Self Distribution - Filmmakers Alliance

Independent Film Self Distribution A Case Study and Handbook By Jacques Thelemaque 2006 Table of Contents About The Author ................................................................................................................3 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................4 Distribution Landscape Overview .......................................................................................5 Making The Decision To Distribute Your Film ................................................................10 Where To Sell Your Film ..................................................................................................11 Time And Money ...............................................................................................................12 Goals For Distribution .......................................................................................................14 Prepping For Distribution ..................................................................................................15 Film Finishing – Technical ............................................................................................................. 16 Film Finishing – Legal and insurance ............................................................................................. 17 Test Screening The Film ................................................................................................................. 17 Creating Or Refining The Trailer .................................................................................................... 19 Designing Marketing Materials ...................................................................................... 19 Creating A Plan ............................................................................................................................... 19 The Marketing Plan ......................................................................................................................... 20 Doing The Finished Budget ............................................................................................................ 22 Putting Together Your Team........................................................................................................... 23 The Film’s Website – The Single Most Important Marketing Element ................................... 24 The Theatrical Release .......................................................................................................26 Alternative Theatrical Release ...........................................................................................32 International Sales ..............................................................................................................33 Television Sales – Cable and Network ..............................................................................44 Alternative/Ancilllary/Educational Markets ......................................................................44 The DVD Release ..............................................................................................................45 Producing The DVD ....................................................................................................................... 46 Authoring, Replication and Fufillment ........................................................................................... 47 Retail DVD Sales ............................................................................................................................ 48 Digital Distribution ............................................................................................................49 Marketing and Selling From Your Site..............................................................................51 Final Thoughts ...................................................................................................................52 Appendix ............................................................................................................................53 Contact Info ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Producer’s Reps .............................................................................................................................. 54 Search Engine Optimizations Sites and Info ................................................................................... 65 Distributing Trailers Online ............................................................................................................ 67 Earn Extra Money ........................................................................................................................... 70 Digital Cinema Network Database ............................................................................. Download here About the author In 1993, Jacques and Diane Gaidry co-founded Filmmakers Alliance, and as President, Jacques built the grassroots collective from a loose-knit group of filmmakers into an important independent filmmaking resource organization with films screening at every major festival in the world. He has overseen the production of hundreds of films and developed a wide range of innovative and impactful filmmaking support programs. In 2004, Jacques and partner Liam Finn formed FA Productions, of which they are CoPresidents. In 2005, he was named Chief Community Officer of the festival submission/filmmaker support site, Withoutabox.com. His writer-director filmography includes the feature film The Dogwalker (Los Angeles Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Best First Feature - Cinequest Film Festival), as well as the shorts Transaction (Sundance Film Festival, winner of the Grand Prix du Jury Award in the Labo Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival), Infidelity (in equal parts) (Sundance Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival), Egg (Mill Valley Film Festival, Best Comedy Short Cinequest Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Short – Methodfest) and Love Without Socks (AFI International Film Festival). In 2008, he begins production on his new feature film, Rust, and is in development with Red White And Blue as one of ten filmmakers involved in the feature-length omnibus project. Jacques has spoken at dozens of seminars, panels, workshops and classes. He was also on the board of directors for The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival (now the FIND Los Angeles Film Festival) and currently sits on the advisory board of the IFP Emerging Filmmaker Labs as well as the boards of the Silver Lake Film Festival and The Ashland Independent Film Festival. Filmmakers Alliance website The Dogwalker website The Dogwalker Myspace page Jacques’s Myspace Page Jacques’s Filmmaking Blog Introduction In 2006, we received funding from Bigfoot Entertainment to self-distribute our first feature film – the low-budget, independently financed drama The Dogwalker. This document is a journal of that experience as well as a fairly comprehensive guide for self-distributing low-budget independent feature films. The Dogwalker began its self-distribution journey in August 2006 and is technically still in distribution. In fact, no film ever “ends” distribution as long as the film is commercially available in some form. New opportunities and new technologies around self-distribution seem to emerge daily. Naturally, much of this will change rapidly. As will much of the contact info, resources and databases we’ve included in this document. The beauty of the digital age is that this document does not have to remain stagnant. It can be ever evolving as we can continually add new information to it as it is received. We invite you to be a part of this process - to add your ideas, experiences, contacts, databases and other resources to it, so that we may share this with fellow filmmakers. You can contact through the links provided with this document or through my email at jacques@filmmakersalliance.org. But, for now, you’ll find all that we discovered and/or implemented at the time of this writing. Hopefully, they are at least good footprints to follow, from which you can diverge and develop as necessary. Best of luck, J. Distribution Landscape Overview Before we made The Dogwalker, my wife Diane Gaidry and I were certain that we would sell the film for a gazillion dollars and live happily ever after. But that didn’t happen. We had to face the hard truth about the distribution landscape for smaller films like ours. The days when small, affecting dramas or works of artistic distinction would get picked up major distributors for meaningful, sometimes hefty advance fees are long gone. In reality, those days never really existed. Strong sales for small films were always an anomaly, but even the occasional anomaly is long gone, now. In fact, even getting picked up by a major distributor of any kind – without any cash advance – no longer happens. So, a filmmaker is considered lucky if an established distribution company of any size decides to pick up their film – even for no money. But is that filmmaker really lucky? Here are the only real options available to most independent filmmakers regarding who distributes their film: 1. Get “picked up” by a reputable (but probably very small) distribution company. By getting picked up, that means you sign away the rights to distribute the film for a set amount of years – as little as 3 years to as much as 25 years. They will usually try to secure all rights – theatrical, dvd, foreign, cable, internet VOD, etc. - but this can (and MUST) be negotiated. Usually, they will spend less on the film’s promotion than they spend on a week’s worth of cappuccinos. They will keep most of the money because of the costs of releasing a film versus it’s income. If they do a good job, you get some reviews, some visibility and perhaps pop on somebody’s radar that can give you the chance to make a second film. 2. Get picked up by a disreputable company. Same as above, but you may end up paying them for things (like deliverables costs and promotional materials) and you will NEVER see one red cent. In the end, you’ll be lucky to even get scant visibility in the industry or in the marketplace. 3. Do a “Service Deal” with a distribution company. That means hiring a reputable company to distribute your film since they have experience and contacts that you don’t have. This path is expensive, but you get to hold onto the rights you choose and pretty much set the terms of the deal. You are the boss, but remember…you gotta pay for that privilege. 4. Complete Self-Distribution. You do it all from A-Z hiring help (if you can afford it) as necessary. 5. Partial Self-Distribution. This means you control distribution and do much of the work yourself, but you hire as necessary to sell to the various markets. For instance, you may make a service deal for theatrical release and then hire a sales agent for foreign sales. Then work with a company to do retail DVD sales and yet another to do internet downloads. All, while retaining the rights to sell the film yourself from your site. That’s what you’re realistically facing, so you can see some form of self-distribution may be absolutely necessary. This is partially due to the unscrupulous nature of the “business” people involved in distribution and partially due to the bottleneck of films trying to squeeze through a very narrow pipeline – especially with big, stupid studio fare (and socalled “indie” films put out by major studios) hogging up screens. In our case, we received some lame offers while we were doing the festival circuit. Meaning, they offered no or small advance money and no guarantee of capital expeditures for promotion. We turned them down, not realizing that the best of these offers would be the best we could get. So, after time passed, we agreed to do a DVD distribution deal with Cinema Libre before we realized that it was a very disreputable company, so we pulled out of it. Ultimately, our options were limited, so we were really grateful and excited that we received some financing from Bigfoot Entertainment through FA Productions, and were able to do a partial self-distribution - one that allowed us to work with some interesting companies and pull together support with a hand-picked, brilliant distribution team. We always had strong feelings about independent film distribution as a whole, and could easily see that a lot of smaller films like ours were not treated well by the prevailing indie film distribution paradigm. So, now we were able to test our own theories about what we think works and doesn’t work in independent film distribution. But for those of you still intent on going the “traditional” route. Here’s a partial list of distributors for you to think about (most with contact info) that I put together and/or outright ripped-off. But do your research, some are doc-only, some are special interest, some are educational, some are just reps – not all are right for your film. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO. Anyway, here’s the list: American Cinematheque 6712 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, CA 90028 office tel. 323.461.2020 fax: 323.461.9737 Artisan Entertainment 157 Chambers Street, 11th floor New York, NY 10007 distribution: 212-386-6865 publicity: 212-386-6866 Artistic License Films, Inc. Sande Zeig 5307 N Calle del Rocio Tucson, AZ 85750 520-834-7576 E-mail: sandezeig@artlic.com Balcony Releasing, LTD. Connie White 26 Mill Lane Amherst, MA 01002 413-253-6781 Fax: 413-253-6782 E-mail: connie@balconyfilm.com CALIFORNIA NEWSREEL Cornelius Moore 500 3rd Street, Suite 505 San Francisco, CA 94107 415-284-7800 Fax: 415-284-7801 E-mail: cm@newsreel.org Center for History in the Media George Washington University 801 22nd Street N.W. Washington, DC 20052 202-994-6787 Fax: 202-994-5231 The Cinema Guild Ryan Krivoshey E-mail: rkrivoshey@cinemaguild.com 1697 Broadway New York, NY 10019 212-246-5522 Fax: 212-246-5525 Columbia Pictures Mike Schlesinger 10202 West Washington Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232 310-280-5683 Criterion Pictures Anne Goodman 800-890-9494 X225 Fax: 847-470-8194 E-mail: agoodman@media2.criterionpi c.com Direct Cinema Ltd. P.O. Box 10003 Santa Monica, CA 90410 310-636-8200 Fax:310-636-8228 E-mail: info@directcinemalimited.com Dreamworks No contact info, but they're easy to find Drew Associates 19 Butler Hill Road Somers, NY 10589 Empire Pictures, Inc. Ed Arentz 595 Madison Avenue, 39th Floor New York, NY 10022 212-629-3097 Fax: 212-629-3629 E-mail: ea@empirepicturesusa.com Facets Multimedia Milos Stehlik 1517 West Fullerton Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 773-281-9075 Fax: 773-929-5437 Email: milos@facets.org Film Fatale, Inc Maggie Hadleigh-West 121 St. Mark's Pl, Suite 30 New York, NY 10009 212-260-5774 Fax: 212-529-2561 Fine Line Features 888 7th Avenue, 20th floor New York, NY 10106 212-649-4831 Fax: 212-956-1942 Fine Line Features 116 North Robertson Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90048 310-854-5811 Fax: 310-854-1824 First Look Pictures 8000 Sunset Boulevard East Penthouse Los Angeles, CA 90046 310-855-1199 Fax: 310-855-0719 E-mail: firstlook@ofg.com First Run Features Marc Mauceri/Seymour Wishman First Run Features The Film Center Building 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213 New York, NY 10036 212-243-0600 Fax: 212-989-7649 E-mail: info@firstrunfeatures.com First Run/Icarus Films Jonathan Miller 32 Court Street, 21st floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 718- 488-8900 800-876-1710 Fax: 718-488-8642 E-mail: mailroom@frif.com Samuel Goldwyn Films 1133 Broadway, Suite 1101 New York, NY 10010 212-367-9435 Fax: 212-367-0853 HBO 1100 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Fax: 212-512-8700 Sheila Nevins - 212-512-1445 Matthew Morris - 212-5121412 IFC Films [Independent Film Channel Productions] 11 Penn Plaza, 15th floor New York, NY 10001 646-273-7200 Fax: 646-273-7250 In Pictures Jamie Ader-Brown 1024 12th Street Santa Monica, CA 90403 818-884-6410 Fax: 310-451-9722 Iris Films Frances Reid 2600 10th Street, Suite 413 Berkley, CA 94710 510-845-5414 Fax: 510-841-3336 Kino International Don Krim 333 West 39th Street, #503 New York, NY 10018 212-629-6880 Fax: 212-714-0871 E-mail: contact@kino.com Koch Lorber Films Suzanne Fedak 22 Harbor Park Drive Port Washington, NY 11050 Tel: 516-484-1000 ext.177 Fax: 516-484-6179 Email: Suzanne.Fedak@kochent.com Lion's Gate Releasing 4553 Glencoe Avenue, Suite 200 Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 310-314-9573 Magic Lamp Releasing Mark Halperin marla@magiclampreleasing.co m Magnolia Pictures Neal Block nblock@magpictures.com 115 West 27th Street, 7 th floor New York, NY 10001 212-924-6701 Fax: 212-924-6742 Maysles Films, Inc. Xan Parker 250 West 54th Street New York, NY 10019 212-582-6050 Fax: 212-586-2057 E-mail: info@mayslesfilms.com Menemsha Films Neil Friedman 1157 South Beverly Drive, 2nd floor Los Angeles, CA 90035 Fax: 310-277-6602 neilf@menemshafilms.com MGM Studios Inc. Non-Theatrical and Repertory Sales La Tanya Taylor Supervisor 10250 Constellation Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90067 310-449-3348 Fax: 310-264-2293 Milestone Film And Video Amy Heller & Dennis Doros PO Box 128 Harrington Park, NJ 076400128 201-767-3117 800-603-1104 Fax: 201-767-3035 E-mail: MileFilms@aol.com Miramax Films 55 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 646-613-8077 Fax: 212-941-3880 National Center for Jewish Film Sharon Rivo Brandeis University MS 053 Lown Building Room 102 Waltham, MA 02454-9110 781-899-7044 Fax: 781-736-2070 E-mail: jewishfilm@brandeis.edu The National Film Board of Canada 1123 Broadway, Suite 307 New York, NY 10010 800-542-2164 212-629-8890 Fax: 866-299-9928 Dylan McGinty E-mail: d.mcginty@nfb.ca General E-mail: newyork@nfb.ca New Yorker Films Jonathan Howell is new contact 85 Fifth Avenue, 11th floor New York, NY 10003 212-645 4600 Fax: 212-645 3030 E-mail:. info@newyorkerfilms.com jonathan.howell@newyorkerfil ms.com rebeca.conget@newyorkerfilm s.com Northern Arts Entertainment 10866 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 850 Los Angeles, CA 90024 Office: (310) 481-9911 Fax: (310) 441-9001 NBC UNIVERSAL No contact info, but easy to find New Line Cinema No contact info, but easy to find Palm Pictures Ed Arentz Palm Pictures 76 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1110 New York, NY 10011 212-320-3600 (General) Fax: 212-320-3639 E-Mail: Ed.Arentz@palmpictures.com Paradigm Peter Broderick 2510 7th Street, Suite E Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-450-8448 Fax: 310-399-3455 E-mail: upwards@earthlink.net Paramount Repertory Melanie Valera Paramount Pictures 1633 Broadway New York, NY 10019 212-654-7208 Pennebaker-Hegedus Films Frazer Pennebaker 262 West 91st Street New York, NY 10024 PLEXIFILM http://www.plexifilm.com/ No contact info RIALTO Pictures Eric Di Bernardo E-mail: rialto.sales@verizon.net Rhino Releasing http://www.rhino.com No contact info Jay Rosenblatt 4159 20th Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Phone & Fax: 415-641-8220 Roxie Releasing Bill Banning/Rick Norris 3125 16th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-431-3611 Fax: 415-431-2822 E-mail: rickaren@earthlink.net 7th Art Releasing Udy Epstein 7551 Sunset Boulevard #104 Los Angeles, CA 90046 213-845-1455 Fax: 213-845-4717 E-mail: seventhart@7thart.com Shadow Distribution Ken Eisen P.O. Box 1246 Waterville, ME 04903 207-872-5111 Fax: 207-692-2482 E-mail: shadow@prexar.com Skylight Pictures Pamela Yates 330 West 42nd Street, 24th floor New York, NY 10036 212-947-5333 Email: pamela@skylightpictures.com Sony Pictures Classics Tom Prassis 550 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 212-833-8833 Fax: 212-833-8844 E-mail: sonyclassics@spe.sony.com Sony Pictures Repertory 550 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 212-833-8833 Fax: 212-833-8844 Strand Releasing Jon Gerrans/Marcus Hu 6140 West Washington Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232 310-836-7500 Fax: 310-836-7510 E-mail: marcus@strandreleasing.com TARTAN FILMS 8322 Beverly Blvd., Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel: 323-655-9300 Cell: 310.701-0911 Fax: 323-655-9301 Warner Independent Pictures (division of Warner Bros.) No contact info, but easy to find THINKFILM Michael Tuckman 72 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY, 10016 212-444-7900 Fax: 212-444-7901 E-mail: mtuckman@thinkfilmcompany .com Wellspring 419 Park Avenue South, 20th floor New York, NY 10016 212-686-6777 Fax: 212-545-9931 E-mail: movies@wellspring.com #301 Studio City, CA 91604 TLA Releasing 234 Market Street, 5th Floor | Philadelphia, PA 19106 | 215733-0608 acquisitions@tlareleasing.com WOLFE RELEASING c/o Jeffrey Winter 444 N. Norton Ave., #8 Los Angeles, CA 90004 323-466-3536 Universal Pictures No contact info, but easy to find Women Make Movies Debra Zimmerman 462 Broadway, 5th floor New York, NY 10013 212-925-0606 Fax: 212-925-2052 E-mail: info@wmm.com Vitagraph David Schultz 5114 Randall Street Culver City, CA 90230 310-390-1916 Fax: 310-390-3822 E-mail: vitagraph@earthlink.net Viz Films/Tidepoint Pictures Tetsuki Ijichi 655 Bryant Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-512-1924 Fax: 415-546-7086 E-mail: info@tidepoint.com Zeitgeist Films Clemence Taillandier 247 Centre Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10013 212-274-1989 Fax: 212-274-1644 E-mail: mail@zeitgeistfilms.com Zipporah Films Karen Konicek One Richdale Avenue #4 Cambridge, MA 02140 617-576-3603 Fax: 617-864-8006 E-mail: info@zipporah.com Website Making The Decision To Distribute Your Film So, you made a movie. You put a lot of heart and soul, and perhaps, money into it. Unless you are so zen that the process of making it was enough for you, you probably have some goal for the film…or at least some hope that the film can do something for you. With The Dogwalker, we wanted the film to be seen and for us to make money back for out investors. Therefore it had to be distributed. But that is not the goal for all filmmakers. Here are some reasons why people don’t choose to distribute; 1. The Zen thing I mentioned above: the process was enough. 2. It’s a first film that became a learning process and the filmmakers have no desire to send that out into the world. 3. The film was a toss-off, a low-budget wild ride they created for themselves and they’re eager to move on to the next thing. 4. It’s enough for the film to play in a few festivals and perhaps some special screenings; it’ll put them on a map as filmmakers. 5. The film is just plain bad and spending any more time or money on distribution would just amount to a colossal waste. 6. It is a good film, but the filmmakers just feel securing distribution of any kind, let alone self-distribution, is too much work and too expensive. Really think about your film along the work and cost entailed in its distribution and ask yourself some tough questions. Chances are you’ll come to find that you fall into one or more of the above categories. And that’s okay. Not every film is a profit-generating product. Not every film was made for mass consumption. Not every film has a potential audience big enough to demand commercial distribution. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad film or the filmmakers are lazy. It just means the film is satisfying alternative goals. Of course, this won’t make your investors or your own bank account happy, but such is the nature of creativity. There are many astounding works of cinema that didn’t earn one red cent for the filmmakers or financiers – although some indeed found their way into cinema history over time and eventually earned money for whomever now controls the title. But chances are, most of you haven’t made a classic film and it’s important to know when to put a tourniquet on the free flow of cash bleeding out of a single film. Here are the 7 key questions to ask yourself: 1. Do I know who the audience is for my film? 2. Is that audience large enough to mandate commercial distribution? 