remixable - posts tagged 'biz'

Saskia’s Guide to Producing: Understanding the International Market

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:11:43 GMT

This is a series of posts delving into the gory details of what it takes to produce an independent film. Covering the entire process — from development to fundraising, production, distribution, online strategies and beyond — they will be written in real time, from first hand experience, as I go through the process of producing a feature-length documentary.

UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET: INTERNATIONAL SALES AGENTS & THE EFM.

A few weeks ago I took my first trip to the European Film Market (EFM), which is hosted annually as a parallel event to the Berlin Film Festival.

My stated goal was try to gain support for a few film projects. But the moment I walked into the massive building that hosts the EFM and saw the teeming hive of people – all seemingly engaged in animated conversations with one another – I realized that this was no cozy, friendly, intellectual space. Indeed: The opposite. This was a place of Big Business.

Mulling over my approach & networking tactics, it hit me like a ton of bricks: I knew nothing of the ins and outs of the international film market, not to mention how to break into this group of long-established friends and colleagues without making an ass of myself. I had to learn, and quick. I immediately set about the task of understanding what I was dealing with – and getting a measure of my ignorance of the ins and outs of the international film business.

As far as I could gather, the EFM was composed primarily of the usual types of people we see (or hope to see) at most film festivals: Filmmakers, distributors & acquisitions execs, financiers. Rarer at the indie fests and of great interest to filmmakers hoping to go big, the EFM is also the hub par excellence of that shadowy group of people who negotiate rights and broker territory sales: International Sales Agents.

Sitting at their booths or at the market’s numerous screenings, meeting with filmmakers, exchanging notes in the café, it became very clear to me that the ISAs rule the roost at EFM. In truth, they are most often the first point of contact for big distributors looking to pick up new titles. These are people, in short, that every aspiring filmmaker who hopes to launch into the business in a bigger way should at least think about, new strategies for distribution and fundraising notwithstanding.

I broadsided one of these ISAs – shivering outside on a subarctic German afternoon. What follows, then, is a short interview with the very savvy Miriam Elchanan, the Senior Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions of Los Angeles-based Fabrication Films, explaining the world of the International Sales Agent in nine questions.

What do international sales agents do?

International sales agents represent feature films in the international marketplace. We are responsible for licensing specific rights to specific territories or countries. So for example, if you have produced a film and you have a North American distributor for the United States and Canada you would license the remaining worldwide rights to us. We would then license these rights to our buyers around the world. Our company offers established relationships with distributors and broadcasters and strategic marketing and promotional strategies.

What are the territories that you cover? What are the other territories?

Fabrication Films has buyer relationships in every country in the world. Major territories include Europe (UK , France , Germany , Benelux , Italy , Spain , Greece , etc), Asia (including Japan , China , Thailand , Indonesia , India , Malaysia / Singapore ), Latin America including Brazil, Eastern Europe including Russia, Australia , the Middle East, Turkey and Israel.

At what phase of the filmmaking process would you come in?

We prefer to get involved as early as possible in the production phase so that we can assist the Producer with creative and financial suggestions that will help bolster the value of their film in the global market. In many cases we become involved while a producer is in post-production or has just recently completed their film.

Do you deal with international presales for projects in development, ever?

Yes, however our decision to become involved in presales is usually strongly based on the cast and genre.

What do you, in particular, look for in the films you represent?

There are three things that I look for in an acquisition, the first is cast, the second is genre and the third is story/production quality. In the foreign market a film can be great but if it is a drama with no cast it will be extremely difficult for me to sell it. Action films traditionally are the easiest genre to sell and an action film with cast, great production values and a good story is a slam-dunk. However, I do keep my eye out for those special festival or art house films that have cache and documentaries that will speak to everyone.

What are some major no-nos, for you, from a creative point of view?

Films with a film industry story line can be particularly difficult. I am not a big fan of filmmakers who have their characters pull out a video camera in the middle of a scene and then go to a grainy gritty hand held shot.

I think there is a major difference between making a film for creative reasons and making a film that sells. There is a way to do both but you must consider who is going to buy your film when it is finished. A painter can paint an amazing piece of art but that doesn’t mean you would want to hang it in your living room and look at it every day.

It is the producer’s choice to make a film that is less mainstream and more for a specific group of viewers, but keep in mind the more you limit that scope the less return you will make on your investment.

How do you feel about the DIY strategies that many filmmakers are engaging in, in order to promote, distribute or sometimes even fundraise for their film?

I like the idea of DIY distribution. If you make a film for less than 100K you can get your film seen and build an audience for yourself.

This is much harder to do in the foreign market. Most foreign distributors do not want to work directly with a one-time producer. [Rather] they want to work with a company they already have an established relationship with. They know that I can competently negotiate an agreement with them, we will follow through and deliver the picture and provide the necessary legal and financial paperwork they need to fulfill their obligations.

Recently I was representing a film where the producer had sent a trailer and artwork of their film to a number of foreign buyers about 6 months prior to us taking the film to market. When we began meeting with buyers they would immediately retort that they had seen the film and passed. This was due to the fact that the producers promotional materials were subpar and were not up to the standards these buyers were looking for. When we presented our campaign [for the very same film], it was much harder to engage the buyer in a dialogue.

Bringing in professionals in most cases is the best strategy to getting the best return and the most successful release. I would recommend that a filmmaker make a decision from the beginning how they want to release their film and stick by it. If a DIY strategy does not go well, don’t be surprised when a more traditional sales agent or distributor [has no] interest in stepping in after the market has been saturated.

Just ask yourself this question, if I told you that I watched ER everyday would you let me perform open heart surgery? Just because you read Variety doesn’t mean that you can do what someone with 10-20 years of experience can do.

How do you find the titles that you represent?

We monitor the internet, festivals, social networking, attend industry events.

The best way to get your film noticed by a good sales agent or distributor is to have a well maintained website with good up to date contact information. If your film is listed on IMDB or other industry sites make sure the information is correct and that you provide as much information as possible.

Do you have any advice for filmmakers looking to work with an international sales agent? Anything they should watch out for?

I would look for a well-established company that has been around for at least 5 years and has a catalogue of films that are good quality. Many sales agents have a certain genre focus some focus more on family films some on horror. You might want to see what they have sold before to get an idea if your film is a good fit. Look for someone that you feel comfortable with and try to negotiate a deal that works for you.

I think there is plenty of paranoia out there when it comes to distributors and sales agents. Look at your film in the most realistic way. If someone tells you that they have a studio relationship and they can get you a deal but they will not put that in writing that means they will do their best but cannot guarantee anything.

If a sales agent is representing a huge film and it doesn’t make sense [in the context of] the rest of their line up, make sure that they are representing the major territories on that film — and not just Indonesia.

If a sales agent tells you that their estimates are realistic and those estimates are twenty times bigger than your entire production budget I would be concerned. However, if a sales agent’s estimates are smaller than what you hoped but are more like what you expected I would say – in most cases – they are the real deal.

Check out Fabrication Films here and if you are curious about the international scene, may I recommend the very excellent blog ‘Sydney’s Buzz’ on Indiewire.

Five Questions with Scott Macaulay

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 03:23:53 GMT

We had a chance to catch up with Producer Scott Macaulay (Raising Victor Vargas, Gummo) and editor of Filmmaker Magazine which has been supporting independent vision since 1992. This past week Filmmaker Magazine kicked off a special subscription drive. In an effort to support out friends at Filmmaker we’ve asked Scott a few questions about indie film trends, the future of Filmmaker Mag and what he liked in 2010.

What are some emerging trends in independent film that you find interesting and why?

