAWLINE. Amazon bought ONE CHILD NATION for high six figures.

    one_child_nation_still
    ONE CHILD NATION

    The most active theatrical distributor at Sundance was Magnolia, which had done so well in 2018 with RBG
    , and with I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO in 2017. Magnolia had THE BRINK and HAIL SATAN? in the Festival, and acquired COLD CASE HAMMARSKJOLD, MIKE WALLACE IS HERE, and TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM.
     
    Sony Pictures Classics had MAIDEN in Sundance and acquired WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? and DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME.  Neon, which had succeeded with THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, had APOLLO 11 and THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM in Sundance, and acquired HONEYLAND.
     
    National Geographic, which has done extremely well with FREE SOLO, acquired SEA OF SHADOWS for $3 million. HBO had MOONLIGHT SONATA and LEAVING NEVERLAND in Sundance. Focus Features, which had a major success with WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, announced no documentary acquisitions.
     
    Outstanding Documentaries
     
    The overall quality of documentaries was exceptional. While documentaries are consistently strong at Sundance, this was the highest quality selection in many years. Here are the most outstanding documentaries I saw this year:
     
    AMERICAN FACTORY
    BEDLAM
    COLD CASE HAMMARSKJOLD
    HONEYLAND
    KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE
    MIKE WALLACE IS HERE
    MOONLIGHT SONATA
    ONE CHILD NATION
    RAISE HELL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS
    THE BRINK
    THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY
    THE GREAT HACK
    THE INVENTOR: OUT FOR BLOOD IN SILICON VALLEY
    UNTITLED AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY
    WHERE’S MY ROY COHN?
     
    These are far more excellent films than I have seen at any previous Sundance. Of these fifteen films, six were directed by women, six were directed by men, and three were co-directed by a man and a woman. There has never been a 50/50 split between male and female directors before among my favorite docs at Sundance.


    The Famous and the Infamous

    raise_hell_still Molly Ivins in RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS

    This year a very large number of documentaries focused on famous or infamous figures:

    ASK DR. RUTH - Dr. Ruth Westheimer
    DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME - David Crosby
    HALSTON - Halston
    KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    LEAVING NEVERLAND - Michael Jackson
    MARIANNE & LEONARD: WORDS OF LOVE - Leonard Cohen
    MIKE WALLACE IS HERE - Mike Wallace
    MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL - Miles Davis
    RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS - Molly Ivins
    STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE – Stieg Larsson
    THE BRINK - Steve Bannon
    THE INVENTOR: OUT FOR BLOOD IN SILICON VALLEY - Elizabeth Holmes
    TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM - Toni Morrison
    UNTOUCHABLE - Harvey Weinstein
    WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? - Roy Cohn
    WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN - Wu-Tang Clan
     
    The percentage of documentaries focused on well-known figures was the highest in years. This reflects the fact that it is harder to finance and sell documentaries that do not highlight prominent people. Two of the three films from last year’s Sundance that were theatrical successes in 2018 centered on singular figures (RBG and Mister Rogers) with major fan bases.
     
    A mediocre documentary about a well-known figure is much more likely to find distribution and attract an audience than a mediocre doc without one. A number of the excellent docs about the famous and infamous at this year’s Festival have the potential to break out theatrically and/or online.
     
    These titles suggest that if your documentary is a mostly positive portrait of a famous person, you should include her or his name in the title (ASK DR. RUTH, MIKE WALLACE IS HERE, STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE). If it is going to be a negative portrait of an infamous person, avoid using their name (LEAVING NEVERLAND, UNTOUCHABLE, THE INVENTOR: OUT FOR BLOOD IN SILICON VALLEY).
     
    The Fight for Democracy
     
    Amidst the great diversity of docs shown at the Festival this year, one urgent theme stood out — the fight for democracy. Nine documentaries made a persuasive, collective case that genuine democracy is fragile and requires ongoing efforts to protect and preserve.
     
    RAISE HELL: THE LIFE & TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS, STIEG LARSSON: THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, and MIKE WALLACE IS HERE each show the importance of courageous journalists, who can expose hypocrisy and corruption or unmask fascist organizations.
     
    THE GREAT HACK uncovers the efforts of Cambridge Analytica to use data to subvert democracy. WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? shows how the legal system can be subverted to assist organized crime and right-wing demagogues. THE BRINK reveals how far-right politicians and their movements are attempting to join together in a “global populist movement.” THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY shows democracy in Brazil under attack. COLD CASE HAMMARSKJOLD makes a persuasive case that the UN Secretary General was assassinated because of his efforts to assure the independence of African countries that had been controlled by colonial powers and powerful corporations.

    cold_case_hammarskjold_still
    Poster for COLD CASE HAMMARSKJOLD

    KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE is an inspiring antidote to these cautionary tales.
     
    Two strong features complemented these docs. THE REPORT tells the true story of the dramatic fight to research and publish the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques”. OFFICIAL SECRETS dramatizes the true story of a British secret service officer’s attempt to prevent the Iraq War by leaking a top-secret memo.
     
    Together these 11 films expose major threats to democracy and the essential roles played by journalists, dedicated politicians, courageous government staff, and determined filmmakers to battle them.
     
    Sundance as Crystal Ball
     
    Success at Sundance can be a predictor of things to come. Three of the four highest grossing docs of 2018 premiered at Sundance 2018. Four of the five 2019 Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary also premiered at Sundance 2018. If FREE SOLO had been completed in time for Sundance 2018 (the filmmakers’ previous documentary MERU won the Documentary Audience Award at Sundance 2015), Sundance would have been four for four of highest grossing 2018 docs and five of five for Academy Award nominees.
     
    Sundance programmers are abetted by the staffs of the Sundance Documentary Film Program and the Sundance Feature Film Program, which provide support to   documentaries and features. Every Festival includes a significant number of films that have been supported by these programs.
     
    Twelve of the docs at Sundance this year had been supported by the DFP. At Sundance 2018, there were thirteen DFP supported films, and at Sundance 2017, there were eighteen. Three of the five 2019 feature doc Academy Award nominees had received support from the DFP.
     
    Ten of the features at Sundance this year had received support from the Feature Film Program. At Sundance 2018, there were twelve FFP supported films, and at Sundance 2017 there were ten.
     
    Sundance films will surely be included among the 2020 Academy Award nominees.  
    The New York Times and IndieWire have already predicted the docs and features most likely to be nominated in 2020.
     
    Three of the documentaries picked by
    IndieWire (THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM, MAIDEN, and ELEPHANT QUEEN) had premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and were acquired for distribution prior to Sundance. However, Sundance also found a place for them in the Festival. If they are nominated and/or do well commercially, Sundance will receive some credit even though they weren’t premieres.
     
     
    A Golden Age
     
    After Sundance 2019, Mike Fleming
    wrote in Deadline Hollywood that “documentary films have entered an unprecedented Golden Age, one that is only going to get better, as studio-backed subscription services seek out films in the next year or two as they voraciously fill a need for product.” This was followed by a segment on NPR’s All Things Considered heralding “an undeniable golden age for documentary filmmaking.”
     
    I hope we are at the beginning of a Golden Age but it will require progress on several fronts to achieve. A few theatrical hits and a buyer’s market at Sundance are not enough. Nor can we depend on demand from new streaming services which may focus on financing original content instead of relying on acquisitions. This is what Netflix has done, supplementing originals with a limited number of acquisitions. There’s also no guarantee that the content that the new studio streaming services plan to present will include quality documentaries like those selected by Sundance and nominated for Academy Awards.

    honeyland_still
    HONEYLAND

    It is important to remember all the documentaries that weren’t at Sundance.  For US docs, the acceptance rate for US Documentary Competition was 2%. If you take away the six slots taken by Sundance-supported films, the acceptance rate for the other films was 1.2%
    For international docs, the acceptance rate for World Cinema Documentary Competition was 1.25%. If you subtract the three slots taken by Sundance-supported films, the acceptance rate for the other docs was .94%.   For US features, the acceptance rate for US Dramatic Competition was 1.6%. Taking away the seven slots taken by Sundance-supported films, the acceptance rate for other features was .9%. For international features, the acceptance rate for World Cinema Dramatic Competition was .92%. [These percentages only apply to competition films; if Next, Premieres, Midnight and other sections are included, the overall acceptance of dramatic and documentary features at Sundance was 3%.]
     
    In our society there is a great disparity between the opportunities for the 1% and the 99%. For independent filmmakers, there is also a great disparity between the opportunities for the 3% chosen by Sundance and the remaining 97%. This disparity is not Sundance’s fault. The Festival can only include a limited number of films (this year 121 features and documentaries). There are many strong festivals around the world that showcase other excellent films and talented filmmakers. But with the exception of Cannes and Toronto, these films and filmmakers do not get as much attention as they deserve. Distributors and the press rely on Sundance to present outstanding films to them. Few companies and publications go much further to proactively discover the wealth of emerging talent around the world.
     
    A sustainable Golden Age will require the best films made by the 97% as well as the best films made by the 3%. Fortunately, there is an exciting New World of Distribution that has created unprecedented opportunities for all independent filmmakers.
     
    The bottom line about Sundance:

    • Sundance is the most important festival for American independents
    • Opportunity -- increases your chances of finding distribution, getting press coverage, being invited to other festivals, winning awards, and finding support for future films and your career
    • Challenge -- odds of getting in are very small
    • Previous support from the Sundance Feature and Documentary programs will greatly improve your odds
    • Sundance prioritizes finding excellent films from women and diverse filmmakers
    • Do not apply before your film is in its best shape
     
    There is very good news for the mass of filmmakers who don’t get into Sundance. By splitting rights, they can have much greater control of their distribution than Sundance filmmakers who give all their rights to one distributor.
     
    There is increasing demand for independent content and a growing audience for it. There are new models for talented and determined independents that don’t require major festivals.
     
    The bottom line beyond Sundance:

    • Design a flexible and customized distribution strategy that will work for your film whether it goes to Sundance or not
    • Build an experienced distribution team
    • Engage directly with your core audiences as early as possible
    • Find partners who can help you implement your strategy rather than fitting into someone else’s  
    • Be targeted, proactive, and nimble, refining your strategy stage by stage

     - Peter Broderick

    NOTE: Here is a link to the podcast about Sundance 2019 that I did with Peter Hamilton:
    https://bit.ly/2BIEppw    Peter is one of the world’s leading consultants on the financing, production, and distribution of documentaries. I recommend that you visit his website at https://www.documentarytelevision.com/ and subscribe to his weekly newsletter about the documentary business: https://bit.ly/2Xf7rX9
     
    © 2019 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #35

    SUPERCHARGE YOUR DISTRIBUTION

    Conferences can make the difference between the success and failure of an independent film.

    Making a great film is not enough. Every film needs to build a critical amount of awareness to succeed. Most filmmakers overestimate the importance of festivals and are completely unaware of the power of conferences. While most film festivals are local events, attracting a local audience to a diverse selection of unrelated films, most conferences are national events, bringing leaders together from across the country to focus on a specific topic.

    Too many filmmakers spend too much time and money applying to countless festivals. Instead they should target a limited number of festivals and make a substantial conference push. For many documentaries, conferences can have far more impact than festivals. Instead of focusing 100% of your efforts on festivals, I’d recommend allocating 90% to conferences if your film has substantial, well-organized core audiences. Your conference strategy can complement your festival strategy since conferences are considered private events and don’t interfere with festival premieres.

    I’m very pleased to publish this invaluable guide to making the most of conferences by my teammate Keith Ochwat. He is the guru of using conferences to maximize distribution. His unprecedented success at conferences with
    Age of Champions illustrates their remarkable potential. He also achieved impressive results at very different conferences for Sara Lamm’s film Thank You for Coming. His step-by-step guide reveals the secrets to using conferences to increase awareness, revenue, and impact.

    - Peter Broderick


    Supercharge Your Distribution
    by Keith Ochwat


    Conferences can supercharge your film’s distribution. Most filmmakers are completely unaware of this secret weapon but conferences can boost your efforts to identify your core audience, connect with partners, and tap into national networks of potential supporters.

    The right conference can be more than just another event in your film’s distribution. It can mark the moment your film goes from unknown to must-have. The right conference can spark meaningful partnerships and generate significant revenue from speaking fees and sales. A conference isn’t just a gathering where you can show your film—it’s a tool for building an authentic connection with the people that will be key to your success.

    Conferences were crucial to the success of our documentary Age of Champions, about athletes competing at the Senior Olympics. We subsequently generated over 3,000 grassroots screening events and $1.5 million in revenue. At first we took the standard approach to distribution. We premiered at a film festival—AFI Docs in Washington DC—where we received a standing ovation and a glowing Washington Post review. But we ended up leaving town virtually broke and without clarity about how we could successfully distribute our film.

    Ten months after our AFI Docs premiere, we returned to Washington DC. This time we had decided to take an unconventional approach that turned out to be a game-changer. We were invited to present a short clip of our film at a conference of 8,000
    staff from senior living communities across the country. This event gave us the platform to confirm that senior living professionals were our core audience. It helped us connect with companies that ended up becoming partners. And it connected us with a huge national network of our film’s most enthusiastic supporters. The ripple effect from word-of-mouth reverberated for months, generating critical awareness and revenue.

    Here are the six key steps to make the most of conferences.


    first steps


    STEP 1: Find the Right Conferences

    If your film can help further an organization’s mission, it belongs at its conference. Identify conferences held by organizations whose mission is linked to the central issues of your film.

    For Age of Champions, our first step was to create a hit list of all the organizations and associations we could think of that would care about a film on the Senior Olympics. The list was sprawling, at first with over 300 organizations including senior living associations, hospital networks, and academic societies on aging. We prioritized the list and identified which organizations put on significant conferences.

    Using tools like Associations Unlimited (a digital database of nonprofits that can be accessed through many public libraries) and creative Googling, research the following details:

    • The mission of the organization putting on the conference
    • When and where the conference takes place. After identifying several, create a calendar of upcoming conferences
    • The theme of the conference, which typically changes each year
    • How many people come to the conference and details about attendees (i.e. their profession, education, interests, etc.)
    • Find the program for a prior year’s conference to get a better sense of what to expect at the conference, including how films have been used
    • Find contact info for staff that plan the conference. The more senior the better. A few useful tools to track down contact info: Associations Unlimited, Rocket Reach, and LinkedIn


    get in touch


    STEP 2: Introduce Yourself

    Reach out to the contact at the organization you’ve found. Your goal is to pique their interest so they’ll take a look,
    become an ally within their organization, and invite you to their conference. Start with a short email or phone call. Don’t inundate them with too much information—just an introduction to you, your project, and why your film belongs at their conference. A quick conversation can quickly reveal the likelihood of presenting at their conference and if there’s potential for a partnership down the road. Whenever possible open doors by getting a referral from someone with a connection to the organization.

    After several weeks of research, emails, and calls to the organizations we thought might screen Age of Champions at their conference, we whittled down our initial list of 300 organizations to about 45. We then narrowed our hit list further to six major organizations that were excited about our film. We deleted organizations with conferences so small it made no sense to attend. Some let us know they weren’t interested. Others just never got back to us. A handful were so excited about our film and how it complemented their conference that our participation was assured after the first conversation. In the process of speaking to conference planners and getting invited to their conferences, we began building relationships. And some of these nascent relationships with organizations would later grow into meaningful partnerships.

    When you’ve identified an organization and conference that seems like a good fit, it’s time to call (or email to arrange a call). Begin the conversation like this:

    • Concisely explain who you are, describe your film in a compelling way, and explain how your film is relevant to their organization
    • Make clear how your film aligns with the organization’s mission and why individual members and conference attendees will find it valuable
    • If possible, share a positive testimonial from a member who has seen your film
    • Once they’re interested, share your trailer and details on how you’d like to participate
    • Your mission is to make your contact an ally who will shepherd you through the process of getting you scheduled at the conference


    deal


    STEP 3: Negotiate Participation

    It’s not enough to get invited to a conference. To make a big splash, you need to be specific about how you’d like to participate. Don’t settle for screening your film in a backroom at the conference while four other sessions are taking place at the same time.

    For the first conference where I presented Age of Champions, I was not clear about how I wanted to participate so they just ‘fit me in’. I distinctly remember sitting in a tucked away space during the middle of the screening asking myself: “they told me there are 1,200 people at this conference so why are there only 35 people at the screening?”

    To avoid a mishap like that, here are a few key things to request when you attend a conference:

    • Top priority: ask for a presentation to a plenary audience (a gathering of all conference attendees) rather than a breakout session
    • Show a short clip. It may seem counterintuitive, but showing a short excerpt or even the trailer will give you time to talk about your film and how you’d like the audience to take action. A shorter presentation also makes it easier for the conference planners to give you some valuable plenary time. My most successful conference presentation was seven minutes long during a plenary where I showed the trailer and talked for five minutes
    • If you can’t get plenary time, suggest presenting during a plenary mealtime. I’ve found this to be a good Plan B because at some point in the conference, everyone is in the same room eating and people like to watch things while they eat
    • Suggest a ‘red-carpet’ screening of the full film with a filmmaker Q&A as an evening event for attendees. Conference programmers often are looking for fun evening activities and a screening and Q&A are often very appealing
    • Ask for a complementary and well-placed booth in their exhibition area
    • Request that a postcard with information about your film be included in all attendee tote bags


    get paid


    STEP 4: Get Paid

    The most important reason to attend a conference is to build connections and awareness for your film. But it’s also possible to get paid while doing so. Don’t neglect conference speaking fees—they can become a significant revenue stream.

    If you’ve been invited to present at a conference and do a Q&A presentation, it’s important to ask for a speaking fee. Organizations often have a substantial budget for people providing exciting content at their event. They bring in high-profile keynote speakers, provide tote bags with goodies, and arrange evening events with food and open bar. If they can’t pay you, figure out what in-kind benefits they can offer. An organization can send an email to their members promoting your film, highlight your film on their website, and provide free ad space in their magazine.

    For Age of Champions, we prioritized getting paid to present. For every conference we requested a standard speaking fee of $3,000 plus travel. Some said yes, some negotiated us down, and others said no. If we weren’t receiving our fee, we’d ask ourselves a few questions like: how much will it cost to attend? Will the presentation lead to more opportunities? What else can they offer to make it worthwhile? If the conference was a good opportunity to network within our core audience or connect with potential partners, we’d go. I gave a presentation at a gathering of local leaders for a large national network of senior housing providers. Although the presentation at the national conference was unpaid, several of the local leaders signed up that day for paid speaking gigs leading to almost $30,000 in speaking fees.


    STEP 5: Make the Most of the Conference

    A conference is a regional, national, or international gathering of people who share a common interest. If you have been invited to present at a conference, it is because the planners feel that your film aligns with that shared interest and is something attendees would like to see. So make an impression on as many attendees as possible!

    In addition to your presentation there are several other ways you can make your presence felt at a conference. One of the best things to do is set up meetings in advance.

    Before heading to a conference presentation of Age of Champions, I learned from the attendee list that an executive for Cigna Health was going to be there. I tracked his email down, introduced myself, and asked for a meeting. The backstory is for several months I had been trying to get Cigna to sponsor our PBS broadcast. Nothing. After he saw my presentation at the conference and a brief but positive meeting where I let him know about the PBS broadcast, he connected me with a decision maker. A few weeks later, that decision maker gave the green light to buying a $75,000 underwriting spot for our broadcast.

    Make the most of your time at a conference by doing the following:

    • Prioritize your goals for the conference. You’ll want to be specific, e.g., ‘I want to sell as many educational license versions of my film as possible,’ and/or ‘I want to set up meetings with as many potential partners as possible’
    • Make your goal known by including a call to action in your presentation and on any promotional materials, i.e. ‘If you’d like to bring the film to your community, please sign up to host a screening at our booth in the expo hall,’ or ‘sign up to learn more about our grassroots screening campaign’
    • Reach out before the conference and set up as many meetings as possible. Review the program and attendee list. A few weeks before the event, your contact should be able to share the list with you. Go through it looking for potential partners, funders, and important people
    • Process payments by downloading the Square app and bringing a credit card reader (Square offers a simple reader for free and a chip reader for $49). This way you’ll be able to take payments on the spot
    • Bring an email signup sheet to collect contact information from people who express interest in your film
    • Hand out promotional materials like postcards
    • Collect quotes or testimonials from attendees


    STEP 6: Build on Your Momentum

    You gave a great presentation, got a bunch of people in your core audience excited about your film, and made some promising contacts. The organization that put on the conference received positive feedback about your film from their members. You’re poised to parlay a successful conference into a successful partnership.

    At a gerontology (the study of aging) conference, I presented Age of Champions to about 200 university department heads and professors. 75 attendees ended up buying the educational version of our film at the conference. As part of the next stage of our partnership, I asked the organization to send a series of emails to their entire membership—over 2,500 people—with a link to our trailer, a ‘buy now’ button, and an exclusive member discount. Another 90 members bought our film. This one conference and our ensuing partnership ended up fueling over half of our educational sales.

    There are several ways to build on the excitement and goodwill from your conference presentation:

    • Reach out to your contact and share how positive the reception was for your presentation, including glowing quotes from attendees. You want your contact to know that inviting you to participate was a good decision
    • Ask your contact to send a follow up email to the organization’s entire membership. Even the biggest conference will only attract a portion of an organization’s members but an email will reach everyone. The message can contain a call to action asking people to: buy your film, host a screening, or sign-up to your email list
    • Organize a virtual screening where your partner invites members to a page on your website with an extended clip of your film and email capture for anyone who wants to watch. Then at a specific date and time, do a Facebook Live interactive Q&A
    • Ask for contacts at your organization’s regional or local chapters that may want you to present
    • Consider attending the same conference the following year. Explore the possibilities with your contact. You’ll likely be able to capitalize on buzz and word of mouth from your first presentation to make a bigger impression the second time around


    ok


    The conferences we attended with Age of Champions opened the door to innovative ways to bring our film into the world. Partnerships with companies we connected with at conferences brought funding and promotional support. Tapping into the national network of senior living communities brought our film to thousands of communities. If we had stuck to the conventional distribution playbook, I’m convinced that we would have missed these opportunities and our distribution would have been mediocre at best.