3. Does my film play well to that audience? 4. Do I have the passion to self-distribute the film? 5. Do I have the time to self-distribute the film? 6. Do I have the energy to self-distribute the film? 7. Do I have the funds and/or resources (and resourcefulness) to self-distribute the film? If you answered YES to ALL of them (and you MUST answer YES to ALL of them), then you are ready to start planning to self-distribute your film (assuming, of course, no other meaningful options have presented themselves to you). Where To Sell Your Film This is NOT asking to what company do you sell your film. It means what are the various avenues of self-distribution. Here’s what I found as viable and not-so viable avenues (some are more like cobblestone streets at this point):         Commercial Theatrical – at large and small theater chains and small independent theaters (sometimes called “calendar houses”). Alternative Theatrical – festivals, special screenings, college circuit, museums, microcinemas, film orgs. Ancillary/Educational – Airlines, trains, ships, military installations, non-profits and schools, and more I can’t think of, I’m sure. Cable – IFC, Sundance, Sci-Fi, Comedy Central…y’know, those folks. International Sales – distribution in countries outside the U.S., usually on international t.v. Retail DVD – At brick and mortar stores, online stores and from your own website. On-Demand DVD – Selling one-offs through companies that duplicate-and-ship-toorder. Internet VOD – Internet streaming and downloading of the film. So far, for The Dogwalker, we’ve yet to explore ancillary and educational or VOD and Internet distribution, although we are moving closer to selling downloads. Again, there are tough questions to ask. Is your film right for all of these pipelines? Are each worth the time, money and effort? With The Dogwalker, we were intent on having commercial theatrical distribution because we thought that would give the film its best chance at gaining the needed visibility to have strong DVD sales. We were wrong. Commercial theatrical distribution is ridiculously expensive (we will discuss that in a bit) and returned little – either financially or promotionally. A small, serious film without a lot of bells and whistles (aesthetically or otherwise), no stars, not enough industry cache (a large festival award) nor unanimous critical praise (reviews were generally positive, but not ecstatic) gets killed at the commercial box office. Also, the film’s edgy subject matter and salty language does not make it suitable for ancillary markets like airlines, so we chose not to pursue that avenue at all. There was some possibility of return in the educational market as we got a great review in Cinema Therapy (a site that discusses using films therapeutically to work with patients) and thought we could find schools and clinics willing to use the film in their work, but ultimately found the return in that market to be far below the effort needed to generate sales. Sometimes it’s a simple equation of time vs. money. If it’s lots of time with lots of money spent (time = money) vs. little money returned, you just move on. It’s also important to note that each avenue of distribution demands a completely separate and distinct plan/strategy and, as well, separate and distinct preparation. In fact, under Retail DVD, I have grouped three types of Retail DVD sales – Brick and Mortar DVD sales (inside an actual store like Blockbuster), Online Retail (virtual stores) and selling from your own website. Each of these demands a separate and distinct approach to sales. So, while you are formulating your plan/strategy, you are also asking the tough questions, again. Do I have or want to give what is demanded of this particular avenue of distribution for it to succeed (or at least be worth the time/money/effort)? Time And Money Here’s two good and natural questions: How much time will this take? How much money will it cost? I wish I could give an easy answer to this, but there truly is none. There are so many approaches and variables and each is dependent on your goals for the film (see next chapter). I would first suggest that you reframe these questions and direct them to yourself. How much time do I have? How much money do I have (or can I raise)? As usual, time = money and vice versa. Naturally, if you can afford to make your distribution efforts full-time work, you will accomplish a hell of a lot more than someone who has a full-time job. But if you have the funds to hire a team, then you may accomplish even more than someone who has unlimited time, but no money. Although I’ve found through our experience and those of others, if the director and/or producers don’t have a significant amount of time to put in, the self-distribution effort fails – no matter how much money they have and how big of a team they can hire. There is personal energy demanded of the filmmakers that simply cannot be substituted. Once those two questions are answered, then you can devise a strategy and build a budget that is in line with your REALISTIC goals for distribution (see next chapter). $10,000 is a lot of money, but not when it comes to film distribution. So, if that’s all you’ve got, you can put it to good use, but don’t expect to have much, if any, commercial theatrical distribution. As I said earlier, with The Dogwalker, we did a limited commercial theatrical release. Here are some time/money facts to keep in mind:  Creating a “deliverable film” – one the meets the technical specs of the various avenues of distribution - can cost a pretty penny. Nowadays, there are many commercial theatrical venues that can screen from a simple DVD, but you do compromise quality as DVD’s are compressed formats not created for large commercial venues. You need to do research as to what the various technical specs are (see Prepping For Distribution).  A week-long commercial theatrical booking in a single theater in a single market will cost anywhere from $5,000 (if you wrangle a lot of deals) to…well, exponentially more than that depending on the amount and kind of publicity/marketing you do. This includes the rental cost of the theater (if you must do a “four-wall” where you rent the theater outright for a week) and all marketing and publicity costs. There’s also the incredible amount of time you have to spend in that promotion of the film, – especially if you are trying to do it all yourself (but even if you have a “team”). Also, there’s a lot of time involved in doing oversight on the box office revenue and making sure you get paid by the theater.  Building a compelling, dynamic website isn’t cheap unless you happen to do that professionally. And this is one area where you DO NOT want to skimp. It will be the backbone of your self-distribution. You’ll need a designer for the key art/over-all look and someone who can build the architecture. Money for each and loads o’ time (mostly waiting, if you’ve hired people). And we won’t even yet get into the ridiculous amount of time you’ll spend promoting the website.  I believe publicists are absolutely imperative for a theatrical opening but you can try to get by without one. If you do use one, it will cost between $1,500 and $5,000 a month per market. And, of course, you get what you pay for, so, in most cases, the less you spend, the less you get. Doing it yourself means hours of calls and follow up calls to media outlets and orgs who might support the film – and no guarantee of even a response because they have no idea who you are…and sadly, don’t care.  Printed marketing materials are very old-school, but still necessary. You’ll spend hundreds to a few grand there, depending on how many markets in which you book your film theatrically (even if it is alternative theatrical). Then there are the massive hours spent handing them out or putting them up all over the market.  DVD authoring and replication has come waaaay down in price. But if you want to do it in bulk, rather than On Demand (more revenue to you in long run, if you sell out, or close to it), you can expect to pay $1,500 or more in authoring (prepping the DVD for bulk replication) and roughly $1 or less per DVD in replication (including the printing covers on the box and bar code) if you are getting in excess of 1,000. More if you get less and less if you get more. Of course, you will spend more if you need to hire someone to design the box cover art and the DVD menus. This is also assuming you are getting a standard DVD with standard storage capacity. Of course, there are many other lesser considerations, but these to me, are the main ones you’ll need to consider as you look at your time and resources and apply them to your distribution effort. But don’t be daunted by these numbers. Again, scale your distribution to the realities of your time/resources. Effective time use and an innovative strategy can yield amazing results for very little money – although a significant investment of time is pretty much inescapable. Goals For Self-Distribution Now that you have some general idea of the costs you could be facing, it’s important to assess your resources and line them up with your REALISTIC goals for self-distribution. The big question to ask yourself is: Given the realities of the marketplace, the reality of your film’s potential performance in that marketplace and the reality around the resources you can pledge to the film’s distribution, what do you expect to gain from self-distribution? The obvious answer, of course, is money. You want to make money to pay back your investors (and yourself, probably) and to establish a profitable track record that will attract investors to your next film. Or maybe you hope to make enough money to fund your next film (a bit pie in the sky, of course, but not completely unrealistic). But you wouldn’t be in this if it were just for the money. If you are, you’re a dope. Money should be just a way to create viability for your life as a filmmaker. You need to make money to attract more money for the next project or projects. If it makes you rich, hooray for you. But if it “only” allows you to keep making films, then you have succeeded. But there are other things outside of money to gain from self-distribution that can support you as a filmmaker – visibility and contacts, primary among them. But what if the film has social messaging that can be incredibly enlightening for certain sectors of the public…or all sectors. And you may have different goals for each avenue of distribution. For instance, theatrical distribution may be all about promoting the DVD, as it was for The Dogwalker, with financial expectations reserved for the DVD release. With these thoughts in mind, the following is a list of random, but useful questions to answer for yourself that will help you determine what your goals for self-distribution should be:         Are you hoping to pay off investors? Do you need to pay off yourself (small films are almost always at least partially selffinanced)? Do you want to collect thousands of emails in hope of building a base of financial support for the future? Do you just want to make a splash in the industry centers like New York and Los Angeles in hopes of generating industry work and/or support (agents and managers)? Is it an issue-oriented film that needs to be seen by as many as possible? Or just a certain segment of the populace? If so, what segment do you most want it to reach? Do you just want to impress your hometown friends and family (not a dumb question, believe me – just trying to get real with it all). Do you just want to be popular, loved and admired? Do you think it is a solid film that will be enjoyed by many and you simply want to give it as much exposure as possible? If so, why? And is getting it seen more important to you than making money? They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they can be depending on the strategy you take. Your answer may be yes to a few of these, but try to distill your goal into a single primary purpose. That answer will guide the multitude of decisions facing you as you create and execute your self-distribution plan. Now, match up that primary purpose to your time/resources. If all you have is a couple of weeks and $200, but all you want to do is impress your hometown friends and family, you are probably good to go. If you still just have $200, but you want as many people in the world to see your film, then upload it to the web and make it available for free downloads – using that $200 to promote the hell out of it. Again, it is extremely important to clarify your goals and realistic expectations for the film through self-distribution so that the experience can be profitable for you – in whatever way you choose to embrace the idea of profit (again, not always money). Otherwise, don’t do it. My primary goal for The Dogwalker was to pay back the investors. My secondary goal was to have as many people see it as possible because I made the film for them. So, all of the information I provide – anecdotal and otherwise - will be skewed toward achieving those twin goals. Prepping For Distribution Ah,….now the work begins. And here’s what has to be done: 1. Technical finishing of the film, making it “deliverable”. 