Scott Macaulay: I’m not sure this counts as a new trend because it refers to people going back to doing what they’ve done before, but established producers going back to older, leaner and meaner production models is a good thing. As any producer knows, it can be hard to go backwards in terms of budget. It can also be hard to switch gears from a feature-film mentality to a web or transmedia one. You develop a crew base and that crew base gets older with more financial obligations and can’t do the low-to-no-budget thing anymore. And you get set in your ways too. Today, though, most of the best work is being done at the micro or very-low levels, and new platforms are just beginning to be explored by independent filmmakers. So, recently, you are seeing people like Ted Hope get involved with the kind of productions they started their careers with — in Ted’s case, it’s executive producing Sean Durkin’s Sundance-bound feature. I know I’m also beginning to open myself up to lower budget work than the $2 – $5 million films I’ve been involved with over the last few years. Another development that I hope will turn into a trend: filmmakers working instead of stewing in development hell. So many filmmakers in the ’90s sat around while waiting for their mini-major films to get green lit without a lot to show for themselves. There’s a new group of filmmakers for whom that kind of stasis is an anathema, and some established veterans too are figuring out ways to stay productive, whether through short films, blogging, webisodes, etc.

How do you see Filmmaker Magazine growing in the next year? Any plans to go digital?

SM: We’re working on a number of things, some we can talk about and some we can’t. We’re obviously figuring out the best way to get our print edition on the iPad and, following that, how to develop for mobile platforms apps that would appeal to our readership. (Interested mobile developers, feel free to drop me a line.) We should have a dedicated VOD page up soon — a monthly round-up of our picks. Our Sundance coverage will be a lot more extensive this year and will encompass daily newsletters throughout the festival. (Sign up for our newsletter here) We also hope to be involved with more events, including ones we do with the IFP, our parent organization. Also, I’m working harder these days to draw good writers to Filmmaker, both on the print and web sides. It’s really important to me that the magazine presents information that you can’t find elsewhere, and that our writers bring strong points of views to their pieces. I’ve been happy to have writers like Nicholas Rombes, Zach Wigon, Lauren Wissot and Mary Anderson Casavant contribute original web-only pieces, and I hope to develop our online roster even further in 2011. Beyond all of that…. we’ll see.

Any words of advice for filmmakers who are about to embark on making a new project?

SM: First, make sure your script is tight. If you’re working on a low budget, don’t waste time shooting stuff that won’t make your final cut. And by being rigorous about figuring out what that extraneous material is, you’ll make your screenplay a lot more focused and its drama clearer. As a related point, think about the scenes you want to spend your time and resources on. If you just let your A.D. do the schedule without much input from you, the nuanced scene you want to finesse with your actors may share a day with your biggest stunt. The converse is also true. Think about what you’re willing to let go of, or shoot in a one-r, if time is tight. Don’t fall into the mindset of thinking that every scene has to be realized with the same level of perfection. Unless you’ve got the kind of more leisurely shooting schedule that comes with higher budgets, you’ll wind up shorting the scenes that need time the most.

What’s in your playlist? What are you watching, reading, or listening to?

SM: One of my favorite books this year was Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget, which I’ve extolled on the blog and was recently happy to see selected by the New York Times as one of its Best Books of the Year. I think it’s essential reading for anyone interested in content, including filmed content, in the age of Web. 2.0 (and 3.0). I’m currently finishing Ander Monson’s “experimental memoir,” Vanishing Point. I’m about to start the book it’s usually linked to, David Shields’ Reality Hunger. This year I read books by Brian Evenson and Stephen Elliott. The latter’s was The Adderall Diaries, which James Franco just optioned. (I’m also a big fan of Elliott’s literary website, The Rumpus.) I recently finished Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. It doesn’t need any more praise from me, but it’s a gorgeous book, both bigger (in terms of its scope and ambition) and smaller (in terms of its intimacy) than I expected.

As I type this I’m listening to the new Kanye West, which I’ve become kind of obsessed by. While a lot of years what I listen to is pretty obscure, this year I liked most the two big mainstream works that reaffirm the value of the long-playing, thematically-developed album: Kanye’s record and Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. I recently downloaded Blix Bargeld’s anbb collaboration with Alva Noto. This year I also began to catch up with TV. I just finished Season One of “Mad Men” and have knocked off three seasons of “The Wire.” In terms of current TV, I liked “Walking Dead.” I recently saw the Abstract Expressionist show at MoMA, which is great, and there’s also an amazing iPad app for it that has a lot of the artwork as well as video interviews with the curators and other stuff.

Might be too early for a best of the year list but what are five independent films that shouldn’t be missed from 2010?

SM: These are both foreign and independent:
“The Oath” – Laura Poitras
“Carlos” – Olivier Assayas
“Exit to the Gift Shop” – Banksy
“Tiny Furniture” – Lena Dunham
“Daddy Longlegs” – Josh and Benny Safdie

Indie Film Capitalism #8

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:46:09 GMT

It’s been awhile! As politicians are heavily campaigning, attempting to add constituents money to their political coffers in return for “favors” or “supporting” their political agenda, there are many lessons to be learned on the fund raising front. Some of which I have done in the past and will be doing in the future.
PARTIES
I could cover a wall with the political meal invites I have received this season from my politician friends. Throw a party, EVERYONE loves a party especially if there’s a good reason. Over the years I have held cocktails parties, sit down dinners and “get canned with Zeke” (parties specializing in amazing canned beers) blowouts to raise funds for various film projects. Some have been successful, others not. The lessons learned: invited cast or a special guest, people need a reason to fork over their money and to get them excited. Know who you should be inviting. Aunt Lulu may not drink canned beer, she’s a draught sort of gal so invited her to the cocktail party featuring vodka X. Get brands or restaurants involved. People can identify with these things and they bring more excitement to the event. Don’t be afraid to ask just make sure there is some sort of return for them on their investment aka booze donation. Send out invitations, via mail, email, facebook events. The way you invite people should be a reflection of the type of event it is. I have raised as little as $380 to over $7,000.
CROWD FUNDING
There a couple of crowd funding sites out there where people can donate at various levels in return for perks. I really like indiegogo. They have an amazing tool kit and innovative ways to help artists achieve fund raising success. They’re also approachable and hands on. I plan on using them on my next project which I will be announcing very shortly. A friend of mine is currently using kickstarter for his innovative project the 8mm Film Project. My biggest suggestion; when it comes to crowd funding, give away perks that are unique and worthwhile and have a project that resonates with people. My wife and I were shocked when someone we did not know from California donated $500 to her Hand-Some Journey campaign.
THE ASK
Do not be afraid to ask for money outright. Send out a donation pamphlet describing your project and the different levels that people can support you. Remember fund raising is a campaign it’s an uphill battle and you need as many tool in your arsenal as possible. Be a little bold. If you believe in your project, you are the best salesperson to pitch your project and raise money for it. I have had politicians personally ask me for my financial support and I didn’t get much in return. Go to public events where you might run into people that you sent information to, follow up with them, ASK them.
SALES
Often times politicians will call on certain supporters to help them raise money by holding sales: bake sales, hunting trips, car washes, etc. Be different. Hold a Ballyhoo for a Kazoo sale! Sell kazoos outside your local supermarket. Kids will love ‘em and it will drive the shoppers crazy, thirty kids playing their kazoos in the store, imagine the sight. Really there are so many ways to sell things to raise funding.
LOCAL MONEY
Every town or city have different resources that could be used to tap into your fund raising efforts. Grants, scholarships, access to public equipment, etc. Make a list of things you will need in your budget and try to obtain the use of the item through your local community. Let’s say you need passenger vans, ask your local YMCA. You need a condor for a shot, ask your township maintenance department. It never hurts to ask and be creative in your ask, always give something in return.
I’m certain there are so many ways that politicians are raising money that we all can learn from. Over the next couple of months I will be writing about how I’m raising money for my next project. I know it isn’t going to be easy but I will share my insights and lessons as they are happening.