    Conferences are more than an event. They’re a powerful tool that can help you learn how to position your film and connect with your audience. Ultimately, you don’t want to just be good at presenting at conferences. You want to be good at building relationships, raising awareness, and creating partnerships that will extend your reach to your core audiences and beyond. Conferences are an effective way to meet the influential people and organizations that can help.

    Prioritizing conferences was the driving force in our unconventional road to success. We used conferences to supercharge our distribution and you can, too.

    © 2018 Keith Ochwat


    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #34

    THE TRUTH ABOUT HOLLYWOOD - What You Need To Know

    Hollywood has been transformed. The six major studios--Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Fox, Sony, and Paramount--have all changed significantly. Few filmmakers understand how profound these changes have been and how they have altered their opportunities.

      image1_the_big_picture-book

    What follows is my review of a recently published book,
    The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies, that opened my eyes to the new configuration of studio filmmaking. It was written by Ben Fritz, who has been covering the entertainment industry since 2004 for Variety, the Los Angeles Times, and currently the Wall Street Journal.
     
    The goal of my Distribution Bulletins is to empower independent filmmakers. I’m highlighting this book because I believe reading it will provide a revealing and useful overview of Hollywood today. The major studios are the 800-pound gorillas for independent filmmakers, who need to understand their competition. I’ll cover how this could impact your future at the end of this Bulletin.
     

    THE FRANCHISE FILM ERA

     
    The Big Picture begins: “how franchises killed originality in Hollywood,” which is in the title of the book’s introduction. Fritz states that “the dawn of the franchise film era is the most meaningful revolution in the movie business since the studio system ended, in the 1950s.” He notes that before this era “no other industry pumped out so many products so frequently with so little foreknowledge of whether they would be any good.” He contrasts this with the success Warner Bros., Universal, and most notably Disney have had developing and/or exploiting major brands, including Harry Potter, the Fast and the Furious, Star Wars, and Marvel.
     
    Successful branded franchises provide much greater predictability. The cost of making the next film in a series and its anticipated revenues can be much more accurately determined than those of an original film. High-budget franchise films can “spawn endless sequels, spin-offs, and product tie-ins,” as well as amusement park rides, toys, and lucrative ancillaries. The audience built around a franchise greatly reduces risk.

    Fritz illustrates the recent dominance of franchise film by noting that “of the top 50 movies at the global box office between 2012 and 2016, 43 were sequels, spin-offs or adaptations of popular comic books and young adult novels (five of the remaining seven were family animation).”
     
    “The ‘cinematic universe’ is the most important trend in studio moviemaking today,” according to Fritz. Originated by Marvel, a cinematic universe consists of a series of films with interwoven superheroes and story lines, like Iron Man, The Avengers, and Captain America. The more, the merrier.
     

    SONY REVEALED

     
    Fritz presents an incisive case study of Sony, which vividly illustrates his overall analysis of how the studios have changed. He analyzed internal documents and emails that were put online during the Sony hack.
     
    He portrays Amy Pascal, chairman of the studio’s motion picture group, as an executive who “thrived at making all kinds of movies for all types of people” and specialized in “mid-budget original films for adults rather than global ‘event’ films engineered to spawn sequels.”
     
    Although the first Spider-Man film was a huge hit for Sony, the sequels and reboot produced under Pascal had increasingly disappointing results. She was also unable to develop other franchises, while Warners, Universal, and Disney were having great success with theirs.
     
    Franchise filmmaking also significantly reduced the power and salaries of stars. Fritz observed that audience loyalty shifted from stars to franchises, noting that now “stars only matter in the right roles.”
     
    Sony had benefited greatly from the relationships Pascal nurtured with two A-list actors, Will Smith and Adam Sandler. Each actor had starred in a number of profitable films made by Sony but eventually their box office power waned as did that of many other stars. After assessing their declining options at the major studios, both actors abandoned the sinking Sony ship for the ascending Netflix rocket, where they both made substantial deals.
     

    INTERNATIONAL DWARFS DOMESTIC

     
    The international box office exploded from $8.6 billion in 2001 to $27.2 billion in 2016. It has grown to over 70% of the worldwide box office total of $38.6 billion. Ticket sales outside North America in 2016 were 2.3 times greater than North American ticket sales of $11.4 billion. 
     
    The increasing importance of international ticket sales reinforces the studios shift to franchise filmmaking. Fritz notes that “the 48 highest-grossing Hollywood films overseas are all visual- effects-heavy action-adventure films or family animation” (with the sole exception of Titanic).

     image2_avengers_poster

    #19 of Marvel Cinematic Universe series


    Fritz examines the impact of China, where ticket sales were 6.6 billion in 2016 and
    exceeded U.S. ticket sales in the first quarter of 2018. Adam Goodman, who previously headed production at Paramount, is quoted saying “we’re at the point where Hollywood can’t exist without China.”

    Fritz details the ways China has gained influence over the movies Hollywood makes and distributes. While China is a critically important market where event movies can do incredibly well, there are censors to contend with who can prevent the distribution of any U.S. films with unacceptable content. There are also import quotas. Studios have formed partnerships with Chinese companies, cut content from films that might offend Chinese officials, and added content designed to please Chinese audiences. Studios want to make films that will succeed in China. I assume their willingness to make non-franchise films will continue to decline as the value of the Chinese market continues to increase.                                                                    

     

    WHAT’S MISSING?

     
    No longer seeking to make “every type of movie for everyone,” the studios are “focused on the types of movies that delivered the biggest and most consistent profits,” according to Fritz.  When home video revenues fell dramatically, the studios cut costs and “risky original scripts and adaptations of highbrow books were the first to go.” Between 2006 and 2016 the studios reduced production by 32%. “The decline is explained entirely by the evaporation of interesting, intelligent mid-budget films.” Fritz notes that today “anything that’s not a big budget franchise film or a low-cost, ultra-low risk comedy or horror movie is an endangered species at Hollywood’s six major studios.”

    Customers also went missing. Viewers 18 to 25 “saw two fewer films per year on average in 2016 than they did in 2012.” Luring viewers off the couch became harder. Ticket sales in North America fell from 1.57 billion tickets in 2002 to 1.31 billion in 2016.

     
    In the first chapter of The Big Picture, there is a momentous point when Amy Pascal and her teammates realize that “creativity would no longer drive business at Sony Pictures.”  In the final chapter, Fritz notes that “spending big money on anything original in the age of franchise film dominance is usually a suicide mission.”

    Throughout the book Fritz makes clear that the major studios learned—some sooner than others—that they could increase profitability and reduce risk by devoting their resources to building and maintaining franchises or, better yet, connected universes. Once they were able to successfully launch a franchise, their focus was on providing more of the same. Genuine creativity is too risky. Making movies the viewers haven’t seen before is too unpredictable, especially as international ticket sales far exceed those in North America.
     

    LIFE BEYOND FRANCHISES

     
    While The Big Picture focuses on the status of studio moviemaking, it also provides a perspective on filmmaking outside the studios. Fritz highlights “peak TV.” He notes that not long ago “television was the medium of the familiar and cinema was the medium of originality.” He believes that the “rise of original, risk-taking television is directly tied to the decline of original, risk-taking filmmaking.”

    image3_deadpool_poster
    #11 of X-Men Series


    Fritz explains how technological changes have ushered in a Golden Age of TV. VCRs made it possible to time-shift programs and DVDs made it easy to watch whole seasons of series. DVRs made it easier for people to record all the episodes of their favorite shows.  Then Netflix began releasing all episodes of series at once, making binge viewing possible. It has never been easier to watch what you want when you want it. Staying home and watching a series you love at little or no cost on your high definition television became more appealing to many viewers than venturing out to a movie theater and spending their money on tickets, parking, concessions, and possibly a baby sitter, to see a film you may or may not like. As the quality and diversity of television rose dramatically, the new habit of binge watching at home replaced the old moviegoing habit for significant numbers of people.

     
    “It has long been obvious that television is a better business than movies,” according to Fritz.  He notes that television networks are the most profitable parts of major media companies including Disney, Viacom, and NBC Universal. His in-depth examination of Sony illustrates this clearly.
     

    OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENTS

     
    Fritz’s portrait of franchise filmmaking at the major studios is very persuasive. It is a cautionary tale for independent filmmakers passionate about making movies people haven’t seen before. While there are rare exceptions, including The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman, and Black Panther, the preferred approach to superhero movies is exemplified by Avengers: Infinity War. It is a thoroughly mediocre sequel that audiences have lapped up and critics have taken far more seriously than it deserves.

    Fritz notes that “directors’ overall power in Hollywood has diminished considerably.” He explains that the role of directors of franchise movies resembles that of directors of television series—their job is to maintain the look and style of the overall series, whether it is
    Breaking Bad or Star Wars.  They need to stay within the lane of the series rather than going off-road into new territory. The underlying assumption is that audiences want more of the same, whether it is Fast and Furious 10 or Mission Impossible 15. According to Fritz, there used to be more than 12 Hollywood directors who could easily get their films greenlit but today there are only three—Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and Christopher Nolan.
     
    As the major studios increasingly focus on franchise filmmaking, growing the same crop year after year, they are becoming monocultures. As agriculture has demonstrated, while farming a single crop may have short-term financial benefits, monocultures can create food deserts. By abandoning diverse production slates and providing a steady diet of franchise films, the studios are creating movie deserts, as demonstrated by the trailers and posters for their upcoming and seemingly interchangeable releases.
     
    Instead of viewing the studios’ unwillingness to finance dramas as a problem, independents should see it as an opportunity. There is still a significant audience for adult dramas, and now studios offer little or no competition. This is also true for the full range of non-franchise filmmaking.
     
    Beyond the major studios, the opportunities for producing and distributing independent films are wide open. The Big Picture includes a chapter on Amazon Studios. Fritz begins with Manchester by the Sea, the first independent film in seven years that was acquired at a film festival and then grossed more than $50 million (worldwide box office $77,540,751). Amazon Studios acquired it at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. At the following Sundance, Amazon bought The Big Sick, which was also a hit (worldwide box office $56,262,309).

    image4_fate_furious_poster
    #8 of the Fast & Furious Series


    Amazon Studios has been the exact opposite of a franchise filmmaking machine. It has financed and acquired truly independent films by established and emerging independent directors. By hiring acclaimed indie producer Ted Hope, Amazon signaled that they were serious about making high-quality, provocative, and original pictures. Fritz quotes Hope explaining that instead of making films that “80 percent of the audience eventually gets around to watching,” his team “wants the thing that 20% of the audience is so passionate about, they’ll break up with you if you don’t feel the same way.”

     
    The Big Picture contrasts Netflix with the major studios and shows how it is challenging them. Unlike Amazon Studios, which launches films first in theaters, Netflix prefers to make films available directly to subscribers the day they premiere, whether or not they are simultaneously premiering in theaters.
     
    When Netflix began as a DVD-by-mail service, it relied on the studios to make a significant number of the movies it rented. When Netflix prioritized digital distribution, it was determined not to be dependent on studio films so it made a growing commitment to original production that can only be seen on Netflix.
     
    When Netflix first challenged the six major studios, it was an inexperienced David facing powerful and confident Goliaths. Instead of using an analog slingshot, Netflix used virtual weapons and innovative ideas to take on the studios. It managed the transition to digital distribution far better than the lumbering studios. Netflix ran circles around the studios by re-conceptualizing global distribution. It has a far greater ability to innovate than the studios, which have much greater inertia. Netflix is looking forward while the studios are too often looking backward.


    NEW ECONOMICS

     
    In the concluding chapter of The Big Picture, Fritz questions the “traditional economics of film, whereby each production aims to be profitable.”  He believes that sticking to this goal will “further narrow down the types of movies that old-school studios like Sony make to the big, loud, and financially safe superheroes, sequels, and spinoffs.”
     
    He contrasts this approach with the “new economics of film,” which he is convinced will foster production of all sorts. Netflix is the leading exemplar of this approach. Its goal is to increase subscribers rather than to sell more tickets or downloads. Instead of marketing films one by one, it is selling access to a growing library of film and television. The priority is to attract new subscribers and retain existing ones.
     
    Netflix is free of the constraints that limit traditional distributors who won’t pay more to acquire a film than they expect to net distributing it. Netflix can finance an original film or series without having to focus on whether projected revenues will exceed the cost of production.
     
    Amazon also prioritizes gaining and retaining subscribers (Prime members). Unlike Netflix, which only makes money from subscriber fees, Amazon benefits from revenues from theatrical ticket sales of its features and most importantly from all of the purchases Prime members make on the platform.
     
    The Big Picture also describes Annapurna, Megan Ellison’s company, that produced Zero Dark Thirty, The Master, Her, Foxcatcher, and American Hustle.  Ellison has supported the kind of unique, provocative, risky, auteur-driven features that none of the six major studios would choose to finance. They’d rather make another franchise film sequel.

    image5_moonlight_poster One of a Kind


    THE PARALLEL WORLD

     
    There are many opportunities for independents today beyond the studios, and even a few left within them, but they are not what The Big Picture focuses on. A24, and the studio specialty divisions: Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, and Fox Searchlight (whose fate is uncertain because of the looming Disney sale) are barely mentioned.
     
    There is a parallel world of independent filmmaking where originality is celebrated. The goal is to make films viewers haven’t seen before rather than to crank out interchangeable sequels. Many independents strive to change the way people see the world rather than attempting to duplicate as closely as possible an experience they have had several times before. Unlike on the franchise film assembly lines, truly creative directors, writers, and producers are as important as they have ever been.
     
    In this parallel world, there are unprecedented distribution opportunities far different from those at the center of The Big Picture. Filmmakers can split rights among distributors and retain the right to sell directly from their websites. Independents are connecting directly with core audiences while they are making their films. These direct connections enable filmmakers to build audiences initially around their films and ultimately around themselves. By taking these personal audiences with them to future projects they greatly increase their chances of having sustainable careers. Many independents are designing customized and flexible distribution strategies, unlike the studios which are using formulaic and fixed distribution plans.

    These innovative approaches are outside the scope of The Big Picture. Instead Fritz gives us a brilliant and thorough analysis of how Hollywood’s major studios have changed. It is a devastating portrait of their creative decline. The Big Picture contrasts this with the new “golden age of television.” Fifty seven years ago, FCC chairman Newton Minnow proclaimed television “a vast wasteland.” It is not hard to imagine him redirecting his famous phrase to studio franchise filmmaking today.
    - Peter Broderick

    © 2018 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #33b

    STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CREATING A WEBSITE IN 1 HOUR FOR $9.88

    (This is Part 2 of the previous Bulletin, which introduces you to the concept of creating your own website for $9.88. It is recommended you read that Bulletin first before embarking on this guide).

    CLICK HERE TO READ BULLETIN 33A


    CREATING A WEBSITE IN 1 HOUR FOR $9.88, IN 12 EASY STEPS
    By Matt Myers

    1. Here is the link to an Excel file called WordPress Creation Companion. Open it and fill out everything you can. There are instructions in there for every cell and examples for every cell. If you can make a film, you can follow these directions.

    2. Go to NameCheap. Choose the VALUE PLAN on the left $9.88/year (you may remember this number from the snappy title).

    Here is a page-by-page guide for completing this process. NameCheap is not the only host out there. For the last long-while they have been the cheapest.

    a.) Use domain I own from another registrar (fourth button)
    b.) Create account on right side. Copy paste from sheet.
    c.) Paste in billing information from sheet.
    d.) Follow prompts to complete account. There are more than are necessary.
    e.) Once account setup is complete, enter domain name.

    3. Go do something else for an hour. Namecheap will send you three emails (like everyone does): a welcome, a receipt, and then finally your login info. This third email is sometimes instant, but it can often take up to an hour to arrive. You were not put on this earth to wait around for an email from a hosting company, so make yourself useful and return to this when that email arrives.

    4. During this waiting time, you are going to update the nameservers with your registrar. Remember that I'm assuming your domain is registered at Godaddy. If it's not, it will be a little different and unique to that registrar. However, all registrars have nameserver access; you just have to find it.

    For Godaddy, login to your account. In the top right, click on username by the shopping cart.

    SS #1

    It will drop down a big menu. On the far left, click MANAGE DOMAINS.

    SS #2

    Just to the right of your domain name will be an ellipsis. Click that, then click MANAGE DNS.

    SS #3

    Scroll to the bottom of Records. There are two pages. Click page 2. This will land you on the Nameservers section. Click CHANGE.

    SS #4

    Click dropdown and select CUSTOM.
    Copy/paste nameservers from the spreadsheet. If you used Namecheap, here are the nameservers:

    dns1.namecheaphosting.com
    dns2.namecheaphosting.com

    If you are using a different host, you will have different nameservers, but they paste in just the same.
    Click SAVE or ADD.
    Sometimes it can take up to an hour to propagate, but typically with a new site, it is patched through in seconds.

    If you have a different registrar than Godaddy, just hunt around for NAMESERVERS or DNS in your account. The process will be very similar. Most registrars do the "are you sure?" bit so make certain that you see some type of message saying "nameservers updated successfully" or the like. If you cannot find them, just fire up a chat and someone will help you.

    5. That third email from Namecheap with the subject line:
    Your Hosting Welcome Guide for yourdomainname.com.
    It contains the login information to your cpanel, which is the control panel for your hosting account. Grab the username/password and plug it into your spreadsheet.

    SS #5

    6.
    Log in to namecheap with your hosting account creds (not cpanel). In top right corner click:
    ACCOUNT > DASHBOARD.
    In the middle of the page, under PRODUCTS, there will be three icons. The one in the middle looks like a server. Hover over that. Click MANAGE.

    SS #6

    Scroll halfway down, click LOGIN TO CPANEL on the right.

    SS #7

    7.
    Inside the cpanel is going to be a mess of icons that can just be ignored. Scroll to the bottom left. Look for the Wordpress icon. Click that sucker.


    8.
    Click INSTALL APPLICATION like a stone cold, full-stack developer.

    SS #8


    9.
    There is a dropdown to choose protocol. Just go with either:
    http://www.
    http://

    SS #9

    Note:
    If you plan later to take credit cards or have people fill out a form with their information, you will need to do some tricks with an SSL certificate. It's a bit involved, but easy. But for now, choose one of the above.

    10.
    Have your spreadsheet handy. Copy/paste the fields from the spreadsheet into the related WordPress fields. Click INSTALL.
    It'll take half a minute for the wheels to spin and status bars to fill before you level up, so just hold tight. We're almost home.

    11.
    You'll get a screen saying you're good. Grab the URL that says:
    http://yourdomainname.com/wp-admin/
    Paste into your spreadsheet. Then paste into a browser. (Or click it.)
    Note: Sometimes it's not ready instantly, even when it says it is. If it's not, there are two things to do. 1.) Have you updated the nameservers? If yes, go to #2.
    2.) Wait. Not everything is instant. I'd give it up to 30 minutes, but 95% of the time it's ready instantly.

    12.
    Pat your own back. You are such a digital ninja. Filmmaker + website developer. What are you going to do next? Complete a triathlon? Have a baby? Probably so. Where do you find the time? What are you going to name her? I like the name Lucy.

    WordPress is a lot like the first time you opened Avid or Final Cut: it's intimidating, but it's powerful and dynamic, and you can create whatever site you want with it.

    HOWEVER. You are a filmmaker. You can't spend all of your time doing this. You need something useful and simple where you can do the kind of marketing and communications that are needed to take your film from Kickstarter to self-propelled.

    So listen to me. If you are this far along, you have stood up a site in an hour and haven't even spent $10. Don't get wrapped around the axle trying to understand every last thing that WP can do. Instead, focus on finding a theme that looks like the website you want. Follow those instructions. And if you hit it big and need more than what this site can do, then do tomorrow's work tomorrow.

    I've got some steps here to clean this thing up and get you in a good spot, but remember to spend your time on a theme. That theme can rep the vision and aesthetic of your doc and its marketing, so dig in there.

    WordPress

    The menu is down the left side. This is where you will access everything.

    1.
    Click Posts > All Posts > Delete – This is dummy content that you are deleting

    2.
    Click Pages > All Pages > Delete – This is dummy content that you are deleting

    3.
    Click Appearance > Widgets. In the middle of the page, delete META, ARCHIVES, CATEGORIES.

    4.
    Go to Plugins > Install Plugins. Copy/Paste:

    Yoast. Click Install. Click Activate.

    Simple WP SiteMap. Click Install. Click Activate.

    Sucuri. Click Install. Click Activate.

    Note.
    Once you click activate, it will take you to your installed plugins page. If you try to search there for new things, nothing will happen. Go to the top left and click ADD NEW and then it will search for you.

    5.
    Go to Plugins. Delete any plugin that you aren't using, such as Akismet, Mojomarketplace, hello dolly.

    6.
    Appearance > Themes. On this page, click ADD NEW at the top middle. The WP search is not google. It doesn't know what you want. If you search for "art" it is going to find themes that either have been categorized as "art" or have art in the name, like "startup". You will want to spend a good deal of time in here finding something you like and that fits your style and needs. EVERY theme will give you a blog and pages you can build and widgets and the like. So don't worry there.

    Almost every theme will have a preview so you can see what's up. These are free themes. There are also paid themes that you can search for outside of WP. They aren't much, maybe up to $60 or so. If you go that direction then my title collapses and that's not good for anyone. Whether paid or unpaid, they will function the same and the cost isn't prohibitive. Do what you like.

    There are literally 10's of thousands of themes out there. You'll find one.

    Just like with plugins, once you find a theme, hit INSTALL then ACTIVATE. If you buy a theme, you will just download their zip file and upload it here.

    If you end up hating this tomorrow, just deactivate that theme and find another. You won't lose anything. If you decide in a year that you want to change the theme, there is some tedious work to be done, but not much. Just take from this that you can change anything at any time. If you need to.

    7.
    Go to Settings. These are all pretty self-explanatory. Go through each section and fill everything out or leave it blank. The site will work either way. There is one trip wire on SETTINGS > READING. It will ask if you want to disable indexing from robots. DO NOT TICK THAT BOX. If you do, no one can search and find you in google even if they know the name of the site or the film. And that's not what anyone wants.

