Distribution
Filmmaking - Distribution
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VHX Launches Transparency Aggregate “Stats”
Last year, John Sloss volunteered the closely guarded VOD and digital returns on Escape From Tomorrow, daring his competitors to do the same for their release catalogues. Unfortunately, not much came of this Multi-Screen Gross transparency crusade, but VHX, the digital distribution platform, has now launched “Stats,” a regularly updated infographic that details revenues and transactions. “We’re big believers in transparency and knowledge-sharing,” reads the announcement, “and it’s time to put our money revenue stats where our mouth is.” An aggregate in the truest sense as it provides no insight into individual titles, “Stats” nonetheless offers an idea of how to best reach your audience. The page breaks […]
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Vimeo Launches Original Programming with High Maintenance Web Series
Following in the footsteps of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon et al., Vimeo has boarded the original programming train with its acquisition of 25 New Faces’ Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld’s wonderful web series High Maintenance. Sinclair and Blichfeld began posting episodes of the serial, which stars Sinclair as a pot dealer who services a rotating ensemble, on Vimeo last year. In an email, Blichfeld said the following of their decision to join forces with Vimeo, “We have full creative control (writing, casting, etc.) of our work, which is unique. The episodes can vary in length as well. Basically we get to do High Maintenance […]
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Case Studies and How Tos: Selling Your Film Abroad
In navigating the distribution market, many independent filmmakers channel their efforts toward domestic deals. While it is an understandable preoccupation, a new collection from The Film Collaborative entitled Selling Your Film Outside the U.S. offers some substantial insights on how to position your film in the lucrative territory of overseas VOD. In her section Carpe Diem for Indie Filmmakers in the Digital/VOD Sector, Wendy Bernfeld breaks down the differences in transactional vs. subscription vs. ad-supported VOD deals, and determines varying revenue shares for each. She looks at what does well with audiences and ventures how to connect your film to a platform […]
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How To Sell Your Movie at AFM: Unconventional Tips From the Moonshine Kingdom Team
If making a movie seems like a Herculean task, selling it can be even harder. You have to work festivals, industry contacts and many other avenues in the hope of finding a buyer. When Mooshine Kingdom‘s director Milton Horowitz and cinematographer Ryan Forte went to American Film Market (AFM), they decided to take a slightly different approach by going as exhibitors rather than as filmmakers. “I noticed that it said if you go as an exhibitor, you get access to the buyers list,” Horowitz says. “We thought, ‘That’s what we need, we need the buyers list.’” Though it was more […]
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Distributing the Cause of Dam Removal: Patagonia’s Push for DamNation
Arriving in theaters this weekend following its SXSW premiere is DamNation, Ben Knight and Travis Rummel’s ecological advocacy documentary supporting the removal of obsolete dams. Funded and distributed by Patagonia — and the winner of SXSW’s Documentary Spotlight Audience Award — DamNation and its release are a study, says Sub-Genre’s Brian Newman, in “how a brand can use film to create impact.” Newman is the film’s marketing and distribution consultant, and along with the company and other partners he’s implementing an innovative campaign employing Patagonia’s customer base, collapsed release windows, partnerships with affinity groups and the old-fashioned hustling of DVDs. […]
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Has Twitter Displaced the DVD Commentary Track?
At Medium, tech pundit and DVD commentary track lover M.G. Siegler has a good idea for Twitter: make Twitter live chats and comment streams replayable. Citing the fact that the great DVD commentary tracks of yore have gone by the wayside in today’s downloadable and streamed world (really, Apple, would it be so hard to provide a Criterion commentary track as an extra download?), Siegler suggests that director chats and even fan talkback be stored and then able to be replayed by new viewers watching films on their own schedules. Inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s live tweeting during his CNN Parts […]
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Joss Whedon Sells Directly to Fans Following Tribeca Premiere of In Your Eyes
Earlier this month, we ran an interview with Monica Peña, a first time filmmaker who capitalized on the festival premiere of Ectotherms by immediately selling the film on her website. Such a concept is spreading beyond no-budget land and into the distribution strategy of alterna-mogul Joss Whedon. Following last night’s world premiere of In Your Eyes at the Tribeca Film Festival, Whedon — the film’s writer/executive producer — announced that it was immediately available for rent on Vimeo on Demand. He did so not in person, but from the set of the latest Avengers installment, ensuring the tidbit’s viral-ability. Chances are, it’s working nicely. In Your Eyes is available […]
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When Filmmakers Dream: A Story of Attainable Success
When filmmakers dream, we dream big. And why not? Shoot for the stars, and hell, you might just get one to act in your next movie. While not every filmmaker has designs for commercial success, one would be hard-pressed to find one that would shun recognition and the opportunity to create more films and get paid to do so. Every young filmmaker would love his or her first film to win Sundance so they can be plucked out of obscurity, handed the keys to Hollywood, and asked to direct every episode of True Detective. And why the hell not? When […]
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Approaching Independent Film Distribution Like Booking a Band
One problem lower-budget independent filmmakers face when figuring out both financing and distribution is a paucity of data. VOD numbers aren’t publicly reported and once you get into non-theatrical distribution, those numbers usually don’t appear in any box-office reporting. As many, including us here at Filmmaker, have said, we need to share our data, whether that’s in public forums or among private collectives. One filmmaker who is doing the former is Paul Osborne over at Hope for Film. In an excellent post, he breaks down the revenue for the small-scale theatrical run for his feature, Favor, and compares it to […]
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Catering to an International Audience: The Case of Oppressed Majority
The New York Times recently ran a story on the newfound viral status of a 2010 French short called Majorité Oprimée (Oppressed Majority). The film depicts a day in the life of a schlub who goes about his duties in a parallel Parisian society where women reign supreme. While the daddies run day care, their wives run topless. The protagonist eventually shoulders his fair share of sexual harassment and abuse in an exercise that begins with a touch more subtlety. The majority of the article discusses arguments over the role of gender in France’s workplace, but also of note to filmmakers is the fact […]