TCIBR: Ted Hope and Katie Holly on creative producing [audio]

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:37:10 GMT

TCIBR returns with a special podcast featuring Ted Hope (21 Grams, Adventureland) and Katie Holly (producer of One Hundred Mornings ). Topics covered include creative producing, community curation, making films you’re passionate about as well as what it takes to sustain as a filmmaker in today’s changing landscape. The WorkBook Project is proud to present One Hundred Mornings the winner of the WBP Discovery and Distribution Award. One Hundred Mornings opens Sept 16th at the Downtown Independent Theater in LA and will run for a week. Special thanks to our partners IndieFlix, Slamdance, The Downtown Independent Theater, Cinema Speakeasy, and CineFist.

TCIBR: Four Boxes a DIY thriller [audio]

Mon, 24 May 2010 20:04:12 GMT

With 40k in hand Wyatt McDill and Megan Huber set out to make a first feature on their own terms. Having spent a few years pushing a script through development hell they came out on the other side wanting to “just make a movie.” The end result is a DIY voyeuristic web thriller entitled Four Boxes

THE STORY: Trevor, Amber and Rob run Go Time Liquidators – an ambulance-chasing eBay auction business. In a dead man’s destroyed suburban house they start watching a bookmarked surveillance-cam website:fourboxes.tv. If fourboxes.tv isn’t just more internet BS, then a crazed creep they call Havoc is building enough bombs to, like, kill everybody in the U.S.

Designed to embrace and work within the confines of an internet experience the films stars Justin Kirk from (Weeds). Four Boxes enjoyed a festival run with stops at SXSW in 09 and has just recently returned from the Cannes Market. This fall Wyatt and Megan will stage a hybrid release of Four Boxes with a mix of touring, VOD, along with few special internet surprises. We caught up with the husband and wife filmmaking team to discuss the project and the freedom that can be found by working within your limitations.

Step into the world of Four Boxes

TCIBR: Four Boxes a DIY thriller [audio]

Mon, 24 May 2010 20:04:12 GMT

THE STORY: Trevor, Amber and Rob run Go Time Liquidators – an ambulance-chasing eBay auction business. In a dead man’s destroyed suburban house they start watching a bookmarked surveillance-cam website:fourboxes.tv. If fourboxes.tv isn’t just more internet BS, then a crazed creep they call Havoc is building enough bombs to, like, kill everybody in the U.S.

Step into the world of Four Boxes

Hosted Screenings – an interview with Sol Tryon

Thu, 13 May 2010 20:58:57 GMT

Recently, Ted Hope posted a list entitled 38 More Ways The Film Industry Is Failing Today the first point on the list focuses on building richer theatrical experiences.

1. We cannot logically justify any ticket price whatsoever for a non-event film. There are too many better options at too low a price. Simply getting out of the house or watching something somewhere because that is the only place it is currently available does not justify a ticket price enough. We still think of movies as things people will buy. We have to change our thinking about movies to something that enhances other experiences, and it is that which has monetary value. Film’s power as a community organizing tool extends far beyond its power to sell popcorn (and the whole exhibition industry is based on that old popcorn idea).

This and the other 37 points are definitely worth reading. They raise numerous questions while hinting at possible solutions. In relation to the first point that Ted raises I was struck by the fact that “Hosted Screenings” present an interesting option for those looking to roll something out in today’s theatrical market.

We had a chance to catch up with filmmaker Sol Tryon from Mangusta Productions to hear about his recent experimentation in the hybrid distribution world and how he and his team are working around a “Hosted Screenings” model for their theatrical releases.

What lead to your hybrid distribution efforts around your slate of films?

Over the past few years we have seen the independent film industry flip on it’s head. With the number of films getting big advances for all rights deals dropping drastically, it became apparent that in order to be independent filmmakers with sustainable careers we were going to have to know how to market and distribute our films ourselves. We began exploring and comparing the different options for self, hybrid and traditional distribution. Fortunately, there have been a few other filmmakers blazing these trails already giving us some points of reference to work from. For the most part though, these strategies are only being implemented as a one off sort of thing for specific films. Seeing this as a developing trend, we decided to try to shape our company around eventually being prepared to release all of our films ourselves theatrically. With that as the strategy, we have begun including a modest P&A (prints and advertising) budget into our production budget in order to finance a theatrical release. This puts us, the filmmakers, as well as the initial investors in a greater position of power when it comes to managing the distribution options. If one of the precious few large all rights deals comes our way, we can take it and just distribute the remaining funds back to our investors. If there aren’t any offers we are jumping up and down about, we have the ability to distribute the film ourselves in a way we feel it deserves. The ideal situation being that we develop this strategy for distributing our films to a point where other filmmakers and distributors want to work with us because they see the value we are able to add to a project.

Can you explain how you’re approaching theatrical and the results you’ve seen so far from your efforts?

Our first theatrical release was FIX (directed by Tao Ruspoli; starring Olivia Wilde and Shawn Andrews). We opened in New York and played for two weeks at the Village East. We generated a lot of press and saw a real tangible jump in awareness for the film. One of the most effective strategies we employed was setting up hosted screenings where we invited cast, crew, friends and influential personalities to take part in themed post-screening Q&A’s. For instance, we invited Daniel Pinchbeck, a proponent of hallucinogens, to participate in a discussion with Tao Ruspoli titled: “Drugs: Culture, Addiction and the Exploration of Altered States of Consciousness”. Pinchbeck promoted the screening on his Reality Sandwich blog which, combined with our promotional and marketing efforts, enabled us to sell out a Tuesday night screening.

With our two current films, The Living Wake and 2012: Time For Change we’ve continued in this direction. With 2012: Time For Change we partnered with Green Festivals (the largest green expo in the U.S.). They hold five events throughout the year (San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Washington D.C., and San Francisco again). We premiered the film April 9th at the San Francisco event where we organized panels on the green festival main stage featuring participants in the film and set up a booth to promote our screenings, build our mailing list, and sell merchandise. Outside of the festival, we booked a Landmark Theater for one screening a night for three nights. With the awareness we built up at the green festival and our grass roots marketing, we sold out all of our screenings and built a strong base of interest in the area for our film. Each night the film was followed by a Q&A featuring a different lineup of luminaries from the film. These events became great opportunities to bring together an eclectic mix of personalities into one space for unique discussions. The guests included Paul Stamets (Mycologist), Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation: Musician), Tiokasin Ghosthorse (First Voices Indigenous Radio), Richard Register (Ecological City Design), Barbara Marx Hubbard (Futurist, Writer), and many more.

We are continuing this approach next in Chicago and are expanding the idea in Seattle to incorporate a full one week theatrical run. The thinking is that Seattle is a great market for this film and with the green festival’s outreach, as well as the attention we received from our San Francisco event the time is right to explore taking things to the next level. We are also planning an event screening in NYC for early July with Sting, Paul Stamets, Ganga White, Daniel Pinchbeck and director Joao Amorim where we will be doing simultaneous screenings through several platforms and streaming the Q&A/panel discussion live after the film.

With our latest release, The Living Wake, we are collaborating with Dylan Marchetti of Variance Films on our theatrical bookings. We started by booking theaters in New York (May 14th) and LA (May 21st). From there we used those dates to build around with other cities. We currently are planning on releasing the film in Seattle (June 4th), Chicago (June 25th) and several other cities through June and July. We have also recently secured separate deals for the DVD and VOD rights, coordinating them both to be released on August 3rd.

Can you share how you design your self hosted screenings?

