8 Self-Distribution and Other Alternatives to Traditional Distribution
Filmmaker Case Study: Tamar Halpern, in Her Own Words
A popular term, do-it-yourself, has become a concept so suddenly well known that it need only be used in its anacronymic form. Reams of magazines devoted to D.I.Y. lifestyles and fashion, television shows which depict D.I.Y. gardening and interior design, even the use in sentences such as “We’re promoting our band through D.I.Y. venues like MySpace” have elevated the concept from subculture to mainstream.
D.I.Y. also describes what those of us in the independent-film world have been doing for years. Not privy to the world of studios, production deals, or distribution offers with money up front, savvy D.I.Y. filmmakers have been scrapping and cobbling our Franken-movies together by any means possible. I am one of those filmmakers, despite being unaware there was a term for my endeavors until recently.
I could go on about the sacrifices and exploitations, the guerrilla tactics, the occasional cease-and-desist letter—but those stories have been told time and time again. What I’d like to relate instead is a story of a small success that took place at my local video store, a small success that will no doubt fuel me with the fire needed to continue on as a D.I.Y. filmmaker.
When my feature film Shelf Life won the Grand Jury prize at its first festival (Dances With Films 2005), I was hopeful it might get some attention. My first film, Memphis Bound and Gagged, had won three of its first festival screenings, and nothing happened beyond that—but still, I was hopeful my second feature would create a buzz in the distribution world. Somehow it didn’t. Then Variety published an astoundingly glowing review of Shelf Life, and once again I hoped that something, somehow would happen. Nada. Frustrated and baffled, I worked with a graphic designer to use some of the rave quotes from Variety to decorate the cover of my DVD. I sent a few to potential distributors. Again, nothing.
I made contact with Stacey Parks, who suggested I visit my local video store, Video Journeys, and research distribution companies who were releasing independent (read: D.I.Y.) films such as my own. For some strange reason, I grabbed two copies of Shelf Life on my way to the video store. When I arrived, I boldly plopped them down on the return desk. The clerk glanced at them and politely asked me what they were. I answered, “My film.” He said, “Great,” and pointed me to the area which housed the “Free Rentals—Local Filmmakers.” I then did something that was really strange, even for a woman who prides herself on her tenacity. I told him my films were for sale. I suppose I was emboldened by the fact that I was a longtime customer, or maybe it was the Variety review, or maybe it was the fear that my second film would also fade into obscurity like my first. But whatever the reason, telling someone my films were for sale changed everything.
The owner, citing the fact that I had been a loyal customer for many years, agreed to buy my two copies. She asked me what I wanted, and I, wholly unprepared for the conversation to even get this far, predictably had no freaking idea what to charge. She suggested a price, and I accepted. Although I won’t quote the price here, I can tell you the video store made its money back almost ten fold in the first six months.
Both copies of Shelf Life were placed in the New Release section, and each time I came in to rent a movie, the employees would look up the numbers on my film rentals and report them. I was both giddy with glee and astonishment each time I heard the numbers climbing. A couple months later, one of the supporting actors started his first semester at the University of Southern California. Another freshman came up to him and exclaimed, “I know you! You were in that movie Shelf Life! My family rented it, and it was hilarious!” The actor—who wasn’t really an actor, but rather, a teenager who I thought would be perfect for the small role he played—was dumbfounded. Upon hearing the story, I was amazed that Shelf Life had found an audience that extended out of my zip code.
For the four months that Shelf Life sat in the New Release section, surrounded by blockbusters and newly mastered classics with huge stars and budgets, I was thrilled to know it had finally found an audience. For a while, I toyed with the idea of filling my car with Shelf Life DVDs and touring the country, making just enough for gas, food, and lodging, as I hawked my film to other independent video stores in true D.I.Y. fashion. Luckily, I was able to land a distribution deal instead, using my sales numbers from my local video store to create interest in the deal.
It would have been easy to walk in my local video store that day and quietly research D.I.Y. titles, never saying a word to anyone. But if I didn’t do it, who would?
Like many filmmakers, Tamar Halpern has caught on to the fact that if all else fails, there’s always self-distribution. And with today’s technology, self-distribution is easier than ever. Numerous tools are available to promote your film in order to attract a distributor, as well as sell your film directly to end users.
Of course, there are both upsides and downsides to selfdistribution. In my opinion, the biggest upside is that any sale you make, any distribution deal you sign, you get to keep all the money for yourself. It goes directly to your bottom line—paying your investors back and adding to your profit. Conversely, the biggest downside to self-distribution that I can think of is that in exchange for not having to pay anyone a sales commission or fee or percentage of sales, you have to do all the work, which can be an enormous amount.
Don’t be fooled: self-distribution takes a tremendous amount of work and patience, but it can pay off handsomely to those who are consistent with their efforts. Before I got a publisher for this book, I self-distributed it as an e-book online. And what made it a successful venture? For me, the number one thing was my consistent efforts at tirelessly marketing my product. Some weeks were good; some weeks were bad—but being absolutely consistent in my marketing efforts was, I believe, the top contributor to the book’s success.
With all the self-distribution channels I talk about below, remember that because you do not have a distribution company behind you, you will have to do all the marketing, promotions, and advertising yourself—whatever it takes to drive sales of your movie. With each self-distribution method I discuss, I will talk about specific ways to market your film.
