Media Homework
Two Common Film Distribution Strategies:
1. Bidding War At A Film Festival
2. Sell Movie to Streaming Platform
First lets talk about Bidding War At A Film Festival. This method of distributing your film is very risky and many do not achieve what they want and many people have been told that this method is for the dreamers and not the realists.
- "Do bidding wars still happen? Sure, but it’s uncommon. In days gone by, filmmakers would run the film festival circuit to generate buzz around their film to attract distributors."
Next is Selling your Movie to a Streaming Platform. Also very low chance of this happening but if you can pitch your idea to Netflix's owners. If you do manage to score a spot of the streaming service, then you would immediately have an audience of up to 150 million.
- "With over 150 million subscribers, scoring a film distribution deal with Netflix is a dream come true for indie filmmakers. Of course, securing a distribution deal with the handful of other top dog distributors, such as Lionsgate, Universal, Paramount, or Warner would be equally exciting."
- "However, as with Dream Scenario #1, selling film rights to a distributor is a long shot. The process involves research, intimate understanding of your film’s audience and its potential position in the marketplace, comp films, and the bane of every indie filmmakers’ existence – connections."
- "When pitching to film distributors, it’s all about providing hard numbers and laying out the golden path to make them feel safe and secure in their investment. However, just having completed post on your film and with limited audience exposure, you likely won’t have the market details necessary to knock your pitch out of the park."
If these methods do not work then what do you do as an indie film maker?
The 6 Steps to Self-Distribute Your Indie Film:
- Funding Your Indie Film Distribution Campaign:
- Use Crowdfunding Platforms to Your Advantage
- Most filmmakers turn to crowdfund sites such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo during pre-production.
- you can provide an instant download via a private link on Vimeo or YouTube. This gives potential investors incentive to get behind you and back your indie film distribution efforts.
2. Prepare Your Independent Film for Distribution
Formats Required for Theatrical Distribution
Formats Required to Distribute a Film Online
Subtitles and Closed Captioning for Your Indie Film
3. Decide on Online and Streaming Release Strategy
Third-Party Aggregator
DIY
4. Target the VOD Distribution Platforms
Ad-Supported Video-on-Demand (AVOD)
Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD)
Transactional Video-on-Demand (TVOD)
Cable Video-on-Demand
Free Video-on-Demand
5. Determine Whether You Want a Theatrical Release
- Pricey! 4-walling your film at a theater can be expensive. Essentially, you work with a theater to “book” a showing for a flat-rate.
- The cost can range from $250 and up to secure such an arrangement. Although expensive for a single showing, if you can pack the house (charging tickets), you may even come out ahead.
- Theatrical Booker
6. Promoting Your Independent Film
- Promote your film with a trailer. If it’s shareable, your fans will do the legwork for you.
- Put together a press kit. Your press kit should include a one-pager (synopsis of your film on one page), images, and a personal story.
- Create a website for your production. Keep things personal and include authentic stories of your major above-the-line team members, factoids about your film, and news on upcoming screenings.
- Be sure to cultivate an email list of your fans. You can announce to your minions when your film lands distribution and where they can view the film. Your email list can also come in handy when it comes time to promote your next film coming down the pike.
No comments:
Post a Comment