For our New York release of The Living Wake this week we have a total of twenty hosted screenings set up, and are planning to do the same in Los Angeles next week. Many of the screenings will be hosted by the Filmmakers and Cast members themselves (Sol Tryon, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike O’Connell, Jim Gaffigan), while others will be hosted by special guests such as Shirin Neshat (Women Without Men), Mark Webber (Explicit Ills), Cory McAbee (American Astronaut), Daniel Pinchbeck (2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl), Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness), and Jimmy Miller (Step Brothers). Several companies and film festivals we have screened at are also jumping in and hosting select screenings in support of the film.

Our goal is to create an event type of experience within the traditional theatrical format. The approach with each host is slightly different. Some hosts are trying to just promote us and our film by bringing people that they think would enjoy it to a specific screening. Others it works two fold for, where they are promoting us, but we are promoting them as well and it becomes a mutually beneficial experience. All of it though is targeted at creating a particular experience around each and every screening for the audience.

What tips would you offer for someone who is interested in booking their own event / hosted screenings?

Give people as many reasons as you can to go out and see your film. It’s hard to get people into the theater, it’s expensive, and you’re competing with a zillion other things so you have to work to make the experience unique and memorable. Form partnerships whenever and wherever possible with groups and individuals and help promote each other. Get as much advice from people who have done it before as you possibly can, but remember that Self and Hybrid Distribution is still very new, there are no set rules as to how it is done so be creative. Lastly, be prepared to work harder than you ever have. The only guarantee in going this route is that the fate of your film rests on you and how much work you are able to put into it.

What’s next and will you be releasing theatrically in more cities?

The Living Wake and 2012: Time For Change will be rolling out to more cities throughout the summer and fall. The next film on our slate for distribution is Being In The World, a documentary directed by Tao Ruspoli (Fix). This project we have been with from the beginning and are devising a strategy for a theatrical tour building on the experiences gained from Fix, 2012: Time For Change and The Living Wake, but gearing everything specifically for this film. We have also decided to work on supporting other indie films that we think deserve a theatrical release, but have not had the opportunity for what ever reason to make it happen yet. In that vein, we are providing the P&A financing for Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench to be released by Variance Films. We have a few projects in development and plan on continuing to do theatrical releases on our own films as well as others. Our goal is to work with filmmakers on establishing a sustainable environment for us all to continue creating the projects that inspire us.

Hosted Screenings – an interview with Sol Tryon

Thu, 13 May 2010 20:58:57 GMT

Recently, Ted Hope posted a list entitled 38 More Ways The Film Industry Is Failing Today the first point on the list focuses on building richer theatrical experiences.

1. We cannot logically justify any ticket price whatsoever for a non-event film. There are too many better options at too low a price. Simply getting out of the house or watching something somewhere because that is the only place it is currently available does not justify a ticket price enough. We still think of movies as things people will buy. We have to change our thinking about movies to something that enhances other experiences, and it is that which has monetary value. Film’s power as a community organizing tool extends far beyond its power to sell popcorn (and the whole exhibition industry is based on that old popcorn idea).

What lead to your hybrid distribution efforts around your slate of films?

Can you explain how you’re approaching theatrical and the results you’ve seen so far from your efforts?

Can you share how you design your self hosted screenings?

What tips would you offer for someone who is interested in booking their own event / hosted screenings?

What’s next and will you be releasing theatrically in more cities?

NEW BREED: The Crowd

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:44:36 GMT

By Gregory Bayne – As some of you know, I recently completed a successful funding campaign using Kickstarter.com to raise the initial capital needed to get my new film, Jens Pulver | Driven, an intimate documentary about legendary UFC Champion Jens Pulver, off the ground.

The end result of the campaign was $27,210 pledged, my goal was $25,000, via 410 contributors, in 20 short days.

Since the close of the campaign I have received a number queries as to how this was accomplished, especially since 72 hours out from my deadline, I was still $10,000 short of my goal.

I will attempt to explain my guiding principles, and overall approach to the campaign here. I also recommend reading the Kickstarter blog post on the project. In it they outline the ebb and flow of the funding, and I answer some specific questions in regard to the effort.

* Since what I accomplished has been commonly dubbed as ‘crowdfunding’, for clarity in this article I refer to the gracious funders of our work out there as ‘The Crowd’

BELIEVE IN YOUR PROJECT

When you put yourself out there in a very big, very public way, it is (in my humble opinion) key that you believe 110% in what you are doing. This seems obvious, I understand, but if you have browsed sites like Kickstarter.com or Indiegogo.com, you’ll find it is fairly easy to sniff out those that believe deeply in what they are doing, and those who are simply hoping The Crowd will magically transfer money into their bank accounts.

If you want The Crowd to invest in you, and yes they are ‘investing’ in you, then you need to be able to go to the mat for your project. That means you need to be able to explain clearly what it is you are doing, and why others should join you in your effort. You must engage and respond, consistently and reasonably, to both the positive, and the negative. And finally, you must understand that no matter what your project, you are the entry point. If The Crowd does not believe in you, they will not believe in, nor help fund, your project. Yes, you are now in the customer service business.

KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE

When approaching The Crowd, it is important to understand that there is not just one Crowd. There are innumerable Crowds, with innumerable interests. If you know what it is you have in your individual project, what inherent, stand out elements that would speak to your crowd, you will have an easier time a) locating your crowd, and b) attracting your crowd.

Again, this seems quite obvious, but if we are honest with ourselves, objectivity in regard to our own work is often hard won.

Just like in any other type of endeavor, you will not find what you are looking for if you are consistently barking up the wrong tree. So time invested ahead of time pinpointing your crowd, will save time later when approaching your crowd. That all said, The Crowd can respond in surprising ways, so it is important to remain both focused, yet open to all opportunities when reaching out to The Crowd.

ENGAGE & RESPOND

Forget playing it coy, you are no longer an ‘artist’, you are an ‘artist asking for support’, and by support, we mean money, so proceed accordingly. When you receive an email, answer it. When someone says something positive, thank them. When someone says something negative, engage with them, and by engage I mean address their concern. You will do yourself no favors by starting battles with The Crowd, potential or otherwise.

The Crowd, remember, are people. They are not faceless, nameless dollar signs. They are your supporters, your new friends, your audience, and your community. By the very act of investing in you, someone they likely have not met in person, they are very deserving of your respect.

RESPECT THE CROWD

The advent of The Crowd, exciting in its creation of new opportunities for us creators, is also ushering in a new era of responsibility for us. To remain a sustainable mode of funding, we must not only engage and respond, but we must follow through.

At base, this means simply delivering on the initial promise, but I think it goes much deeper. If we want The Crowd to continue with us in our future endeavors, to become the all important fan of our work, then we must go above and beyond, and deliver to them an experience that says, with our deepest sincerity, “Thank You!”

With DRIVEN, I have had just as many, if not more, project updates since the funding period closed. I have tried at every point, as time has allowed, to check in with my crowd, to provide them with updates on what is happening with the project, and to let them know how much I appreciate that they decided to be part of this project by making them part of this project.

IT’S NOT MAGIC

It’s simply not. There is no such thing as something for nothing. Say it. Out loud. Then say it again. It is work. Hard work. Dedicated work, to approach The Crowd, to ask The Crowd for their hard earned dollars, to transfer to them your belief in what you are doing, and compel them to act on that belief.

If you wish to embark in this type of endeavor, prepare yourself with the knowledge it will be a 24/7 campaign, and that the work will have just begun if you are successful in your efforts.

In closing, I would just say that my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, not just in the completion of my original goal, but in many unexpected ways. My project has been in the public eye from day one, and because of that, and my continued engagement with my incredible supporters, the form, function, and focus of my film have been shaped in very profound ways based on the immediate response I have garnered from The Crowd. I think it has made the work better, as I’ve been able to approach my production with a clear understanding as to exactly what my audience is responding to most. Also, I have been able to interact with, and exponentially build that audience from day one, which is simply incredible.

