by Nic Baisley.

The art of self promotion is a tricky thing. Take it too far and you can come off as egotistical, and leaning too far in the other direction will leave you toiling in obscurity. There is a fine line between “I think you might be interested in what I have to say” and “look at me, look at me, look at me”. So what can filmmakers do to build and attract the right audiences for their projects?

The term “right” is used because, while having hundreds or thousands of people supporting your career with words is a wonderful thing, having an audience that will actually put up hard-earned cash at the zero hour is another thing completely.

In the world of independent film, or to be exact, ESPECIALLY in the world of indie film, the community-at-large is very supportive of each other’s projects. One look at crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are great examples of filmmakers passing the buck from one project to another to help get each person’s respective films made.

Read the rest of this article from Mastering Film.

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by Anthony Kaufman.

Netflix was founded on the principle that it provided access to movies—all movies, including the most obscure indie titles. By promising to sell less of more, it was a new-economy poster child, a publicly traded argument for the long tail.

Today, it looks like Netflix is docking its tail with a more old-fashioned strategy: Give (most of) the people (most of) what they want. And while Netflix—and some of its suppliers—are quick to defend the company’s indie stance, it’s clear some smaller players are being pushed aside.

According to indie filmmakers and distributors, the shift began a year or two ago when Netflix changed their buying metric — the measure of how many DVD titles they purchase on individual films. One distributor says the company used to take smaller-title DVDs in relatively modest orders of 30-60 units, whereas they’re now focused on reordering only titles that can sustain hundreds of units. (Netflix corporate communications VP Steve Swasey won’t comment on the number of DVDs the company orders.)

Read the rest of this article from IndieWire.

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by Jen Yamato.

The indie filmmaking game (as in true-blue, studio-free indie filmmaking) has gotten to a point where even Francis Ford Coppola is following Kevin Smith into the great unknown of out-of-the-box distribution experimentation, but mumblecore vet Joe Swanberg (LOL, Hannah Takes the Stairs) has partnered with independent release label Factory 25 on yet another crazy idea: Selling four-film, one-year subscriptionsto his fans for $99.95 a pop, like a film version of artisanal foodstuff and wine club models.

“If I can find 1,000 people to pay $100 a year for four of my movies, I can keep making movies,” said Swanberg (via Filmmaker Mag). “This can be a sustainable way to make small challenging movies that don’t have to get into festivals and don’t need distributors.”

Read the rest of this article from Movieline.

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by Michael Oliveira.

Patrick Boivin can’t say his debut feature film, “Enfin l’automne (Fall Finally),” will be in theatres everywhere this weekend alongside other new movies including “Shark Night 3D” and “Apollo 18.”

But the Montreal-based animator and filmmaker says he’s excited to be screening his film for an even larger audience. He’s premiering it Sunday on YouTube, and proudly says his movie will be the first Canadian feature to be uploaded to the site.

While most filmmakers would probably be disappointed if their film debuted online, for free, Boivin says it’s the ideal way to launch his movie.

“Enfin l’automne (Fall Finally)” is the story of two best friends, performing artist Jack and cafe owner Jerome, who both have eyes for the same girl. Jerome gets the girl, with Jack’s blessing, and the ensuing story is an urban tale of normal everyday life, friendship and love. Most of the dialogue is in French, with English subtitles, although one character speaks English.

Boivin and his filmmaking partner Olivier Roberge sank $45,000 of their own money into the movie after getting a series of rejection letters from financiers. Although they had a minuscule budget to work with, it doesn’t show; it’s beautifully shot and has the look and feel of a studio-produced film.

Read the rest of this article from Winnipeg Free Press.

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by Sheri Candler.

Some may be aware that I have co-authored a book that is about to be released in a couple of weeks. It is a a book of case studies on recent independent films that have taken the road less traveled to the market and the cases run the gamut regarding subject matter and genre. Few of these films took the tried and traditional route of selling all rights to a distributor and hope they treat you well, pay a good upfront minimum and send regular revenue checks and accounting statements.

Most used either a hybrid approach to distribution (retained some ownership control over their work by splitting up rights with the most qualified distribution partners and reserving the ability to sell it themselves), a DIY approach (did not sell any rights to the work to outside distributors and have complete control over selling it directly to audiences) or distributed it for free using the global internet. They also used online tools and grassroots efforts to reach their target audiences rather than over reliance on large advertising and publicity budgets to get attention.