Here’s another example of self-distribution that demonstrates some of the difficulties with that method:
Self-distribution is a very tiring process. The most important thing is to produce a film that some segment of the public will relate to, so that you have a market, even if it is specialized. We were lucky enough to release our feature documentary—Naked in Ashes, about the Yogis of India—on the heels of a couple other films that had proven there is a marketplace for Spiritual Cinema, a term coined by Stephen Simon. What the Bleep Do We Know!? and Short Cut to Nirvana had proven to the theater exhibitors that there is an appetite for films of a spiritual nature, and that they can do business.
Self-distribution can either be done through a reputable theater booker, as we did, or totally on your own, which takes even more elbow grease. The most important thing is to determine who is honest, and try to deal with them only. Find out the reputations of publicists, video distributors, etc., as you go through each step. The very best source of information is other filmmakers—talk to them.
If you can afford it, get a local publicist in each market—they will have the best connections locally. Market to your core audience: groups, clubs, etc. And try to generate buzz about your film in the least expensive way—through the Internet. Besides that, postcards and flyers. The most expensive thing is publicity. Even the smallest ad in a newspaper—called a topper—will cost thousands of dollars when running for a few weeks. If you get good reviews, use them as much as possible.
—Paula Fouce (Naked in Ashes)
On-Demand DVD Distribution
On-demand DVD distribution is one of the easiest and most profitable do-it-yourself distribution strategies. You are able to sell professional-quality DVDs without stocking your own inventory (and storing it in your spare room or garage). Instead, the on-demand DVD companies manufacture and ship discs as customers order them.
On-demand DVD distribution is an affordable and low-risk way to make your film available to millions of customers. Furthermore, you get to keep control of your title and earn royalties from dollar one. Plus, you are free to remove your picture at any time should you land a traditional distribution deal.
Rather than wasting time managing production of your DVD and shipping the orders yourself, you’re able to focus on marketing your movie. Meanwhile, the on-demand DVD companies handle the order taking, manufacturing of units, shipping, and customer support.
When you open up your film to the massive audience online, there is an opportunity for your work to be discovered and for people to buy your movie. Several filmmakers I know have landed traditional distribution deals after they have successfully built buzz by selling their projects through on-demand DVD channels.
To get started with on-demand DVD distribution, you’ll need to own all the needed rights to your film, and it must meet certain content guidelines. Usually, there is a onetime setup fee of around $50, and you send the company your DVD master. If you don’t have a DVD master, these companies will even digitize your film for you from a tape format. Then you set your title’s suggested list price, and they will send you commission checks, normally on a monthly basis.
Unlike traditional distribution deals, with on-demand DVD companies, you maintain the rights to your work. And there is normally no commitment period or exclusive terms, so you can sell it on as many on-demand DVD sites as you wish.
The way the sales channel works is that upon sign-up, you are given your own turnkey web site, or “e-store,” to sell your film. You are responsible for generating traffic to your e-store, which is where clever marketing and buzz building come in handy.
The biggest player in on-demand DVD distribution is Custom-Flix (www.customflix.com), which is actually owned by Amazon.com. When you use the CustomFlix service, you are guaranteed exposure to the tens of millions of customers who visit Amazon.com on a daily basis. Having that kind of built-in audience makes the job of driving sales to your e-store that much easier.
Internet Distribution/Video on Demand (VOD)
In contrast to on-demand DVD distribution, where the end user receives a physical DVD disc of your movie, video-on-demand (VOD) distribution allows the end user to download your movie to their computer and watch it right then and there.
There are several companies out there offering different types of services, but in general the way it works is that you send the VOD company a DVD master of your film, they digitize it and upload it to their servers, and then customers pay a fee to download your film and watch it. The download time, of course, varies by type of VOD service and speed of a customer’s Internet connection, but the idea is that instead of waiting for a DVD to be shipped, the customer has instant access to the purchased movie.
In terms of revenue, just as with on-demand DVD companies, VOD companies also send you monthly checks for your share of the revenue. For example, if the VOD company charges $9.99 for a download of your film, then you might receive a 30 percent royalty on that amount. It may not seem like much, but these fees can definitely add up over time. Not to mention that VOD companies license content on a nonexclusive basis, so technically you can license your movie to as many VOD companies as you like, and benefit from the royalties of all of them at once.
One advantage to distributing your film on video-on-demand platforms is that customers get to see your work right away. This helps create a buzz more quickly. And the fact that it is all online helps spread the buzz, because satisfied customers can post the URL link to your movie on various message boards and chat rooms, as well as easily email to their friends and family. You can see how, with video-on-demand distribution, word travels fast!
One disadvantage of VOD distribution is that it still isn’t a big enough source of revenue to rely on for recouping the investment in your movie. Most royalty checks that I have witnessed are only a few hundred bucks per quarter, or even per year. Over time, of course, as Internet distribution becomes more and more relied upon, the economics may change. Perhaps in the future, you will be able to recoup your investment just by Internet distribution, as physical DVDs fall by the wayside. But for now, the revenue from VOD is still minuscule compared to the revenue from DVD distribution, or even theatrical distribution.