I wish all of those out there engaging The Crowd the best of luck in their endeavors. If you have questions, or further interest in DRIVEN, check out www.gregorybayne.com and get in touch.

EVENT: Join the Conversation at Columbia

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:17:10 GMT

On March 27th The Conversation comes to Columbia University. Started in 2008, The Conversation is a look at the future of filmmaking and how advancements in technology are enabling new opportunities for filmmakers. The program for March 27th is extensive and will bring together a number of innovative thinkers in the space. For more information visit www.theconversationspot.com

We had a chance to sit down with Scott Kirsner to discuss The Conversation.

Five questions about the Conversation

WorkBook Project: Can you explain why the Conversation and why now?

Scott Kirsner: We did the first Conversation event in the Bay Area, back in late 2008. There was lots of interest in doing an East Coast version, but it was tough to find the right venue, until Ira Deutchman at Columbia got involved and suggested we do it there. The time seemed right to bring people together to talk about digital distribution, social media, and all of the ways that the Internet and new technologies are changing the business of film and visual storytelling, creating all kinds of new opportunities (and also challenges, if you’re wedded to the traditional ways of doing things.)

2008 speakers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis of JibJab

WBP: What are some of the innovations that you’re seeing in the space that excite you most?

SK: I’m personally really interested right now in the way new set-top boxes like Roku and Boxee are making it possible for anyone to create channels and deliver digital content to viewers’ televisions. That seems like it could have a really positive democratizing effect on the media landscape. I’m also interested in the experiments people are doing with episodic video on the Internet, trying to find business models that will support it, whether it’s sponsorship, advertising, selling merchandise, or eventually collecting the series on a DVD.

WBP: In your opinion what are the most pressing issues today for filmmakers or others working in the digital content space?

SK: There are three big issues, I think: what are the new forms and formats that are emerging, and how can you tell compelling stories within them; how can you continually expand your audience, and connect with audience members in meaningful ways; and how can you generate a solid financial return on what you’re doing?

WBP: What are some of the topics of discussion for the Conversation?

Using Twitter effectively as a filmmaker…creating content especially for the Internet…talking about films that have actually done well in digital channels…and Peter Broderick is doing a workshop about how to carve up the rights to your film (DVD, TV, digital, theatrical, etc.) to generate the most revenue.

WBP: What do you hope comes out of the Conversation?

SK: Well, as with the last one, I hope there’s a lot of spontaneous things that happen on the day of the event that we haven’t planned in advance. We have these opportunities to lead lunch discussion groups, so you can literally just jump up and declare that you want to talk about promoting your film at festivals, or getting lots of YouTube views, or whatever — and have a group coalesce around that. Another big goal for The Conversation is to bring together people who’ve actually been pioneers in lots of different areas, so they can share their stories about what has worked well for them — and what hasn’t. I think this event, like the DIY Days gatherings that you run, and like The Workbook Project itself, is really about giving people the information and tools to be smarter pioneers, and smarter businesspeople in this new environment we’re in.

CULTURE HACKER: Moving Filmmakers to a Transmedia Business Model

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:30:44 GMT

By Robert Pratten – I’ve been working with two entertainment properties and a media start-up the past couple of months and I wanted to share the business models I developed to explain where we’re heading.

Here’s what we already know: pulling in an audience is tough but pulling in finance is tougher.

The Old Days

In the “old days” – as shown in Figure 1 – raising finance was what you did first. You needed that money to make the movie and then you’d sell the movie to a distributor whose job it was to sell it to the audience. Hell, you might even get presales in which case you’d killed two birds with one stone.

The important point from this is that as the filmmaker you only had to convince a limited number of people (investors) that you had a movie worth making (because it would make money). You didn’t have to convince them it was worth watching.

One reason you didn’t have to prove you had an audience waiting to see your movie was because it couldn’t be proven. Instead, one might use (often bogus) comparisons with other movies and of course, whenever possible, outliers like The Blair Witch Project or Fahrenheit 911 or Sideways etc.

When the finished movie failed to find an audience it was the distributor’s fault. They didn’t know how to position the movie correctly. They didn’t spend enough money on P&A. The box art was crap.

Figure 1

"Old" Filmmaking Model

Having worked with our distributors in some markets and selling directly at some horror conventions, it’s very sobering to get a firsthand experience of audience expectations.

Me: It’s about love and sacrifice and how you don’t notice you’re onto something good until it’s gone.

Horror fan: Great. How much T&A is there?

The New Model

When MySpace, Facebook, YouTube etc. arrived it became possible to raise awareness of the movie and start building an audience before the movie was released. But still it felt like something peripheral to the marketing of the movie. The audience building was an industry-side activity that you could take to the distributor with your one-sheet and your reviews: look we have several thousand fans. Most of whom in all likelihood were other independents flogging a movie or a book.

Today, most filmmakers – maybe not Culture Hacker readers – but most filmmakers still have the mindset towards social media that it’s a new spam tool. Look, now I can pester people to be my “fan” and I can get them to pester their friends to be my “fan”. Please Digg me up. Please Stumble on me. It’s the worst kind of networking: “please help me” they bleat.

Worst still are the crowdfunders: “please give me money”. I’m not against audiences paying upfront – as with the Kickstarter model – so it’s not the principle, it’s typically execution I have a problem with. And I totally believe in the power of social media but I don’t like it when it’s so often used in an unproductive, disappointing way.

So enter the new model of filmmaking as shown in Figure 2:

there’s a genuine affection… nay, anticipation… between the audience and the movie
the affection is leveraged to pre-sell to the audience while still raising finance in the traditional way
when the movie is available for viewing, it might be that only a subset of the audience will pay for it. So they’ll be simultaneous free exhibition and sales.

At this time it’s hard to believe that serious money is going to be raised to finance a movie through crowdsourcing. Some money? Maybe. Millions? I doubt it. And so for expensive feature films there’s still a place for large-ticket or savvy investors. Please forget about Obama’s fundraising blah blah blah. It’s an outlier. And where’s his socially networked audience when he needs them to fight for healthcare? They’ve gone missing. Maybe Obama’s massive email list isn’t really his personal fan base? Maybe the people on that email database were fans of his first movie but don’t like his second?

What this says as to us as filmmakers is that we’re going to be only as good as our next movie. Don’t expect your 1000 mythical spending fans to follow you from movie to movie regardless of what you propose to make.

Figure 2

"New" Filmmaking Model

My point is that independents are going to have to start audience building early and prove that there’s an appetite for their movie. And so this brings me to my final model.

The Transmedia Model

Raising awareness and audience building is tough. It’s tough enough when you have a finished movie but try doing it for a movie that’s yet to be made.

And that’s why I think we’ll move to a transmedia model for filmmaking in which the filmmaker uses his own money to make some (low-cost) content to build an audience ahead of doing anything else.

There’s long been a school of thought that says to get finance for your feature you should shoot the trailer or shoot a short film based on the feature. I know this can work but I’ve never been a fan of this approach if only because I know finance is most often raised without it. Amazingly though this week, as I write, this short film Panic Attack secured a movie deal.

What transmedia storytelling offers however is not the Cinderella story of “big investor swoops to finance movie” but a genuine, low-cost, grass-roots audience building.

Right now, (online) comic books seem to be the order of the day – offering an excellent way to engage audiences in the story and show some visual flare or at worst nice eye candy to grab attention. But there’s lots of untapped potential for simple social games utilizing Twitter and social networks without the need for coding: we just don’t have enough reference cases to illustrate all the possibilities yet.

A small word of warning: the content has to have value. It can’t be a trailer or marketing fluff – you have to produce the real McCoy if you’re going to capture audiences.

