AN INNOVATIVE LAUNCH FOR “JOFFREY: MAVERICKS OF AMERICAN DANCE”

For the past four months, my company Hybrid Cinema has been working on the release of Bob Hercules’s new film Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, about the history of the Joffrey ballet. I will be writing a number of posts outlining the unique path that I and my partner on this release, Sheri Candler, have taken to release this documentary about the history of the groundbreaking dance company, The Joffrey Ballet.

In my book Think Outside the Box Office and in subsequent blog posts, I have written about the advantages and challenges of launching a film after its world premiere festival screening. Many filmmakers have complained that they can never recapture the exposure they gain with their first festival. As a result there have been a number of attempts to launch a film in some fashion out of a premiere festival. Orly Ravid writes in Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul about BassAckwards, which launched via YouTube Rentals during Sundance 2009. IFC has been running its Festival Direct program to provide a promotional lift to its VOD releases for several years. For instance IFC will premiere films at SXSW and follows it up with screenings in a few cities while it premieres day-and-date on VOD with the festival. Tribeca has started using their festival as a launch for a number of films that they distribute on VOD.

The chief advantage of using a world premiere to launch a film’s release is to condense all of the publicity into one window, thereby conserving precious resources and taking full advantage of press garnered via the premiere. The approach also utilizes the promotional muscle that many festivals can muster to promote the release. The principal challenge is being prepared – having all of the necessary tools and distribution and marketing channels lined up to take advantage of the promotion. In general this has been beyond the abilities of most independent filmmakers, who are just scrambling to get their films finished in time for their first festival. Another challenge is the short window of time that films have to get everything … Read the rest

A YEAR WITHOUT RENT, PART SIX

By Lucas McNelly

I wasn’t supposed to go to Europe. You can’t really drive there (unless you’re the Muppets) and flights across the pond are expensive, but when a production comes calling, I listen. This one made it easy, asking would I come to the UK if they covered the plane ticket?

A no-brainer.

Which is how I ended up in Newcastle upon Tyne, a small city near Scotland, serving as gaffer in a country where I have absolutely no idea how the electricity works. And when I ask how much I can put into a circuit, I’m told that, well, that depends on the wiring. In other words, no one knows. My solution? Start plugging stuff in until the circuit trips, unplug the last one, and see how much is left. There’s the answer.

The United Kingdom (England?) is only my second non-US country on A Year Without Rent, but one thing that seems to be evident is that the American DIY mentality, the one that says “fuck y’all, we’re making this movie whether you like it or not”, isn’t nearly as prevalent as it is in the States. Oh sure, it’s there, but it’s on a delay. There’s no Gregory Bayne overseas (hell, there’s only a handful in the U.S.). Or if there is, I haven’t heard about him, which might be all the proof you need.

Follow me on a tangent. I’ll get back to my trip to Europe in a minute. Honest.

It’s been a couple of years since indie filmmakers in the U.S. could rely on studios or the festival system or pretty much anyone to take care of them. Oh sure, Sundance used to create careers more or less out of thin air, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows those days are long gone. Kevin Smith said recently that CLERKS probably wouldn’t get into Sundance if he made it now. I’ll go further: he probably wouldn’t even bother submitting it, and if he did, I doubt it’d get much serious consideration.

Every month, more indie filmmakers come to the conclusion that no one’s going to … Read the rest

IFP LABS: HOW TO MERCHANDISE EFFECTIVELY

By Dan Schoenbrun

A recurring topic all last week at IFP’s Marketing and Distribution Labs was how indie filmmakers can get the most out of their film’s release, both monetarily and in terms of marketing. Friday morning the conversation turned granular (but no less interesting) with lab leaders Jon Reiss, Amy Dotson, and Milton Tabbot discussing the pros and cons of various forms of merchandising.

Stressed repeatedly – the key thing to remember is that each film requires a distinct merchandising campaign. Think about your film’s core audience, and what kinds of products they would most likely be interested in. Then plan accordingly.

Here’s a list of merchandising opportunities that filmmakers should consider when taking their film out on the festival (or screening) circuit.

Sell DVDs at Screenings
If you’ve already had DVDs pressed by the time your film is screening, you should seriously consider selling them directly to the audience after the film. It’s a golden opportunity to reach fans directly, and one of the only instances where you’ll get to keep one hundred percent of the profits. Probably best not to sell at your festival premiere, but at subsequent theatrical screenings, it’s a tactic that could prove lucrative.