    8.
    Done. You have built a site. And so fast. Such a prodigy. Now you need to create some content and start turning this into something real.

    For some advice:
    assume you are going to lose everything. Make copies of your content. You need everything in at least three places: your computer, your cloud drive, your external drive. If you don't have it in at least all three, you are just renting it. Do it for the baby! She has your eyes.

    For some directions on pages to create. You don't have to have all and you certainly can have others that aren't mentioned, but this is like RSTLNE on Wheel of Fortune. You can fill in the rest.

    About the Film
    Trailer
    Contact
    Store or Where to Buy
    Blog
    Host a Screening
    Awards
    Press
    Credits
    Tour

    Think about pages like you are answering the most common questions for everyone with each page. You know how everyone always asks the same questions about your film? Now you can just send them to your site—that you built with your own two hands—and let it do the talking.

    What's it about? Where can I see it? Have you been to any film festivals? How do I email you? Have you won any awards?
    You get the point.

    Then your blog will do what blogs do.

    When you are ready to create a top navigation, just go to Appearance > Menus and it's pretty instructional from there.

    Overall advice.
    Before you start with some real content, just put some dummy content in here (grab a page from somewhere) and mess around. Just like you would with Premiere. You aren't going to break anything. Just get your hands dirty.

    Like a film, a website is never done; only abandoned. Know that neither a WP site nor any other platform is a "set it and forget it" enterprise. You will need to update content and add blog posts. Update screenings when you have new ones or posters if the art has changed. Also inside of WP, you will need to stay active with updating the software, the plugins, and the theme (you will get notices--plenty of them--reminding you; you won't miss it). None of them will be immediate, but just stay diligent.

    I grew up in the country hauling hay, building fences, and chopping wood. Making a film was the hardest thing I had ever done, and I'd way rather go back to the farm than make another film. This is just a website, way easier than a film.

    © 2018 Matt Myers

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #33a

    CREATE A WEBSITE IN 1 HOUR FOR $9.88

    It is essential that your film have a website!

    It is critical to maximizing revenue, audience, and impact. It can also help you find the resources to make your film in the first place.

      Wordpress Themes

    I’m excited to publish this step-by-step guide to setting up a website in an hour for $9.88. It is written by my client Matt Myers, who is a rare combination of a talented filmmaker (
    TAR CREEK) and a very experienced digital marketer. Matt has been consulting with large and small internet companies since 2010, helping them with SEO (search engine optimization) and social media marketing. He has a special understanding of the challenges facing independent filmmakers and the digital options available to them.
     
    His guide reveals how quickly and inexpensively filmmakers can build websites using WordPress software. It’s a free and open-source CMS (content management system) with countless themes and plugins to choose from, many of which are free or very affordably priced. Matt’s guide walks you through each step required to launch a WordPress site with his irrepressible humor.
     
    It complements the brilliant Bulletins (see “Your Website Sucks” and “Does Your Website Still Suck?) written by James Franklin and Kieran Masterson, which are also invaluable. James and Kieran began their Bulletins by emphasizing “you need a website from day one.”
     
    This Bulletin includes Matt’s analysis of the value of having a site that can be customized to your film and your goals. The Bulletin then links to Matt’s step-by-step guide on my website, where each step is detailed and illustrated. There is also a useful “WordPress Creation Companion” that you can download to help you organize the information needed to set up your site.

    - Peter Broderick

     

    -----------------------------------------------------

    Here's How to Create a Website in 1 Hour for $9.88
    by Matt Myers
     
    No matter what stage of filmmaking you are in, you need a quality website to market your film (polite nudge here to start this as early as possible). You need a weapon to get people to pay attention, to talk about your work, and to see your world the way you see it. It can seem harder work than the making of your film. You spent all this time and energy making your vision and your unique piece, so why stuff it into such staid and homogenous formats and look like every other independent film’s site?
     
    To save time, that's why. And while they keep making more time each day, it seems like there's less and less of it for you, so turnkey options, like Squarespace and Wix, can make a lot of sense. For a catering business. Or a dentist. Or a church.
     
    You will have a really expensive piece of art to bring into the world. You don't want it to look like everything else. Like James Franklin said, "you can spot a Squarespace site from across the room." And so many film sites look like every other site, I guess because filmmakers feel pressed for time and the cost looks right at $15-$20/month. But don't be fooled. This doesn't save you time and sure as I'm writing this sentence it won't save you money.
     
    I don't know where you are in the filmmaking process, but I'd like to make you aware of how easy it is to install WordPress yourself in one-click, set up your own hosting site, and create your own unique site in about an hour for $9.88. You can decide for yourself if this is right for you, but you will at least have the option of making your marketing look like your film's aesthetic and rep your vision in your unique way.
     
    First, you need a domain name, such as yourfilmname.com. If you don’t have one already, just go to Godaddy. You need to buy a domain name no matter if you use WordPress or Wix or Squarespace or hire a developer to build a custom site, so this is requisite for entry and not included in that sweet $9.88 you are looking to pay and no more.
     
    Second, we need to get some tedium out of the way. Has to be done.
     
    Here are a few definitions and horrible metaphors to help you. Pay attention, as there will be a test later.
     
    Registrar: This is the company where you bought your domain and is holding your domain, such as Godaddy. There are lots of them. Think of this like your house. You own it.
     
    Host or hosting account: This is a company that will connect your domain/website to the internet. Think of it like cable. You are renting this package.
     
    Nameservers: This is the bridge between the registrar and the host. Basically, this is the cable box you install in your house to communicate between your house and the cable company so you can Netflix and chill. There are two nameservers for each hosting account, they will be something like:
     
    dns1.namecheaphosting.com
    dns2.namecheaphosting.com
     
    Okay. Get Ready.
     
    This next stuff is a step-by-step guide for you to buy/rent a cheap hosting account, update your nameservers, install Wordpress, and push your site live. It is tedious. You are going to hate it, but it will be over soon, and I promise it is not harder than making a film.

    Button to Guide


    © 2018 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #32

    THE ONE-OF-A-KIND MODEL: KEDI

    The wild success of KEDI, the one-of-a-kind portrait of cats in Istanbul, is particularly inspiring in a year when audiences have rejected one lame Hollywood retread after another. There is much to learn from how KEDI was conceived and made, and then broke through. Here is the exclusive inside story.

    kedi_-27

    I was sure that KEDI would succeed from the first time I saw it in December 2015, when I started consulting on its distribution. In 2016 a long list of distributors, reps, and sales agents did not share my conviction and passed on the film. The filmmakers were certain there was an audience so they persevered and finally found the right distribution partner.  In February 2017, KEDI had a record-breaking opening in New York, making $40,103 on its first weekend in one theater. By late August 2017, KEDI has grossed more than $2.8 million in US theaters.

     
    A SINGULAR VISION
     
    The story of KEDI began with a singular vision. Ceyda Torun and her husband Charlie Wuppermann decided to profile the cats of Istanbul, where hundreds of thousands of stray cats roam the streets. Neither feral nor tame, these cats enjoy an elevated status somewhat like that of cows in India. As the film notes, “Though cared for by many, they live without a master.”
     
    KEDI was conceived as a film without a genre—neither a traditional natural history film with David Attenborough-style narration nor a staged animal movie with a heartwarming plot and anthropomorphized creatures. This vision grew out of Ceyda’s childhood experiences in Istanbul, where she raised 23 cats in her backyard and learned their remarkable qualities.
     
    KEDI is the first documentary feature that Charlie and Ceyda produced, and the first that she directed. Charlie is a very experienced cinematographer and Ceyda had previously made short films and overseen co-productions at The Works International.
     
    In 2013, Ceyda and Charlie flew from Los Angeles to Istanbul for a research shoot, landing as demonstrators were being teargassed in Taksim Square. When they returned to the US, they wrote a compelling proposal and made a strong trailer, and soon received full funding from two private investors.
     
     
    CAPTURING CATS ON FILM
     
    catrig

    Ceyda and Charlie went back to Istanbul in 2014 for a three-month shoot. They were committed to accurately filming the daily lives and experiences of their main characters. They built special cat cams to enable them to capture feline POVs. They were also able to use some motion-activated night vision footage. They built a remote-controlled camera car and tried putting microchip cameras on cat collars but the cats didn’t like the car or the collars. As inventive as they were about cat cams, their bottom line was to create a richly cinematic film for the big screen. They were determined to present cats for the first time in movie theaters at the highest standards of imagery that lions, tigers, and penguins had previously achieved.
     
    They were committed to not misrepresenting the cats they filmed. They never tried to get them to do anything they didn’t want to do, and stopped shooting the cats who no longer wanted to be filmed.
     
    They filmed 19 cats, expecting nine cats with nine lives to be in the completed film. Some of their cats were fairly predictable; others roamed over huge territories and required cat informants to help locate them. Since the cats were used to people walking behind them, most were willing to let the filmmakers follow them around.
     
    KEDI evolved during research and production. Ceyda initially planned to make a documentary strictly from the POVs of cats. But things changed during the research shoot. When Ceyda was interviewing Istanbul residents about their special relationships with cats, she had to translate for Charlie, who doesn’t speak Turkish. Charlie noticed how philosophical the residents were in everyday conversations and encouraged Ceyda to continue to explore these perspectives. One man observed, “It is said that cats are aware of God’s existence. While dogs think people are God, cats don’t. They just know better.”  As KEDI became more philosophical, it moved beyond a conventional nature film and became singular.

    charliewgamsiz
     
    When the shoot ended, Ceyda and Charlie were sorry to leave their cat characters to whom they had become emotionally attached. They returned to Los Angeles and spent a year in editing and post-production. They reduced their main characters to seven, and built their stories. Their biggest challenge was how to weave these stories together. Through an extensive trial and error process they finally found the best way to order the stories and structure the film. Ceyda was intent on making KEDI an emotional experience with a poignant score to support the film’s gorgeous cinematography.
     
     
    MAKING DISTRIBUTION HAPPEN
     
    As with most independent films, it was harder to make distribution happen than it was to make the film. The challenges and opportunities of making a one-of-a-kind film immediately became apparent. The enthusiastic reactions of viewers at one film festival after another confirmed Ceyda and Charlie’s belief that there was a substantial audience for the film. The Seattle International Film Festival had to add a third, a fourth, and then a fifth screening due to audience demand. At an outdoor screening at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, viewers caught up in the film stood in the rain to watch it.
     
    Despite this exceptional response, distributors, producer reps, and international sales agents kept passing on the film. KEDI wasn’t a nature film, a travelogue, or a political documentary. And it wasn’t in English.
     
    The problem was these companies were looking backward. Most distributors are looking for films similar to the ones they previously distributed successfully. None of them had ever handled a film like KEDI and there were no comps on cat movies. If you are looking backward to decide what to distribute, it is easy to miss new opportunities. Were the distributors who passed on KEDI unaware of the phenomenal success of cat videos online or did they believe it wasn’t relevant? The most popular cat videos on YouTube have been viewed as many as 89 million times. The size of this global audience had convinced me of KEDI’s distribution potential online.


    kedi_-15

    Ceyda and Charlie became increasingly frustrated as more and more companies passed on KEDI while it continued to be enthusiastically received by festival audiences. Finally, two U.S. distributors expressed interest after a theatrical booker who had seen KEDI at the Seattle International Film Festival recommended the film to them. Both companies screened the film and made offers. Ceyda and Charlie eliminated one distributor after they significantly worsened the terms of their offer during negotiations. Now they were down to a single suitor. Fortunately, it was Oscilloscope, a company that has a track record handling movies that are “different.”
     
    Oscilloscope was very enthusiastic about KEDI and offered to work collaboratively with Charlie and Ceyda to release their film in the U.S. Relieved and excited to have found the right partner, the filmmakers negotiated a deal with Oscilloscope, and immediately started working with them on the trailer. The result was an exceptionally effective trailer that works for both cat lovers and people with no prior interest in cats. [Note: You can compare this trailer to the trailer that got them financing. A poster was agreed on and Oscilloscope began showing the film to critics.
     
    Oscilloscope created a smart customized distribution strategy, which included a social media campaign with Cat-leidoscope imagery, short video clips, and daily postings on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. For its premiere at the Metrograph theater in New York, Oscilloscope created a “standee” which made a motion-activated “meow” as soon as people passed by. 
     
    The New York Times critic gave it “four paws up” and IndieWire called it “the CITIZEN KANE of cat documentaries.” Oscilloscope sent KEDI-branded catnip to reviewers, many of whom have cats. This was a rare opportunity for critics to write about a sophisticated cat movie and led to glowing reviews and a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
     
    The outstanding opening weekend in New York reaped the highest gross Oscilloscope had ever achieved in a single theater. Additional shows were added all weekend to meet the demand (echoing the added screenings at the Seattle Film Festival). Ceyda became increasingly skilled at introducing the film, assuring audiences that “no meows were added in post.” She was also adept at press interviews, explaining to the LA Times reporter that the cats had ad-libbed all their lines.

    kedi_-_55

    While being one-of-a-kind had been a real challenge while figuring out distribution, it became a real asset once distribution began. Word spread rapidly about “the cats in Istanbul” movie. It was so distinctive that it couldn’t be confused with any other film. To find it online, all you had to do was a Google search for “cats in Istanbul” and you were linked to the trailer. No one had seen anything like KEDI before. Its uniqueness attracted viewers who enthusiastically recommended it to others.  

     
    KEDI also benefited from having a large and enthusiastic core audience of cat lovers who came out the first weekend and subsequent weekends, giving the film the time to cross over to more diverse audiences. As the successful theatrical distribution of independent films has gotten more and more difficult, the importance of a core audience willing to buy tickets the first weekend has become more and more important. Without an avid core audience, a film may only last one weekend.
     
    International distribution was also a real challenge at first. The choices of international sales agents and distributors in territories outside the U.S. are also circumscribed by the “looking backward” problem. Many sales agents passed,  even after its breakout success in the U.S. Many potential distributors around the world said in effect, ”it’s amazing how well it has done elsewhere, but we don’t know how well it will do in our country.” Then YouTube Red, which was clear about the digital potential of KEDI, made an offer for exclusive worldwide SVOD rights and nonexclusive TVOD rights. The filmmakers were able to negotiate a great deal with them, which enabled them to retain theatrical, DVD, and nonexclusive TVOD rights so they could make territory-by-territory deals, and to also sell DVDs and downloads directly from the film’s website. Ceyda and Charlie teamed up with a freelance international sales agent who was already working with Oscilloscope on some of their other titles. Selling the film internationally became a team effort among Ceyda and Charlie, the sales agent, and Oscilloscope. The releases in Australia, Germany, Turkey, Benelux, and Scandinavia were very successful, and there are upcoming releases in Japan, South Korea, France, and other territories.


     kedi_-_1

    Because KEDI is a one-of-a-kind film there is no formula for filmmakers to follow (exactly). However, there are key elements of the KEDI story that are instructive and inspiring:

     
    • The film grew out of Ceyda’s life experience. She understood and loved cats, and was compelled to make KEDI
    • Ceyda and Charlie did a research shoot that enabled them to figure out how to make the film, write a compelling proposal, and create a terrific trailer
    • They secured independent financing which gave them all the money they needed and complete creative freedom
    • Ceyda and Charlie stuck to their unique creative vision throughout production and post
    • They looked long and hard for the right U.S. distribution partner and found one that would work collaboratively with them
    • They were able to split their international rights, making a global SVOD deal as well as sales to countries around the world
    • They retained the rights to sell DVDs and downloads from their website, which will give them a direct revenue stream and a way to build a personal audience
    • Charlie and Ceyda are determined to keep making unique films through their company, Termite Films. Having overcome the challenges of one-of-a-kind filmmaking, and then reaping the rewards, they are now developing new, never-seen-before films.

    © 2017 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #31

    CUTTING-EDGE DISTRIBUTION

    The dream of a national theatrical release still burns bright for most feature documentary filmmakers. But the reality is that traditional releases with week-long runs across the country have gotten much harder. Exhibitors complain that too many movies are opening. Viewers who used to watch docs in theaters are staying home, expecting to see them on Netflix, PBS, HBO, iTunes or Amazon. Seven-day theatrical engagements can be murder, sometimes averaging just a few viewers per screening throughout the week. A filmmaker can have her heart broken in every city where her doc opens.
     
    Knowing how challenging theatrical has gotten, I was excited to learn recently about an innovative alternative model for releasing documentaries that I call “Hybrid Theatrical Distribution.” Although few filmmakers are aware of it, it has been used to achieve remarkable results, most recently with the very successful release of THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS. To learn how this model works and which types of documentaries it has the greatest potential for, I did a series of exclusive interviews with Richard Abramowitz, who has been using it effectively for the past six years.
    Beatles: 8 Days A Week Poster
    Richard has been booking since 1983, with a break for several years to produce films, and then returned to booking. Richard and his company Abramorama have long been at the forefront of theatrical booking. Before 2011, Richard had been doing traditional documentary service deals arranging seven-day runs in theatres around the country. In 2010 and 2011 he helped shepherd two very different films to great theatrical results – EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP ($3.3 million) and SENNA ($1.6 million).
     
    In 2011 Richard had a breakthrough. He booked PEARL JAM TWENTY, Cameron Crowe’s documentary on the 20th anniversary of the group. He arranged full-week runs in six cities and one-night engagements in 55 locations. Richard chose markets by geo-targeting the band’s fan club and utilizing the band’s touring schedule and airplay results. Even though not a penny was spent on paid ads, the film grossed $471,000, exceeding all expectations.

    Pearl Jam 20 Poster

    This release showed Richard the true potential of one-night theatrical engagements. Their key benefits include:
     
    URGENCY – films that can only be seen on a single night are more compelling to attend than films that will have many screenings daily for a week or more. Too often friends tell Richard they can’t wait to see one of his films but then miss all theatrical screenings and end up watching it at home.
     
    COMMUNITY – a special event screening in a theater provides a unique opportunity for viewers to experience a film with other members of their core audience or tribe.
     
    COST-EFFECTIVENESS – the economics of one-night engagements are significantly better than those of full-week runs. Instead of having to pay a Virtual Print Fee for a whole week, the fee is prorated for a single screening. Richard and his clients receive 50% of ticket sales for single engagements, which is a better split than they get for week runs, which is around 43%. Most importantly, “the lack of an ad spend is what really increases the margin.” Social media is used instead of traditional paid advertising.
     
    Richard makes a persuasive case for single screenings to exhibitors, arguing that a special event will bring in more people than usually attend on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night, and sell more tickets and more concessions.
     
    Richard combines one-night engagements with full-week runs in two or more markets, including New York City (where there is the most prominent media) and Los Angeles (which is a tough market but can enable Oscar-qualification in tandem with New York).
     
    The benefits of Hybrid Theatrical Distribution include:
     
    FLEXIBILITY – if a single screening sells out in advance, it is usually possible to schedule a second screening the same night in that theater. If a film has a very strong opening nationally, it is often possible to convert successful single engagements into full seven-day bookings the following week.
     
    NATIONAL RELEASE – a rollout mixing 2 or 3 full runs with many single night engagements will be perceived by the press and the public as a national release. 2 or 3 full runs without complementary single engagements won’t be.
     
    AWARENESS - The challenge of every film is how to achieve a critical mass of awareness. While major studios can afford to buy an audience for the first weekend, independent filmmakers cannot. Independents need to target core audiences. The more members of a core audience who see a film, like it, and spread the word within that audience, the better. The excitement and buzz they generate will help a film in each subsequent stage of its distribution, including nontheatrical screenings, educational sales, television, digital and DVD.

    This Changes Everything Poster
     
    Richard emphasizes the importance of being clear about the goals for a theatrical release. Many of the films he has worked with have focused on maximizing impact rather than revenues. Recent social issue films have included: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (which played full-week runs in New York, Los Angeles and 3 other markets, and single engagements in 92 other cities) and TIME TO CHOOSE (which had 19 full-weeks and 78 one-nighters). In other cases, the primary goal was marketing. For PEARL JAM TWENTY, the objective was to keep the band visible when it was not touring and didn’t have a new album. It was important for Pearl Jam to maintain a personal connection with their fans. The fact that Richard could send their record label a check for a couple hundred thousand dollars was an unexpected bonus.
     
    Richard learned from PEARL JAM TWENTY “that you can work with music-related films in a very cost-effective way.” Since then he has handled ZEN OF BENNETT (Tony Bennett), IN YOUR DREAMS (Stevie Nicks), and several Neil Young films among many other music films. He has learned that it is “better to have a character-based film than a concert film.”
     
    When Richard analyzes the theatrical possibilities for a film, he considers how “tribal” it is. Music-related films can appeal directly to a performer’s loyal fan base. Political films can appeal to individuals and organizations engaged with specific social issues. Mind-body-spirit films can appeal to people devoted to certain beliefs. In 2014 Richard handled the theatrical release of AWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA, which was very successful, grossing $1.4 million. He began with week runs in 3 cities, and 10 single engagements. Many of the single engagements were so successful they turned into multiple-week runs. As Richard explained, “It was an exceptional release. It was not an amorphous New Age movie, but a film about a specific person with a specific organization—the Self-Realization Fellowship—supporting the release. We could call SRF’s office and request that devotees attend a 7pm Friday night show with three friends, and they would be there with three friends.”

    Awake Poster

    Last year he opened THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS theatrically simultaneously with its release on Hulu. He began with 60 full-week runs and 90 one-night engagements. The film was overwhelmingly successful, enabling him to bump up at least a third of the one-night engagements into full-week runs. The film grossed $2.9 million theatrically. It benefitted from director Ron Howard’s active promotion of the film and 30 minutes of rare bonus footage of a Beatles Shea Stadium concert that was only available in theaters (not on Hulu or the DVD). Richard noted that we should “never underestimate the Beatles, who are the exception to every rule.” The film attracted a uniquely multi-generational audience—grandparents, parents, and grandkids.
     
    Richard cautioned that to maximize a hybrid release, you must “make sure you have time for outreach, which requires a minimum of four months.” Allowing lead time for the bookings is also essential, more so for the full-week runs than the one-nighters. He emphasized the importance of social media in attracting core audiences.  He also stressed the need to make single engagements special events rather than just screenings. He organizes post screening discussions as often as possible. For MR. GAGA he arranged for Gaga instructors to lead the audience in five-minute exercises after screenings.
     