Transmedia Filmmaking Business Model

In the transmedia filmmaking model, the financing, exhibition and fundraising work together in tandem with the potential for the feature film to become self-funding. Remember that it’s not all for free! Free is your loss-leader to generate the money. Even if it’s “real content” you might still effectively look at it as a marketing cost – it can help to position it in this way to investors. And note that what’s free and what’s paid will be in flux – maybe changing over time and from media to media.

So in the ideal scenario the filmmaker bootstraps the movie with the low-cost media, the website, presumably some merchandise but then it’s up to the audience to decide what happens next. The filmmaker will use a basket of financing initiatives: free, pre-paid, paid, paid+, investment and sponsorship (including brand integration/product placement) to finance the movie. [Paid+ is where buyers can opt to pay more than the base price – usually via a drop-down menu of price points.]

This model has several implications:

If you do it right they’ll be demand for more content… which maybe you can’t afford to make in the early days. Or at least can’t afford to make alone. And that’s why collaboration of all kinds is important to the indie – with audiences and with other filmmakers. Collaboration platforms like Wreakamovie are going to save the indie.
Sponsorship in the form of cash (rather than products for free) from brands won’t solely go to properties with big audiences. If your story reaches the audiences that other marketing finds hard to reach then that’s going to work too. The one significant problem I can see is that few brands want to be associated with edgy content… unless it’s “edgy” in the Green Day plastic-punk, manufactured sense rather than the raw, authentic Poison Girls/Flux of Pink Indians edgy. Counterbalancing this is fans who may appreciate that you’ve rejected the brands… maybe
Filmmakers are going to become familiar with audience needs and they’ll learn how to captivate them. It won’t be anyone else’s fault that you don’t have an audience. There’s no opportunity to finish the movie and then throw it over the wall to someone else to find the audience for it
Free media is a feeler gauge: collect comments, listen to feedback, evolve the feature to meet the audience expectations
It’s going to be a long commitment to the audience so be sure you pick a story you really want to tell. Indies that follow this transmedia model will be offering an evolving service rather than a one-off product and that means audiences become customers that need to be listened to, responded to, cared for and managed
If you perfect this evolving transmedia ecosystem you may ask yourself if you still want to make a feature after all.

A final sobering thought: I know we’d all like to believe that story is king but audiences will only discover the story if you hook them in. Don’t expect anyone to delve deeply into your storyworld looking for brilliance. You have to provide “satellite media” that orbits the core: it’s easy to digest and looks cool or fun. Celebrity cast or crew and genre are going to get attention and convey credibility – just as they always have.

I’ve illustrated this in the figure below where I’ve taken the sales funnel model and used it to illustrate how you want to pull in audiences, turning casual interest to hardcore repeat purchases.

Matching Content to Audience Commitment

To summarize then, filmmakers will move to transmedia storytelling because it’s going to be the way you build audiences. And building an audience will unlock the financing – either from fans, sponsors or investors. But it’s going to demand new skills.

For more visit Culture Hacker

Robert Pratten is an award-winning feature film director, writer & producer that has been fighting the need to return to his marketing consultancy roots since Internet piracy stole his livelihood. Robert has advised international telecoms operators and vendors such as Nokia, Ericsson, Lucent, Telia and Telmex and now divides his time between filmmaking and advising media tech start-ups and producers. Fortunately, he enjoys both. He writes a popular blog on movie production, marketing and distribution at www.zenfilms.com

10 Lessons Learned – The New Year Parade

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:44:40 GMT

By Tom Quinn – In the fall of 2003 I began work on The New Year Parade with my co-producer, Steve Beal. Steve was a high school biology teacher with no film background and I was the building AV tech who would stop in at lunch to talk about my screenplay, which followed a South Philadelphia family through the first year of a divorce. It was loosely based on interviews I had filmed with friends about their parents’ divorces and set against the backdrop of Mummery, a centuries old tradition in South Philadelphia where the working class holds a parade on January first. The film concept was not entirely practical: in addition to the core cast we would need a hundred musicians in costume, thousands of extras, and permission to close Broad Street to film the parade sequences.

A Bit of History
The Mummers began strutting during pre-Revolutionary times and grew until the city organized an official parade in 1901. Popularity peaked in the 1960’s when thousands upon thousands would crowd the streets and bands like Quaker City and Ferko were nationally known. Like the rest of the country, the Mummers have been hit by hard times and the city was forced to cut funding in 2008. This past year, Philadelphia natives Kevin and Michael Bacon got involved with the Save the Mummers foundation www.savethemummers.com, organizing a Bacon Brothers benefit concert on December 5.

Lesson 1: Turn Your Perceived Weaknesses into Strengths

When Steve and I told friends about our script, they thought we were crazy: We had no money to speak of and could not afford seasoned actors, permits to shut down Broad Street, or props and costumes to create the parade. Inspired by Jim McKay’s Our Song we approached The South Philadelphia String Band to see if they would permit usage of their club and costumes for two weeks. Instead, we were welcomed in for three years as the band acted in the film; incorporated our cast and crew into rehearsals; gave us old costumes and keys to their club; and obtained press passes so we could shoot the 2005 Mummers parade with five cameras. Before we began shooting, I joined the Mummers’ Grapevine (a message board for members) and submitted sections of the script for feedback. We were also fortunate enough to work with The Quaker City String Band who acted as South Philadelphia’s chief competitor in the film. Because of the community’s endless support our film captures the Mummer world to an unprecedented degree.

Lesson 2: A Small, Dedicated Group Can Do Wonders

While we were fortunate to have a few professional young actors aboard, the majority of our cast had never acted before. To build the nonactors’ confidence we spent four months rehearsing and rewriting the script – shaping it to their personalities. Many scenes were shot as long improvisations, riffing off the screenplay while allowing the cast to tap into their own raw feelings and experiences. To keep our costs down, we filmed on nights and weekends over the course of three years while most of the team kept their full time jobs or were enrolled in school. This was a tremendous commitment for all involved – particularly the cast (who could not cut their hair for three years). For instance, Jennifer Welsh was in college and working full time while Greg Lyons moved to LA when his band Eastern Conference Champions was signed. Despite their busy schedules, the entire cast was professional and focused – always ready to perform, dress the sets, or pack up gear. Our crew was very small: typically the ever-talented Mark Doyle would run sound, light the set, set up the video monitor and occasionally act. Meanwhile, I shot and worked with the actors. On larger days we were lucky to have one or two extra hands (including the extremely loyal PA Grant Gaudry), but the crew was never more than five. It was a wonderful atmosphere and really did feel like a family by the end.

Lesson 3: You Don’t Need $$$ to Connect With An Audience
By 2007, we had shot 160 hours of tape, including 80 hours of documentary footage of Mummer practices, parades, and concerts. Our cut was progressing slowly when we were accepted into the amazing IFP Narrative Rough Cut Lab. Coming off the Lab we hit the pavement with new momentum and premiered at Slamdance in 2008. To our surprise we were awarded The Grand Jury prize for Best Narrative and followed it up with a great week at SXSW and 7 additional festival awards. 2008 ended with a Gotham Award nomination for The Best Film Not Playing in a Theater Near You, which brought the film to MOMA for an exclusive run. All of this for a film that was shot on digital video for $7,000!

Lesson 4: Find Passionate Partners
Steve and I briefly considered a theatrical run to coincide with the 2009 parade, but knew our release would benefit from time to plan. Fortunately, Carnivalesque Films were interested in releasing a DVD. Carnivalesque is a fairly new independent label we’re pretty psyched about. They are releasing exciting independent work like Mardi Gras: Made in China, Orphans, and Woodpecker. Owners David Redmon and Ashley Sabin are both filmmaker friendly and very hard working. We decided on a November 24 release to coincide with “Mum Season” in Philadelphia and began work on the DVD design and content.

