• make the most of Pre-Distribution

• connect with core audiences

• build partnerships

• design a dynamic distribution strategy

• secure vital financial and in-kind support

DYNAMIC DISTRIBUTION #4
MORE BREAKTHROUGHS

My Ascension

Once you secure an enthusiastic partner who supports you financially, find others like them.



The Film: a young woman attempts to take her life, survives, and then becomes a leader for young people suffering in silence from anxiety and depression.

The Results: the film team has raised more than $850,000, with $260,000 from PBS sponsorships and the rest through educational licensing, in-person events, and virtual events. The team has succeeded by offering a combination of educational resources created to serve each partner’s priorities. The impact campaign includes collaborations with children's hospitals, recovery centers, universities, tribal communities, and school districts.

Strategic Lessons: the team pioneered Virtual Toolkits, which integrate sections of the film with mental health materials provided by the partner. Each unique Virtual Toolkit is designed to meet the teaching and training needs of a specific organization. Instead of offering generic, one-size-fits-all educational materials, it is now possible to customize educational resources for each institution. This breakthrough has supercharged the licensing of Virtual Toolkits to institutions for counseling, employee training, and community engagement. It has also powered sales to public sector partners, including state departments of mental health, medical systems, and school districts.

Takeaways from their success:

• Build long-term relationships with large organizations. Over time, the collaboration between the film team and Children's Hospital New Orleans grew. First they became a PBS sponsor. Then they sponsored a series of live events. Then they licensed a Virtual Toolkit with clips from the film and mental health resources they had created over several years. This partnership alone brought in over $200,000.
• Multiply every partner. The first $100,000 PBS sponsor for My Ascension was Children's Hospital New Orleans. As soon as they committed, the film team made a list of all 220 children's hospitals across the country. This enabled them to connect with another children’s hospital which became their second $100,000 PBS sponsor.
• Take a long-term view of distribution. Three years into the release of My Ascension, the film team continues to engage partners and audiences, booking events and selling licenses each May for Mental Health Awareness Month, and each September for Suicide Awareness Month.

• Combining in-person events with virtual encore events gave the film team complementary ways to make the most of audience excitement and donor interest. Their in-person events created buzz and were suited for their most enthusiastic super fans. Virtual encore events following an in-person event allowed them to expand their reach to more viewers and donors unable to attend in person.
• Begin audience outreach with your core audiences to build critical awareness with your most enthusiastic fans and expand from there to additional audiences. The film team initially focused on reaching out to survivors and descendants of people on the Rohna, which led to donations and promotional partners. This outreach fueled the successful promotion of the event to wider audiences.
• Test and learn through audience and partner feedback. After initially targeting family members and survivors directly connected to the Rohna, the film team asked for input from veterans organizations and historians to better understand how the film's message would appeal more broadly. 

• Ask partners to provide both funding and promotional support. Some funders have financial resources. Others have large email lists and can motivate many people to attend a screening. Some can do both. Assess what partners are capable of and make the appropriate asks. 
• Use early wins to establish more wins. Take one success and ask yourself which other ones to pursue. A successful partnership or event can give you credibility for future partners in a similar space. After establishing solid relationships with running brands Fleet Feet and Strava, the team was able to secure a support of one of the largest running shoe brands in the world: Hoka.
• Streamers can give you key rights if you request them. Streamers will sometimes agree to grant filmmakers the rights to conferences, impact screenings, partnerships, and other work engaging their core audiences. But this can only happen if you request these rights.

• Conferences over film festivals. Film festivals are focused on gathering film lovers. Conferences focus on gathering people who share a profession or interest in a topic. If that topic or profession is aligned with the message of your film, great things can happen
• Use targeted conference attendance as a strategic entry point to establish relationships.
• Tap into a partner’s email list and social media following to raise awareness for your film. It's not only getting a partner to sponsor something you're doing but also having them promote your film to their audience. In addition to providing $150,000 in sponsorship fees, 23andMe also promoted the film to their employees and their email list of 7 million customers.

• choose dynamic distribution 

• retain overall distribution control

• design a customized distribution strategy

• make the most of pre-distribution

• focus on core audiences

• develop win-win partnerships 

• refine your strategy stage by stage

• build a personal audience