    Richard noted that theaters are less eager to work directly with filmmakers than with experienced bookers. “Exhibitors are too busy to go through ‘Distribution 101’ each time.” Filmmakers who would like to arrange single-night engagements but are not working with a booker may not be able to arrange no-fee bookings with a 50/50 split. Instead the theater may require them to rent (“four-wall”) the theater. If so, rental costs are lowest on Monday and Tuesday nights and filmmakers keep 100% of ticket sales. It is also possible to use Tugg or Gathr, which can arrange single theatrical screenings if a minimum number of tickets are purchased in advance. Another option is to organize single screenings outside of theaters—on campuses, in libraries and museums, and at churches, JCCs, and other venues.
    Time To Choose Poster The bottom line is that for the right films, Hybrid Theatrical Distribution can be the best way to maximize a national release. If a film has a substantial core audience that can be activated to watch the film together in a theater, this approach can provide the best of both worlds – full runs in selected cities where seven-day engagements are viable, and single special event screenings in many other cities.
     
    Hybrid Theatrical Distribution is more affordable and cost-effective than a full traditional theatrical release. It also has great built-in flexibility. If a film has an outstanding opening, single engagements can be converted to full runs and additional seven-day runs can be booked in other cities.
     
    Any documentary filmmaker considering a US theatrical release should explore whether Hybrid Theatrical Distribution is the best approach.
     
    © 2017 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #30

    EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL REPORT: How To Build Your Audiences (Part 3)

    This is the third of a series of global reports on how European filmmakers are blazing new trails on the frontiers of distribution. The first is DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN #28 and the second is DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN #29.
     
    DOWN TO EARTH
    dte_poster_large



    In 2005, Dutch couple Rolf Winters and Renata Heinen decided to leave the rat race behind. Seeking to live closer to nature, they left their hectic professional lives in Amsterdam and moved their children to Northern Michigan, where they built a house in a halcyon rural environment. They connected with a clan of Native Americans who lived nearby. Rolf and Renata were so inspired by the wise man Nowaten (“he who listens”) that they began filming their meetings with him.

    Compelled to continue “recording the wisdom of the elders,” they embarked on a global journey to seek out other wise men and women and make a film that embodied their world views.  They were determined to make the film without a crew, convinced that as a family they could earn the trust of “earthkeepers,” who had never been filmed or interviewed before. Rolf and Renata and their three children set off with 5 backpacks and 5 cameras. For a year, they travelled to six continents, lived in many different tribal communities, and filmed their elders.

     
    When they finished their journey, they moved to the UK, where they spent five years editing the film and working on the music. In 2015, DOWN TO EARTH premiered at the Illuminate Film Festival (an exciting new festival of “conscious cinema”), where it won the jury prize.  They next did their international premiere at COP21, the climate change summit in Paris.
     
    Then Rolf and Renata accepted an offer for distribution in France, where the film was released theatrically by an experienced French distribution company. Unfortunately it quickly became clear that the film’s true potential could not be achieved using Old World of Distribution methods. A conventional release with weeklong bookings in cinemas didn’t give the film the chance to build sufficient awareness among its natural core audiences. While the filmmakers glimpsed the film’s potential in France as they gained the support of well-connected allies, they were very frustrated that they couldn’t seize the opportunities that presented themselves because their distributor was afraid it would undercut the release plan. As Rolf lamented, “we felt straightjacketed. We were restrained from doing what the film was made to do—help individuals, communities, and organizations evolve.” 
     
    In the Netherlands, the filmmakers have been wildly successful using a New World of Distribution strategy. They began by partnering with a Dutch magazine, Happinez. Rolf’s 94-year old aunt told him about the magazine, which has 200,000 readers in the Netherlands. It ran a glowing piece on DOWN TO EARTH and sponsored eight sold out screenings for its readers, creating a contingent of 2500 enthusiastic viewers eager to share their opinions online and off.

    The filmmakers became confident they could release the film theatrically themselves in Holland. They planned to do single special event screenings in theaters rather than playing five times a day every day. After getting a lukewarm response from most Dutch exhibitors, they were able to convince three theaters to book several screenings of Down to Earth. Each screening sold out as soon as it was announced. At first, the filmmakers were only able to book weekend matinees. Theaters were happy because DOWN TO EARTH was selling out and because it was attracting new audiences.

     
    Within three weeks of opening, it was being screened in 30 theatres.  They soon sold 10,000 tickets (an exceptional performance for a documentary). By mid-January they passed 60,000 and seem well on their way to 100,000 tickets sold. In many theatres, DOWN TO EARTH was one of its top grossing films for the entire year, even though it didn’t open until October and had many fewer screenings than blockbusters it surpassed. Its per screening average was the highest of the year because so many screenings were sellouts.
     
    In the beginning, Rolf was the only person facilitating discussions after screenings. Within weeks, many people volunteered to lead discussions and 30 people of them were trained as facilitators. When theaters book the film, the filmmakers ask them to schedule slots that are 50% longer so there will be sufficient time for discussion.
     
    Post-screenings discussions have stimulated viewers to enthusiastically spread the word. Some viewers have seen the film multiple times, bringing different friends and family members to experience the film and the follow-up discussions. Many viewers have been very gratified to find strangers who feel the same way they do about the film and the perspectives it presents.
     
    Rather than paid advertising, the film has relied on free press coverage (starting with Happinez and now expanding into mainstream media) and powerful word of mouth. Its core audiences have included people interested in:  sustainable living, yoga, spirituality, ecology, educational innovation, corporate social responsibility, and parenting in the modern world. Two-thirds of the audience has been female—from 30 to 80 years of age.

    dte_-_virtual_cannes_screengrab Watch this video to see how DOWN TO EARTH attended Cannes virtually (without ever being there)!  
     
    Rolf sees DOWN TO EARTH “not a film to be consumed, but a film to be worked with.” The filmmakers are creating a social enterprise with a “business plan for the future of our children” and have started hiring. The Down to Earth Collective is being designed to facilitate change through shifting consciousness and to empower people at home, at school, and at work. A film festival screening inspired the creation of a new school in Tel Aviv called “the Nurture of Things.” The filmmakers found their own path when they were making the film, and have now found their own path bringing it into the world.
     
    NOTE: I began consulting with the DOWN TO EARTH team in August 2014 while they were finishing the film.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     
    THE DIVIDE (see Distribution Bulletin #28), A QUEST FOR MEANING (see Distribution Bulletin #29), and DOWN TO EARTH are different in many ways, but similar in others. For Katharine, for Mark, and for Rolf and Renata, these were their first feature documentaries. Each film was fueled by the passionate beliefs of their teams and their hopes for a better world. Neither formulaic nor generic, each documentary found a unique way to explore its subject.

    Although made in the same decade, the filmmakers had no knowledge of each other’s projects.  Each project grew organically. Yet they have striking things in common.


    Crowdfunding


    THE DIVIDE and A QUEST FOR MEANING teams made very effective use of crowdfunding. Their successful campaigns demonstrated their film’s potential, raised a meaningful amount of money, and built initial audiences around each film.

    Partnerships


    All three films developed partnerships that were critically important to their distribution. DOWN TO EARTH found a media partner that not only highlighted the film for all of its readers but also sponsored a series of key screenings that helped launch the film theatrically. A QUEST FOR MEANING partnered with an important association that had a large membership and chapters around France that could support screenings. THE DIVIDE approached many potential partners early and then had the time to build meaningful relationships with a small number of organizations committed to supporting the film’s distribution.


    Theatrical Release


    All three films took the same innovative approach to screenings, (after DOWN TO EARTH'S misstep in France). Rather than working with experienced distributors, the filmmakers released their films theatrically themselves – one screening at a time. They avoided the seductive trap of playing theaters a week at a time and thus avoided the fate of most documentaries these days - playing to tiny audiences at most screenings and losing money. By using a single screening strategy, they could focus their promotional efforts and increase their chances of having full houses. They supplemented theatrical screenings and expanded their reach by encouraging organizations and individuals to do screenings in nontheatrical venues.


    Special Events


    Each team wanted their film to be experienced as a special event rather than simply seen at an anonymous screening. That’s why the filmmakers attended as many of the screenings as they could; if they weren’t able to be there, they often arranged for other people connected to the film or the content to attend. The goal was to have a discussion after almost every screening. A discussion can be genuinely interactive, allowing audience members to participate meaningfully. Panels and Q&As are too often top down, allowing only token audience participation.

     
    Each film was a great catalyst for conversation. Many viewers felt part of a community of like-minded people. These discussions enriched their experience of the film and created a greater sense of connection to the film and the filmmakers. They generated word of mouth and increased the opportunity of the filmmakers to take these viewers with them to their next films.

    Distribution Team


    Each film had a dedicated distribution team. The teams used customized New World strategies rather than formulaic Old World approaches. Each group was able to identify and take advantage of unique possibilities in their country. The teams were small and nimble, with the ability to seize opportunities when they appeared and shift gears quickly to avoid obstacles.


    Trusting the Audience


    The filmmakers of all three films trusted their audiences. They treated them as intelligent, thoughtful, open-minded, and caring. The films are not manipulative or dogmatic. They don’t attempt to tell viewers how to think or end with a 5-point call to action. Instead, the films ask questions and have faith that viewers will find answers–individually and together.

     
    © 2017 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #29

    EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL REPORT: How To Build Your Audiences (Part 2)

    This is the second of a series of global reports on how European filmmakers are blazing new trails on the frontiers of distribution. The first is DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN #28.
     
    A QUEST FOR MEANING ("En Quete de Sens")

    qfm_poster

    In 2009 two longtime friends were inspired to travel the world in search of meaning. Marc de la Ménardière was working in New York as a business developer for a French water brand when his childhood friend Nathanaël Coste came to visit. They had intense conversations about the state of the world. Nathanaël suggested a number of documentaries on globalization for Marc to watch while recuperating from a broken foot. The films made Marc question his lifestyle and purpose. They inspired him to embark on a project with Nathanaël to seek out idealists, activists, and philosophers with stimulating ideas about how to make the world a better place.  On and off over the next two years, they took a series of trips to three continents and filmed their conversations with the most forward-thinking people they found. Marc, who had never made a film before, was in front of the camera and Nathanaël, who was an experienced filmmaker, shot the interviews. They self-financed the shoots, spending as little money as possible— €10,000.
     
    To finance editing, post-production, and distribution, they ran a campaign on touscoprod.com, a French crowdfunding platform. They raised €38,988 from 973 contributors (including friends and members of their inner circle). It was the second most successful campaign for a French film at that point. After finishing crowdfunding in December 2013, they completed the film in June 2014.
     
    A QUEST FOR MEANING premiered on January 25th, 2015 in a Paris cinema, where it continued to screen three or four times a week for a year and a half. Marc also did a tour around France, attending 50-60 screenings.
     
    Crucial to the film’s success has been a partnership with the mouvement colibris, an association focused on social change, which Marc explained “wants to insert the controversial topic of personal change/inner revolution into activism.” Its mission is to inspire, connect, and support citizens engaged in a process of individual and collective transition. It has local chapters throughout France and approximately 30,000 members.
     
    Before the film was finished, Marc managed to arrange a meeting at the colibris through a contact he made at a conference.  Marc “hijacked their office and showed them the film and people loved it.” He got the association on board four months before the film’s theatrical release and their support has been invaluable.
     
    A QUEST FOR MEANING is a film that was made to be seen and discussed with others. So far there have been over 900 screenings throughout France followed by discussions (averaging 20 minutes). Although 30,000 DVDs were sold in the first year, the availability of the film on DVD did not undercut the demand for screenings while Marc’s team was actively supporting them.
     
    There were also screenings outside theaters. Via Creative Commons, Marc encouraged people to organize their own screenings. He only requested a screening fee if organizers charged admission.
     
    The engine for the film’s continued success has been word of mouth, since the filmmakers did not use paid advertising and got little coverage from the French press and television networks. 130,000 people have seen the film in France, as have another 40,000 viewers in Belgium, Switzerland, and Quebec.

    qfm_guys_on_bikes
     
    Another critical factor in the film’s success has been Marc’s charismatic personality. He is charming on screen and off. Last year he hired Jessica Karam to help with distribution. Undaunted by the fact that he had no funds to pay her salary, he met with his primary funder and told him about his new hire. When the funder asked Marc how he could hire Jessica without the ability to pay her, Marc replied “I just chose the reality where you would say yes.” Charmed, the funder found the money to pay Jessica.
     
    Marc believes that several other things also contributed to the film’s unprecedented success in France:
    • “the widespread quest for meaning that so many people are engaged in, particularly younger generations.”
    • “the authenticity and spontaneity of the quest.”
    • “the combination of a personal and a universal story. There is an authentic ‘I’ that people can identify with. My story is part of a bigger story.”
    • the “coherence between the content of the film and how it was made and distributed.”
    • “our transparency about money, distribution, and our goals.”
    • “the way we reached out to people with shared values and involved them in the process of creating the film (via crowdfunding and pre-screenings). It is their movie. It is a tool they can use. We are working for the same cause.”
    • “It provides a story, not an ideology. It has humility; it is not giving viewers lessons or trying to brainwash them.”
     
    Marc is coming to the US in a few months with A QUEST FOR MEANING. He is looking for partners and teammates. He is also exploring global distribution.
     
    NOTE: I began consulting on A QUEST FOR MEANING after it was released in France.
     
    © 2017 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #28

    EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL REPORT: How To Build Your Audiences (Part 1)


    Filmmakers around the world are blazing new trails on the frontiers of distribution. They’re building audiences around their films and themselves in innovative and highly effective ways. American filmmakers can learn valuable lessons from these filmmakers just as they have benefited from U.S. examples.

     
    I highlighted the three films covered in these reports in presentations I made on my recent trip to Europe. I opened the Global Health Film Festival in London; co-presented with Patrick Mueller of Docmine Productions a daylong workshop in Zurich sponsored by FOCAL; did a presentation for the IDFAcademy and one for IDFA delegates in Amsterdam; and in Cologne gave the closing presentation for the Documentary Campus Masterschool headed by Jan Rofekamp.

    It was a fantastic opportunity to engage with emerging filmmakers from across Europe and around the world. I was very impressed by their creativity and passion, the quality of their projects, and their eagerness to learn how to most effectively bring their films into the New World of Distribution.

    This is the first of a series of exclusive global reports documenting how international filmmakers are designing and implementing customized distribution strategies. These reports present case studies from the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Each report tells the inside story of an unprecedented success. Together the reports provide an overview of some of the best ways to navigate the New World of Audience. I am very grateful to each of the filmmaking teams for their willingness to share private information with me that we hope will be of real help to other filmmakers.

    THE DIVIDE

    the_divide_image_for_db

    Christo Hird, head of Dartmouth Films in London, is not only one of the best and most prolific independent producers in the UK, he is one of the most forward-looking. When director Katharine Round pitched him the idea of making a documentary on inequality, Christo saw both the challenge and the opportunity. The film was to be based on The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality makes Societies Stronger by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, a book that persuasively makes the case that societies with greater income equality are healthy, happier, and less violent. The challenge was how to turn a book filled with research results and charts into a compelling film. The opportunity was that The Spirit Level had sold 120,000 copies and had developed a significant fan base.
     
    Hoping to tap this core audience, Christo and Katharine launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Christo praised Katharine’s nonstop campaign work and her commitment to providing “fresh news rather than the same old begging bowl.” They were able to identify, reach, and activate the book’s fan base. They significantly exceeded their goal, generating £45,000 from 1066 contributors, more than any UK documentary had ever made on Indiegogo. They subsequently conducted two more crowdfunding campaigns, raising another £20,000 and then £30,000 more.
     
    Christo felt confident he could secure the rest of the film’s budget, and shooting began. But his confidence was sorely tested. He explained that “some funders don’t need to see a frame of film before backing it, but other funders need to see the whole film. Getting this judgment right, consistent with one’s ambition to make the film and the demands of the production, is the greatest challenge of this business.”   

    Not including deferments (producer, director, editor) of £110,000, the film cost £316,000. The sources of income were crowdfunding (28.2%), pre-sales (8.7%), donations (12.2%), grants from EU organizations (9.5%), grants from foundations (24.4%), tax credit (9.6%), and cash investment from Dartmouth Films (7.4%). In addition to producing and directing the film, Katharine played a key role in raising funds from foundations and other sources.  Her company Literally Films (now relaunched as Disobedient Films) co-produced with Dartmouth Films. THE DIVIDE’s premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015 energized donors and groups. The film received a New Models of Distribution grant from the British Film Institute for £22,300, which covered 45% of its distribution costs. A Netflix deal enabled the filmmakers to cover enough of the costs of their archival footage and music (initially they could only afford to clear festivals and limited screenings) to take the next step to worldwide distribution.
     
    the_divide_quad_horizontal

    The theatrical release of THE DIVIDE in the UK was organized by Matt Hird at Dartmouth Films. The film opened in London in April 2016, where it received strong reviews and good initial attendance. Since then it has been shown in 70 cinemas around the UK. It has also been screened outside theatres in 100 venues, with another 10 nontheatrical screenings scheduled.

     
    In theatres and at nontheatrical sites, THE DIVIDE is booked as a single screening and positioned as a special event. The goal is to schedule a discussion after every screening, which can be announced in advance to attract more viewers.  Katharine and/or Christo have participated in as many post-screening conversations as possible, which average 30 minutes.  THE DIVIDE dramatizes the impacts of income inequality by focusing on the contrasting lives of seven characters existing on different income levels. It vividly portrays income inequality but does not tell audiences what they could do to alleviate it.
     
    The film’s screening momentum in the UK has continued long after its availability on DVD and Netflix. Instead of watching it at home, many people have chosen to experience the film with friends and strangers and have a special opportunity to talk about what can be done.
              
    Partnerships have been critical to the success of the film. The filmmakers understood the importance of approaching potential partners early. It can take months to get through to the right person at an organization, describe your project, discuss possible arrangements, get colleagues on board, and agree on a plan. THE DIVIDE team started reaching out to groups before they began production. While they were organizing their Indiegogo campaign, they contacted over 50 organizations (from The Equality Trust to Oxfam, the Quakers, and Church Action on Poverty). Many groups promised to support the film, and although some didn’t follow through, a number of groups were very helpful. For example, The Equality Trust screened the film at its annual conference, spread the word online, promoted screenings in theaters, helped arrange post-screening discussions, and organized some screenings outside theaters. Partnering with the filmmakers offered The Trust a unique opportunity to use THE DIVIDE as a tool to help accomplish their goals. This was a perfect win-win arrangement.
     
    As of January 2017, THE DIVIDE had covered the costs of its theatrical and nontheatrical release from revenues and its BFI grant. Once final archive and music licensing is covered, it will be possible to pay off Dartmouth’s investment and deferments.
     
    NOTE: While I didn’t consult on THE DIVIDE, I previously consulted with Christo and his teammates on END OF THE LINE (see Distribution Bulletin #16).

    © 2017 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #27

    DOES YOUR WEBSITE STILL SUCK?

    The previous Distribution Bulletin - “Your Website Sucks!” - received a great response. Many subscribers found it very helpful and forwarded it to friends and colleagues. A few people took it personally, thinking it was a critique of their websites, which I assure you it was not.

    I’m excited to publish the second part of this invaluable guide to creating a better website. In
    the first part, James Franklin and Kieran Masterton highlighted 5 critical mistakes to avoid. Here they detail 5 more serious mistakes. Their guide grows out of their work on the frontlines, building sites for independent filmmakers at Assemble and at their previous companies.

    Their recommendations are practical and clear. There are very few sites that haven’t made some or many of these mistakes. After you read Part 1 and Part 2, I’d recommend doing a quick assessment of your site and making a plan to improve it. The longer you wait to make changes, the more it will cost you in lost opportunities, revenue, and impact.


    - Peter Broderick

    5 More Critical Website Mistakes & How to Avoid Them


    by James Franklin and Kieran Masterton



    Mistake #6. Not Having a Call-To-Action

    item06

    Make sure people can find you!



    A call-to-action is a piece of direction you give to the user viewing your website; it’s usually the action you want the user to take having visited a page on your site. The action should help you fulfill your goals. For example, a call-to-action could be “Watch now for $3.99” or “Back us now on Kickstarter!” or “Request our film when it comes to your city” - these are all strong, directive instructions to the user. It’s important each page on your site has a clear call-to-action. Don’t make the user think when looking at your website.

    Some of the most common errors are: failing to link to where someone can watch or buy your film; overwhelming the user with too much choice; focusing on the wrong call-to-action (one that doesn’t serve your goals). For example, don’t put, “follow us on Twitter” front and center instead of “Rent my film on iTunes.” Be sure not to leave an old call-to-action on your site after a campaign or release window has ended. Don’t ask people to “back us on Kickstarter” after the campaign is over and don’t ask them to “request our film in your city” after your Tugg tour has finished. Make sure your calls-to-action change over time so they reflect your current goals.

    Checklist:

    • Don’t make people think
    • Keep your calls to action simple and make sure you always have at least one



    Mistake #7. Bad User Experience

    item07

    An example of good design



    Ugly design, bad user interactions, and confusing site navigation all contribute to poor conversion rates. The worse your design, the more confusing it is for users to interact with your site, the less likely they they will follow your calls-to-action. This ultimately means less sales, pledges, requests, follows, or mailing list sign ups; whatever it is you’re trying to achieve will be hindered by poor design and bad user experience.

    Some key things to remember in order to avoid this problem:

    Make your site’s design image driven, not text driven. Film is a visual medium and a creative product; you want to illustrate that with your design. This will also help when international audiences who don’t speak your language are viewing your website.

    Maintain your film’s brand throughout - from your poster through your website and beyond. If you already have a poster, your site should use the same design style. Don’t forget your social networks- they should also be branded to create a visual connection with your other marketing materials. If users spot your trailer on YouTube and then Google your film, they should know that they’ve found the right film the instant your film’s website loads.

    Ensure your site is mobile friendly. We’ve all been on the  phone and followed a link on a social network to a film’s website only to be forced to pinch and zoom to read the text or play the trailer. This isn’t good enough. When you commission your site, it’s vital you make sure that it’s going to be designed to be responsive/adaptive. This will enable your site to respond and adapt to the size of the screen on which it is being viewed.  