2. Cleaning up all clearance/rights issues as well as any other legal and insurance issues. 3. Test Screening The Film For Marketing Purposes 4. Creating Or Refining The Trailer. 5. Designing Marketing Materials 6. Creating an over-all plan for self-distribution 7. Creating an effective marketing strategy 8. Doing a budget 9. Putting together a team (if you can afford one) 10. Building the website  Film Finishing - Technical A sizable chunk of the funding we received to distribute The Dogwalker was put toward finishing the film. Since we wanted a theatrical distribution, there were certain required technical specs to be met. We knew (or more correctly, were led to believe) that we needed an HD master of the film. Luckily, we didn’t need a film print as there are now numerous theaters that can project from a digital format. You just need to know which one. If you are going theatrical and don’t have a film print, getting an HD master (true HD, that is) is the safest route because it is the highest quality and you can work down from there. Hopefully, you have an HD master from the film’s festival run. It is important to note that there are many kinds of HD these days – from 1080 up to 4k resolution. Again, if you do not know what the technical demands of the various venues where the film will screen, it would be best to go with a standard HD master (1080) (few theater projectors can handle anything more – and if you shot a digital format that it 1080 or less, as I did, it won’t make a difference). We had all of this kind of post work done by Michael Cioni at Plaster City. They do great work and Michael Cioni is God’s gift to filmmakers. But first, we wanted to edit the film down from it’s festival length of 99 minutes. Then, we had to re-conform the new sound to the new cut. We also wanted to re-mix it a bit. Our original sound editors Monkeland Audio, did a great job, but that was back in 2002. Living with the film those years, I had plenty of time to find things I wanted to change or improve. Finally, we had to swap out all of the music, as we found a composer/musician, Chris Wells, who created new, all-original music. This work was arrange (and largely done) by Jim Henderson at Larson Studios. And they did great work. The term “deliverable” or deliverables is one used by distribution companies to describe all of the elements that they require from you to satisfy the terms of their contract with you and allow them to distribute the film. I use the term here in reference to what you need to deliver to yourself that will allow you to self-distribute. These include the technical deliverables – which usually means a master of some sort as either film negative (or print) or digital format, along with master sound files (or optical track). If digital, they may want NTSC and PAL (for international distribution). In essence, they want all master elements of the finished film as well as the “dialogue list” – a perfect transcription of the film for international dubbing.  Film Finishing – Legal and Insurance The other deliverables are the legal/insurance deliverables, most of which you will need, as well. In fact, you need all of them to be truly protected, but sometimes your budget will not allow it, so you may choose to risk getting hit with a lawsuit. These include: All clearances. Meaning, a contract that gives you permission to use an identifiable location, brand name or person in a film. Basically, anything that someone in the audience might recognize and say “Hey, I didn’t say you could put that in your film!” This especially, of course, includes your actors and extras. Also, you need the same clearance rights to use whatever music you chose to put in the film. If you “steal” a well known song for your film, and you don’t have all the rights, you’re headed for trouble. It may have snuck through the festival circuit, but any commercial release will almost always get you nabbed. And getting music rights is a nightmare. They are always ridiculously over-priced for indie filmmakers and then you have to jump several hoops as the rights are usually split among many people. There are the use rights (given by the label), the performance rights (given by the artists) and the publishing rights (given by whoever wrote the music – and there may be several of them). And there may be more, I’m not sure. If a clear lack of sanity sends you down this road, be sure to consult with a good music supervisor like Micki Stern, whom we consulted. You also need to have all of your contracts in order – again as a precaution against a suit. That means all of the crew and actor contracts (clearance rights should be given in actor contracts). You also need to control the script and film copyright. If not you, then whomever is overseeing distribution on behalf of the film. Lastly, you may want to consider E&O insurance, if you can afford it. E&O insurance is coverage that indemnifies you against liability for any overlooked clearance issues that could lead to a lawsuit. It is usually upwards from $6000, but it depends on the amount of “exposure” your film contains. That means, the amount of overlooked elements that could get you sued. It is usually demanded by distributors at the filmmaker’s expense. If you are doing partial self-distribution, with any part of the distribution handled by a company, they will probably ask for you to have this insurance. We needed it for The Dogwalker and got a terrific deal from Diann Petersen at Kaercher Campbell & Associates.  Test Screening The Film For Marketing At this point, as your film is being finished and before you start creating marketing materials, it is important to get a clear grasp of how best to position the film in the minds of your potential audience. You need to be fairly clear about who your target market is and what kind of imagery and messaging you are going to use to compel them to see the movie. For this, test screening a film is highly effective. Studios do this kind of testing ad nauseum and it works quite well for them. Of course, they also use these kinds of screenings to force directors to dumb down and homogenize their films. But I’m talking about a very different kind of screening. We’d done feedback screenings to get input on how best to improve the film and then made appropriate cuts/changes. But this is not a screening to improve the film. This is a screening to get some idea of what kind of finished film you have on your hands and how best to market it. Therefore, the audience will be much different and the questions you ask them will also be very different. Ideally, you will have a marketing/publicity person on board before you do the test screening, but even if you don’t (or won’t be able to afford one on your “team”), it is important to put this together as early as possible. And it doesn’t have to cost money. If you can’t get access to a large screening room, you can simply invite small groups of people into your living room and screen it on your t.v. – although, you ideally want at least 10 people to create a group dynamic. People watch films much differently in a group than they do individually or in very small groups. And all you do is simply show the movie and then ask them to fill out a questionnaire (some snacks/beverages are a good idea, if you can afford it). For The Dogwalker, we got lucky and were solicited by a professional test marketing firm that my friend, Deb Lemen, worked with. They wanted to reach out to indie filmmakers but also wanted to train test facilitators. This service usually can cost between $5,000 and $20,000 per screening (sometimes less, sometimes more). They did two screenings for us for free. And the questionnaires were extremely detailed. I would suggest contacting these firms and seeing if they need to test facilitators and offer up your films for that use. All they can say is no. Here are the two main companies I know of: NRG OTX Incidentally, there’s also a film marketing support site called FilmBuzz that can be helpful, but to my knowledge, does not arrange test screenings. If you can’t arrange a professional firm and, as usual, do it yourself, here are a few things to keep in mind: - Don’t fill the room with family, friends and fellow filmmakers. They will not give you the unbiased marketing info that you need. You can have some of those folks there, but be sure to have many more “normal” movie-going folk. - Try to get an eclectic mix of audience members, but be sure to have a number of people you believe to be your target audience members. And make sure you know who they are and can identify their responses. - On the questionnaire, ask as many marketing questions as you can think of. Most importantly, ask them how they would describe the film to others if they were trying to convince them to see it. Also, ask them if there are any images that stood out in the film that they felt “defined” the film for them. Also, ask if there were great moments and/or lines of dialogue that jumped out at them. Finally, what successful film does it most closely resemble for them. - Don’t ask for scores (as studios do). Get real and detailed feedback.  Creating Or Refining The Trailer I won’t spend too much time on this, because I assume every feature filmmaker knows they need a trailer. But does the trailer work (more test screening)? Is it in the proper format for screening at a commercial theater (if you are screening in one) or for whatever venue in which you will put it to use? For The Dogwalker, we were lucky and got an amazing editor/filmmaker Jeff Consiglio to cut a great trailer. But we had to change the music from what he used because we didn’t have the rights to use it. Our new composer Chris Wells, created music for the trailer that worked beautifully, so we just dropped in that music in place of Jeff’s temp music. But then, we had to strike a film print of the trailer – and make copies. This was the only way the various theaters could show the trailer. Most trailers are on film and they show them as a group, unable to switch to a digital format in the midst of the trailer package. We did our tape-to-film transfer and had several copies struck relatively inexpensively at Deluxe.  