Case Study: S&M Sally
Courtesy of the filmmaker.
S&M Sally, the third feature in writer-director Michelle Ehlen’s trilogy of character-based comedy dramas dealing with gender and sexuality, was financed largely via crowdfunding and premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in June 2015 before going on to play more than 70 other fests, generating about $15,000 in revenue. For Ehlen, who has a devoted fanbase, festivals provide a kind of audience research: “Even if my films might land on the LGBTQ circuit, I try to go to bigger festivals, too. The festivals guide me as to how big a movie this is, how big the audience is, then I […]