    If you’re working with designers, help them determine the visual hierarchy of your site by discussing the most important content and where it’s placed. This should be driven by your  current goals. Screen size plays a big part in how a user perceives the content on your site. Ask your designer how the site will look on mobile or tablet vs. on a laptop or desktop and and make sure all versions of the design achieve the film’s goals. If that goal is to sell VOD, are your calls-to-action front and centre on both mobile and desktop or are they buried and hard to find on mobile?

    Mobile has now overtaken desktop as the most popular device on which to view media. At 51% vs. 42%, it’s vital that you ensure your site is accessible on mobile devices.

    Checklist:

    • Remember mobiles - check your site design on your phone and tablet
    • Maintain brand or ‘look’ consistently across your site, social media, and VOD platforms
    • Imagine you want to watch your film, how would do you it - check it actually connects up




    Mistake #8. Not Thinking Globally

    item08

    There’s nothing more frustrating than being locked out of buying a film



    When you read about the latest hot indie film and follow the link to watch it, you don’t want  to be greeted by a sad YouTube face or a generic “This content is not available in your region” message. Those living outside the continental United States are all too familiar with this experience. While the old world of film distribution is still focused on territory-based sales, it’s important to remember that the web is an international marketplace. You shouldn’t restrict your appeal to people from your country of origin, territories where you’ve sold your film to a distributor, or big markets like the US or UK.

    Use geo-technology to be as inclusive as possible. Allow rights holders in different territories to control their release in that region but ensure that isn’t at the expense of those in the rest of the world. Releasing an international trailer with a mailing list sign-up piques audience interest, whereas a door-slam geo-blocking message infuriates your potential audience. It is also important to use inclusive language, offer internationalized pricing, and provide subtitles for your film to ensure you have the broadest appeal possible. Turn a geo-block into a geo-opportunity by asking people to sign up if the film isn’t available in their region yet. You can avoid making people feel unwelcome by using as much visual communication as possible, limiting your written content to the bare minimum, and using universal iconography to denote important functions such as buy, search, download, etc.

    Ultimately, it’s about adapting your marketing to the global marketplace. This can be hard when deals with distributors appear restrictive and the technology seems daunting. Geo-detection can be used to block, but it can also be used to direct audiences to the best possible experience for them. For example, let’s say you’ve made a dark, indie thriller: you’ve had some festival success, and sold the rights to Sweden and the US. Those distributors want to exclusively promote the film in their region unimpeded by other distributors.  You want them to do this as successfully as possible, after all that’s what they do best and it’s why you sold your film to them.

    You also need to remember there’s an enormous audience for your film in the rest of the world. You should make sure your film is directly available from your website in all territories where no company has acquired the rights.
    What you need is one website that you control and has default content that’s displayed as standard around the world. The site should have an international trailer and a place to join your mailing list so that you’re growing your audience in every region of  the world. The website should be capable of serving different content to users in different territories. These versions of the website should be sales focused and could be controlled by the distributors in each territory where you have a made deal.

    Checklist:

    • Geo-filter your site, trailer, and mailing list to adapt to users in different regions
    • When traveling, try out your content, VOD platforms, and website from other countries



    Mistake #9. Failing To Use Your Mailing List

    item09

    Giving away something for free is a great way to grow a following



    Mailing lists can be extremely powerful.They are a fantastic tool to connect you to your audience and to sell effectively, but they have to be used correctly.

    In the age of abundance, information overload is a real problem. Fear of missing out leads consumers to look for the most direct and effective means to find out about things they don’t want to miss. The best way to ensure this is to have news delivered straight to their inbox. For this reason alone, it’s vital that you have a mailing list and take the running of your list seriously.

    All too often we hear, “I had a mailing list but it didn’t really work.” Without a clear strategy, a mailing list can quickly turn into a device for spam. Here are some vital points to remember when running a mailing list:

    Share don’t sell. It’s all too easy to bombard your list with spammy, buy-buy-buy-style emails that make you look desperate. Instead, try to build a relationship as you would with a person- share your experience, insights, things you find interesting, and provide extra value through exclusive behind the scenes content. Think “would I want to receive this in my already crowded inbox?”

    Keep screening information local to the subscriber. Collect a user’s location when they sign up for your list and ensure they only receive event information that’s relevant to them. There’s nothing worse than living in London and reading that there are 5 screenings happening next week in Boston.

    Give things away for free. This can be valuable knowledge related to the content of your film, practical information on how you made it, or free posters with every Blu-ray order. Give the mailing list subscribers something nobody else has and give it to them for free, like you would a friend. The more generous you are, the more supportive they will be on this and future films.

    Don’t underestimate the relationships that can be built using mailing lists, don’t spam people, and don’t maintain total radio silence. Deliver value to people’s inboxes and you’ll be rewarded.

    Checklist:

    • Set up your mailing list
    • Give people a compelling reason to join it (rather than self-promoting updates)
    • Set a calendar reminder to send out something every few months
    • Review your extra content - can you share something for free?


    Mistake #10. Not Starting Early


    item10

    The earlier you start, the bigger your final audience

    Haven’t got your film’s website set up yet? Start now! Start as early as you possibly can. Doing so buys you precious time to grow an audience, forge relationships, and encourage people to feel invested in your film. It allows serendipity to happen. It’s very easy to sit back and de-prioritize your film’s website, but ultimately getting an early start will translate into crucial fan support at every stage of your film’s lifecycle.

    Usually, the first 100 people who discover your film and join the mailing list will be more valuable to your distribution efforts than the last 100 people. Think of that feeling you get when you discover a band before they become popular. The same is true with films. Early adopters will often be your keenest advocates and most loyal fans. If you don’t have a place for them to interact with you and your film early on, you will lose valuable opportunities.

    As soon as you have a website,  your audience will be able to start following your story. Your site will enable you to show them your personality, to be memorable, and to take them on a journey with you through the planning, making and distribution of your film.

    Your film’s website is a powerful asset that develops with your film. It should never be an afterthought that you throw together without thinking. Starting early means that you can have your website help you achieve each of the vital goals you set for your film.

    Checklist:

    • Don’t go for perfect first time round, get something simple up early and build on it
    • Give early adopters something to do, they will support you




    My Website Checklist:
    1.) Register the domain name as soon as you have a name for your film
    2.) Use your email to register the domain and set it to auto renew
    3.) Set up a simple website and mailing list as early as possible
    4.) As you progress through each stage of your film, review the following:
    a.) Does my website reflect my current goals?
      b.) Have I updated my mailing list with what’s happening?
      c.) Is my personality coming through?
      d.) Is the design attractive and consistent across all my digital presence?
    5.) When you enter the distribution stage, review the following:
    a.) Can people find where to buy the film?
      b.) Do the site and trailers work internationally?
    c.) Should I be geo-filtering to make my site more friendly internationally?

    (This was a two-part series. Didn't get the first part? Want to make sure you never miss valuable information like this? The Distribution Bulletin is sent to subscribers who are working to have their films succeed in an ever-changing marketplace. If you are not already a subscriber, you can subscribe here. - Peter Broderick)




    © 2016 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #26

    YOUR WEBSITE SUCKS!

    How much is your website costing you in lost opportunities, supporters, revenue, and impact?

    Your website can enable you to maximize your film’s distribution.  It can also help you build a powerful personal audience and have a sustainable career. Unfortunately, few independent filmmakers understand the importance of having an effective website let alone how to build and maintain a great site.


    “Independent film websites are frankly dreadful and getting worse” is the latest assessment of an expert with a broad awareness of such sites. “They lack appropriate tone, goals, direction, voice, content, usability-–the list goes on.”


    Filmmakers are constantly asking me to point them to exemplary websites but there are fewer and fewer I can recommend. So I reached out to
    James Franklin, one of the world’s leading creators of independent film websites, and asked him to write a Distribution Bulletin on how not to design a website and how to fix the one you have (see also How Not to Negotiate a Distribution Deal). James and his teammate, Kieran Masterton, have been building film websites for over ten years. Their company, Assemble, has done exceptional work for a host of independent features and documentaries, including CITIZENFOUR, Virunga, It Follows, The Square, Cartel Land, Dirty Wars, and How to Survive a Plague.

    I’m very pleased to publish – in two parts – this invaluable guide. It will empower you to assess your website, identify what you have done wrong, and learn how to improve your site. The guide is a short crash course you can’t afford not to take if you want to achieve your site’s full potential.

    - Peter Broderick

    10 Critical Website Mistakes & How to Avoid Them


    by James Franklin and Kieran Masterton



    Mistake #1. Not Having a Website


    image1_crop

    Make sure people can find you!



    This should go without saying but sadly it’s far more common than you’d think. The temptation is to think that you’ll leave stuff like this to the distributor or you’ll deal with a website once you’re in post or when you get into a festival, but this is a critical error. You need a website from day one, ensuring you connect with your audience early and giving you the time to build a relationship before your film’s release.

    Your film’s website is many things to many people--it’s a hub connecting all the disparate social, commercial, distribution and marketing activities that happen all around the web. It’s your film’s home on the web and wherever someone might discover your film. It’s where you want your audience to ultimately connect with your film. This ensures the strongest possible connection between, you, your film and your audience.


    And no,
    a Facebook page alone won’t do! Why? Because with Facebook, or any other social network, you don’t own your audience, you can’t take them from one project to the next, they’re locked into someone else's network. Likewise, Facebook’s one-size-fits-all solution is not going to best serve your film or sell your film effectively. By all means have a Facebook page, but consider it one of many marketing assets, not your home on the web.

    Whatever you do, don’t forget or put off creating a website for your film. Act now or you will be missing out on valuable early fans who could become influencers. Your website and mailing list are where the magic of serendipity happens.




    Mistake #2. Failing to Define Clear Goals

    image2

    The current goals of this site are very clear



    This is about planning. Too often the strategy behind a film’s website is, “We need a big trailer and a link to buy,” but we all know selling films isn’t that easy. Likewise, a common approach is “I really like the website for film X or film Y, let’s copy that.” But what you really have to ask yourself is: what are the current goals for my film? Once you’ve established those goals, you can design how your site is going to help you achieve them.

    Producing a website for an impact documentary that is in production and looking for finishing funds is very different from creating a website to sell a genre film direct to audiences in the Scandinavian market. You should plan your website carefully, lay out your current goals, whether that be funding, creating social impact, changing minds, promoting your film’s appearance in festivals or selling the film direct.
    The website design, layout, calls-to-action and language will all be very different depending on your goals.

    Remember your site will evolve throughout the film’s life and should serve different goals at different times.


    Checklist:

    • Align your website design and layout with your current goals
    • As your goals change, remember to change your website



    Mistake #3. Forgetting the Basics

    image3

    Put your trailer up front and center



    This is fundamental but all too commonly forgotten. What you should consider to be “the basics” is going to depend on the current goals for your film. That said, there are some golden rules:

    Show us the trailer
    , don’t hide it away on a trailer page; your trailer is the best tool you have to sell your film. Don’t make a user click through to view it.

    Whatever you do don’t forget
    contact information. It sounds simple, but it’s vital. Email is a must and a phone number is preferred - you never know, a sales agent might call. Adding a street address to your emails will reduce the likelihood of getting caught in spam filters.

    Remember your
    press kit and press-specific contact information. At a minimum this should be the synopsis and a small but good selection of high-res photographic stills. The more eyeballs you can get on your film the better. Give the press the best possible resources to paint your film in the best possible light. Is your film screening at festivals, and better yet, has it won awards? Don’t be shy, list your screenings, promote ticket sales, display your laurels with pride.

    Don’t forget to make sure your site is as
    discoverable as possible. This means ensuring that each page of your site is optimized to give search engines the best chance of indexing them and accurately gathering information about them. The more optimized the content and the metadata on your pages, the more Google will reward you with traffic. Search engine optimization is a big subject. For more information read this guide to ensuring your site is discoverable.

    Checklist:

    • Make sure contact details are on the site
    • Check your site’s search engine optimization (do a test search in Google)
    • Check your site in social media (do a test share of the URL in Facebook or Twitter)
    • Add your press kit, trailer, awards, reviews and showtimes



    Mistake #4. Losing Control of Your Domain

    image4

    Uh oh - where’d my site go?



    This is a disaster, but a very common disaster. You’ve had an idea for a film and at the height of your excitement and motivation you register the perfect domain name. Two years of pre-production, planning, financing etc. pass and now you’re in production and you want to launch a teaser website-- but what’s happened to that domain? It’s expired and someone is cybersquatting your domain - nightmare!

    The other oh-so-common version of events is that an intern or assistant registered the domain to their Hotmail address and you’re not in contact with them anymore. Your domain is one of the cheapest, but most valuable things you’ll purchase for your film and a simple administrative error can see it slip through your fingers.

    Make sure you register the domain yourself to an email address you regularly use, store credit card details with the registrar, and set the domain to auto-renew. These simple tips will stop you from losing such a critical asset.

    Checklist:

    • Register your domain using an email address you use regularly
    • Set your domain to auto-renew
    • Save your payment details

    Mistake #5. Not Being Memorable

    People don’t really want to buy from a faceless corporation, particularly one they’ve never heard of. A lot of filmmakers make the mistake of wanting to hide behind a company name or brand, thinking it makes them look more professional, but don’t forget,
    people really want to buy things from other people.

    When it comes to art or entertainment, people buy from interesting, memorable people. There’s huge fatigue among consumers in the entertainment marketplace at the moment as a result of the ridiculous abundance of content. You have to stand out, you have to ask yourself what’s going to make people care. In a world where no one has any time and yet everyone is bored, how do you
    make you and your film unique?

    You have to
    make your website personal, it has to about you and it has to be authentic. Show personality, include humor if that’s you, write in the first person, but most of all, you have to be memorable. Filmmakers like Franny Armstrong, Hal HartleySally Potter and Kevin Smith have all achieved this in their own unique ways, but most importantly their personality is at the heart of how they promote themselves and their work.

    The success that these and many other filmmakers have had is partly to do with the personal audiences they have built. Namely the followers they have, or the following their work has. Some have built this following through email, their website and social media. Building
    a personal audience brings huge benefits in terms of support, resources, finances, feedback and reach. This is the ultimate goal. Nurturing a personal audience will reap the rewards on each project, but also travel from film to film, building with each project. But having a personal audience requires showing some personality.

    Checklist:

    • When sending emails, use your voice and personality - be real, be authentic
    • Review how your personality comes across in the website content
    • Use design to inject personality into your site


    (Don’t miss Part 2 of
    Your Website Sucks! which will be sent to Distribution Bulletin subscribers next month. It will highlight 5 more critical mistakes and reveal how to avoid them. If you are not already a subscriber, you can subscribe here. - Peter Broderick)

    © 2016 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #25

    HOW TO BE UNSTOPPABLE

    Sean Baker wills his films into the world.

    He fearlessly shot his new film, Tangerine, entirely on the iPhone 5s.  It dazzled audiences and critics when it premiered at Sundance and is now being released theatrically. It looks great on the big screen and has energy and style to burn. Using the iPhone was the most affordable way to shoot Tangerine, and turned out to be the very best way to make it.

    Scene From Tangerine

    Sean shot his first feature Four Letter Words in 1996 and finally finished it in 2000. Made for $80,000 with 35mm short ends, it's the only movie he has done on film. In 2004, he shot Take Out on standard definition video for $3,000 and “finished it with favors.” In 2008, he made Prince of Broadway on HD for $45,000. Then in 2012, he completed Starlet, which was filmed in HD on a $235,000 budget. Starlet received enthusiastic reviews, won the Robert Altman Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, and was distributed by Music Box Films.

    After Starlet's success, “something almost happened,” Sean explained. Having made four features that received steadily increasing recognition and distribution, Sean hoped he could finally access much higher levels of financing. Only interested in directing his own scripts, Sean has been unwilling to work as a director for hire on films he didn’t write. It looked like his script Caviar about the Russian-Armenian underworld in Brooklyn was going to be financed for between $10 and $15 million. After waiting 1½ years for the money to arrive, Sean decided he would have to return to the world of micro-budget filmmaking. He contacted Mark Duplass, who agreed to put together the financing for a new film set in the world of transgender prostitutes. Sean committed to make it for less than half the cost of Starlet  (i.e. under $117,500).


    CHOOSING THE IPHONE INSTEAD OF A CAMERA


    He began his research in the spring of 2013. While he wrote the script with Chris Bergoch, Sean began exploring how to shoot it. He couldn’t afford to use expensive digital cameras. He didn’t want to shoot on more affordable DSLR cameras, which are used on so many micro-budget features. He felt that most films made with these cameras “look the same.” He also couldn't afford to purchase a $4,000 lens to create a more distinctive look, and his limited budget wouldn't allow him to add the two or three extra video people to his crew that shooting on a DSLR would have required.

    Impressed by the look of the iPad footage in Spike Lee’s feature Red Hook Summer, Sean decided to shoot a 2-minute test reel with the iPhone 5s he already had in his pocket. He showed it on a large screen at Technicolor to Mark Duplass and the other investors, and they immediately greenlit his use of the iPhone.

    He then called Radium Cheung (his DP on Starlet) and asked him to be his co-cinematographer. Sean explained that when Radium, “who has spent 25 years mastering cinematography and was then shooting the TV series The Americans on 35mm” learned that he was planning to shoot the film on an iPhone, he was shocked. Radium then told Sean, “I’ll come to LA and play with you.” Sean responded, “We’re not playing. We are making a real movie. We have to embrace this and discover all the benefits.”


    EXPECTED AND UNEXPECTED BENEFITS

     
    When Tangerine was shot in December 2013, Sean and Radium experienced the significant advantages of shooting on iPhones.
     
    It was very cost effective. They bought 3 phones, used 2 and had 1 for backup. Although they had to pay full price because they weren’t buying the phones with service contracts, they later sold 2 of them on eBay.
     
    The other items they needed to shoot on the iPhone were very affordable:

    • Filmic Pro (an $8 iPhone app) was used to lock focus and increase the phone’s compression rate.
    • a Steadicam Smoothee rig ($149) was used to hold the iPhone still when shooting.
    • a Moondog Lab anamorphic adapter ($160) was used to create the widescreen cinematic look of 2.35.
    • a painter’s pole ($35) was used for "crane shoots" (see photo below).

    Shooting with a painter's pole

    It allowed unprecedented freedom of movement. Instead of being limited by camera equipment, they could move freely and quickly. A former bike messenger, Sean was able to ride his 10-speed bike in circles around the actors while shooting them with the iPhone.
     
    It enabled them to shoot in an almost clandestine way. Using consumer phones and working with a tiny crew, they were able to shoot in challenging neighborhoods without most people knowing they were making a film. When two unsuspecting young men walked into a scene being filmed, one of the actors stayed in character and spontaneously challenged them by asking “What the f**k are you looking at?” The men had no idea they were being filmed until a producer rushed up to them and asked them to sign a release.
     
    It made things easier for the nonprofessional leads. Already used to shooting selfies on smartphones, the actors quickly got used to performing in front of iPhones instead of being intimidated by cameras.
     
    It facilitated the creation of a distinctive look. Shooting in such an unfettered way was perfectly suited to the story. In post, Sean and Radium added film grain as needed to the gritty material, and increased the color saturation. Tangerine is the key color throughout the film, but there are many other vivid ones suited to the visceral material.
     

    AMBITION ON A MICRO-BUDGET

     
    Tangerine bursts the bounds of micro-budget filmmaking.
     
    Sean didn't follow the Mumblecore model, which his executive producer Mark Duplass and his brother Jay had used when they launched their careers. Sean explained that many Mumblecore films are limited to a single location, use very few actors, and have a short shooting schedule.  Film critic Amy Taubin observed in her 2007 Film Comment piece that Mumblecore films usually focus on "young adults who are involved in heterosexual relationships and who have jobs (when they have them) in workplaces populated almost exclusively by SWMs and SWFs". Instead Sean decided to shoot a wild ensemble piece all over town about two prostitutes, played by a Latina transgender woman (Kitana Kiki Rodriquez) and a black transgender woman (Mya Taylor) who had never acted in front of a camera before. Sean was determined to not let his ambition be constrained by his budget.
     
    Having already made four features with limited resources, Sean had the talent, experience, and teammates to do the seemingly impossible. While he writes, shoots, edits, directs, and produces, he knew he needed a great team to pull it off. He started with three of his closest collaborators - producer Shih-Ching Tsou (Takeout, Starlet), producer Darren Dean (Prince of Broadway), and co-writer and co-producer Chris Bergoch (Prince of Broadway, Starlet). Then Radium Cheung came on board, and Irin Strauss (Starlet) agreed to record location sound. The crew was very small, never more than 6 or 7.

    Tangerine_2013_093_ct

    He did agree to limit the story to the events of a single day. He had also initially promised his producers that there would be no music in the film, but eventually was able to acquire music from up-and-coming DJs and musicians via SoundCloud for a total music budget of under $1,700. He insisted that everyone get paid. Following the SAG Ultra Low Budget agreement, he paid his actors $100 a day. He wanted his cast and crew to be able to cover their rent for a few months.

     
    Some of the movie was tightly scripted to make the most of the limited time they had in difficult locations. Many other parts of the film were loosely scripted, allowing the actors to improvise and do alternate takes.
     

    A DIGITAL REVOLUTIONARY

     
    Tangerine marks a new chapter in the ongoing digital filmmaking revolution.
     
    Lars Von Trier’s The Idiots and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration launched this revolution at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Flying the flag of the Dogme 95 movement, these filmmakers proved that films shot on inexpensive digital video cameras could succeed at the world's most important film festival.
     
    The barriers to entering the world of independent filmmaking had fallen. Filmmakers could now afford to own the means of production - a digital camera and a laptop. If you wrote a script that could be made with resources accessible to you, no one could stop you from making a film.
     