Here is a partial list of some reputable VOD companies. But keep in mind, new entities are popping up every day in this space, so be on the lookout. And remember, because all of these companies license content on a nonexclusive basis, you should absolutely license your film to as many as possible, in order to capture all of their unique audiences. Just do a little due diligence to make sure these companies actually pay the royalties that are owed to the filmmakers.
Partial List of Video-on-Demand Companies
Unbox (www.unbox.com): VOD service from CustomFlix and Amazon.com
EZTakes (www.eztakes.com): VOD service that lets you download to own movies and burn them to DVD for watching on your DVD player or computer
SpotFlix (www.spotflix.com): VOD service that rents (instead of sells) films online for a twenty-four-hour period
CinemaNow (www.cinemanow): VOD service owned by Blockbuster and Lions Gate Entertainment. They are one of the original companies pioneering VOD distribution for indies, and offering download-to-own, streaming, and download-to-burn services for customers
Google Video (www.video.google.com): The first open online video marketplace where you can set your own price—and, of course, leverage the enormous built-in Google audience
GreenCine (www.greencine.com): Independently owned and operated film addict’s film site since 2002
AtomFilms (www.atomfilms.com): VOD service that specializes in short films and animations. They do not charge customers to watch films, so you will not receive any royalties. However, they do pay small advances.
A number of web sites allow you to post a trailer of your film, and then link back to your VOD download page or your CustomFlix page so that people can purchase your movie.
YouTube (www.youtube.com): YouTube is currently the most popular destination on the web for user-generated video content. Many filmmakers take advantage of their traffic and platform to post a promotion trailer for their film there. The sheer traffic on YouTube almost guarantees that at least a few people will be led to your other sites, where they can then download the whole film or purchase it on DVD.
Revver (www.revver.com): Revver is the first viral video network that pays content owners. For example, you upload your trailer, and they attach an unobtrusive advertisement to the end of it. When anyone clicks on the ad, you get paid.
GUBA (www.guba.com): GUBA is a leading destination for video content on the Internet, with millions of visitors watching thousands of daily updated videos.
AOL Video (www.video.aol.com): AOL Video of course benefits from all the AOL traffic, so it cannot hurt to post your trailer up here as well, in the UnCut Video upload section.
Interview with Eric Stein
Director, Content Acquisitions and Business Development
HP Digital Entertainment
What is digital rights management, and how can filmmakers benefit from it?
Digital rights management is used to protect digital content from being used in a way that would infringe on the rights of the licensor. Think of it as a combination lock around a digital file. Some distribution channels allow the consumer to download content (music, TV shows, movies) and be able to copy or move the files to other devices. Some distribution channels only allow you to watch the content on the device you downloaded it to. This is controlled by digital rights management (DRM) solutions that allow the distribution channel to dictate the rules for consumption.
There are pros and cons to DRM. This security keeps people from taking your movie and posting/distributing it on the Internet for free, or passing it around for free. If someone pays for the film, others have to also pay for the film to see it … like going to see a movie in a theater (i.e., each person pays to walk in the door). Without DRM, you run the risk of someone opening the theater door and allowing virtually anyone to walk in and view the movie. If your main goal is to have as large an audience as possible view the film, regardless of revenue potential, don’t use DRM. If your main goal is making back your investment, you may want to consider DRM. Note that there are legal, successful services that don’t use DRM—so just because you choose to not use DRM doesn’t mean it will be spread around for free; you’re just taking a higher risk of that happening.
Do you think the online film markets that have popped up will eventually replace AFM, MIPCOM, and all the rest of the international markets? Why or why not?
No, but the business will change a bit. The industry is based on people and connections, and this is the way business has been done for many years. This will not change overnight, but things can be more efficient when using these kinds of services. Once some companies start to see the benefits, I can easily see these companies starting to make relatively substantial changes to the ways in which this business operates. In terms of the traditional markets, it will continue to be important to see screenings, make contacts face-to-face, shake hands, and have lunch together … and for these reasons, I don’t believe that the online marketplaces will be replacing the markets anytime soon.
Digital distribution and online film marketplaces definitely have the ability to change the business drastically over the course of the next decade, but it will all depend on how quickly the licensing community embraces this new system of doing business. The film business has been notoriously adverse to change.
What are some of the limitations to using online film markets, as opposed to signing on with a sales agent and going that route?
The main limitation right now is coverage/exposure. These services are still in the infancy stages and are not yet viable platforms for finding distribution. For them to work properly, they must bring enough of both buyers and sellers into the marketplace to make it worthwhile for both sides. It takes time to build up a community like this, especially a community like this one, which has been doing business a certain way for many years. Sales agents typically have a good sense for who the players are, where the deals can be made, and what kinds of deals to expect. This comes from being in the business for a number of years. These online markets are just starting to scratch the surface of the community.
What do you think is the future of indie-film distribution?
Perhaps I’ve drank too much of the Kool-Aid, having been in digital distribution for over seven years, but I believe that over time, indie-film distribution will migrate into more distribution channels, and therefore start to find their audiences. Even now, indie-film distribution is a very small niche of product that gets very little exposure. Technology is allowing consumers to have more personalized experiences—as seen on MySpace, Facebook, and Amazon. Instead of being faced with just major megaplex movie options, consumers are seeing many more choices with the availability of digital-distribution channels. The future of indie-film distribution is immediate and democratic.