Designing Marketing Materials Also at this point, it is important to start designing the marketing materials. Most importantly, you need to create the “key art”. That is is the single image that defines and brands your film – that ingrains it in the minds of your potential audience. You will use this key art on the website, in advertising and in all printed materials. I can’t tell you how important it is to use a professional for this – or someone extremely talented/educated in graphic design. Unless you are a trained (and talented) graphic designer, chances are anything you come up with will underserve your film’s marketing campaign. With luck, you know someone personally (or someone you know personally knows someone) with the requisite skill to do it for you for free. Or you can go to the local art schools and post a notice looking for someone to do it as a school project or just for the experience. We chose to hire a professional graphic designer, Louis Falzarano, who came up with a beautiful image. He works at an established graphic design firm, but did it on his own time – which saved us a LOT more than if we had gone through a firm.  Creating A Plan While you are getting all of your technical, legal and insurance ducks in a row, it is important to now take your goals for distribution and work backwards to create a plan. Each plan will be different for each film depending on three things: 1. The type of film (genre film, art film, family drama, etc.). 2. The budget. 3. Your goals for distribution. For the Dogwalker, our primary goal, as I said, was to make money. We assumed that given the type of film it was (small, intimate but quirky drama with no stars) that we would make most of our money in the DVD market. We bought into the idea that we needed a commercial theatrical release to drive DVD sales – which proved to be a mistake because it had little impact on DVD sales and consumed most of our budget. Nonetheless, that was the general plan. Specifically, the idea was for us to open in 6-10 key markets and for myself, as director, and my wife, as star, to appear at all screenings. We would handle the threatrical release like a political campaign, arriving early in each town to promote prior to the opening and then to stay through the opening week-end to greet the audiences and do Q&A (and urge their support). We would collect emails and also have a pre-release version of the DVD to sell at theaters. Then we would release the full-version DVD immediately after the theatrical run. That was the general plan. Then we had to create a detailed plan in which we figured out step-by-step how to execute the general plan. But first, we needed to do a marketing plan. Then we would work out the details of everything – plugging in real costs as we go to create a finished, working budget.  The Marketing Plan We decided we would use as many alternative/innovative ways as we could think of to market both the theatrical release and the DVD release because traditional movie marketing is far too expensive and, in many ways, simply inaccessible to indie filmmakers. Commercials, print ads, billboards, product tie-ins, etc., just aren’t going to happen for most indie films….or so we thought. Turns out many commercial theaters demand a certain amount of traditional advertising (usually key placed newspaper ads) as a condition of running your film in their theater. Luckily, we were able to address that issue through the company that set up our theatrical distribution (see The Theatrical Release). But make sure you ask about these requirements when hammering out a deal with a commercial theater. Beyond that, we decided we would focus our energies in three types of marketing:  Partnership marketing – We decided the film needed patrons, tastemakers, trusted guides – people who’s opinions mattered to larger communities of people. It was our plan to contact individuals and organization we might be able to turn into fans of the film who would help support it. For the businesses and orgs we contacted, you MUST figure out how they can benefit BEFORE you contact them. You then present that to them and see how they respond. Once you’ve worked out something, they become “partners” in the marketing of the film because they stand to benefit in some way from the success of your joint efforts. For The Dogwalker, we contacted dozens and dozens of organizations who engaged in work that is relevant to the film’s issues. We offered to promote their work on our site with an icon and link to their site. Also, we offered some percentage of dvd sales to their org. I would list those orgs here, but they were only relevant to The Dogwalker and, perhaps, the few films out there that addressed these same issues. We chose non-profits as opposed to businesses or clubs because it is such a serious film that deals with serious issues. A horror film might reach out to the dozens of horror-film fan sites and clubs. Another film might be better suited to corporate sponsorship and cross-marketing.  Guerilla street marketing – This is simply going to the markets where the film will screen and handing out postcards at key “lifestyle” events and locations and putting up cards/posters at relevant locations. By lifestyle, we mean going where the potential audience lives – where they eat, shop, find entertainment, etc. and hitting them with promotional material. This is what we did with The Dogwalker. We explored other options, too, like spray stenciling on walls and sidewalks….or handing out branded knick-knacks (with our art/logo on them). But many of these ideas we felt were too expensive and/or would generate annoyance rather than support. Although you can put together your own street teams across the country, we chose to hire a marketing firm, Flag Marketing run by Christi Crowe.  Viral Web marketing – Originally, we had planned to engage in this strictly to promote the DVD release, but soon figured “what the heck? Let’s see if we can build some interest and momentum for the theatrical release”. Not having the slightest idea of how to create a viral marketing campaign, we had to do a little research. One great book is “Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution” by Justin Kirby and Paul Marsden. Lots of great ideas, but I must confess, at the end of the day, we still a bit confused and deeply uncertain about our abilities in this world. So, we decided to just try stuff and learn by doing. The first thing we did, of course, was start building the site. Then, we put the trailer on as many sites as we could find that allowed us to upload video. Wherever possible, we also included info about the film and directed them to the film’s website. We also created a MySpace page and aggressively began seeking out “friends”. Here is a list of the upload sites we found: WAMclips.com InMyShorts.com Revver.com Yahoo DailyMotion.com Google Video YouTube Veoh.com BrightCove.com Bulletfilm.com Metacafe.com pawky.com motionbox.com Livevideo.com vidilife.com vsocial.com lulu.tv gofish.com sharkle.com vimeo.com zippyvideos.com break.com evideoshare.com vidiac.com putfile.com Medialab.ifc.com Shortfuzed.com Jaman.com Grouper.com (now Crackle.com) I’m sure some are already gone, replaced by others. Then, we supplemented these approaches with one traditional form of marketing – publicity. But we decided that, rather than hire one over-all publicist for the film, we would hire publicists in each market – assuming they would have the kind of relationships necessary to insure that we were reviewed in all of the most important local publications. This was the main reason for having a publicist – to get reviewed. We had hoped publicists would bring more to the table – set up interviews, create events, etc. But on our limited budget – coupled with their limited time and/or imagination - all they would be able to do is pitch the story to the entertainment sections of the relevant print media (and some radio and t.v.) and get them to at least do a review and maybe a feature story. Because of the theatrical deal we did, which I will explain later, we wound up only hiring three publicists ourselves: Karen Larsen for the Bay Area. She is a lovely woman and did an amazing job. Deb Wanecski for the Buffalo, NY area. She is the in-house publicist for the Irish Classical Theater, but did a great job for us. Mickey Cottrell for Los Angeles. I guarantee he’s done more indies than you’ve ever seen. Working with publicists is an art in and of itself and I’ve included a piece at you can get some good advice about it from Stacey Parks at FilmSpecific.com – as well as lots of other good distribution advice.  Doing The Finished Budget So, as I mentioned earlier, after figuring out a general plan and creating a marketing plan we then we had to figure out exactly how we were going to execute all of this within the confines of our over-all budget – or the monies we knew we had available to us. In the process of doing that, we created a finished budget – the place where we attached realworld numbers to the menu of things we wanted to do. We found quickly that we had to prioritize certain things as we came face-to-face with true cost. Upon research, you may find that one marketing approach costs out to be twice as expensive as you’d planned, pulling money out of some other part of the budget – just like in production. And just like in production, you are then forced to make some critical decisions about where best to expend your limited resources. A lot of it is a guessing game, even if you’ve done a ton of research on other successful self-distribution models. Again, every film is different and what works for one film won’t necessarily work for yours. Here, good intuition and a lot of feedback from your friends, mentors, distribution team, etc. can really help. Just remember, in making these decisions, you have to hold in your head the ultimate goal or goals for the film. Here a some general categories to consider in finishing your budget.                   Film finishing - which can be broken down into many sub-categories, depending on how much finishing you need to do and must include film masters for projection/authoring Duplication of film on DVD for screening purposes – for reviewers, marketing partners, media outlets, anybody who can help, etc. Distribution team Theater rental/bookers – if you are 4-walling (see The Theatrical Release), you will have to pay upfront for the theater Publicists – one for each market Marketing Firm - for guerrilla marketing campaign Trailer – finishing and copies Print Advertising – because it is demanded by some theaters Printed materials – posters, postcards, letters, press kits w/print photos Website design and construction – if you want a lot of cool stuff, it may cost Phone and cell – a LOT of calls and even more follow-up calls Office supplies Postage and Shipping – shipping trailer to theaters, ending copies of the film to marketing partners, press, bookers, theaters, etc. also sending press kits and marketing materials to theaters and street marketing teams Travel – Including gas and lodging DVD Authoring and Replication DVD Fulfillment – You may have to put down an “advance” with a fulfillment house. DVD Marketing – You may need to hire some bodies to promote obsessively via the web Market Fees – At international sales markets. If you attempt to do your own international sales, there will be significant costs (see International Sales). I’m certain there are many more categories and sub-categories, but they will be different for each film and each distribution plan/marketing strategy.  