    (NOTE: When I saw Tangerine at Sundance, I knew I had to write a Bulletin about its significance. I was an early proponent of micro-budget filmmaking (I wrote this article and then this follow-up article in the early 90's when the movement was just beginning) and then created a finishing fund, Next Wave Films (financed by IFC Films), to provide critical support to emerging filmmakers. When I saw the future at Cannes in 1998, I became a strong advocate of digital filmmaking. Following Cannes, my Next Wave Films teammates, Mark Stolaroff and Tara Veneruso, and I did presentations about this digital filmmaking revolution at festivals around the world, made the Next Wave Films website a resource for digital filmmakers, and launched Agenda 2000, the first digital production arm. Since then, digital has become the production norm and now Sean has boldly taken micro-budget filmmaking into the future.)
     
    Sean was truly inspired by the Dogme 95 movement.  Seeing The Idiots liberated him to make his next feature Take Out on digital video with a two-person crew. Teaming up with Shih-Ching Tsou, Sean shot for 30 days around New York City. Working under the radar without permits or insurance, Sean was able "to shoot in a way where I didn't have to worry about the formality of filmmaking I learned in film school. We had the freedom to make Take Out without technical limitations, and the time to experiment." Instead of trying to light scenes perfectly, Sean could focus on "the actors and their character arcs." The Dogme 95 movement also influenced Sean's subsequent films, including Tangerine.

    tangerine_2014_090_ct

    Sean will inspire the next generation of independent filmmakers. Deciding to shoot Tangerine on the iPhone was both a pragmatic choice and a serious aesthetic decision. He realized he couldn't make the film he really wanted to make any other way.
     
    Sean and Radium understood the significance of using a smart phone rather than a camera. “We were shooting on a device that everybody owns. This levels that playing field. The look of the device is available to all.”
     
    Tangerine will also show emerging filmmakers that it's possible to make truly ambitious films on a micro-budget. The achievement of the film is consistent across the board. The acting, writing, cinematography, directing, sound and music are all first rate, making for a fast, funny and moving experience. Sean is well aware of the difficulty of assessing one’s own work but did admit “I’d be entertained by it if I hadn’t made it.”
     

    ONWARDS

     
    Sean has written and directed 5 features in 15 years, in addition to being a co-creator, co-writer, and co-director on the long-running cult TV show Greg the Bunny. It hasn’t been easy, but he has been single-minded about continuing to write and direct movies regardless of how much money he can raise.
     
    Sean believes “that you have to move forwards by any means possible.” He understands that it is essential to keep making movies ‘to learn your craft.’ Shooting films on micro-budgets has taught him many lessons. In 1994, one of his friends told Sean that he didn’t want to film his script until he had all the resources in place and could make it right. "My friend is now 50 and still hasn’t made his first film."
          
    While Sean may make a future film on an iPhone, he doesn’t want it to be his next one, which he hopes to shoot on 35mm. “I really want to get to film before it’s dead.”
     
    Tangerine is the fruition of all his previous filmmaking experiences. It is his best film yet. I’m hopeful that great opportunities will come his way, and confident that - one way or another - he will continue to be unstoppable.
    tangerine_2014_081_ct

    =====================================================
    I highly recommend an article on the making of Tangerine written by my longtime colleague, producer Mark Stolaroff, who runs No Budget Film School.

    © 2015 Peter Broderick

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #24

    7 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR DISTRIBUTION

    How did AGE OF CHAMPIONS succeed where countless other documentaries have failed? The film has been seen by more than 3 million viewers and has grossed over $1.2 million dollars.

    Produced by
    Keith Ochwat and directed Christopher Rufo, AGE OF CHAMPIONS chronicles athletes who “sprint, leap, and swim for gold at the National Senior Olympics.” The film’s main characters range from 63 to 100 years old.

    Age of Champions DVD Cover

    AGE OF CHAMPIONS premiered at Silver Docs to standing ovations in 2011. The filmmakers developed and began testing their distribution strategy in 2012 and did their major rollout in 2013. This featured a 20 state theatrical tour underwritten by
    AARP, which generated substantial press coverage, including appearances on NPR, CNN, and ABC.

    The film was shown at many conferences and corporate events. The filmmakers also launched a national screening campaign during which over 3000 communities hosted screenings. The film was shown on PBS and is available digitally on iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon, as well as on DVD from Amazon and the film’s website.

    Keith and Christopher designed a customized distribution strategy based on their content, their core audiences, the key avenues to reach them, and their potential partners. Unlike major distributors that develop distribution plans and follow them blindly no matter what happens, the AGE OF CHAMPIONS team refined their plan as they went. They continued to tweak their strategy as they encountered opportunities and challenges.

    Rather than following conventional indie wisdom, they handcrafted their distribution strategy. They eagerly tried innovative approaches and new routes. They prioritized:

    • Core over general audiences
    • Conferences over film festivals
    • Partnerships over distribution deals
    • Direct over third party sales

    Here are seven lessons from their success:

    1) Focus On Core Audiences
    Unlike filmmakers who take core audiences for granted, are afraid to be seen as too niche, or just try to reach the general public, the AGE OF CHAMPIONS team was intent on reaching their target audiences as effectively as possible. They tested potential core audiences and then focused on the ones who were the most responsive. They had assumed that senior athletes would be an eager audience but soon learned that many of them weren’t interested if they weren’t included in the film. Instead Keith and Christopher targeted professionals and volunteers dedicated to providing services to seniors. The film’s ultimate core audiences were seniors and their families.

    Age of Champions Basketball Players

    2) Prioritize Partnerships
    The filmmakers were determined to build relationships with the right national partners. They began by compiling a master list of over 250 senior-related associations, organizations, and companies. Keith and Christopher contacted them all and steadily winnowed the list down to 100, then 40, and ended up with 6 strong partners. As soon as they learned that senior living providers loved the film, they began to build win-win partnerships with them that were crucial to the film’s distribution.

    Their partnerships with companies and NGOs ultimately generated over $400,000 in revenue, including speaking fees, underwriting, and sales of DVDs, screening kits, and customized materials.

    They built their relationships with major partners step-by-step. AARP first gave them a $25,000 grant to support production. Then the organization screened the finished film in a few cities, where it received an enthusiastic response. After that, AARP financed a $100,000 national tour of the film. Then it became an underwriter for the PBS broadcast.

    3) Design a Conference Strategy
    Instead of just targeting film festivals, they explored the full range of conferences - academic, professional, and corporate. Keith and Christopher believe in “the power of the live event.” They did keynotes and presentations at 30 large conferences for free, and then spoke and screened the film at another 120 events, reaping $260,000 in screening and speaking fees. Before every conference, they analyzed who the attendees would be and what utility their film could have for them.

    4) Explore Underwriting
    The filmmakers made $200,000 from the companies and organizations that underwrote their broadcasts on public television across the country. While the filmmakers received no fee from PBS (
    PBS Plus made it available to stations for free), their costs were minimal ($350) and they made far more from underwriting than they would have received if they had been broadcast as part of a documentary strand (which would not have allowed underwriting). Numerous documentaries have tried to secure underwriting and many have failed. Rather than starting from scratch, AGE OF CHAMPIONS successfully sought underwriting from organizations that they were already partners with and ones they had previously approached for support.

    5) Create Desirable Products
    Keith and Christopher experimented with their offerings to determine which would be MVPs (minimum viable products), a term they learned from the book
    THE LEAN STARTUP by Eric Ries. Because they couldn’t anticipate which products would resonate with their intended audiences, they tested different possibilities with different groups before they finalized them. This process enabled them to refine their products and determine the best price points. The store on their website includes four types of screening licenses (that come with or without additional promotional materials) priced differently for universities, libraries, and nonprofits. They also sell products designed for consumers, including special edition dvds (with a PDF of a 120 page exercise guidebook for seniors), T-shirts, and headbands.

    6) Use Email Marketing To Increase Sales
    Keith and Christopher used MailChimp to execute a very effective “drip marketing” campaign. Whenever an individual bought anything from their website, she would automatically receive an email thanking her for her purchase and offering an enhanced product at a discount. For example, if the person bought a dvd she would be offered a screening kit at a reduced price. Then a month later she would receive a second email offering, which was hopefully an offer she couldn’t refuse. They were thus able to automate their upsell process with very good results.

    7) Build a Distinctive Brand
    Eight years ago the filmmakers set themselves up as a nonprofit and chose a distinctive name - the Documentary Foundation. Keith explained they liked it because it sounded official. The name gave two filmmakers working out of their homes the opportunity to seem more professional. They want potential partners to take them seriously and the name has been very valuable to them. They have turned down offers from people trying to buy the name from them.

    Age of Champions Swimmer

    Their attitude has been key to the film’s success. From the first time I consulted with them in 2011 until our recent conversations, I have been impressed by their desire to master distribution. Unlike many filmmakers who think of distribution as torture, Keith and Christopher have brought curiosity, enthusiasm, and creativity to it. They enjoy reading business strategy books, designing and testing innovative approaches, and analyzing the results so they can improve their methods. In addition to maximizing revenues, Keith and Christopher have gained invaluable experience and expertise that should enable them to make the films they are most passionate about for years to come. They are already shooting their new film,
    AMERICA LOST, which will reveal how three struggling cities are working to overcome the major challenges they face. I’m confident they will be able to maximize its distribution and I’m sure they will have fun doing it!

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #23

    HOW NOT TO NEGOTIATE A DISTRIBUTION DEAL

    You’ve finally finished your film and have just received your first distribution offer. Now what?

    Negotiation is an essential but little understood part of dealmaking. To make fair deals with good distributors, there are mistakes you must avoid and steps you need to take.

    I recently gave a presentation on the secrets of negotiating distribution deals to a full house of Film Independent members. My subsequent interview for the Film Independent newsletter evolved into this Bulletin. It supplements my
    Special Report on festival and dealmaking strategies. It is not a comprehensive guide to negotiating distribution deals but does highlight key dos and don’ts.


    Avenues of Distribution Chart


    8 MISTAKES TO AVOID

    1. Don’t submit to festivals too early. Most filmmakers do and end up regretting it. If your movie is not as good as it’s going to get but you submit anyway, you increase the already high odds of being rejected. You should resist the siren calls of festival deadlines until you’re confident you’ve made the strongest film you can make. You need to put your best foot forward with festivals, press, and distributors. Utilize test screenings with strangers (rather than family and friends) to determine if your film is ready to premiere. These screenings will help you determine what changes need to be made. Then you can test screen a new cut for another audience.
    2. Don’t submit your film to distributors or producer’s reps without internally having a customized distribution strategy. This strategy should include your plans for each avenue of distribution. Too many filmmakers follow the old playbook and take a formulaic approach to submitting their movies to the usual suspects without having a clear vision of how they want their films to come into the world.
    3. Don’t begin negotiating with distributors until you have done due diligence. You should first speak with filmmakers who are currently or have recently been in business with any companies you are seriously considering. You need to go beyond the references that distributors provide. Find out what the real experiences of other filmmakers have been - what is it like to work with the company, what have been the concrete results, and have they been paid accurately and on time. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
    4. Do not attempt to go it alone. Too many filmmakers try to handle by themselves complicated distribution issues, which they know little or nothing about. Many suffer from the rampant “I have to do it all myself” disease. Some don’t know where to turn for help and worry it will be unaffordable.
    5. Don’t automatically seek an all-rights deal without first having a clear understanding of the full spectrum of distribution opportunities. Magical solutions are usually too good to be true. Many filmmakers who give complete control of their distribution to one company end up regretting it.
    6. Don’t negotiate distribution deals yourself. DIY filmmaking can be okay and DIY distribution may work in certain circumstances, but DIY dealmaking is not recommended. Assume the person you would be negotiating with has much more experience, knowledge, and skill than you.
    7. Don’t be a victim of the bird-in-the-hand syndrome. If you only get a single offer, don’t be afraid to negotiate it because you are worried you will lose the deal and end up with no distribution. There’s a way to negotiate a single offer that will increase your chances of improving the deal. The key is to have an internal bottom line. The company you’re negotiating with needs to understand that if they don’t meet your bottom line (which you haven’t disclosed to them), you’re not going to sign the deal. If they believe you will sign their boilerplate contract without any changes, you will have no leverage. Never forget that no deal is better than a bad deal.
    8. Don’t ever negotiate by email. When you are negotiating on the phone, on Skype, or in person, you have access to valuable information, whether it is tone of voice, body language, or a pregnant pause. This additional information will give you a better sense of where the other side is flexible and what their bottom line is, and make it easier to achieve a win-win deal.


    KEY STEPS TO TAKE


    Identify the main distribution avenues in North America and overseas. In the United States there are ten:
    • • film festivals
    • • theatrical
    • • semi-theatrical (single special event screenings on a campus, in a museum, or at a theater)
    • • cable VOD
    • • television
    • • educational
    • • retail DVD
    • • direct DVD (from the filmmaker’s website)
    • • retail digital (iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc.)
    • • direct digital (downloads and streams from the filmmaker’s website)

    Overseas, the main avenues are television and digital, with limited potential for theatrical and DVD distribution.

    Design a customized distribution strategy that will include plans for each of these avenues and an overall timetable. Planning your windows is very important when you are splitting rights. Although the windows for studio films have been eroding, independents need to carefully determine the ideal sequence and lengths of each stage of their distribution. Splitting rights among several companies and retaining overall distribution control is often the best way to maximize distribution.

    Build a distribution team that will include partners with expertise and experience to complement yours. Possible teammates include: foreign sales agents, producer’s reps, attorneys, theatrical bookers, publicists, outreach coordinators, web designers, social media mavens, and dvd and digital fulfillment companies (which can facilitate direct sales from their websites).

    Select someone to negotiate deals for you. You need a talented and experienced negotiator who understands film distribution. Make absolutely sure that he or she is up-to-date about the latest deals, how they’re structured, and what’s most important. You don’t want to use someone who is behind the curve and can only negotiate a deal that would have been good in 2009. You need to do due diligence on your negotiator. When you find someone with the right mix of experience and skill and are satisfied with their work on your behalf, you will want to use him or her again and add them to your distribution team.


    6 CRITERIA FOR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS

    1. Find distributors who are effective and honest. They should have track records that demonstrate this as well as raves from other filmmakers who have worked with them.
    2. Find distributors who are flexible and will help you to implement your customized distribution strategy rather than requiring you to fit into a one-size-fits-all approach to distribution
    3. Find distributors who are willing and able to be partners. Some companies are only interested in being masters.
    4. Find distributors whose goals and strategy are aligned with yours. If your primary goal is maximizing career, then you should be sure that the company will do a proper release with a quality press and marketing effort. On the other hand, if you’ve mortgaged your house and sold your car to make the movie, then maximizing revenue will probably be your most important goal. If so, then you need to be confident that the company can generate substantial financial returns.
    5. Find distributors that will agree to let you keep your direct sales rights. It’s very important that you retain the ability to sell directly from your website—DVDs, downloads, and streams—because that’s the way you are going to generate more revenue and be able to build your mailing list and your fan base. Building an audience that you can reach directly is a fundamental part of building your career.
    6. Find distributors who will make fair deals, including splitting rights and revenue shares. Give them the rights they are good at exploiting and keep those they are not good at, like educational distribution. If the company is a digital aggregator (that will pitch your film to iTunes, Amazon and other places), make sure that the split is fair. Some aggregators take 50% or more of revenues, while others take 15%, 20%, or 25%. Make sure that the aggregator is “direct” with iTunes and other distributors (rather than going through a middleman). If not, a middleman will take a percentage reducing your revenues.


    Almost every deal can be improved through negotiation. Approached constructively, it is an opportunity to build a partnership that will benefit both parties for years to come.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #22

    CROWDFUNDING FOR FREE

    The unprecedented crowdfunding platform dana.io launches today. Filmmakers, artists, and activists around the world can use it for free. Unlike other platforms, dana.io does not take a percentage of the money raised.

    Solitary Monk

    This new model is based on the ancient practice of unconditional giving known as “dana,” in the Buddhist tradition. Just as Buddhist nuns and monks throughout history have been sustained by the dana offered to them by supporters, the dana.io crowdfunding platform will be freely offered for the funding of projects. The plan is that users, inspired by the concept that catalyzed the funding of their projects, will in turn voluntarily gift some of the money they raise to dana.io.

    The director of dana.io, Alan Clements, shared his vision with me in a series of exclusive interviews. His passionate belief in the power of gifting grew out of his experience living as a Buddhist monk in Burma during the late 1970s and 1980s, where everything was offered openly and freely on dana: food, medicine, shelter, and the teachings themselves. After being forced out by the dictatorship, Alan became an investigative journalist, a human rights campaigner, and a media activist. After Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma's Nobel Peace laureate and leader of her country's nonviolent revolution) was released from detention, Alan collaborated with her on a series of underground conversations, which became the book,
    The Voice of Hope.

    Here are the key features of dana.io:

    • Contributions go directly to users through their payment processors
    • Users choose their payment processor (PayPal will be available at launch and will be followed by Stripe; users may soon also be able to receive contributions by check and wire transfers directly into their bank accounts)
    • Users receive contributions as quickly as their payment processor completes the transfer (the platform has no control of donations; no donations are held until a campaign ends)
    • Users receive all of their contributions minus the payment processor’s fee (PayPal 2.9% plus 30 cents; Stripe 2.4% plus 34 cents - these are the basic fees and don’t include currency conversion charges)
    • Users receive whatever they raise regardless of whether they meet their fundraising goal
    • Users have complete control over their campaigns, including the ability to change their goals mid-campaign

    Alan and his team are committed to engaging directly with those who want to use the platform. They are having detailed conversations with applicants and helping them develop their campaigns. They have created a substantial guide to crowdfunding for their users. They are also developing a pool of experts (many of them will volunteer their services), whom users can work with to design and implement their campaigns.

    Dana.io welcomes a great diversity of projects. The team has already considered 150 applications. While anyone from anywhere in the world can apply to use the platform, as the volume of applicants increases, it is expected that the process will become more selective.

    The initial group of projects, which will appear on the site over the next few weeks, includes:

    • Gift: Robin McKenna’s feature documentary and cross-media project. Inspired by The Gift, Louis Hyde’s groundbreaking book, the project will chronicle gift-based cultures and ask whether life should be about getting or giving.


    • Out of History: The Politics of Sex: Harry Sutherland’s transmedia presentation of LGBT history. It will take viewers from the invention of the word Homosexuality in 1869 to the Stonewall Rebellion 100 years later.



    • Citizen Planet: The Cybernetic Global Rising: Oliver Hockenhull’s documentary essay, e-book, and net portal designed to explore aspirations of utopia and project them into the future. It’s the story of humanity’s unrequited love affair with the idea of one world, one life.

    • This Kind of Love: Jeanne Hallacy’s documentary tells the story of Burma’s political transition through the homecoming of one activist who is the first openly gay civil society leader in the country.

    Director Alan Clements is excited to be collaborating with “visionary artists, cultural architects, and peaceful revolutionaries.” He is committed to facilitating “conscious crowdfunding.”

    Dana.io is a radical experiment. By not taking a percentage of monies raised or charging fees, the platform is working without the standard crowd-funding net. It is testing the possibility of crowdfunding a crowdfunding platform.

    dana.io Logo

    The development and launch of dana.io were funded by a generous gift, which will cover costs through August. By then it will be clear whether there is sufficient support from users of the platform and others who find the model compelling.

    Achieving sustainability is just an interim step. All contributions beyond what is needed for day-to-day operations will be reinvested to expand services and give back to new campaigns. There are plans for: an Incubator; Crowdfunding U.; and ambassador, affiliate, consultation, and partnership programs. Also in the works is a Dana Pool funded by user contributions, which will provide additional funding to projects on the platform.

    The initial goal is to lower the threshold of entry to crowdfunding. The platform is doing this by not charging a fee or percentage, providing rich information resources, and giving users access to staff and outside experts who can assist them. Another goal is to create a “nexus for skills-sharing and collaboration, a hub for the co-creation of bold visions.”

    Alan would also like dana.io to explore “micro-crowdfunding” following the example of “micro-lending.” He wants to develop a method that will work for people with very limited resources who have global access for the first time through their cellphones.

    The site will make use of what Alan calls “crowdgifting.” For the first 45 days, all visitors to dana.io will be able to download for free his book,
    A Future to Believe In: 108 Reflections on the Art and Activism of Freedom. The platform embodies the principles in the book and giving it away is perfect for the launch.

    shutterstock_174641390

    Dana.io has exciting potential. Like other platforms, it may enable many campaigns to attract critical support. But dana.io is uniquely positioned to take unconditional giving to a new level outside Buddhist practice. If a crowdfunding platform built on dana succeeds, it could catalyze the application of dana to many other areas of life. This gamble on generosity could have revolutionary results.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #21

    SPECIAL REPORT: LAUNCHING YOUR FILM - FESTIVAL AND DEALMAKING STRATEGIES

    Film festivals can help or harm your film. Mistakes can cripple its launch and limit its distribution, including applying to festivals too early, targeting the wrong festivals, not having the right festival team, and making bad distribution deals.

    A customized distribution strategy enables filmmakers to make the most of festivals (the first avenue of distribution), choose the best distribution partners, and negotiate win-win deals.

    While I was preparing to go to the
    Sundance Film Festival (the most influential American festival) and speaking with clients about their plans for the Festival, Thom Powers (who programs docs for the Toronto International Film Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the DOC NYC festival and the Stranger Than Fiction documentary series in New York City) asked me to contribute to a pre-Sundance compilation of advice for documentary filmmakers. His request inspired me to summarize my recommendations on festival and negotiating strategies. After I sent him my comments, I decided to expand them for this Distribution Bulletin. I’ve also included fiction features. Distribution strategies for documentaries and fiction overlap in many areas but differ in others.

    Sundance Film Festival


    A CUSTOMIZED STRATEGY

    Every film can benefit from having a distribution strategy before its festival premiere and before any rights are sold. A customized strategy can help you maximize audience, revenues, impact, and career.

    This strategy should be designed based on your goals, your film’s content, its core audiences, and the opportunities in key avenues of distribution (from theatrical and television to direct sales). If you have a customized strategy, you can look for distribution partners who can help you implement your strategy. If not, your film may receive a formulaic, one-size-fits-all release in which every film is distributed pretty much the same way.

    Documentary filmmakers need to proactively design strategies, which will enable them to split their rights among partners. Educational sales and semi-theatrical screenings can be very important and you need partners for each who can help you fully exploit them. Partnerships with nonprofits are another significant element of a documentary’s distribution strategy.