Important: If you’re in the process of negotiating DVD distribution, make sure to find out from the distributor if they’ll allow you to sell DVDs in this kind of scenario.

Equally important: You should make sure to negotiate a price below market value at which you can buy mass quantities of your DVD directly from the distributor.

Print Postcards, Business Cards, or Both
This will be essential to the marketing campaign surrounding your festival appearance(s). Make sure your postcards are visually appealing, and that they advertise the time and location of your screening. There was some debate this morning about whether postcards or business cards were ideal for this sort of marketing. Business cards, one filmmaker argued, are less likely to be discarded because of their wallet-friendly size. Whichever option you go with, make sure that your physical marketing materials clearly and effectively get the word out about your film, and about how … Read the rest

A RESPONSE FROM NEOFLIX’S JC

By Scott Macaulay

Before I posted Thursday’s blog post about financial troubles at independent fulfillment service Neoflix, I tried to reach its owner and president, JC, for his account of the situation. Tonight I received from him an email addressed to me and Jon Reiss, whose blog post I included in my posting. I am reprinting JC”s response here in its entirety

Dear Jon and Scott,

Those in the Indie film community who are interested in self-distribution deserve a direct update from me on Neoflix shutting down. I hope you will include this letter in its totality in any articles or blog posts that you write about Neoflix/Magic Rock.

I can’t tell you how much we understand everybody’s frustration and disappointment. We have done everything we could to salvage Neoflix/Magic Rock, including leveraging myself financially well beyond what most reasonable people would do in order to try to create a self-distribution system that would work for independent filmmakers and producers. Some are quick to criticize or suspect fraudulent activities by a company that cannot pay its debts, but that is not the case here. We paid 95+% of all client anticipated revenues over the four years the company operated, without ever making profit or taking assets out.

The fact was the Neoflix model was not sustainable unless we had at least 300 filmmakers selling at least 2 films a day. In reality, during Neoflix’s best year we had 250 filmmakers selling a combined average daily volume of 80 units, which equated to 0.3 films per day per client. The long tail concept did not track for most clients as most films would receive a burst of sale in the initial weeks or perhaps even months, and tail off sharply thereafter. (Here’s a blog we posted last year showing this tailing-off phenomenon.) This meant that Neoflix needed to recruit a new client base or film year after year, which requires constant investment in sales and marketing dollars, which we did not have.

There was demand in the filmmaker marketplace for our shopping cart and fulfillment service, but consumer demand for the films themselves did

… Read the rest

NEOFLIX CHARGED WITH NOT PAYING FILMMAKERS

By Scott Macaulay

Neoflix, a fulfillment house used by many self-distributing independent filmmakers, has fallen severely behind on its payments, say filmmakers and producers who have contracted with the company. Today in a blog post, filmmaker and former Neoflix customer Jon Reiss writes, “I have received reports from a number of filmmakers that they have not been paid by Neoflix for months. Some filmmakers are owed hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of dollars.” Separately, Filmmaker has also been contacted by filmmakers who say they are owed money by Neoflix. We have been told that discussions with the company throughout the Fall of 2010 regarding payment plans have not led to resolution.

Filmmaker readers will remember Neoflix from our Winter, 2010 issue. There, Reiss surveyed the landscape of fulfillment companies and recommended Neoflix. A quote from this article is prominently featured on the company’s home page. (Since learning of Neoflix’s problems, we have removed from this article one specific paragraph recommending them while we wait for further information to definitively revise it.) Efforts to reach Neoflix president J.C. (John Chang) and vice president Patrick Barry by phone and email today were unsuccessful (UPDATE: Read J.C.’s reaction).

In Reiss’s post, he mentions filmmaker and Neoflix customer Matthew Arnold. We contacted Arnold and asked him to tell us about his experiences with Neoflix. Here is an excerpt from his emailed response:

We started doing business with NeoFlix in 2008. We had an incredible first 18 months with them. At first they only took 10% of the sale. Eventually they raised it to 12%, but starting in 2010, the payments started coming in slowly. We were being sent accounting statements, but we weren’t receiving any checks in the mail. We emailed them an average of every three weeks since July. When they did respond, we were told the reason for the delays was personel changes. The emails continued to be ignored. Our sales continued to get processed to our customers, but the checks [to us] were never cut.