Though I didn’t write all of the chapters, I was part of the vetting process in choosing the cases. One of the main qualifiers was the ability to report numbers. We felt that there have been many books devoted to film distribution theory and deal brokering, but not many that dove deep into the revenue results and the budgets those results were based on. We were determined to get that information out as it is most useful in making business decisions for producing a film.

This resulted in many cases refusing to participate from the beginning or dropping out at the last moment, leaving us scrambling to replace them. I am proud to say that we believe we have accomplished our goal or providing independent filmmakers the world over with a useful resource about the current landscape of film distribution on which to base their business decisions.

Without further ado, here are 5 things I learned while writing this book

1) Myth and secrecy are rampant in the film industry. No wonder no one knows the true state of the industry or what to base their decisions off of! Filmmakers won’t talk (or their investors won’t let them) about how much is spent making their films because they are trying to get a sales agent or distributor interested in buying it and paying as much upfront as possible, but how can anyone possibly know what is achievable and what is fantasy?

Secrecy in the industry is probably not really a revelation to you, but by holding back information in the hope of sales that mostly aren’t materializing, it keeps anyone from really knowing what budget level films should be made at if recoupment is part of the plan. Solid decisions, both by filmmakers and by investors, can’t really be made if no one knows the truth, both about the budgets and about the profit.

2) A realistic budget level for indie films. In order for an indie film using a hybrid or DIY strategy to see recoupment and possibly more, the production AND marketing and distribution budget must stay low. Based on our case studies, that number is below $200,000. Films that went over this budget level were far less likely to recoup within the first 2 years of release, none of the cases over this amount in the book have recouped in full yet.

3) Marketing and distribution are the production’s responsibility and must be part of the budget. Many of our cases did not plan or budget for taking on this expense from inception and were caught in that familiar scene of thinking a distributor would be found and scrambling to make a plan and raise more money to implement it when low offers or no offers materialized. Over and over again our participants noted they could see now why it was important to think about this work, they remarked on how big of a job this is and that they would need to get some help on board much earlier in the process, and why a clearly defined audience was important to maximizing their efforts at reaching them.

4) Financial gain is not always the main goal. This was particularly true for the subjects of my chapter who are using file sharing sites to distribute work. Most of them were first time filmmakers and mainly they are interested in reaching the widest audience possible for the least cost and building names for themselves that could be used to get attention from the industry. Publicity and word of mouth play a huge part in this. Most of the time when filmmakers say they want to reach the “widest audience possible” what they mean is they want to make the most money possible.

Those 2 things do not always go hand in hand and it is especially so for complete unknowns. For filmmakers who have very little financial resources to reach wide audiences, it is better to spend as little budget as possible to make the content and spend a lot of time engaging with audiences and figuring out how to cost effectively distribute the work.

5) The importance of research before you sign with anyone. With the internet as pervasive as it is, there is no reason not to do your due diligence before you sign a contract, including research on sales agents and distributors. Don’t just rely on a company website to inform you of their reputations or a few media write ups of some well known films they handled. Really take the time to contact a cross section of their client accounts and see if you are getting the clear picture.

You should also know what all the terms of your contract mean and don’t be rushed to sign because your big premiere is happening. If you have someone on board who is solely responsible for the marketing and distribution of your film, have them get samples of contracts and really understand what you will be agreeing to, what you can negotiate, how you can terminate if the agreement isn’t being followed and how to protect yourself should the company go bankrupt.

I am proud to say that I believe we have accomplished our goal of providing independent filmmakers the world over with a useful resource about the current landscape of film distribution on which to base their business decisions. I can’t wait for everyone to read it.

Written by The Film Collaborative’s co-executive directors Orly Ravid and Jeffrey Winter in association with filmmaker/author Jon Reiss (“Think Outside The Box Office”) and social media marketer Sheri Candler, “Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul” will be released September 13 via Apple iBooks, followed by Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, a printed edition and free ePub version. The book is supported by Presenting Sponsors Prescreen and Area23a Movie Events and Official Sponsor Dynamo Player. Find it on Facebook and follow the hashtag #syfnotsys on Twitter.

This article was written by Jason Brubaker.

One of the most important filmmaking strategies you must adopt in this era of modern moviemaking is a long term perspective. In years past, filmmakers focused on making one movie, selling it and then moving on to the next movie.