Lesson 5: Create a Final Product With Audience in Mind
Based on our festival experience we felt there were three core audiences who would buy the DVD: Aspiring filmmakers, Mummer fans, and family counselors. Our aim was to create a DVD they would want to own rather than rent so we created eighty minutes of bonus features we thought they would enjoy. For aspiring filmmakers, we shot interviews with most of the major cast and crew and cut a “Making Of” that is unusually detailed for a low-budget film. Our hope was that, by including footage of auditions, rehearsals, and deleted scenes, other filmmakers could learn from our successes and failures.

I spoke to the friends I interviewed before shooting the film, and they were all supportive of including their discussions on divorce. During our festival run we had met many family counselors who thought the film could be useful to their profession because it explored the problem in a realistic way. We also met so many wonderful people, from the 68-year old woman in Ashland, Oregon to the 20-year old in Torino, Italy who had experienced divorce first hand and connected to the characters’ experiences. My hope had always been to generate discussion about divorce because, while it is a topic we often consider understood, many people have unresolved feelings toward it.

Finally, we created a “Behind-The-Sequins” section of the DVD, which provides a glimpse into Mummery. Everywhere we have screened, people have wanted to know more about the Mummers. We reached out to The Mummers’ String Band Association, who provided oral history interviews they had taped. We included three that related to the film. We also shot a History of The South Philadelphia String Band as a thanks for all they had given. The short documentary piece covers the band from their inception in 1946 through present day and includes interviews with 14 members, including Jim Donaghy, who had been their highly respected captain for 30 years.

For design, we turned to Matt Hanemann, a Philadelphia based designer and musician who had created our poster artwork. We both felt the design needed to be recognizable at a very small size as the DVD would often be a thumbnail online. Matt shifted the proportions from the poster concept to create greater emphasis on the title and created a beautiful back cover full of quotes and images. For the inside booklet, we used a photo from Charlie Roetz, a mummer from Quaker City String Band who tells the real story behind the photo in the film. Finally, we were fortunate to have Steven Rea, a respected critic with the Philadelphia Inquirer, write our liner notes.

Lesson 6: Theaters Will Work With You
To build awareness for the DVD release, Steve and I booked a theatrical run in Philadelphia through Landmark Theaters. We had reached out to Landmark in February and while they loved the film, they had concerns as to whether we could fill the theater for a week. Steve continued the conversation all summer while we simultaneously reached out to our press contacts in the Philadelphia area. Throughout our festival run, we had been contacted by reporters interested in a story, but we asked them to hold off until a release. We asked if they were still interested and went back to Landmark with confirmations from The Philadelphia Inquirer, City Paper, Daily News, and Philadelphia Weekly. In early October, they agreed to open the film on October 30 at their Ritz Bourse Theatre with five screenings per day. This all proved….

Lesson 7: Print is Not Dead
When Landmark first requested we buy an ad in The Inquirer we wondered whether that money could be better spent online. So much has been written in the past few years about the death of print and we did not have the funds to waste. Yet when it came time to premiere the film we found a very high percentage of our audience had discovered the film in print, despite a heavier online presence. The best answer I have is that the print audience is a paying culture and more likely to go to a theater and purchase a ticket whereas the online folks appear rabid at times, but may be more likely to wait for DVD on Amazon, Netflix, or bit torrent.

Lesson 8: Regional Filmmaking = Regional Release
Since we only had 4 weeks to promote and $300 left for P&A, Steve and I began work on a grassroots campaign to build awareness. We printed 200 mini-posters and I e-mailed the 18 string band presidents. Over the next 2 weeks I visited every club I could to talk directly to the members about our film. Meanwhile, Steve connected with Save The Mummers, who began promoting the run through their website (in exchange, we donated a portion of our Saturday night box). I also cut a new trailer geared toward the Philadelphia region, which featured the Vet and more obscure Mummer references. In the two weeks prior to the premiere our Facebook fans went from 220 to 2000! The excitement was electric!

Lesson 9: Free Beer Can’t Hurt
To kick off our run, Steve organized an event at Top Hat, a bar within walking distance to the theater who offered a free beer to each ticket holder. Then, 2nd Street Annie’s (owned by one of the Mummers in the film) offered a free drink to any ticket holder all week! Finally, we paired up with the amazing marketing agency 95 North, who sponsored a free happy hour mid-week! There, we projected bonus materials from the DVD, had a chance to meet fans of the film, and 95 North auctioned off free tickets to the screening! All of these events gave the audience a chance to interact with the cast and crew, and to meet other fans of the film.

Lesson 9: An Event Brings Press & People

After a year of traveling without The South Philadelphia String Band we were thrilled to include them in the premiere. Nobody brings a good time like the Mummers and this was certainly the case as they piled off the bus to play outside the theater.

Within minutes a crowd had gathered and was dancing in the street, cars were stopped, and the press showed up. Fox 29 interviewed me as the band played in the background, and then shared the footage with other area networks! Afterwards, three members from the band participated in the Q&A with the cast, allowing the audience to learn more about Mummery and their unique involvement in the film first hand.

Lesson 10: The Yankees Hate Independent Film
We knew from the get go it would be difficult to go up against Halloween, but never expected the Phils to be playing The World Series that weekend. It was tough competition, but fortunately our grassroots campaign paid off and Landmark extended the film for a second week! Word of mouth began catching on beyond the Mummer and art house crowd that second week and many new fans were disappointed the run ended before their friends could make it. All in all, the theatrical run brought in $6,766.50 on one screen and 1900 new Facebook fans just in time for the DVD release!

So Now What?
Our DVD was released through Carnivalesque Films this week and sales have been incredible! Netflix is backed up and word of mouth has been crazy good. We never expected any of this and are thrilled by the results. I’m especially grateful for the e-mails, hugs, and handshakes I’ve gotten from Mummers in Philadelphia thrilled to see their tradition respected and taken to a larger audience. Meanwhile, Carnivalesque has been helping with additional theatrical events. Next up is a week at Facets Cinematheque in Chicago from December 11 – 17.

When not wearing the many hats of distribution, I’ve begun working on a new screenplay set in the suburbs of Philadelphia where I can apply these 10 lessons. I look forward to learning 10 more.

Tom Quinn’s debut feature, The New Year Parade, was selected for the IFP Narrative Rough Cut Labs, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative at Slamdance, and was a Gotham Award nominee for “Best Film Not Playing in a Theater Near You.” Tom has been listed one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine and “Ten Young Writer-Directors to Watch,” by MovieMaker Magazine. He was fortunate to be the first American filmmaker accepted to the Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab and is currently working toward his MFA at Temple University.

The making of a STRONGMAN

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:23:50 GMT

With DIY DAYS LA kicking off in a matter of days we asked Zachary Levy to share some insight around the making of his latest doc STRONGMAN. The project centers on Stanless Steel, The Strongest Man in the World at Bending Steel and Metal. From start to finish the process has taken 10 years to reach the screen and along the way Zachary has made some interesting pit stops. One of which lead to some unlikely financial opportunities.

By Zachary Levy – I started STRONGMAN in the summer of 1999. I remember thinking at the beginning that there was the potential for a really great film here, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to spent the next *year* of my life making it. That’s the first lesson, I think. A certain amount of ignorance is sometimes really helpful. Had I known just how long the road was going to be, I might have chosen not to take the first step. That’s also the second lesson for me–things can often take longer than you thought and when you’re working by yourself, it’s easy to think that it means you are moving in the wrong direction. It’s useful to check your bearings every once in a while, but trust your internal compass. Don’t waste time beating yourself up about the time it is taking, the road you choose will get you somewhere.

The film was very much a DIY affair from the beginning. I was borrowing a camera, sound equipment, constantly scrambling to teach friends how to do location sound and renting cars to get to my subject’s house. I had saved some money from my day job as a cameraman, but that ran out pretty quickly. I turned to my credit cards. That was also a lesson for me – be willing to make an investment in yourself. This is a tricky lesson because of course you don’t want to take on debt blindly. But if you think of yourself as a business it can be helpful to realize that many business do take out loans to grow. As much as debt is a risk, there is also risk in underfunding yourself.