We feel like the victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. We were sent accounting statements that showed

… Read the rest

AM I A FILMMAKER OR A BRAND? WHY NOT BE BOTH?

By Jon Reiss

A year ago, I brought the preview copies of Think Outside the Box Office to sell at Independent Film Week, straight off the press. This week in addition to being a lab leader and mentor of the new IFP Filmmaker Labs, I have the honor of being paired in a Cage Match on Thursday with Michael Tully from Hammer to Nail, and Michelle Satter from the Sundance Labs on the subject: “Am I A Filmmaker or Brand”. I thought I would throw down some thoughts on the subject.

I don’t think that “filmmaker” and “brand” are exclusive of one another. I think that all filmmakers, in fact all creative artists, have the opportunity to be both. For many filmmakers, the sooner they realize this potential, the happier they will be.

I can understand the knee jerk reaction to the concept of “filmmaker as brand”. For years filmmakers, especially independent filmmakers, have resisted being pigeonholed. “We’re artists with a broad eclectic taste. I can’t be pinned down to any one type of film.” I can also see how “brand” runs smack against the concept of “independent” which has always had some synonymous relationship to “freedom”. “I can’t be a free artist to express myself, if I tether myself to some concept of who I am imposed by others”.

In addition filmmakers and many other artists are uncomfortable with the concept of “branding” because it is a concept that corporate America uses in their never ending quest for consumer “mindshare”. As a ex punk rock neo Marxist anarchist who made a film about the global explosion of street art and graffiti culture and the resultant battle over visual public space, I understand this point of view. Ironically it is a battle over public space because graff writers and street artists are trying to convey their brand as much as the corporations in their own never ending desire to get up.

Filmmakers need to get over the art vs. commerce false opposition fast. Marketing is about audience connection. I make films because I want to express myself creatively and communicate my ideas to … Read the rest

A SIMMERING BLOG POST FROM A DESPERATE YOUNG MAN (PART 1 OF 3)

By Chris Ohlson

So I’m writing in 3 parts about my experiences at IFP’s Independent Film Week.  Of course I’m writing this first dispatch before I get there, if only to shed some light on my general mental state as I prepare for this event and on what the hell I think I’ll be doing during the week.

Officially, I’m attending as part of the IFP’s Filmmaker Labs, where back in June, my feature film directorial debut, Melvin, was 1 of 10 works-in-progress selected to be workshopped and taken under the IFP’s loving wing for 12 months.  That experience, in June, was STELLAR and I can honestly say that IFP stepped in and helped out at the very moment our film needed it most.

Unofficially, I am attending because I love making films. I love presenting films (most of the time) and I love being a part of the film culture.  I signed up for this way of life quite awhile ago, and dammit if I’m not going to throw myself into this Film Week shindig with all I can.   I’ll also be enthusiastically plugging The Happy Poet—a film I exec produced and which happens to be playing simultaneously during Film Week for a one-week limited engagement at the reRun Theatre in Brooklyn.  I will also be pimpin’ myself out for my next couple of projects, among them a film I’m producing in the spring called Thank You A Lot from writer/director Matt Muir, and the next project I hope to direct called The Cloaca.

But back to the matter at hand—that I’m ecstatic about taking the next step in the life and evolution of Melvin.  He’s a tricky film to talk about and I’m hoping our elevator pitch and logline get a thorough workout this week.  Put simply, Melvin is a simmering portrait of a desperate young man who is beginning to unravel.   It’s about the disorienting frustration of failing to connect with the world.

It’s a film I love. Most of the time. (I’ve watched it near to death, as you can … Read the rest

13 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IFP NARRATIVE LAB

By Scott Macaulay

The recently concluded IFP Narrative Lab was a dense week of study and mentorship as our participating filmmakers, all with films somewhere between rough and fine cut, were given guidance about picture lock, sound design, scoring and music licensing, festival strategy, distribution deals, and DIY, self and hybrid distribution efforts. Amy Dotson and Rose Vincelli from the IFP did a fantastic job of putting the program together. Susan Stover, Jon Reiss and I were the lab leaders. In addition, an inspiring group of editors, filmmakers, producers and industry vets came in to lend their expertise.