When and how do you think digital distribution will become profitable for filmmakers?
That is truly difficult to answer, as it is very broad and open-ended. My question back to you would be: “When and how do you think traditional distribution will become profitable for filmmakers?”
Bottom line: it’s a tough business whether on the traditional side or new-media and digital side. I have a feeling that digital distribution is already profitable for some filmmakers—with the decreasing costs involved in actually making a film, and the decreasing costs involved in actually distributing films … I’m sure that some filmmakers have found ways to make a profit. I’m sure you’re asking about when I think this will be the norm, or more of a reality. Truthfully, I think that over time, niche content will start to be delivered to audiences in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago. What that means in terms of profitability is hard to say.
A lot of fuss has been made about DRM, but do you think distributors/buyers are willing to embrace it totally and actually buy their products online and opt for digital delivery, as opposed to a filmmaker’s having to ship a physical master?
Yes, in terms of B2B (business-to-business) application for digital distribution (i.e., digital delivery for business purposes, not straight to the consumer), I think that this will very quickly become implemented and change the way this business operates internally. Shipping plastic tapes or plastic discs does not make sense when you consider the efficiencies created by digital delivery. While the technology is still a bit clunky, in the end, it makes so much more sense to send files digitally, and that goes for screeners, dailies, etc. The industry will move in that direction, but these kinds of changes take time.
As a filmmaker evaluating the online digital-distribution space, wouldn’t it be easier to self-distribute on the filmmaker’s web site, as opposed to giving up rights, revenues, and so on to one of the e-tailers?
No. Often filmmakers think that they can post their film on their own web site (as opposed to going with the alternatives) and keep all of the distribution revenues for themselves. While this might seem like a better choice, they forget to consider what these services have in terms of audiences/users. My advice would be to try and put the films on as many distribution outlets as possible, including their own. If you’re able to put your film on Amazon, CinemaNow, Movielink, and your own web site, this is a better strategy than trying to market the film on the filmmaker’s web site solely.
Online Film Markets
It is not likely that you as a filmmaker would be able to attend all of the international film and television markets to mingle with buyers and seek distribution for your film. Consequently, a perfect do-it-yourself solution for directly interacting with buyers from all over the world is to use online film markets.
With today’s technology, many filmmakers find actual markets to be old-fashioned, as well as time-and money-consuming. Internet-based markets can make commerce more effective, cheaper, and faster.
Here’s how it works: various online film markets have developed highly sophisticated search engines and streaming platforms that are capable of hosting an unlimited number of titles. At the click of a button, these titles can be screened online for buyers. The advanced search engines allow buyers to locate titles using multiple search vectors—from genre, format, and theme to cast and crew. Most importantly, online markets allow buyers to get a comprehensive, at-a-glance view of the available rights for each title, cross-referenced by territory.
Basically, you submit your project to the online markets, and they will create a film home page for you. You can use this home page to publicize your movie and list specific details—such as synopsis, language, cast and crew, press-kit information, upcoming showings, and so forth. Then you list your available rights for buyers to see, and of course frequently update this information as territories are sold. Finally, you get out there and market and promote your film, driving potential distributors to your site to purchase distribution rights for the territory they want.
Many filmmakers predict that a few of the Internet-based markets will become the largest year-round marketplaces for the film and television industries. Will online markets eventually replace Cannes, AFM, and all the rest? My guess is, probably not. In my opinion, there is no substitute for the exciting milieu of networking and deal making that the big markets create. But with the rapid globalization of film and television, and the almost overwhelming quantity of new products, the industry needs a parallel, year-round marketplace that provides both the capacity and convenience necessary to research, acquire, and manage rights and territories for the plethora of quality titles now available.
Here are two Internet-based film markets that are up and running:
inDplay (www.indplay.com): Currently, inDplay is the biggest player in the Internet-based film marketspace.
reelport (www.reelport.com): Through reelport, you can present your movie to potential buyers. If your film meets interest, you can either send conventional copies (for example, a screener) to the buyer, or you can provide reelport with a digital film file. With reelport, you have the potential to save on shipping costs while reaching a large audience of buyers.
Filmmaker Case Study: Bradley Beesley, on his Okie Noodling Microcinema Tour
We spent two summers lugging a 1970s CP 16 mm camera through swampy creeks and snake-invested Oklahoma lakes, documenting the ancient sport of hand-fishing, otherwise known as “noodling.” The result was the best two summers of my life, and a documentary movie called Okie Noodling.
We premiered Okie Noodling to sellout crowds at the 2001 SXSW Film Festival, taking home the Audience Award for best documentary. From there, we screened at some fancy-pants festivals like Toronto International and the AFI FEST. These festivals were grandly insightful, and we actually garnered an international distribution deal in Toronto. Although festivals are fabulous exposure, they often turn into a poorly justified vacation in which you spend cash instead of making it.
After a year on the festival circuit, I wondered if Okie Noodling could play theatrically and make a profit. Of course, I realized no sane distribution conglomerate was going to fork over the dough for several 35 mm prints and spend months promoting the film. Okie Noodling was funded through ITVS, and therefore my vast range of credit-card debt was only marginally obscene; so I thought … Why not distribute and promote the film myself? It was then that I decided to hire rock-band manager Scott Booker from the Flaming Lips, and his loyal intern, Derek Brown, to perform the bulk of the booking. Since Okie Noodling is not your conventional theatrical release, how would we find these art-house cinemas that would be willing to take a chance on an oddball documentary?