After filming my subject for 3 years, I was about $40,000 in debt and pretty tired. I still believed deeply in the film, but wasn’t really sure how I could move forward. I felt I reached the amount of debt that I could justify to myself as a business decision. I needed to take a break and regroup both in terms of my financial situation and my energy.

Then came the cards. Like a lot of people when the Iraq war started, I was angry and upset. I’ve always been a person who gets lots of ideas and when I saw the government’s Most Wanted Deck – one hit me. I could make a deck that would be a parody, one that had 52 of Bush’s administration.

It wasn’t about making money for me, so much as saying something I thought needed to be said at the time. But it’s another lesson, I think, as much you want to be extremely focused and disciplined when charting a DIY course, you don’t want to have total blinders on to the world. Keeping another project or other ideas on the back-burner can actually help you be more flexible and give you valuable perspective on other things that will help you in the long run.

My gut said to do this and my debt load actually became an asset to me. Had I had a little money, I might have been afraid of losing it, but having no money, I really felt like I had nothing to lose. So I put another $10,000 on my credit card and printed 2500 decks of newly named Bush Cards. I hesitate to recommend anyone jump on the next get-rich quick scheme as a way of financing their films, but I think maybe the lesson here is if you believe in something, if it resonates with you strongly, you can trust that there will be other people who it will also resonate with as well.

The cards were a huge DIY hit. I was running the whole business from my apartment. One room was my office and the other was the warehouse. I remember at one time having about 20,000 decks of cards sitting in my living room. Over the course of 5 years, I sold over 300,000 decks. I got large press articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker. The cards even wound up in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. I learned so many lessons from the cards. Just doing the nuts and bolts work well was a huge asset. When it came to making and selling the cards It meant shipping them quickly, making sure they would be in a place where customers could see them, being persistent with sales calls and follow-ups. None of it was rocket science or fancy marketing advice. Doing the work consistently became its own marketing, as it got the cards in front of people in an immediate way that advertising never could have. Over the course of 5 years, I spent maybe a total of $150 on advertising. Another lesson-people hear about things in a variety of ways. There are a lot of traditional exhibitors out there who think advertising is the primary route for getting people to the theater. From the cards, I am not so sure. I think it helps, but only if people already know about something. The key thing is getting people to know about it.

Flash forward–the success of the cards allowed me to have enough money to get out of debt and bought me the time to finishing the film. It also gave me a big taste of what is possible by going a DIY route.

STRONGMAN kicks off a nationwide theatrical release at the Downtown Independent Theater in LA on Nov. 27th.

How to Actively Support the Music you Love

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:53:44 GMT

thanks futureofmusic.org – Today’s post is by Brian McTear, co-founder of Philadelphia’s Weathervane Music Organization– a nonprofit community that works with independent musicians to support and advance their careers. Weathervane’s efforts revolve around a program called the Weathervane Music Project Series: a curated series of audio and video recordings featuring the artists, their music and artfully produced video of the actual recording sessions.

When some people think about the lives of musicians, they may still imagine wild parties and fancy sports cars. There may be a party from time to time, but for most musicians, pursuing their art isn’t exactly the fast track to a life of luxury. With the traditional music industry in a state of what could safely be called disarray, there isn’t a ready-made recipe for sustainable careers. The good news is that people still put their hearts and souls into making music, and there are still plenty of fans out there that want to support creators. But what’s the best way to do so?

With so many things in flux, it’s not always easy to know which method of fan support will have the biggest impact. That’s why we figured it might be useful to take a look at some of the ways you can support your favorite artists and how it can positively impact those musicians’ bottom lines — directly or indirectly.

Go see your favorite bands play live. In the music industry, an artist is rarely handed money directly. In pretty much every other situation, a band gets its cut of revenues only after everyone else in line is paid. (And that can be a long line!) But when it comes to playing live, most get paid right when the night is over. Because of this I say that if you are friends with a band and they offer to put you on their guest list, you should… Decline! Pay instead! You will show your class in spades.
When you go see shows, buy hard copies of your favorite bands’ music. Most smaller signed artists get “tour support” from their record label in the form of free records to sell at shows. Buying a CD from the band means they can buy gas to get them to the next gig. Conversely, if they don’t sell them, all they’re really doing is wasting gas driving them around the country. So if you are offered a free CD or vinyl LP (because naturally they want you to hear their music, right?), opt to pay for it. You are doing the right thing, and saving them from themselves.
Buy your favorite bands’ merchandise. Very often, artists pay for their t-shirts themselves, or even MAKE them with their own hands. This means that they did, in fact, shell out the money for materials, and possibly someone else’s labor if they used a printer. Help them break even, or maybe even turn a profit! This is another rare opportunity in the scheme of things for the musicians to be first in line. Help them out!
Purchase downloads legitimately. Purchasing digital downloads from services like iTunes, Amazon, eMusic or Rhapsody also puts money in artists’ pockets. When it comes to digital downloads, there’s a wide spectrum of rates, and some artists profit more than others. Although there’s a common assumption that artists only make pennies on their iTunes or Rhapsody sales, this depends entirely on the label/distribution situation. The more independent an artist is — and certainly if the artist is unsigned and they self-released using Tune-Core (a service that doesn’t take a cut of the sales) the greater the percentage they stand to make from the download.
Use a legitimate streaming service such as Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora or Spotify (not yet available in the US). If you require an unfathomably large collection of music, this is the way to go. Not only are they safe for your computer, but since these services are properly licensed, the songwriter, publisher, performer and copyright owner (usually a record label) get paid for each stream of their song. It’s currently a small amount, but if you play it again and again, it adds up! Beyond payment, there are many valuable statistics and web metrics an artist can access when you use these services. This way, they know where people are digging their stuff and can plan their tours and releases accordingly.
Contribute to Band Fundraisers – Gone are the days of record advances, at least for new artists. Unfortunately, this is how they paid to record and to go on tour. Now, many artists are using fundraising sites such as Kickstarter.com to raise money in advance of these activities. Enjoy the opportunity to support the music you love before it even gets made! Another huge class act!
Subscribe to artists’ fan clubs. By doing so, you not only get first access to news and tour dates, you also help to legitimize and support one of the smartest, most industrious things an artist can do for their career.
Join a band’s email list. By simply becoming a fan on their Facebook Fan Page, or their Myspace Page, the artist doesn’t have your data, Facebook and Myspace do! If for some reason they lose their account with either, they lose you and you lose them. It’s a simple process, and most artists know not to email you constantly!
Support nonprofits that support musicians. I can truly say that far too few musicians are participating in conversations about where this industry is going. The inevitable result will be that musicians, again, end up at the far end of the line. Organizations such as (..ahem….) Future of Music Coalition, Weathervane Music and others are staffed by people who are dedicated to making sure that artists can achieve sustainable and lucrative careers in music.
Stop using Torrent sites. Go back and buy the records of the artists you fell in love with by using Torrent sites. The simple act of paying for the music that you love will surely buy back your ticket to heaven. And of course, we don’t even need to go into the dangers of downloading from Torrent sites, anyway.

This post originally appeared on www.futureofmusic.org

Brian McTear is a musician, producer, recording engineer and the owner of Miner Street Recordings, the Philadelphia recording studio revered by independent musicians around the country. In the 13 years that McTear has worked in Philadelphia, he has produced over 100 records, has played a large part in the resurgence and success of the independent music community in Philadelphia, and the national and international success of several recording artists. McTear writes songs and sings in the band Bitter bitter weeks, and plays guitar with The Novenas.