At the end of the Lab I emailed Susan and Jon and asked them to tell me a few things they’d want to stress. Along with a couple of my own, below is that list. It’s not a summary of the week by any means. Rather, these are 13 points, some obvious and some not, that we wanted to emphasize one more time.
Understand Your Goals. Why did you make this film? To tell a personal story? To experiment artistically? To score a commercial success? To break into the industry? Some combination of the above? Understand your own reasons for making the film, and try to make sure that you are aligned with collaborators in the post, sales, distribution and marketing spheres who understand that vision and are working towards it with you.

Or… Make Sure Your Film Knows What It Is. Another way of saying the above — make sure your film knows what it is and is comfortable in its own skin. Is it a flashy commercial proposition or an intriguingly reticent festival flick? Make sure to have an understanding of the current film ecosystem and know where your film sits on the food chain, who its natural audience is, and who its potential supporters will be.

Make the Best Film You Can. A seemingly obvious point, but one that can be hard to achieve. Have you cut short your creative options because you’ve rushed to meet a festival deadline? Or, even worse, is your festival premiere your first test screening? Have you … Read the rest

IFP HAS JON REISS THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

By Jason Guerrasio

On June 5 and 6 IFP will present a weekend-long workshop with Bomb It director Jon Reiss on DIY hybrid distribution and marketing in New York City. Reiss has highlighted his journey releasing and marketing Bomb It in the pages of Filmmaker, and went into greater detail in his book Think Outside the Box Office.

In the workshop Reiss will go over everything from creating a distribution strategy to advertising campaigns to transmedia platforms. And you also get into a networking happy hour. Lean more about the event and how to get tickets below.

IFP PRESENTS THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE DISTRIBUTION WORKSHOP

For the first time ever in this country, the critically-acclaimed director of BOMB IT! and distribution expert and author will present a weekend-long, step-by-step guide into the Dynamic New World of Hybrid Distribution and Marketing. http://conference.ifp.org/distribution/ .

Day One goes over how to create a distribution strategy and marketing plan unique to your film, the various available markets for your film’s release, how and why to engage your audience as early as possible, digital rights, and more. Day Two discusses advertising campaigns, and transmedia platforms, as well as live workshopping of a few films.

Special guest speakers include Lance Weiler (THE WORKBOOK PROJECT) and Caitlin Boyle (FILM SPROUT). Finally, all attendees get to attend a networking happy hour with industry reps and receive a take-home DVD-ROM kit.

June 5th and 6th, 2010 at
New York Film Academy, Union Square, NYC
Tickets are only $150 for the weekend for IFP and affiliate group members.… Read the rest

IFP ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION LAB; NARRATIVE LAB DEADLINE EXTENDED

By Jason Guerrasio

In a press release sent out today, the IFP has announced that they’ve expanded their Independent Filmmaker Labs to include distribution.

In collaboration with Ted Hope and Jon Reiss, the Distribution Lab will take 20 projects (10 docs, 10 narratives) and gives them a year-long fellowship to assist the filmmakers with marketing and distributing their films. Filmmakers will receive, among other things, year-round access to IFP staff and Lab leaders, one-on-one mentorship with working producers and a five-day Completion Lab. To learn more about the Lab and its benefits read the full release below.

Also on the IFP front, the Independent Filmmaker Narrative Lab has extended its deadline to April 2. To learn more about the Lab and how to apply go here.

IFP ANNOUNCES NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION LAB FOR INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS

www.ifp.org

For Immediate Release – New York, NY (March 30, 2010) IFP announces the expansion of its prestigious Independent Filmmaker Labs, introducing the addition of its 2010 Distribution Lab in collaboration with Ted Hope & Jon Reiss.

While many programs are well geared toward teaching filmmakers how to write, produce, direct, and compose their films, IFP’s Labs are currently the only program in the country that supports diverse, low-budget, independently produced filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing and distribution of their first feature film. Focusing exclusively on feature narratives and documentaries at this critical stage, this highly immersive mentorship program provides participants with the technical, creative and strategic tools necessary to launch both their films – and their careers.

“The IFP was originally founded to help filmmakers get their films seen and build the audiences necessary to help them sustain full bodies of work and lasting careers. It is our mission to make sure new voices are heard and that filmmakers are continually supported by a community of peers and professionals who can help them succeed”, says Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP. “A lot of theory and inspiration exists about distribution on the Internet and in panels, but cold, hard facts and techniques are hard to come by. This program … Read the rest