By searching the Internet, it was fairly simple finding theaters that would show Okie Noodling for one or two nights. After narrowing down our desired cities, we sent DVD screeners and press materials to theater managers, film societies, and local press. It took about two months to confirm all eight cities, with venues ranging from daily-operating 700-person theaters to small record stores. In the end, we had successfully booked a movie tour. Our plan was to attend the screening in each city, allowing time for Q&A and merchandise sales.
Basement Films in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was the first stop. This nomadic underground-film series has a dedicated following and warmly eccentric members. We set up a seventies-style video projector in a record store in front of an enthusiastic sold-out crowd of 50. Our guarantee of 150 bucks was met, and later that night Keith from Basement Films gave us a guided tour through the maze of wonderful 16 mm films.
Our next screening was in San Francisco at the fiercely independent ATA, or Artists’ Television Access. Things picked up, as we sold out the house of 100. Additionally, we showed a seven-minute work in progress from the Flaming Lips sci-fi-narrative Christmas on Mars.
In Portland [Oregon], I felt our tour had really begun as we pulled up to the historic Hollywood Theatre (a 1920s vaudevillian cinema) and Okie Noodling was bolstered on the marquee. We had two screenings for more than 200 cheering spectators and sold plenty of merchandise.
The crowd grew to 250 in Olympia, Washington, at the impressive Capitol Theater run by Sean Savage and the Olympia Film Society. Unfortunately, we didn’t allow time to test the projector before the house lights went down. After two minutes of the film, we had to stop the projector and apologize to the confused crowd, and explain that I wasn’t sure what they had just seen, but it was certainly not my movie, as the hue, contrast, and saturation were whacked. Luckily, the crowd understood, and responded well with a heated Q&A. Before heading north for Seattle, we once again pilfered our VHS tapes and T-shirts for a nice sum.
The Experience Music Project in Seattle was our next stop. The JBL surround-sound cinema was amazing. Okie Noodling has never looked nor sounded so grand. We also screened our thirty-minute documentary The Flaming Lips Have Landed, and the 185-person theater was standing room only.
Next up was Boise, Idaho. This screening was going to be in what was usually a rock-club venue, and I wasn’t anticipating a large crowd. I gave my customary cell-phone call to the venue five hours before showtime to confirm the details. Much to my surprise, they had changed the screening time from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. and forgotten to notify us. Due to the weather, we would be lucky to even make it to the scheduled 10 p.m. screening. They compromised and started the movie at 9 p.m. without us. Unfortunately, we got pulled over by the fuzz and showed up as the credits were rolling. I bolted onstage, grabbed the mic, and proceeded with the Q&A to a rowdy and insightful crowd of 150. Meanwhile, my travel partner and co-Okie producer, Mr. Damon Cook, proceeded to sell $680 in merchandise—the most to date. Thank you, Boise!
We had to turn away 50 people in Salt Lake City, and had our third sellout of the tour. There was a fifteen-minute delay due to lack of sound, but the crackerjack staff at Brewvies managed to empty the 175-person cinema and magically corrected the audio nightmare. Once we corralled the raucous audience back in the theater, they sat mesmerized for sixty minutes and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the noodling experience.
Last on our eight-city adventure was the sleepy ski town of Durango, Colorado, at the Abbey Theatre. It was only a twelve-hour stay in Durango, but the audience of 100 was giddy. I have yet to hear so many people laugh, clap, and awe during a screening of Okie Noodling. Maybe it was the Colorado kind bud?
In the end, we traveled through twelve states, put 5,500 miles on our “tristate” rental car, busted the transmission, drove through a grass fire, and ultimately screened Okie Noodling to over 1,600 enthusiastic fans. It was absolutely an experience of a lifetime; and in the end, we made over $2,300 after expenses.
In the days of the super-mega-multiplex twenty-four movie theater/shopping mall craze, it’s heartening to know there remain a few brave souls who support independent cinemas and alternative theaters in America.
Art-house Cinemas at Which My Films Have Screened
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Austin, Tex.)
Aurora Picture Show (Houston)
Brattle Theatre (Cambridge, Mass.)
Cable Car Cinema & Café (Providence, R.I.)
Capri Theatre (Montgomery, Ala.)
Enzian Theater (Maitland, Fla.)
Fargo Theatre (Fargo, N.Dak.)
The Flicks (Boise, Idaho)
Hollywood Theatre (Portland, Ore.)
Minnesota Film Arts (Minneapolis)
Northwest Film Center (Portland, Ore.)
Orpheum Theatre (Madison, Wis.)
Pioneer Theater (New York City)
Red Vic Movie House (San Francisco)
Platform Theatrical Release
If you want to release your film theatrically in do-it-yourself fashion, you can go the route of many filmmakers these days and do a platform theatrical release.
With this approach, you release your film in one or two local theaters, start to generate significant buzz, and then slowly and strategically release the picture in additional theaters. The ultimate goal is that one of the big distributors takes notice, buys the film out from you, and gives it a wide release.