    GOALS

    It is essential to be clear about the ultimate goals for your film when you design your strategy. You can have multiple goals but should prioritize them. What is most important: career? revenues? or changing the world? If you are clear about your goals, you will have a useful framework for making choices as you move through the stages of your distribution.

    You also need to be clear about your festival goals. Your premiere festival launches your film into the world. It provides a unique opportunity to build awareness among:

    • film critics, bloggers, and other members of the media
    • distributors
    • colleagues, executives, and others who can help with future films
    • the general public

    Your screenings will give an immediate sense of how audiences are responding and can create word-of-mouth within the festival. These screenings are an ideal place for distributors to see your film for the first time (even if they discount somewhat enthusiastic audience responses). Your film may also get its first reviews and press mentions. It could also receive festival awards and generate buzz online.

    Most films are not sold at their first festival. While some distribution deals are made mid-festival, the majority of them happen weeks or months later. Distributors only attend a small number of festivals and there is little or no sales activity at the rest. Be well-prepared for sales opportunities but be realistic. Don’t focus on them to the exclusion of the need to market your film to the press, the industry, and regular viewers.


    PUBLICITY

    A publicist is essential at Sundance and recommended at certain other festivals where the media turns out in force. Your publicist will focus on critics and entertainment reporters and may be able to help with social media. Make sure your website and Facebook page are ready for prime time and that your team can execute a coordinated social media effort.

    Your publicist can help you position your film, express what makes your film unique, and convey the passion with which you made it. You should have a trailer, a teaser, or at least a clip on your website and on Facebook, and it should be easily shareable online.

    IMG_0581 Crop

    AGENTS AND REPS

    Separate your rights into two categories: North American and international.

    Having a producer’s rep sell North American rights may or may not be necessary. You may have a teammate (producer, consultant, attorney) with distribution expertise who can help you field offers and negotiate deals.

    If you decide to hire a producer’s rep, he or she should be on board for your first domestic festival. Look for one who can help you implement
    your distribution strategy and who comes highly recommended by other filmmakers. If you find an excellent producer’s rep, decide which North American rights you want them to sell, and which you want to retain (see below). Your rep should make clear to potential distributors exactly which rights are available (excluding those you are retaining) before negotiations begin.

    Having an international sales agent sell rights outside North America is essential but you don’t need to hire one before your first domestic festivals. You should retain the rights to sell DVDs, downloads, and streams from your website worldwide (excluding any territories where your sales agent makes exclusive deals for these rights).

    Documentary filmmakers should select an international sales agent who specializes in TV sales and always attends MIP and MIPCOM. Have them handle your international digital rights only if they have a track record selling these rights successfully.


    HYBRID DISTRIBUTION

    Hybrid distribution is the alternative to giving one company total distribution control of your film for many years. It means splitting your rights among distribution partners, while retaining the ability to sell DVDs and downloads directly from your website.

    Documentary filmmakers (and some fiction filmmakers) should consider making hybrid distribution Plan A, with Plan B being making a more traditional deal with one company. The hybrid approach enables you to choose the best partners for key avenues of distribution. Splitting up rights will make it possible to implement a customized strategy, refining it step-by-step. It also increases your chances of building a long life for your film.


    DUE DILIGENCE

    For some films a more traditional deal may be the best option. However favorable the deal terms, make sure the distributor can do a great job with your film. The best source of information is other filmmakers whose films have been distributed by that company. They will tell you off-the-record how effective and collaborative the company is, as well as how reliably they report and pay. Do not make a deal without doing serious research. While there will be limited time to do this if you are making a deal at a festival, most deals will be made after the festival, with ample time for due diligence.

    Remember, no deal is better than a bad deal.


    RIGHTS TO RETAIN

    All filmmakers should try to retain (whether you make a multiple rights deal or split up your rights):

    Direct Digital – the rights to sell downloads and streams directly from your website

    Direct DVD – the rights to sell DVDs from your website and at screenings. This needs to be coupled with the right to buy DVDs from your DVD distributor at cost or no more than $5.00

    The distributor will have all retail DVD and digital rights, allowing them to make deals with Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, and other companies and to sell directly from their websites. Your right to sell from your website will complement their rights. In many cases allowing filmmakers to sell from their websites has incentivized them to promote their films extensively through social media. This has increased retail sales, benefiting both the distributor and the filmmakers.

    Documentary filmmakers who make a multiple rights deal with one distributor should also retain:

    Educational – the rights to sell educational copies to colleges and universities, high schools, libraries, nonprofits, companies, and other organizations and institutions

    Semi-theatrical – the rights to rent the film for single screenings (Note: you can share these rights non-exclusively with your distributor)

    Educational and semi-theatrical rights are essential parts of a customized distribution strategy for a documentary. You need to keep control of these rights so you can select excellent distribution partners who specialize in these rights. If you don’t retain them, the multiple rights distributor will end up with rights it may have little interest in or ability to exploit.

    Chris & Emma Nolan wtih Peter Broderick

    (Chris Nolan & Emma Thomas with Peter Broderick at Sundance in 2001)


    ADVANCES AND CORRIDORS

    Consider the ultimate revenue split as well as the advance. Assuming you are working with an honest company, it may be better to take a lower advance to get a better split. If you are only offered a token amount, you may decide to take no money upfront for a bigger percentage of the backend. The distributor will recoup its advance from revenues before paying you any more. An advance gets you money sooner, but in the end may cost you a substantial amount that you could have made with a better revenue split.


    If the advance is big enough, it makes sense to take the money and not worry about the backend. If the advance is small, pay close attention to the split.

    Request a revenue corridor so you will receive some money (e.g. 20% of revenues) while the distributor is taking its distribution fees and recouping its expenses and advance. While it may be difficult to get your distributor to agree to a revenue corridor, without one you may receive no share of revenues for months or years.


    DIRECT SALES RIGHTS

    The value of digital rights is growing steadily. It is better to sell your retail digital rights and your retail DVD rights to the same company. If you sell your digital rights separately, it will be much harder to find a company willing to only distribute your film on DVD.

    It is essential to retain the rights to sell your film digitally (and on DVD) from your website for three reasons:

    1. You will make more money on every direct sale than from any third party sale since you will not be splitting the money with your distributor or producer’s rep
    2. You will have the opportunity to sell related products and create bundles that are exclusively available from your website
    3. You will receive invaluable customer data (name, email address, zip code) that you will not get from third party sales on iTunes, Amazon, or anywhere else. You can add these customers to your mailing list, build ongoing relationships with them, and hopefully turn them into valued patrons, who will support you throughout your career


    SKIPPING FESTIVALS

    Films with strong core audiences may decide to skip festivals entirely. Many genre films don’t go to festivals, while others focus on genre festivals or target festivals with strong genre sections.

    Some of the most successful documentaries (ranging from THE SECRET to
    HUNGRY FOR CHANGE) have made no efforts to go to festivals. Instead they have trusted their ability to reach their large core audiences directly.


    YOUR ROLE IN DISTRIBUTION

    Fiction filmmakers are more likely to seek a multiple rights deal with one distributor while documentary filmmakers are more likely to take a hybrid approach working with several distributors. In both cases you need to be significantly involved in your distribution.

    You should approach it as a partnership. Distributors bring expertise, relationships, and resources and you bring the passion with which you made the film, your team, and a knowledge of and connection with core audiences. Working together in a complementary way will achieve the best results.

    By being directly involved, you will gain a much deeper understanding of the complex
    New World of Distribution. This will empower you for your next films and hopefully enable you to build a sustainable career.

    -------------------------------------------------------------

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    Thom Powers has solicited and compiled a wealth of useful comments from industry veterans in his DISTRIBUTION ADVICE FOR 2014

    Ted Hope keeps updating his comprehensive post HOW TO GET READY FOR THAT FILM FESTIVAL, which links to 18 articles and posts, covering everything you always wanted to know about festivals but were afraid to ask

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #20

    THE ART OF ASKING

    Amanda Palmer has made an art of asking for help. In May 2012, the singer-songwriter ran a 30-day Kickstarter campaign seeking $100,000 to finance a new album, a tour, and an art book. 24,883 fans contributed and she raised $1,192,793 (five times more than any other Kickstarter music project).

    Amanda- Kickstarter

    Her 
    campaign video is one of the best crowdfunding pitches ever. It conveys her goals, her passion, and her persona in 3 minutes. Her music drives the video and her spirit makes it infectious and irresistible.

    Amanda’s recent 
    TED talk on The Art of Asking is required viewing for filmmakers and other artists determined to maintain their creative independence. More than 2.7 million people have watched it in two months.

    Her presentation is very persuasive. Amanda began asking for help when she was busking as a living statue, offering a flower to any passerby who put money in her hat. Since then she has continued to reach out to strangers and has learned how to connect to them more personally.

    Amanda’s TED talk contains valuable lessons for artists launching and sustaining careers in the new world of distribution.

    Build a personal audience. It is essential to develop a network of supporters you are in direct contact with. This requires hard work, ample time, and single-minded determination. Amanda was not an overnight success. She has spent 15 years developing and nurturing a growing fan base.

    Amanda with flower

    Connect in multiple ways.
    Amanda mixes social media with face-to-face encounters. She is very active online, energentically tweeting and blogging (her team handles Facebook).

    These days Amanda spends much more time connecting with people online (up to 6 hours a day blogging, tweeting, and emailing) than writing songs. She connects with fans in person during and after performances and is an avid couch surfer, crashing with fans when she and her crew are on the road.

    Be authentic. There is a clear voice in her Kickstarter video, her blog, her tweets, and her TED talk. Her distinctive point-of-view grows out of her personal experience. Her convictions are earned and therefore all the more persuasive.

    Trust your audience. She makes her music available digitally for free from her website, using a pay-what-you-wish model. She encourages people to share her music with others; her website urges fans to SHARE SHARE SHARE! COPY COPY COPY!

    In return for her trust, fans contribute to her by buying a vinyl album, CD, poster, T-shirt, or art book from her website or by making a donation. Amanda believes in crowdsurfing, both literally and figuratively – “you’re falling into the audience and trusting each other.”

    Ask for help. Amanda explains: “Through the very act of asking people, I connected with them, and when you connect with them, people want to help you.” She encourages artists to “ask without shame” and hopes people will “give and receive fearlessly.” Her Kickstarter campaign gave existing fans a way to continue or increase their support for her. It also enabled her to attract new fans around the world. The patronage of a dedicated and growing personal audience will maximize her creative freedom and increase her chances to have a long and vibrant career.

    --------------------------------------------------------------

    Neil Gaiman

    Make good art.
    While Amanda was in the thick of her crowdfunding campaign, her husband, acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, gave an inspiring commencement address at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Beautifully written and delivered, it is definitely worth watching. He urges his audience to “make good art” and discusses the revolution in distribution. “The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are.”  This month his address will be published as a book designed by the exceptional graphic artist Chip Kidd.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #19

    EXCLUSIVE REPORT: BUILDING A BRAND

    FORKS OVER KNIVES has been a remarkable success. After grossing over $700,000 in theatres, the film has sold over 180,000 DVDs, become a New York Times bestselling book, and created a brand, something very few independent documentaries have achieved. Both fiction and documentary filmmakers can learn valuable lessons from the film’s distribution strategy.

    The film was the brainchild of Brian Wendel. A committed vegan, he was inspired to create the film after reading THE CHINA STUDY, which makes the case that a plant-based diet can prevent and even reverse disease. Brian recruited John Corry to produce and Lee Fulkerson to write and direct. They raised money from private investors and began working on the film in January 2009. I consulted with Brian and John in 2009 and 2010, and they recently shared with me the inside story of their success.



    Test Screenings -
    As soon as the filmmakers had a rough cut in March 2010, they began test screening it. They showed it to groups of 20 or more and discussed it with them afterwards, made changes, and then screened it for another group. Brian explained that the 20 plus test screenings were invaluable in refining their cut.

    Advance Screenings - The filmmakers decided to skip festivals entirely. Instead of trying to connect with a broader festival audience, Brian and his team spent their time, energy, and money targeting their core audiences. When the film was finished, they embarked on an ambitious program of advance screenings. This started with a very successful event in Philadelphia attended by 500 people. Local Whole Foods stores co-sponsored most of the 30 advance screenings across the country, marketing them to their customers.

    Theatrical Release - Instead of making either an all-rights or a service deal, the filmmakers hired an experienced booker to handle theatrical distribution. They first rented a theater in Portland, Oregon and showed FORKS OVER KNIVES for a week to demonstrate to exhibitors its theatrical potential. The film made $13,000 the first week; the theater then held it over as a regular booking (rather than a rental) for four more weeks.

    The official theatrical release began in May 2011. They made 35 film prints and played in 90 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The release generated lots of awareness with appearances on Dr. Oz and Bill Maher and strong reviews by such critics as Roger Ebert and John Anderson. Brian was glad they had released the film theatrically but acknowledged that they didn’t break even given the costs of advertising, marketing, and 35 mm prints. If he had it to do over again, he would do a smaller theatrical release, possibly opting for a one night national premiere in hundreds of theaters.

    Since its theatrical run, FORKS AND KNIVES has screened semi-theatrically and nontheatrically around the country.
    Swank has booked nearly 500 screenings.

    DVD - FORKS OVER KNIVES has utilized a hybrid strategy to maximize DVD sales and revenues. As theatrical distribution was winding down, DVDs became exclusively available from the film’s website. Fulfilling pre-orders, the filmmakers sold over 6,000 DVDs (including Blu-rays) during the first week. Selling single DVDs, 4 packs and 10 packs, the filmmakers have sold approximately 30,000 DVDs from the website so far.

    Retail DVD sales through
    Virgil Films have also been exceptional. They began a few weeks after direct sales from the website. Amazon and other online and brick-and-mortar merchants have sold over 150,000 DVDs. FORKS OVER KNIVES has been the best-selling documentary on Amazon for most of the past year.

    The Mailing List - While the film has been very active on Facebook with over 235,000 likes, the film’s 70,000 person mailing list is “the most important thing on the planet” according to Brian. He sends a substantive newsletter to every subscriber once a week. Every time a newsletter goes out, there is a spike in traffic on the website, increasing sales by 50-60%.

    Individuals are encouraged to sign up on the website for the Weekly News, which includes both FORKS OVER KNIVES and third party content. Subscribers are asked for their names, email addresses, and zip codes. I always recommend requesting zip codes so you can reach out to subscribers when you’re coming to their area to put on a screening or a special event.

    The Brand - In addition to DVD sales, the film has done well digitally. Over 400,000 people have rated the film on Netflix, which may reflect over 1 million views. It is also available digitally on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, and elsewhere.

    Released when the film was in theaters, the book FORKS OVER KNIVES: THE PLANT-BASED WAY TO HEALTH became a bestseller, staying on The New York Times bestseller list for 59 weeks. In addition to its Amazon and bookstore sales, approximately 13,000 copies have been sold directly from the website.

    FORKS OVER KNIVES – THE COOKBOOK has just been released and is selling well. In addition to FORKS OVER KNIVES books and DVDs, there are many products available from the website, including other books, shirts, jackets, and gym bags. The average shopping cart purchase on the website is around $40.


    FARMS 2 FORKS is another successful extension of the brand. The filmmakers combined forces with THE ENGINE 2 DIET team (their book is featured in the film) to organize weekend immersions in healthy eating and cooking. The first four 2-day events were each attended by 250-450 people at a $550 ticket price. The plan is to do six weekend events in 2013, and also 1-night events in major cities.

    Brian and his teammates did not set out to build a brand. They first thought about doing a book when they had almost finished production. They refined their distribution strategy step by step. The results of each stage informed what they did in the next stage. The success of their advance screenings made clear their theatrical potential. Their theatrical release built awareness that fueled book and DVD sales and semi-theatrical and nontheatrical screenings. All of these, combined with the success of the ENGINE 2 DIET, enabled them to launch FARMS 2 FORKS. The filmmakers have steadily penetrated more deeply into their core audiences, while broadening awareness among new audiences. The film, the books, and the weekend retreats have reinforced each other, achieving critical mass with the FORKS OVER KNIVES brand.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #18

    EXCLUSIVE REPORT: THE POWER OF FREE

    The extraordinary million-dollar success of HUNGRY FOR CHANGE marks a new era of opportunities for independents. It illustrates how “free” can be used to achieve broad awareness, generate revenue quickly, and build a worldwide audience.

    The release of HUNGRY FOR CHANGE was unprecedented. The film:
    - premiered online (having never screened publicly before)
    - was available worldwide
    - was absolutely free (for 10 days only)

    The results were remarkable:
    - 453,841 views around the world during the 10 day premiere
    - over $1.02 million in sales of DVDs and recipe books in the first 14 days

    HUNGRY FOR CHANGE is a documentary that challenges the myths perpetuated by the weight loss industry and shows how to develop a healthy, lifelong diet. It is the second film by dynamic husband-and-wife team James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch, who I started consulting with in 2008 when they were beginning to distribute FOOD MATTERS, which went on to sell over 230,000 DVDs (see Distribution Bulletin #14). James and Laurentine are based in Australia but came to Los Angeles last week, where they told me the inside story of their historic “Free Worldwide Online Premiere.”

    James and Laurentine have learned how to tap the power of free. They’ve been experimenting with the possibilities of free for four years, first with FOOD MATTERS and now with HUNGRY FOR CHANGE.


    FOOD MATTERS

    Free Public Screenings - Instead of following the industry norm of charging organizations fees to hold screenings, the filmmakers took a risk and allowed anyone who registered to host a screening for free. The FOOD MATTERS website encourages the hosting of screenings:

    “As part of our vision to provide life-transforming information that is accessible to all people, we are excited to allow free screenings of Food Matters around the globe.”

    The website provides a free screening resource pack, which includes handouts, posters, and other publicity materials. James and Laurentine believed that the cost of lost screening revenues would be much smaller than the benefit of positive word-of-mouth from a greater number of screenings, resulting in increases in visitors to the website, mailing lists sign-ups, and DVD sales.

    Free, Dynamic Website Content – The filmmakers regularly added content to the FOOD MATTERS website, making it a valuable resource for their audience. This included videos that were freely available to all visitors to the website who registered, which simply consisted of inputting a name and an email address.

    Free Online Screening - In December 2010, FOOD MATTERS DVDs were put on sale from the website for one week at half price. This resulted in 4600 sales, the best week in 2 ½ years of sales. In October 2011, the filmmakers took a more radical approach with even better results. They allowed all comers to watch FOOD MATTERS for free for 8 days. This stimulated direct and indirect sales of 9800 DVDs, twice as many as were sold when it was offered at half price. Even more impressive, over 37,000 people joined the mailing list during this event.

    As James explained, when you offer a film for free you get sign-ups from a good percentage of everyone who views the film. When you are having a sale, you only get the customer information from those who actually make a purchase. “For us, we’re about creating a long-term relationship with our followers and not just selling to them,” noted James.




    HUNGRY FOR CHANGE

    After their successful experiments with free, particularly the online screening of FOOD MATTERS, James and Laurentine decided to go all the way with HUNGRY FOR CHANGE. They were aware of some films that had been released free online, such as Michael Moore’s SLACKER UPRISING, but knew of no major ones that had premiered online.

    Pre-Release Marketing - They chose the term FREE WORLDWIDE ONLINE PREMIERE and released the trailer for HUNGRY FOR CHANGE on March 1, 2012. This was followed by two more eblasts with additional video content, including the first 4 minutes of the film, during the 21 days leading up to the premiere. They also partnered with the experts featured in the film. These experts had their own followers and shared in both the promotion of the free online premiere and the revenues from sales they referred.

    Global Reach - The Free Worldwide Online Premiere was an instant hit. On its first day (March 21st) there were 45,211 plays. Tens of thousands of people watched the film each day. The premiere ended with a bang with 58,292 plays on the final day (March 31st). Altogether there were almost half a million views from more than 150 countries across the globe in just 10 days. These are astonishing numbers for an independent film that had never been seen before, had no paid advertising, and was not available through any retail channels.

    Subscribers - There were 229,000 sign-ups in 14 days, a significantly greater number than FOOD MATTERS had gained in the previous 4 years. James estimates that less than 30% of the HUNGRY FOR CHANGE sign-ups were FOOD MATTERS subscribers, which means that at least 160,000 were new subscribers, almost doubling James and Laurentine’s already substantial online following.

    Revenue - Everyone who viewed HUNGRY FOR CHANGE was given access to three special offers: the DVD for $34.95, the new recipe book for $49.95, or the DVD and the recipe book for $74.95. Each order came with free bonuses and free shipping. In the first 14 days, over 20,800 orders were placed totaling over $1 million in sales. Although most purchasers had already seen the film for free, many wanted to buy a copy for themselves or purchase it as a gift for family or friends.

    Access - Beyond broad awareness, revenues, and sign-ups, there are other important benefits of free. It removes a major barrier between filmmakers and audiences. If the film is available at no charge, at least temporarily, it is accessible to everyone. From the beginning, James and Laurentine have been motivated by a strong desire to get their message out to more people. Free allows their films to be seen even more widely and enables them to build relationships with viewers.

    Good Will - Another major benefit of free is good will, which has allowed the filmmakers to develop a truly interactive relationship with their audience. They talk directly to their followers who tell them what they want. This knowledge has enabled them to make and market films that meet their followers’ needs and continue to be seen by more and more people

    -----

    Taking free to a new level has also expanded awareness of James and Laurentine and created new opportunities for them. They are now writing a book for HarperCollins, which will be published this fall to coincide with the retail release of HUNGRY FOR CHANGE.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #17

    SPECIAL REPORT: MAXIMIZING DISTRIBUTION THROUGH CROWDFUNDING

    MY REINCARNATION shows how a well-executed crowdfunding campaign can be used to maximize distribution. In addition to enabling the funding of the theatrical rollout, the campaign increased awareness among core audiences, generated substantial press coverage, and facilitated partnerships.

    I’ve known and admired the film’s director Jennifer Fox for many years, and consulted with her on the distribution of her remarkable series,
    FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN. As tenacious as she is talented, Jennifer has learned, during more than 30 years of independent filmmaking, that it’s “change or die.” After exhausting every familiar fundraising route from grants to pre-sales for MY REINCARNATION, she tried crowdfunding as a last resort.