Putting Together Your Team Like filmmaking, distribution is a collaborative effort. You need a community to make a film AND to distribute it. If you don’t have the budget to put together a team, then you definitely have to create a plan for managing your own time. If you were in production, and couldn’t afford a crew, you’d have to figure out some way to deal with all of the necessary elements – lighting, sound, set design, etc. You’d either have to take more time to do it yourself or simply do without and find a way to make scarcity a part of the creative plan. Distribution is no different. If you are doing it yourself – you have to make time to do it all or do without certain things and replace them with other, more doable (and effective) strategies. On The Dogwalker, we had the budget to put together a team supplemented by a few key interns and volunteers. And when I say team, I mean those who will be working throughout the entire distribution effort – or most of it, anyway – as opposed to the regional publicists and lifestyle marketing firms/teams. Here’s who we felt we needed: Distribution Manager – Elizabeth Stanley – Scheduled and oversaw the entire distribution effort and did all outreach to potential business and marketing partners – including the commercial theaters we worked with. Distribution Manager – Michelle Wells – Spilt time and responbility (to keep down costs) with Elizabeth. Also oversaw the whole effort and built the databases of potential partners as well as contacted potential partners. Marketing Director – Melissa Sweeney – Oversaw the entire marketing/publicity effort, did outreach to marketing partners and devised/executed marketing strategies. Distribution Associate – Diane Gaidry - Worked in support of the Distribution Manager and Marketing Director and helped devise over-all distribution plan. Distribution Associate (part-time) – Jessica Williamson – Worked at the direction, and in support, of the Distribution Manager and Marketing Director. Distribution Consultant – Peter Broderick – Hired on an hourly basis to advise on our distribution efforts. Great guy and extremely knowledgeable about distribution – and many things related to filmmaking. Worth every penny. This, of course, does not include myself, the filmmaker, who was deeply invested both through planning and execution in all aspects of the distribution. We had doubles of positions because we couldn’t pay enough to dominate people’s time. So they worked half-time and could devote other time to more lucrative pursuits. Luckily, we also had some Filmmakers Alliance members to work as interns and volunteers – making calls and deliveries and numerous other things. If you do not have access to organizational support like this, then try soliciting some volunteers/interns on craigslist.com or mandy.com. This additional help is very important to keeping costs down and making sure you are using everyone on your team effectively.  The Film’s Website – The Single Most Important Marketing Element Any one who even modestly uses the internet knows the marketing value of a good website - specially with aggregators like Digg and StumbleUpon to help others find your site – if it’s worth finding. Generating interest in your film – no matter what kind of film – is a numbers game. If enough people hear about or see your site, you will eventually begin attracting your target audience, who will spread the word to like-minded others. There is also a ridiculous amount of tools at your disposal to generate traffic – but I will discuss all of this later in The DVD Release. First, you have to build the site and there is much to consider here. First and foremost is that you MUST design a site that has maximum dynamic content. Meaning, there is something there of value to people. Although your site must have the film “basics” (which is pretty much a press kit online), it must have a thing or things that draw people to it beyond just information about the film. And that stuff must be updated or change constantly, always giving people reasons to revisit the site and/or tell others about it. It almost doesn’t matter what it is or if its 100% relevant to the film. But first, here are the basics:           Trailer Synopsis Bios of creative principals Reviews (positive, of course) Production Notes Stills Store (to order the film) Email sign-up (to collect emails – very important) Message forum Links You may also want to add some of the extras that would be on the DVD, like behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, interviews, etc. Now, here are some other things you can add to make it more dynamic:           Film news Blogs and Vlogs (video journals, essentially, for those of you who don’t know) Video and Music Playlists Useful, open-source tools and downloadable programs Games/tests Cool pictures Food recipes Lists of other of your favorite things – websites, non-profit orgs, books, artists, etc. (add to them and ask others to add to them) Filmmaking resources – a compilation of info and contacts from the making of the film Any other cool, unique and/or useful thing you can imagine and create (or discover) For all of the good stuff, you want to make sure that people have to register their email address to get it. Any excuse to collect emails is a good one. These are the people you want to market to. These are also the people you want to reach when you’ve made your next film. Or better yet, when you are about to make your next film and are looking for financing. How cool would it be to build a large enough list of supporters that could essentially “pre-buy” your next DVD and provide you with enough financing to get it started or make it outright? Also - very important for making the site dynamic – make sure YOU have the ability to update text easily, or even upload files, programs, pics, etc. Have this functionality built into the design! Do lot yourself be held hostage by an overworked and/or depressed web master/manager. Your site will never get updated if you do. Here are some other random things to consider about building your film’s website:  START EARLY – as early in post-production as you can!  Use a reliable, stable website host. Don’t risk your site going down for 5 days right when sales are picking up.  Use a site address that is easily searchable, findable and typable. It doesn’t have to be the real name of the film. I wish I had used the address www.timeanddate.com. People are always looking up the time and date. I’d have millions of visitors. Kidding…sorta. You, of course, don’t want to throw people too far out of whack, but don’t feel wedded to your film’s obscure name. You want to do whatever you can to lead people to your site.  Good web designers are usually two people: a good graphic designer and a good web architect. They are almost NEVER both – even though they will swear up and down that they are. They will also both be very slow and very weird. All people related to the internet have exceptionally poor social skills.  Flash rocks. Flash sites look ridiculously better than non-flash sites. Flash also hangs up and takes time to load on many machines – even though machines are faster and more powerful. I’m not saying junk flash, but keep that in mind when you are drooling over such eye candy.  Plan on spending up to $10,000 for a truly professional site. You can plan on spending next to nothing if it is done by a talented amateur who loves you. But also plan on it taking 10 times as long. Those are my general notes. But for strong marketing ideas and greater specificity and strong marketing ideas, you should check out Marc Rosenbush’s “Internet Marketing For Filmmakers” course at: http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com/jacques The Theatrical Release So, now that we have everything in place and we’re ready to roll, let’s review, by example, how we got here and set up some timelines in the process. Then, again by example, we’ll go through the theatrical release process. I hope you realize by now that the information contained herein is a mix of things we did and things we wished we did. For the most part, we stuck to the plan as outlined here. But we definitely learned something about the way things work in the real world. In a way, everything I’m about to relate in this section can be put aside if you make the decision NOT to distribute your film via the commercial theater circuit. Yes, there are still marketing tips to be learned and many other details relevant to all avenues of distribution, but there are many things specific to commercial theatrical distribution that are not relevant anywhere else…and these things convinced us that we made a big mistake going in this direction. One that we will not make again with a film of this type. Why was this a mistake? Because the commercial theatrical circuit is set up to support,…well, commercial films. And commerce demands a lot of expensive marketing. You have to reach a lot of people so that a few will actually come see it. A small film with serious subject matter and no names is competing for audience share with slick, formulaic but familiar entertainment that has huge marketing guns behind it. And for alternative entertainment, audiences will go see the boutique indiewood films with recognizable stars in off-beat, but still predictable stories who also have studio marketing muscle behind them. If you think this is just sour grapes, let’s look at “Quinceañera” and “Half Nelson” which are both excellent films - and critical darlings with much stronger indie pedigree and distribution muscle - that hit theaters about the same time as The Dogwalker. The films, to my mind are incredible successes, having made 1.6 million and 2.6 million, respectively, at the commercial theatrical box office. But they were both released by relatively large distributors (Sony Classics – the boutique division of the major studio – released “Quinceañera”). The films were therefore held in theaters for 14 and 18 weeks, respectively, and, at their peak, in 100 theaters simultaneously. Nonetheless, with the cost of distribution and marketing (and the cost of distribution company overhead) for all of those markets, the films probably didn’t even – or just barely – broke even on those costs. They will make their money in DVD and do very, very well, I’m sure. But, this is just to illustrate the cost of commercial theatrical distribution. Your film needs the kind of pedigree and marketing muscle these two films had just to break even in the commercial theatrical realm. And a commercial theatrical release will only serve its purpose (as a marketing tool for DVD) if it has good saturation and visibility in the target marketplace. Opening in 6 markets (on 9 screens) as we did, does not offer saturation and visibility and costs a whole bunch of money. Nonetheless, at the point that we got our financing we were full of confidence and energy, and immediately set about prepping the film for distribution, which included recutting, re-mixing, conforming the sound, adding in new music, additional color correction and striking new HD masters. While this work was done, we sketched out a rough plan and hired Elizabeth Stanley as our Distribution Manager because I am simply not an organizational genius. I had already roughed out a budget, so we put together the rest of our team and began sharing ideas about how to proceed – in the process, attaching costs to the things we wanted to do. Through this, we developed our general marketing plan. We also hired someone to begin building our site, as well as found a designer to create the necessary Key Art. However, the question remained about how we would get the film into theaters. It is not such a simple thing, even if you are “four-walling” (essentially renting out the theater and keeping 100% of the receipts). Unless you are willing to pay big bucks, commercial theaters aren’t always anxious to tie up their screen space when other, potentially more lucrative films, are coming down the pike. It’s also extremely time-consuming to call dozens of theaters, get the right person, send the DVD and then hound them for a response. Plus, we needed to find only films that had digital projection as we did not plan on going to film print (way too costly). However, if you want to contact commercial theaters (with digital projection) yourself, I’ve included a partial list of them