A platform theatrical release normally requires raising additional capital—you’ll need both prints and sufficient advertising to get booked into a theater. For example, you approach a theater owner to see if they will book your film for a weekend. Their typical response will be to require you to show them proof that you have purchased advertising in local newspapers. This is to ensure that there is at least a minimum guarantee that people will show up to see your movie. Booking a theater for a weekend is precious real estate for a theater owner. In order for them to take the risk with your film, they will definitely want to know your plan for driving ticket sales.
If you can prove yourself to theater owners, they will agree to book your picture for a weekend. If the film does good weekend numbers, the theater will extend you another week. If your film does good numbers for another week, they will extend you again. And so on.
Conversely, if your movie happens to tank that opening weekend, by Monday it will be removed. I’ve seen this happen many times with pictures that have impressive casts but just couldn’t garner an audience. So keep in mind, the key with a platform theatrical release is to keep it going—and to keep it going, you have to market your film as hard as you possibly can. Get creative and start early. Hire a publicist. Get press and interviews and do guerrilla marketing to your core audience. You have to do whatever you can to drive ticket sales.
Of course, if you have a traditional distributor for your project, these are all the things they would handle—but they would be under the same pressure as you to sell tickets. And if your film doesn’t sell tickets, it will be out of the theaters after one weekend, even if you have a big distributor behind you. When it comes to ticket sales, the theater owners do not discriminate.
Ultimately, if you have the resources to go the route of a platform theatrical release, I strongly encourage it. This might just give you the “bump” you need to get noticed by a major distributor.
Keep in mind that if you decide to open your film in one of the bigger markets (New York, Los Angeles), it will cost significantly more money, and you will be competing with numerous other movies for viewers. Alternatively, if you open in a smaller market, advertising costs will be cheaper, and viewers may consider you a welcome alternative to studio fare.
If you don’t have money left in your budget to do a platform theatrical release, you can hire an independent sales rep to do sales projections and a cash-flow statement for you. You could then use the sales projections and cash-flow statement to raise the necessary capital from investors. The point is that having a U.S. theatrical release raises the value of your film internationally, thus opening up international sales potential. However, I will say that from personal experience, international buyers will want to know how many theaters the picture was released in, what the gross ticket sales were, and so on. It’s not enough to just say your movie had a theatrical release. You really need to put the marketing muscle behind it to make your picture successful enough to grow “legs” and spread to more theaters in your market, and then to additional markets.
For example, I was working with a filmmaker who had a very well produced independent film, complete with an A-list movie star and a very popular TV star. So far, so good. We decided to do a platform theatrical release, and began marketing the project about four months prior to the release. We got a national television interview, several radio interviews, and blurbs in a couple of major magazines. We also paid for advertising in the major newspapers and purchased billboards. We even had a huge premiere party. There was tremendous buzz for this little picture.
The film opened up in one theater in Los Angeles—and even with all the marketing and advertising behind the picture, there were hardly any ticket sales. After only one weekend, the movie was dropped. That’s the danger of opening in L.A. or any of the other big markets. The bigger the market, the more competition for your picture. Our film had all the right ingredients for success, but no ticket sales to back it up.
In any case, we took all the press the movie had garnered, and used that publicity to put together quite an impressive press kit. I used the press kit to try and make international sales of the film. I screened the well-made trailer for buyers, showed the press kit, and touted the fact that the picture had enjoyed a U.S. theatrical release. The first thing the buyers asked me was how many theaters and what were the gross ticket sales. Once they found out the movie had been in only one theater for one weekend, they weren’t interested.
The moral of the story? If you can pull together a platform theatrical release for your film, great. However, as I said before, make sure you not only market the daylights out of your project to get people to come and see it, but also that you seriously consider the market in which you’re opening. Another thing: if you’re borrowing more money from investors to make the platform release happen, be up front with them about the odds. Unless your film is a sellout success in your first few theaters, it will never make it to other theaters and markets—which is where your investors’ money would be recouped.
On a more positive note, I want to share with you my favorite platform theatrical release success story by far in the past few years.
The producers of What the Bleep Do We Know!? had made a picture that appealed to a niche audience. Knowing this, they made sure to put aside enough money for marketing to this niche audience. As a result, their movie went on to do a very successful platform theatrical release. The producers first released the film for one weekend in a theater in their hometown. After making sure that every screening was sold out, they platformed the movie like this in city after city—until Samuel Goldwyn Films stepped in, bought the picture, took it out wide, and released it on DVD.
Interview with Betsy Chasse, producer of indie success What the Bleep Do We Know!?
Did you have a distribution strategy in mind when you made the film? Were you thinking theatrical release, straight-to-DVD, or just go with the flow?
We hoped we would either get into a film festival or that a distributor would pick up the film.
I understand you opened the film theatrically starting in just one theater in a small market, and then “platformed” it from there to more theaters and bigger markets. Did you put aside money in your initial budget for prints and advertising? Or did you raise additional money after the film was shot? How much would you recommend filmmakers set aside to do an effective platform release of their film?
Will Arntz financed the film himself. We initially hoped a distributor would pay for the release, but once it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen, Will put up the P&A [prints and advertising money] himself.
How much would you recommend filmmakers set aside to do an effective platform release of their film?