While the idea of creating multiple titles over the course of your filmmaking career has not changed, it is now vitally important that you plan a series of movies from day one. The reason for this is simple. You are now solely responsible for the success of your movie business. And to stay in business, you will need to create a profitable library of titles that continually pay you.

Read the rest of this article from FilmmakingStuff.

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This article was written by Jason Brubaker.

As a filmmaker, you probably know the entire world of filmmaking is going through a massive paradigm shift. Much of these changes are a direct result of distribution.

Changes in the ways in which movies are seen and sold continue to raise questions within the independent film community. The most common filmmaking questions are: How will filmmakers raise enough money to pay cast and crew? And without traditional deals, how will filmmakers make that money back?

Read the rest of this article from Filmmakingstuff.

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This article was written by Paul Bond.

DVDs are so yesterday, judging by what’s happening with the company that made a fortune by stuffing them in envelopes and mailing them to subscribers nationwide.

Netflix users will watch more movies and TV shows streamed online than they will on DVD during the fourth quarter, the company said Wednesday in announcing impressive quarterly results.

Netflix said 66% of its users watched something streamed during the third quarter, up from 41% during the same quarter a year ago. Because so much content is viewed streamed, Netflix said it no longer will bother to report the metric.

Read the rest of this article from Next Media Source.

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This information is from Jon Reiss about the Los Angeles Film Festival’s “Seize the Power: A Marketing and (DIY)stribution Symposium.”

“Two weeks ago I wrote a guest post on Ted Hope’s Truly Free Film blog about the need to educate filmmakers on distribution and marketing their films.  This weekend the Los Angeles Film Festival is hosting a truly wonderful event which I am proud to have developed in collaboration with LAFF and Film Independent (with strong push and support from Ted):  Seize the Power: A Marketing and (DIY)stribution Symposium.

The Symposium is designed to focus on the nuts and bolts solutions to the current distribution and marketing malaise plaguing our industry.  The intention is to provide an introduction to a wealth of new tools for filmmakers (and all artists/media content creators) as well as strategic guidance from many of the key practitioners and thought leaders in our field.  It is an antidote to the concerns of too much talk talk talk on this subject with little true education.

In addition there is a non-public component that you can participate in via twitter.  I will be giving a distribution and marketing boot camp to the LAFF competition filmmakers Friday June 18th 9am – 12:30pm and 2:30pm – 5pm and Saturday June 19th from 9am-11:30am.  All times PST.   We will be tweeting bullet points on #totbo  We have done this in the workshops I have given in the past month – and we have found that people around the world start to participate and chime in – creating a global discussion around these topics.

The Symposium: Starting Saturday afternoon at 1pm – Ted kicks it off with a presentation on the need for the artist entrepreneur to encourage filmmakers to think expansively about their creative output in order to create sustainable careers.  This is followed by a plethora of service providers (from Orly Ravid of the Film Collaborative to Yancy Strickler of Kickstarter to Bob Moczydlowsky of Topspin) that we brought together so that filmmakers could learn the best ways to put these tools into practice in their own careers.

Sunday morning will kick off with a discussion between myself and Corey McAbee (The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam).  We will explore how he uses the new distribution and marketing tools and landscape to create a viable artistic career for himself.        Caitlin Boyle from Film Sprout will give one of her incredible introductions to grassroots audience development and distribution.  I am super excited to see Lance Weiler and Henry Jenkins on Transmedia.  (somehow Lance always has a way of frying my brain – in a good way).  The inimitable Peter Broderick will lead a discussion on crowdfunding,  Colleen Nystadt and Sean Percival will present different tactics for audience engagement.  The event will cap with one of those incredible Film Independent public case study examinations of two films:  Children of Invention and Bass Ackwards.

Last but not least – it will give filmmakers an opportunity to connect with each other and the presenters.  Come on down and introduce yourself, learn and contribute.

I hope to see you there.

Jon

Location:  Grammy Museum (downtown) June 19th 1pm 5:30pm – and June 20th 10am – 5pm

Hybrid Cinema

c/o 4th Way Fulfillment
1301 Maulhardt Ave.
Oxnard, CA
93030
US

This article was written by Carol Abedania.

“Effective and logical media planning on what medium will be used for film production is important. Use posters as a media planning tool for your movie. There are several considerations you need to consider when using posters to achieve desired results. These are mainly focused on the target audience and the poster ad as your medium of advertisement. Here are points you need to remember when deciding to use posters as media tool in promoting your film production.”

Read the rest of this article from Filmmaking Seminar.