    Filmed over twenty years, MY REINCARNATION is a documentary about her teacher, the Tibetan-trained Buddhist master
    Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and “his Italian born son who refuses to accept the destiny he inherited from birth.” Although the film was technically completed and being shown at international festivals, Jennifer still needed $100,000 to pay the bills she’d amassed finishing the film after a producer defaulted on that amount.



    MY REINCARNATION became a crowdfunding milestone. Through a
    90-day campaign, Jennifer and her team raised $150,456, three times the official goal of $50,000. 518 backers gave an average donation of $290, more than any film had ever averaged on her crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. The average was so high for two reasons. The film attracted two associate producers at $10,000 each (one of which was a group of 50 people living in China). The campaign also offered valuable one-of-a-kind rewards, such as a hand-painted Tibetan chest and a unique statue of the deity Vajrapan, which were available to contributors who gave between $2,500 and $7,500. Contributions were received from 32 countries and more than two-thirds of the money came from abroad.

    There is much to be learned from this crowdfunding success. Jennifer contributed
    seven articles to Ted Hope’s Indiewire blog detailing her 42 crowdfunding tips. They should be required reading for anyone planning a serious crowdfunding campaign. Here are two of the essential lessons:

    ==> Build a strong team that can put in the necessary time and effort. While filmmakers should be centrally involved in a crowdfunding campaign, they need a substantial amount of help to maximize the effort. Jennifer spent 50% of her time on the 90-day campaign. She had three teammates – a staff member who spent 50% of her time on the effort and two part-time women (compensated by a percentage of the money raised). They handled key tasks including adding fresh content to the website, managing outreach to organizations, and expanding the mailing list.

    ==> Make a detailed budget for the campaign. This should include the site fee (Kickstarter charges 5% if you meet your goal, IndieGoGo charges 4% if you meet your goal and 9% if you don’t); the payment processing fee (3-5%); the cost of creating, acquiring, and shipping rewards; and any staffing fees. There are also likely to be some defaults in contributors’ payments (Jennifer’s were 2%). If you use a fiscal sponsor, which allows donations to be tax-deductible, there will be an additional fee of 5-7% (IndieGoGo waives its fee if you use one of its partner fiscal sponsors). Jennifer estimates that the total costs of her campaign will be between 20 and 25% of the money raised. It would have been higher if she had been compensated for the enormous amount of time she devoted to the campaign.

    MY REINCARNATION is now playing in theaters around the U.S. It opened theatrically in New York City in October, five months after the crowdfunding campaign concluded in late May. It has already been shown or booked in 40 theaters, and was in its seventh week in New York when this went to press. It will surely play 60-70 cities through next April and Jennifer is hoping to reach 100. Erin Owens of
    Long Shot Factory is booking the film theatrically.

    The crowdfunding campaign of MY REINCARNATION facilitated its distribution in ten key ways. The campaign enabled Jennifer’s team to:

    ==> 1- BUILD AWARENESS AMONG CORE AUDIENCES. Jennifer believes the key to Kickstarter success is a strong, reachable core audience. MY REINCARNATION has two sets of core audiences.

    One is centered on Namkhai Norbu’s 8,000+ students around the world (they are connected via a listserv and many also meet in local groups). This audience also includes other Buddhists, as well as spiritual, new age, and yoga groups.

    The second core audience is centered on Jennifer’s fans and supporters, who she has nurtured over many years and films. This audience also includes documentary lovers and independent filmmakers.

    ==> 2 - GROW A NETWORK OF SUPPORT. This network consisted of all of the contributors to the Kickstarter campaign plus people who were unable to help financially but contributed their time and effort. These supporters helped by blogging and eblasting. The most active ones were recognized online on the Donors Wall and onscreen in the film’s end credits.

    ==> 3 - ACCELERATE EFFORTS TO BUILD PARTNERSHIPS. Jennifer explained that the crowdfunding campaign “got us into outreach mode early.” Her team made a major effort to develop partnerships with organizations, including Tibet House and the Tibet Fund.

    ==> 4 - GENERATE SIGNIFICANT PRESS COVERAGE. During the campaign Jennifer shared her crowdfunding tips in her seven-part series. When the campaign ended with such spectacular results, she and her teammates widely distributed a press release and got significant coverage. Jennifer also wrote an article for The Huffington Post.

    ==> 5 - EXPAND AND REFINE THEIR MAILING LIST. Over the years Jennifer had developed a personal mailing list of 6000 names. Her team worked hard to expand this list of individuals and organizations, starting with California and New York and then moving on to other states. Jennifer’s list has now grown to almost 10,000 names.

    ==> 6 - IMPROVE THE FILM’S ONLINE PRESENCE. The team started with a solid website which they expanded with fresh content and videos, including outtakes of the film. They utilized user-contributed content through the website’s “share your story” section. They also made excellent use of the film’s Facebook page, which attracted many people from around the world.

    ==> 7 - RELEASE THE FILM THEATRICALLY. $15,000 from the crowdfunding revenues seeded the theatrical rollout. Jennifer harnessed the excitement created by the Kickstarter results to find the additional money needed for theatrical from a combination of donors and loans.

    ==> 8 - BOOST INTEREST AMONG DISTRIBUTORS. Erin from Long Shot Factory explained that many of the exhibitors she approached were already aware of the film. She cited the Kickstarter results to show that there was already an audience for the film. The crowdfunding success also helped get the attention of festival programmers.

    ==> 9 - STIMULATE SEMI-THEATRICAL AND EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION. Following theatrical, MY REINCARNATION will have a strong semi-theatrical release during which nonprofits and universities will arrange special event screenings. Jennifer is also perfectly positioned to do her own educational sales based on the relationships her team has built with groups and organizations.

    ==> 10 - FACILITATE TELEVISION, DVD, AND DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION. The increased awareness of the film will foster DVD and digital sales, as well as boost the viewership for its POV televisions premiere. The DVD, which is not yet available, is already viewed as a collectible.

    As MY REINCARNATION makes clear, a successful crowdfunding effort can jumpstart a film’s distribution. It accelerates everything that will eventually be done to foster distribution, including making a trailer, reaching out to possible partners, building a network of support, generating press awareness, and refining the mailing lists and web presence. Instead of waiting until the film is nearly done and trying to do all of this in the weeks or months before its release, crowdfunding can give filmmakers a year or two head start.

    A crowdfunding campaign can also provide invaluable information and feedback, enabling filmmakers to better define their core audiences, determine the best avenues to reach them, and refine the positioning of their films.

    When MY REINCARNATION’S Kickstarter campaign reached a tipping point, things began to snowball. They raised $60,000 during the final five days of the campaign. Jennifer’s team has been able to maintain the momentum from the campaign into the theatrical release and should be able to continue it through the next stages of distribution.

    Filmmakers should design their crowdfunding campaigns to power their distribution. While their short-term goal is to raise money, their ultimate goal should be to create a long and vibrant life for their film.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #16

    SPECIAL REPORT: HOW FILMS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

    Three new studies assessing the impacts of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, THE END OF THE LINE, and WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” finally prove Sam Goldwyn wrong. The Hollywood mogul famously declared, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” These reports highlight the real world results these films sparked and provide a new framework for evaluating the impacts of documentaries and features.



    In the past, there was little research or rigorous analysis of powerful films such as FAHRENHEIT 9/11, SICKO, SUPER SIZE ME, and FOOD, INC. Instead they were evaluated primarily on anecdotal information and subjective impressions. The appearance of these three new studies finally provides the research and analysis filmmakers need to better understand how to ignite social change.

    AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, THE END OF THE LINE, and WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” were each made to avert a looming crisis: global warming, the collapse of the world’s fisheries, and the failure of America’s public education system.

    This Special Report includes exclusive coverage of the studies of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN,” along with a concise analysis of THE END OF THE LINE report.


    THE END OF THE LINE – A Social Impact Evaluation

    This
    exemplary report documents the significant changes THE END OF THE LINE produced, highlights the importance of brand partnerships, and provides useful lessons concerning social media and coordination with partners.



    The film was described by The Economist as “the Inconvenient Truth about the impact of overfishing on the world’s oceans.” Produced in the UK by the invaluable
    Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and financed by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, this beautifully designed report is the product of an 18-month study, which used qualitative and quantitative analysis, focus groups, and media analysis. It concludes that the film had a major impact on public awareness of overfishing—directly on viewers and indirectly on nonviewers through the huge amount of press it generated. The report estimates that the PR value of this media coverage was £4,186,710, more than four times the budget of the film.

    The study also concludes that the film helped create “a tipping point in corporate policy” that spurred a number of corporations to switch to sustainable sources of fish. The upscale grocery chain Waitrose sponsored the film’s release and promoted it in their stores, giving customers postcards about film and the importance of buying sustainable fish. The classy Prêt A Manger chain of sandwich shops totally changed its fish buying policy after its founder saw the film.

    When I interviewed the visionary Jess Search (CEO of BRITDOC and co-creator of the report with her colleague Beadie Finzi) about the report, she shared her belief that businesses are “engines of change.” Top-down change (requiring legislation and/or elections) and bottom-up change (requiring widespread grassroots involvement) are very difficult to achieve, but if you can persuade corporate decision-makers that the change you are seeking is in their interest, hundreds of thousands of consumers can be affected.

    The study features a brilliant graphic that illustrates the complementary and interlocking partnerships filmmakers need to build with foundations and philanthropists, NGOs and advocates, policymakers, the media and brands. The report shows how much difference a film can make – expanding public awareness of an urgent issue, changing consumer behavior, altering corporate policy, and providing advocates with an effective tool.



    BEYOND THE BOX OFFICE – New Documentary Valuations

    This
    pioneering study assesses the true value of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH in the UK. Jess Search conducted research concerning AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH over a two-year period for her MBA dissertation. After calculating the film’s financial returns, Jess tackled the complex task of examining and quantifying the social good the film created.

    Her study begins by noting that “over the past seven years documentaries have proven to be effective drivers of public awareness, setting press agendas, influencing politicians, companies, and campaigners.” Given the limited funding available for documentaries, the paper states that it is essential to “capture and measure the public good films deliver.” Documentary investors, from individual philanthropists to representatives of foundations, charities, corporations, and government “need hard data to show to colleagues, bosses, and boards when it comes to media funding decisions.”

    The dissertation explores alternative ways of assessing the social impact of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. One approach would be to “measure and then value the effects of the film” from swaying public opinion to changing behavior and reducing carbon emissions. The film generated extensive press coverage, which reached people who saw the film in theaters, on TV, or on DVD as well as many more people who never saw it, but learned about global warming through this coverage. The dissertation estimates the advertising value of this media at £3,732,000. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH dramatically increased the press coverage of global warming, which continues to this day.

    Seeing the film inspired the CEO of the Marks and Spencer chain to radically cut the company’s electricity usage while increasing its use of renewable electric power. Around £200 million is being invested over five years to transform the core business, which is on-track “to become carbon neutral by 2012.” The M&S website highlights the company’s goal of “becoming the world’s most sustainable major retailer.”

    While it would be possible “to interview a selection of UK companies to discover if corporate policy had changed as a result of the film, and, if so, gather facts and figures on the carbon impact of these changes,” it would be very time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive.

    Instead the dissertation uses an alternative “willingness to pay” technique for determining social value. As the study notes, contingent valuation surveys are used by environmental economists “to ascribe a dollar value to things like clean air and biodiversity in forests which had previously been attributed with no economic value.” In 1990 the US government used a major “willingness to pay” study to calculate damages in the Exxon Valdez case. Since then libraries, museums, and other subsidized institutions have used this approach to demonstrate their worth.

    Jess applied this technique to film for the first time. She did a “willingness to pay” study to determine the intrinsic value placed on AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH by UK citizens. People who agreed with the film’s message were asked how much they would have been willing to pay to ensure the film was released in cinemas and on TV. Of those surveyed by YouGov, 54% would have been willing to pay something to ensure that others had the opportunity to see the film: 5% would have contributed £82.75 | 2% - £28 | 10% - £14 | 26% - £7 | 9% - £3.50 | 2% - £0.89. The results were similar for men and women, and also across economic classes “perhaps contradicting ideas that the environment is a more middle class pre-occupation.”

    Extrapolating from those surveyed to the adult British population, the dissertation gives AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH an intrinsic valuation of £73,411,565. When this value is combined with the estimated advertising value (£3,732,000) and the film’s estimated UK profits (£1,258,972), the social return on investment in the UK for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH is a whopping 57:1.

    The paper demonstrates that the “willingness to pay” approach can be applied usefully to film. The dissertation makes a compelling case that “willingness to pay” studies may be the most practical method for evaluating the impacts of many social issue documentaries. Using a “willingness to pay” approach could provide a way to compare the impact of different films. Filmmakers seeking funding could also do preliminary research to show there’s significant interest in the topic of their film.


    WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”

    This
    substantial study analyzes the impact of WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” on viewers’ perceptions and attitudes. It examines how successful the film was in changing their views of the US education system. The study also highlights which content was most effective and which was least effective.

    Funded in part by The Ford Foundation, the report was written by the Harmony Institute, a nonprofit research center established in 2007 to assess the influence of entertainment on social and environmental issues. Research began just before the US theatrical release of WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” in September 2010. It included an analysis of press coverage, focus groups, an online survey, online trending reports, and in-depth interviews. This six-month study focused on the immediate effects of the film on viewers’ beliefs rather than on the film’s long-term impacts. The primary author was Eleanor M. Cleverly.

    The paper concludes that “WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN” had a notable effect on audience perceptions of education in the US” and that “the film increased general understanding and elevated concerns over a number of problems plaguing public education.” The report described the film as “one of the most expansive communication campaigns concerning education in America to date.”

    However the research showed that many viewers complained that the film didn’t make clear what they could do to improve things. Directives such as “get involved in your child’s education” were vague, and “offered no actionable items for individuals.” Audiences also felt that the film “failed to discuss many of the larger social issues that contribute to low-performing students and schools.” As one respondent noted “bad teachers and bad unions are not the only impediment to educational success… poverty, parenting, resources, and curriculum are just as important.” Viewers also felt that “there was a general overemphasis on charter schools.”

    Viewers did respond quite well to the characters in the film and found the charter school lottery a compelling metaphor for the state of US public education. Reactions to the film differed sharply between educators and the general public. Overall general audiences and the press “reviewed the film favorably, giving the film an average rating of four stars out of a possible five.” Teachers disagreed sharply, giving the film an average of 2 stars and challenging the film’s “depiction of teachers and unions as simplistic.”

    The report also looked at the ripple effect on organizations that were affiliated with the film’s outreach effort. DonorsChoose.org increased its individual users by 75,000 in 2010 and generated $2.1 million in pledges to fund classroom projects across the country. Being affiliated with WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” also helped the United Way establish itself as a central player in the education world and changed the way it works within local communities. The lesson for other filmmakers is that “garnering early support from reputable affiliates currently working on a social issue can greatly assist both parties.”

    The report notes that although the film played in US theaters for 13 weeks grossing $6.4 million and had 149,000 followers on Facebook as of March 18, 2011, it was “unable to foster a national conversation among those not previously invested in the education reform debate.” However, the study also noted that WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” was “successful at reinforcing a commitment to teaching among those already in the profession.” One teaching student said, “the film illuminated for her how important teachers are to the success of their students.”

    Debika Shome, the Harmony Institute’s Deputy Director, explained that the report had enabled the Institute to refine its methodology for measuring the success of media.

    While the report is an internal document, the strikingly-designed highlights are available
    here.


    THE FUTURE

    These three studies mark the beginning of a new era of impact evaluation. They expand our understanding of how films can create real change. They include concrete examples of the significant effects of these films on corporations, consumers, and nonprofits. The reports also explore ways of tracking, measuring, and valuing impacts. Their methodologies will be used and refined by other researchers.

    More foundations will follow Esmee Fairburn and The Ford Foundation in funding impact studies. The Wolfensohn Family Foundation and the Pacific Foundation both provided additional funds for the WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” study. The Fledgling Fund will continue highlighting the importance of assessing the social impact of media that began with the publication of its working paper, which includes this chart.

    More cutting-edge research on documentaries and features will enable independents to prove that films can make a difference. Filmmakers who learn how others have achieved social impact will be empowered to make films that can truly change the world.

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #15

    CROWDFUNDING TAKES OFF

    Crowdfunding has taken off. The most successful film projects are now raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, when not that long ago they were raising tens of thousands. The top three films in the
    Kickstarter Hall of Fame are BLUE LIKE JAZZ ($345,992), THE PRICE ($161,774), and I AM I ($111,965).

    Unlike BLUE LIKE JAZZ and THE PRICE which are both based on material written by authors with large and loyal followings, I AM I is an excellent example of how to build support for an original script. After seeing my presentations on crowdfunding, writer-director Jocelyn Towne and her producers Cora Olson and Jen Dubin from Present Pictures (GOOD DICK) convinced an investor to match up to $100,000 in donations. They built a solid website, calibrated their reward levels, planned the stages of their campaign, and created a great video. Done in one long carefully choreographed take, viewer’s found this humorous video irresistible. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #14

    FOOD MATTERS

    The remarkable story of
    FOOD MATTERS illuminates key principles of hybrid distribution and online entrepreneurship. It also demonstrates that determined first-time filmmakers with no prior distribution experience can succeed in the New World of Distribution.

    FOOD MATTERS is a provocative feature-length documentary best summed up by the Hippocrates quote: “Let thy food be thy medicine.” I consulted with James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch (its Australian, producer-director/ husband-and-wife team) via Skype in the summer of 2008 as they were starting distribution. I finally met them in Sydney in October 2010, where we participated in the inimitable SPAA Fringe conference. By then they had sold 150,000 DVDs. Two months later they did a Christmas promotion online, offering the film for half price. They sold 4,500 DVDs in seven days, their best week ever, two and a half years into their distribution. They have now sold 175,000 DVDs and counting. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #13

    BUILDING AN ARMY OF ANGELS

    Crowdfunding has exploded. More and more filmmakers are raising money through online donations.

    In the early days of crowdfunding, only a few independents managed to raise money for individual projects directly from their websites. Then two new web platforms were created (
    IndieGoGo and Kickstarter) that made crowdfunding accessible far and wide. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #12

    MAXIMIZING IMPACT

    Many filmmakers aspire to change the world; Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers actually have. In just two years LIONESS, the film they co-directed, has raised awareness of a critical issue, catalyzed action by activists and officials, and helped launch major legislation. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #11

    WE HAVE NO SECRETS

    THE COSMONAUT shows how movies can be made in the New Worlds of financing and distribution. Although the project is still ramping up, the filmmakers have already developed a provocative new paradigm. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #10

    SOCIAL FILMMAKING

    5,504 miles from Hollywood in Tampere, Finland, five “students and unemployed people” began reinventing moviemaking out of sheer necessity. Lacking the experience and resources to make STAR WRECK: IN THE PIRKINNING their ambitious sci-fi parody, they built a vibrant global community around the production, demonstrating the power of what they call “social filmmaking.” Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #9

    CROWD-FUNDING

    In her quest to change the world, Franny Armstrong has already changed how films can be funded. She designed an innovative “crowd-funding” strategy that has raised over $1 million dollars--£590,000 for the production and distribution of her new feature THE AGE OF STUPID and £164,321 for the Not Stupid social action campaign. A documentary/fiction hybrid, THE AGE OF STUPID is set in the “devastated world of 2055,” where a lone archivist (played by Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite) views footage from 2008 and asks “why we didn’t stop climate change when we had the chance.” Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #8

    JILL'S NEXT RECORD

    Jill Sobule is as irresistible online as she is on stage. Her persona on the web is so distinctive and compelling that she’s been able to finance her new album with $85,000 in online contributions. Jill is a singer/songwriter whose music is a unique blend of the deeply personal, the socially conscious, and the slyly satirical. Her provocative 1995 hit single “I Kissed a Girl” was the first song with overtly gay content ever played on Top 40 radio, and the hit MTV music video is now a classic. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #7

    DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMED

    BusinessWeek posted an illuminating feature, “Indie Filmmakers Hit Their Target,” analyzing how independents are taking control of their own marketing and distribution. The article explores “the transformation of the film industry” and documents how filmmakers are “skipping [conventional] deals and using the Internet to get their stories in front of people who want to hear them.” The website also includes a useful slideshow with commentary. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #6

    TRUE FANS AND TRUE FILMS

    Every independent filmmaker should be building and nurturing a core personal audience. The bigger and more loyal the audience, the greater the revenues and creative freedom for the filmmaker. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #5

    LEARNING FROM RADIOHEAD

    \
    After liberating themselves from a traditional record deal, Radiohead took control of their distribution. They are now gleefully reinventing it. They launched their new album, IN RAINBOWS, online, selling it exclusively from their website for the first two months. Anyone anywhere in the world could download the album and pay whatever he or she wanted. It is estimated that Radiohead netted almost $3 million from digital downloads off their site. Radiohead received 100% of these revenues (rather than a 10-15% royalty) and had the opportunity to collect buyers' email addresses for future marketing and sales. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #4

    CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION

    Filmmakers who control their distribution can be as creative bringing their films into the world as they are making them. Arin Crumley and Susan Buice are the poster couple for distribution as a creative act. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #3

    BUILDING A PERSONAL AUDIENCE

    Aspiring to be a superstar? Trying to connect with your fans? Determined to build a core audience? Make it happen online. Create direct relationships with viewers around the world and turn them into loyal supporters of your work. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #2

    HARNESSING USER CONTRIBUTED CONTENT

    It’s not a secret weapon. It’s so powerful that sites ranging from Wikipedia to Ebay couldn’t exist without it. I emphasize its importance every time I do a presentation and talk about it with all of my clients. But “user contributed content” is hard to define and harder to understand. Read More...

    THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #1

    LONG LIVE DIGIMART!

    I want to devote my first mailing to Digimart, the remarkable global summit that brought together digital distribution leaders from around the world. They came from China, South Africa, Australia, Peru, Brazil, as well as across Europe and North America, to share the lessons learned on the cutting edge of film and video distribution. Read More...