It depends on them. If they know their audience and can muster a good grassroots campaign to gain word of mouth, they don’t need much. It’s not until you start hitting thirty or forty theaters that it starts adding up. Also, with a good grassroots campaign, you can avoid the expensive mainstream newspapers. Eventually, to break out, you’ll need them—but until then, use the Internet and other grassroots campaigns to get the word out.
Did you do all of the theater booking yourselves? Did you find the theater owners were supportive of your plan?
I booked the first twenty theaters myself. In the beginning, our first theater was supportive. But I knew the owners. The second theater gave us a shot—but didn’t expect much—they were pleasantly surprised. We played there for over twenty weeks. After about the fourth theater where our grassroots and word-of-mouth campaign had been really working, theaters and bookers started calling me. I was able at that point to make a deal with a couple of big chains, which immediately doubled our screens.
I read an article that all of your initial showings were sold out. That’s amazing—and the theater owners must have been thrilled! How did you do it?
As I mentioned before: grassroots … Internet … really knowing our audience and how to find them. We did seed screenings and special screenings for opinion makers. Word of mouth was huge before we opened our second theater.
How many initial prints did you make, and what was your advertising strategy?
We started with two prints and ended with about 150. Our advertising strategy was independent alternative, Internet and radio shows, which fed our core audience. We had done market research. We knew which shows, magazines, and press would write about us and whose audience would want to hear about the film.
Did you choose to go the festival route before platform releasing the film yourselves? Why or why not?
We did—but it didn’t really affect anything. My feeling is that the festival market has been so saturated and overtaken by studio “independent” that most of the true independents don’t make it through. If you are outside of the movie industry, do you know who won Sundance last year? I would enter—but have an alternative plan. Also, save money by holding off on doing a film out [finishing on film] and making prints—many theaters can project digitally. Also, look into alternative venues. The idea is for people to see your film. That doesn’t mean it has to be in a theater. The old model is ready to be broken. We do special screenings with DVD projectors, which look great in churches, colleges, etc. It also makes you more money to expand your film. You cut out the middlemen (bookers, theaters, distributors). Once your film has enough buzz, then you are in a better position to negotiate with them.
Did you try and place the film with foreign-sales agents? Why or why not?
We waited until the film was doing well in the market. We had such a niche film that we had to prove its worthiness before we could talk to foreign buyers.
At what point did you start getting approached by big distributors to acquire the film? Whom did you choose to go with, and why?
Once the film hit about $2 million and twenty screens. Actually, we would have continued to do it ourselves, except I was about three weeks away from giving birth to my first child and became overwhelmed. We had requests coming in from all over the country. We went with Goldwyn because of their success with Super Size Me, and we liked them. We had offers from studios, but felt that we could continue the successful marketing plan we had created by keeping it with a smaller company. We also hired a marketing company to continue the marketing strategy and work on getting us into the bigger media.
As you are aware, it is becoming more and more difficult to get a U.S. theatrical distribution deal these days. Do you have any advice for filmmakers who want to take the road you did, and platform release their movie themselves?
Go for it. There is no reason you can’t do it. Whether you have $500 or $5 million. Start small and let it build. The “slow burn” is a good thing. It lets the word of mouth spread, and people go nuts for things they can’t have! Make them wait a bit. Also, you can grow your bank account to get you more and more exposure. Also, it’s a great “proof of concept” for distributors, etc. Once they see it can work, they’ll want it, and you’ll be in the driver’s seat in the deal.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently? If so, why?
Nope. I had never released a film theatrically myself, nor had anyone on my team. We just figured it out as we went along, and I think we did a pretty good job. Thanks to Pavel, Melissa, and Gabby, we were a five-person distribution company (including Will and myself) before we took on more help. And we grossed $2 million on twenty screens—so it doesn’t take a lot of people. It takes dedication and a passion for your project.
Hybrid Distribution Model
There is a hybrid distribution model that is starting to take shape. This model combines three elements: (1) a self-distribution platform theatrical release, (2) traditional DVD distribution, and (3) online DVD distribution rights carved out for the filmmaker.
For example, if you make a film that doesn’t immediately get distribution, you may choose to do your own platform theatrical release, the way Betsy Chasse did with What the Bleep Do We Know!? While you’re doing your own platform theatrical release, you may decide to sell your own DVDs at the screenings, the way Bradley Beesley did with Okie Noodling. At this point, you will probably also want to sell DVDs from your web site or your CustomFlix site, to capitalize on the fact that you are out there creating a buzz doing public screenings. With all this in place, you are completely self-distributed.
Suddenly, a traditional DVD distributor picks up on all the buzz you’re getting, and sees that there is a market for your product, and that you are actually selling DVDs, and they want in on the action! But … you have a nice successful online operation going, and you don’t want to give up that revenue. After all, for every DVD you sell from your own web site, you could be pocketing between $5 and $15, depending on the selling price of the DVD. Once a DVD distributor picks up your film, you might make $2 to $3 per unit sold, at most.
So you are left with a conundrum. Whereas you always wanted a DVD distributor to offer you a deal, you also are enjoying the revenue that you’re making while self-distributing. The perfect solution is to negotiate in your contract with the distributor that you, the filmmaker, retain online-distribution rights to your film. This would have been unheard of a few years ago, but surprisingly, DVD distributors are realizing that they have to acquiesce in this area if they want to be able to acquire hot-performing niche films that are already out there collecting a buzz in the marketplace. Distributors are also realizing that a filmmaker who is heavily promoting a movie online will only help their retail sales in the long run anyway. So everybody wins.
I interviewed distribution strategist Peter Broderick, one of the industry pioneers of this concept. Peter contends that distributors don’t have a choice anymore; rather, they absolutely have to alter their business models to accommodate filmmakers in this area. Traditional DVD distributors will be more like retail partners in the future, and filmmakers will leverage the new technologies available to them and handle their own online distribution.
Another part of the hybrid distribution model that Peter has been instrumental in popularizing is known as “house parties.” Some filmmakers are taking their platform theatrical release to art-house and independent movie theaters. Meanwhile, others are choosing to do targeted screenings—house parties—in people’s homes.
A great example of this model is Robert Greenwald’s Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Robert really wanted to get his message out there, and knew how to find his target audience online. By galvanizing online support, he organized grassroots screenings at people’s homes all across the country. This built a tremendous buzz for his film. Robert ended up having somewhere around a thousand house parties, each with ten to fifteen people in a living room. Within a couple of months, he had sold a hundred thousand DVDs to people who bought them at the parties and from his web site.
Granted, the house-party strategy works very well with documentaries that lend themselves to strong grassroots opinions and campaigns—but you could also apply this strategy to a narrative feature if your film appeals to a core audience (e.g., surfers, teenagers, sports enthusiasts … whatever). Think about what groups people belong to online and how you can reach them. Then capitalize on that enthusiasm and organize screenings around it.
It almost makes sense these days to think in terms of what types of films could appeal to what groups online, and work backward from there. At least that way, you will always have the insurance of direct sales of your DVD online, and know that you’ll be able to make online revenue to pay back your investors. Even if a traditional distributor never picks up your film, you know you can do some grassroots promoting and selling all on your own.
Something else to think about is that while you’re out there doing grassroots screenings, building an audience for yourself, you may well be able to raise money for your next project. I know of a few filmmakers who, while showing their movies to a targeted demographic at private screenings, met investors who were interested in financing future projects. So keep your eyes open and be prepared!
Suggested Exercises for Part Eight
1. Sketch out your online-distribution plan. What does it look like, and what is the timeline for everything?
2. Post your trailer (or short video) to one of the web sites mentioned above. Link it to your web site. What kind of traffic are you seeing? And what can you do to increase the traffic and build buzz?
3. Call a local theater in your town or another city, and ask the theater owner what the requirements are for getting your film in for a theatrical release. This is practice in case you want to go with a do-it-yourself platform theatrical release. Familiarize yourself with the requirements for advertising, film format for projecting, fees involved, and so on.
4. Do some realistic sales projections for your picture based on a self-distribution plan. Include on-demand DVD distribution, online distribution, and a platform theatrical release.
My Very Best Advice to You
I have already covered ways that will help you find distribution for your film. As my parting words, I’ll give you a few final tips.
First, it’s important to have a good lawyer. I can give you all the advice in the world and fully educate you about the process of distribution; however, I cannot read your individual contracts. I can explain standard contracts in detail and tell you what to look out for, what’s normal, and what may be suspect (please see bonus section for this), but I cannot fully scrutinize each contract and make sure you have negotiated the best deal available. For this, you need a lawyer. An attorney will scrutinize your contract and make sure everything is in order and on the up-and-up.
Second, remember that film is a collaborative medium. When you start working on a movie, you’re in it for the long haul. The process of filmmaking does not end on the last day of post. The picture may be with you for years afterward while going through the distribution process, and you will need to take along several people on the journey. Even the truest auteur cannot do it alone. You are entrusting your film—and quite possibly your future—to certain individuals, and it is extremely important to build a team of collaborators you trust. These are people you may be working with for years, so carefully pick and choose whom you want to be working with, spending time with, and, most importantly, entrusting your film to.
Third, we all know that making a movie is hard work. Getting someone to buy that picture and put it out there for audiences the world over often can be even harder work. In some cases, you may find yourself in the following scenario: you’ve got a well-made, marketable film; you’ve considered the realities of distribution; you’ve gotten positive feedback from buyers and maybe even a few audiences—but you still have no sales. Please don’t give up.
As I’ve said before, the market is a fickle place. Keep in mind that your work may be in a genre that isn’t selling at the moment, or it may fall into a genre that’s been temporarily oversaturated. If you pay close attention to what’s selling at any given time, you will see that the market is a cycle. For a few months, closely follow what’s selling, You’ll begin to see a pattern develop. If you have a comedy that isn’t selling, hold tight and try to market it again at a time when comedies are hot. You may get a bite then. If you’ve got a thriller, a drama, a horror flick, or a film that falls into any other category, the same holds true. If you hold out just a little longer and wait for the market to come around, your luck may change.
The nature of the marketplace demands a heavy saturation of one or two genres at any given time. This strategy promotes healthy competition at the box office between distributors. Once there is a perceived oversaturation of a given genre, the cycle advances, and so on and so forth. Ever notice how a bunch of westerns all seem to hit theaters at once and then vanish? Or costume dramas? Or teen gross-out comedies? There’s a reason. Distributors are in fierce competition with each other. So if you happen to hit at the wrong time, remember that you may just be hitting at the wrong time—a few months down the road, things could be very different. That is just another reality of the marketplace.