across the country in the Appendix. For our part, we set about trying to hire “bookers” people who can help distribute small films and are experienced in getting small films into theaters. Many of them hate to be called “bookers”. They consider themselves distributors – hands-on, boutique distributors who help manage the whole distribution effort….and charge accordingly. They have to believe in your film’s potential because they are putting their reputations on the line with theaters. There were a few recommended to us who specifically handle films about the size of our film. Some never called us back, some didn’t respond to the film and some were just too pricey ($15,000 for booking in NY and LA alone). Here’s a few names: Mike Thomas Doug Freed Connie White 323.650.8100 310.397.7973 413.253.6781 MkRThomas@aol.com dougfreed@hotmail.com connie@beaconcinema.com While contacting these people we were made aware of an interesting program set up by Mark Cuban’s company, called Truly Indie. It was a hybrid service-deal/self-distribution model whereby the filmmaker pays per screen to release their film through the Landmark theater chain. You are four-walling – and keeping 100% of the box office - but they also offer paid advertising and their in-house publicity. They don’t treat the film like they would treat the films they acquired through distributors, but it was still a cool and affordable concept. We sent them the film and they responded well, offering to make it a part of the Truly Indie program. Since we got no play from the booker/distributors, we decided to take them up on their offer. They also allowed us to book the film ourselves in a few places where we had our own contacts. We settled on 6 screens with them and booked 3 ourselves – in San Rafael through Richard Peterson at the wonderful Smith Rafael Film Center, in Los Angeles through Greg Laemmle at Laemmle’s Music Hall in Beverly Hills and in Buffalo through Michael Clement at the Market Arcade Film and Art Center. The Smith Rafael Film Center and the Music Hall were not 4-walled, however. Meaning, we did not have to pay a rental fee, but we did not get to keep 100% of the receipts. I believe we received about 40% of the box-office receipts. Once we had some idea where the film would screen, and having already identified our target audience, it was time to specify and execute the marketing plan. We decided to first focus on trying to set up preview screenings around the country through University screening programs and through film organizations. The organizations and the people who attended would theoretically spread the word to others. Also, we began compiling lists of potential non-profit partners and contacting them. This work was incredibly timeconsuming and demanded hours and hours of phone work. It also meant mounting shipping costs as most wanted hard copies of our press kits rather than allowing us to just send them digitally. All of that work ultimately proved fruitless. Most of the colleges were in summer session and would not even be scheduling new screenings until we were already deep into our theatrical run. And the film orgs also had already scheduled their screenings or simply did not return calls. We also started to worry about cannibalizing our audience. We did not want our potential audience to get “used up” in preview screenings. And people interested in indie films (and thus part of a film org) would probably comprise our core audience for the critical opening days of the film. I sorta don’t agree with that philosophy, thinking it to carry a lot of poverty consciousness (“there’s just not enough people!”). But since people weren’t responding, anyway, it was a moot point. Also, in regards to the theory behind preview screenings, you ideally setting up preview screenings that would bring in a handful of people from a number of different communities that might respond to the film, but ordinarily would not have heard about itThese people then go out and spread the word to their communities and start a small buzz about the film. . That’s why colleges would have been good, but film orgs not as much. Even better would have been getting non-profit partners to host a screening. Again, no response. Moot point. Although we managed to rope in a handful of non-profit partners, it was also a relatively fruitless effort. Non-profits are notoriously bureaucratic and, therefore, very slow to respond. You need the sign-off with so many folks, including the entire board, at some of these places, so it quickly became clear nothing was ever going to get moving with them. As a whole, they are also incredible cautious, which I understand to some degree. They are very fearful of signing on with any outside venture that might compromise their core messaging or alienate their donor base. And The Dogwalker, although seemingly a perfect fit energetically for many of these orgs, is a very edgy and potentially off-putting film – even if the ultimate messaging is uplifting. Despite these challenges, I still think the strategy would have paid of more handsomely had we begun this work several months earlier – or scheduled the release date several months later. We did get many postive responses, but most fell outside of our timeline. It didn’t help that our website took many months longer to build than was quoted to us and wound up needing to be rebuilt and finished by another web builder altogether. The website is unbelievably important in giving your various solicitations legitimacy. Without it, you struggle to generate any kind of response, let alone a positive one. Again, time is key. As a rule, I believe that if you have limited funds, you need to give yourself a year of prep and pre-marketing before the film’s commercial theatrical release date. So, we marched forward, doing as much internet promotion (which I’ll detail in The DVD Release) as we could think of and hiring Flag Marketing to do our street team promoting in all the markets where the film was opening. As I said, the plan was for Diane and I to go to every commercial theater where the film was opening a week in advance and do some promoting. We chose to save money and drive across country to each market, giving the whole thing the feeling of a “tour”. So, we packed up, hit the road, and held our breath. It was quite and experience. But rather than go into detail about every moment of the release tour, I’ll instead just list all of the things filmmakers need to keep in mind if they choose to follow this path:  Going to the city in advance is a great idea, but expensive if you don’t have a place to stay for free.  Spacing the film openings farther apart (say, 2 weeks) is better if you can afford it. It gives you more time to promote.  Promotion takes time, and is pretty exhausting. Make sure you are in shape for it.  Always keep plenty of promotional material on you. And opportunity to promote is ALWAYS available from the moment you step out of your house/hotel.  By promoting, I mean talking about the film to ANYONE, handing out info (or putting it up in a business) or creating opportunities to do both of those things.  Send your trailer, posters and cards far enough in advance of the release date so that they have time to make use of it – especially the trailer.  Check and double check with the theaters to make sure they are indeed making use of the materials you spent a lot money to make and send to them.  Tell the theaters IN ADVANCE not to trash your posters. Tell them to return them to you in good condition, if possible. Make sure you say this to all the staff you run across.  Many theaters are run by teen-agers who behave like, well, teen-agers. Respect them, but keep that in mind when you are communicating with them.  Don’t expect publicists to think of everything or to do everything they think of. Oversight is key. Again, treat them with respect and don’t try to micro-manage them, but it behooves you to offer ideas and check in with them fairly regularly.  Feature stories or any kind of articles that aren’t just reviews must be pitched early and often to find their way into print in advance of the film’s release.  The old saying “bad publicity is good publicity” is absolutely true. Almost ANYTHING you can do to create public awareness will have an impact. We made a subtle, tasteful film (even if it is edgy) and did a subtle, tasteful marketing campaign – too little effect. Marketing/Promotion is a different animal where subtle holds little value.  Print advertising is expensive, but it does have an impact.  Research local cable advertising. We heard a rumor after the fact that it is relatively inexpensive and has a strong impact.  Make sure you have a print ad in the Friday edition if your film opens on Friday. If you can get an ad in on Sunday, do that too.  We had a preview screening through a film society in Denver. It was jam-packed. Did we “cannibalize” our audience? No. We did better in Denver than anywhere else outside of San Rafael.  Reviewers are cruel to small films, even if they like the film. And will constantly refer to the “smallness” of the film.  Reviewers suck. Even the ones that like your film will only offer vague and shallow commentary on it. There are a few lovely and thoughtful exceptions, however.  Reviews matter, unfortunately.  You can sometimes request a specific reviewer. Do your research and see if there is a reviewer at the local papers who might respond to your film (based on their past reviews) and take a shot at requesting them.  Street marketing teams need a LOT of guidance and oversight. It’s best if you do your own research about where they should be (even if you are working with a firm like Flag Marketing) and then go to those locations and make sure you see the results of their work.  Theater chains/owners take forever to pay you your share of the box office receipts.  DO NOT budget for your box office returns. Meaning, do not spend all of your money on the theatrical release (as we practically did) in hopes of using the money from the box office receipts to continue the rest of your distribution (DVD release and beyond). We made so little money in theatrical release that it left us very little for pursuing/promoting the other distribution avenues. If you want a bit more detail about our theatrical release, please download our issue of the FA Magazine about The Dogwalker distribution effort. Alternative Theatrical Release As I said earlier, this is where we should have focused our efforts. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of screens around the country that are not commercial theaters that would respond positively (and inexpensively) to a smaller independent film. There’s the college circuit, film organizations, museums, cultural centers, non-profit orgs and numerous micro-cinemas. Micro-cinemas are basically digital cinemas that hold a small amount of people and exist anywhere there is a room, a wall or screen, a projector, speakers and a DVD deck. Here are the benefits and drawbacks of an Alternative Theatrical, which I actually prefer to call Alternative Cinema, release. BENEFITS:  More indie-friendly  Can create visibility for film in more markets  Reaches a more targeted demographic  Marketing support through host organization  Inexpensive DRAWBACKS:  Very time-consuming to set up  The screening will probably not receive reviews in the press  Typically a short run or single-night screening  Difficult, expensive for filmmakers to promote on the ground and to make personal appearances at all venues Of course, this kind of distribution will generate little revenue, but that was also true of the commercial theatrical release. And it will cost far, far less. So, despite the drawbacks, this form of release would have been much better-suited to the goals and budget of The Dogwalker. Of course, we came to this conclusion after the fact and hindsight is 20-20. But hopefully, others will learn from our example. Also, we would have had to reschedule our release date (and perhaps been flexible with it) to meet the demands of this form of theatrical release, but that ultimately would have been a small, practical matter. One of my biggest regrets in writing this is that I cannot provide a complete database of Alternative Cinemas in this document. We actually spent far too much time chasing down the rumor that a complete Alternative Cinema database exists somewhere in the world. So, we wasted time trying to access that database from other sources rather than spending that same time creating it for ourselves. It’s still my goal to update this document with that database when I finally find or create it. But there is indeed a pretty extensive list of digital independent theaters in the Appendix. Another form of Alternative Theatrical release is the film festival circuit. And all that demands is re-orienting of our ideas about the festival circuit. Most filmmakers think of it as a step in the process of distribution – a means to an end. For most filmmakers, they see the festival circuit as a tool for gaining visibility and setting up a distribution deal. In reality, the festival serves as the only form of theatrical distribution most filmmakers will ever experience. But if you change that thinking and approach it as your ONLY theatrical distribution, you can get far more out of your festival experience and set up some meaningful visibility to support the DVD release. Of course, this could (although it doesn’t necessarily) mean giving up the fantasy of a commercial theatrical release, but just remind yourself that it is mostly just a fantasy anyway…or a nightmare. Here are some things to keep in mind if you re-orient your thinking about the festival circuit in this way:  Join (if you haven’t) Withoutabox and make as much use of it as possible.  Talk to festival consultants such as Thomas Ethan Harris, Robert Hawk or Mitch Levine to set up a strong film festival stategy.  Read the underground manual to find out how to get into festivals cheaply…or free.  Have your film’s website ready before your festival run.  Submit to as many festivals as you can across the country. Accept as many as will accept you (but do research on the fest, first, so that you do not waste your time).  Promote like hell via the web once accepted to a festival.  Attend every festival that you can.  Promote to potential audiences and organizations that can speak favorably about the film.  Do NOT waste time promoting to the industry.  Plan the DVD release to be simultaneous with your festival run, so that people can buy the DVD immediately upon hearing about the film.  Bring copies for sale and/or screening purposes to every screening of your film at every festival.  Request a “screening fee” from the festivals that accept you. This is sometimes a nice way to bring in a bit of revenue. Of course, the “prestigious” festivals will tell you to take a hike. But other festivals may respond well, especially if they are well-funded. They need films. They make money from films. Let them know this is your theatrical distribution and you need to generate revenue as much as possible. The possibility of this is directly related to how badly they want your film. But ask. All they can say is “no”. Oh, I guess they could pull your film and try to blackball you from the fest circuit. But if you think this is a possibility, you should join the CIA instead of making films. International Sales I’m going to be honest and admit that I don’t know a damn thing about International Sales and have done little in this regard. We did nothing for The Dogwalker besides latch onto a few sales agents who represented the film at film markets for short periods of time – with little success. I do know that it is difficult to manage these kinds of sales on your own. Buyers are very particular about the films they buy and often depend on pre-existing relationships with sales agents to find the films the want. And their buying patterns are maddeningly inconsistent and mysterious. Basically, you are selling all rights to your film in a particular territory and providing them with all of the “deliverables” they need to distribute it effectively in that territory. For that, they pay you a one-time fee that ranges from thousands to hundreds of thousands, depending on the size (and wealth) of the territory and the size (and desirability) of the film being sold. A lot of business gets done at one of several film markets held throughout the year – although they are now buying films year-round, market or not. The American Film Market in Santa Monica (in early November) is the largest and busiest in America. Hell, it might be the only one in America. It is definitely worth visiting to give yourself an education in this world. But about all I can do here is give you a few databases in the – of international film buyers (see Appendix), of film markets and of sales agents. However, there’s some great info on international sales here: http://www.canadianfilmmaker.com/content/view/71/15/. Film Markets: Berlin International Film Festival and European Film Market www.berlinale.de/ Cannes International Film Festival and Market Festival de Cannes www.festival-cannes.fr MIFED International Film and Multimedia Market www.mifed.com MIP-TV InternationalTV & Video Market www.mipcom.com TIFFCOM www.tiffcom.jp American Film Market www.afma.com/afm/home.asp Pusan International Film Festival and Market http://www.piff.org Hong Kong International Film Festival and Market www.hkiff.org.hk/ Sales Agents/International Distributors: 2929 International 9100 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 500 West Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA T: (310) 309-5706 F: (310) 309-5708 saskin@2929international.com Ace Entertainment 6-1-24, 3rd Floor Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8553 Japan T: (81-3) 5413-4353 F: (81-3) 5413-2843 kayo@asmik-ace.co.jp Adriana Chiesa Enterprises 24A via Barnaba Oriani 00197 Rome, Italy T: (39-06) 808-6052 F: (39-06) 8068-7855 info@adrianachiesaenterprises.com Alma Films 176 rue du Temple 75003 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4201-0705 F: (33-1) 4201-0830 Arclight Films Building 22 Fox Studios Australia Driver Avenue Moore Park NSW 2021 Australia T: (61-2) 8353-2433 F: (61-2) 8353-2437 info@arclightfilms.com Arsenal Experimental Potsdamer Strasse 2 Berlin 10785 Germany T: (49-30) 2695-5100 F: (49-30) 2695-5111 fdk@fdk-berlin.de Austrian Film Commission Stiftgasse 6 1070 Vienna, Austria T: (43-1) 526-3323 F: (43-1) 526-6801 salesdesk@afc.at AUTLOOK Filmsales GbR Zieglergasse 75/1 Vienna 1070 Austria. T: (43-1) 720-553-570 F: (43-1) 720-553-572 welcome@autlookfilms.com Bac Films International 88 rue de la Folie Méricourt 75011 Paris, France. T: (33-1) 5353-5256 F: (33-1) 5353-0670 c.neel@bacfilms.fr Bankside Films Douglas House 3 Richmond Buildings, 4th Floor London W1D 3HE United Kingdom T: (44-207) 734-3566 F: (44-203) 230-1059 films@bankside-films.com Bavaria Film International Bavariafilmplatz 8, Geiselgasteig Bavaria 82031 Germany T: (49-89) 6499-3506 F: (49-89) 6499-3720 toronto07@bfint.de Becker Films International 11 Waltham Street, Level 1 Artarmon Sydney NSW 2064 Australia T: (61-2) 8425-1163 F: (61-2) 9439-1827 info@beckerinternational.com.au Beta Cinema 28D Grunwalder Weg 82041 Oberhaching, Germany T: (49-89) 6734-6980 Bleiberg Entertainment 9454 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA T: (310) 273-0007 sales@bleibergent.com Chris Chong Chan Fui Palm Court Condo-A-06-02 Sultan Abdul Samad Brickfields Kuala Lumpur Selangor 50470 Malaysia T: (60-1) 2833-1922 F: 03 2273 8411 Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 119 Toronto ON M5V 3A8 Canada T: (416) 588-0725 F: (416) 588-7956 bookings@cfmdc.org Capitol Films Bridge House, 2nd Floor 63-65 Wharf Road London W2 1LA United Kingdom T: (44-207) 298-6224 F: (44-207) 298-6201 films@capitolfilms.com Celluloid Dreams 2 rue Turgot, 75009 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4970-0370 F: (33-1) 4970-0371 info@celluloid-dreams.com CFC Distribution 2489 Bayview Avenue Toronto, Ontario M2L 1A8 Canada T: (416) 445-1446 F: (416) 445-9481 distribution@cfccreates.com Christal Films International 376 avenue Victoria, Suite 300 Westmount QC H3Z 1C3 Canada T: (514) 336-9696 F: (514) 336-0607 international@christalfilms.com CJ Entertainment Inc. 2nd Floor, 602 Sinsa-dong Gangnam-gu Seoul 135-893 South Korea T: (82-2) 2017-1193 F: (82-2) 2017-1241 ky_lee@cj.net Cinetic Media 555 W. 25th St., 4th Fl. NY, NY 10001 T: (212) 204-7979 F: (212) 204-7980 office@cineticmedia.com Coach14 21 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud 75011 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4700-1060 info@coach14.com Colifilms Diffusion 17 rue de Chéroy 75017 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4294-2543 F: (33-1) 4294-1705 claudenouchi@wanadoo.fr Content Film International 19 Heddon Street London W1B 4BG United Kingdom T: (44-207) 851-6500 F: (44-207) 851-6506 jamie.carmichael@contentfilm.com ContentFilm International 19 Heddon Street London W1B 4BG UK T: (44-207) 851-6500 F: (44-207) 851-6506 judith.baugin@contentfilm.com Coproduction Office 24 rue Lamartine 75009 Paris, France T: (33-1) 5602-6000 F: (33-1) 5602-6001 info@coproductionoffice.eu d.k. films 2700 Dufferin Street, Suite 86 Toronto ON M6B 4J3 Canada T: (416) 640-0375 F: (647) 288-0193 dkhanna@rogers.com Discovery Channel 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90067 USA T: (310) 975-5967 joe_kennedy@Discovery.com Dreamachine 2 rue Turgot 75009 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4970-0370 F: (33-1) 4970-0371 Emperor Motion Pictures 28-F Emperor Group Centre 288 Hennessy Road Wanchai, Hong Kong, China T: (852) 2969-7817 F: (852) 2893-4309 catchau@emp.hk Endeavor Independent 9601 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90210 USA T: (310) 246-3126 F: (310) 246-4039 MAnkner@endeavorla.com EuropaCorp 137 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré 75008 Paris, France T: (33-1) 5383-0303 F: (33-1) 5383-0370 gmelin@europacorp.com Europe Images International 1 rond-point Victor Hugo Issy les Moulineaux 92137 France T: 33 1 55 95 58 13 F: 33 1 55 95 58 10 mariehelene.briand@europeimages.com Fandango Portobello Sales Eardley House, 4 Uxbridge Street Notting Hill Gate London W8 7SY United Kingdom T: (44-207) 908-9890 F: (44-207) 908-9899 kate@portobellopictures.com Film Four Eardley House, 4 Uxbridge Street Notting Hill Gate London W8 7SY United Kingdom. T: (44-207) 908-9890 F: (44-207) 908-9899 Filmax International Miguel Hernandez 81-87 Districte Econòmic de l'Hospitalet 08908 Barcelona, Spain. T: (34-93) 336-8555 F: (34-93) 263-0824 filmaxint@filmax.com Filmexport Prague Distribution, s.r.o. Marie Cibulkove 34 14000 Prague 4, Czech Republic. T: (42-02) 4401-4216 F: (42-02) 4401-4218 marta.filmexport@volny.cz Filmoption International Inc 3410 Saint-Antoine Ouest Westmount QC H3Z 1X1 Canada T: (514) 931-6180 F: (514) 939-2034 email@filmoption.com Filmoption International Inc. 3410 Saint-Antoine Ouest Westmount QC H3Z 1X1 Canada T: (514) 931-6180 F: (514) 939-2034 email@filmoption.com Films Distribution 34 rue du Louvre 75001 Paris, France T: (33-1) 5310-3399 F: (33-1) 5310-3398 info@filmsdistribution.com Films Transit 252 Gouin Boulevard East Montreal QC H3L 1A8 Canada T: (514) 844-3358 F: (514) 862-0054 janrofekamp@filmstransit.com Focus Features International 76 Oxford Street, 4th Floor London W1D 1BS United Kingdom T: (44-207) 307-1325 alison.thompson@focusfeatures.com Fortissimo Films Veemarkt 77-79 1019 DA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. T: (31-20) 627-3215 F: (31-20) 626-1155 courtney@fortissimo.nl Gaumont 30 avenue Charles de Gaulle 92200 Neuilly sur Seine, France T: (33-1) 4643-2180 F: (33-1) 4643-2033 dgrosjean@gaumont.fr Golden Network Asia Unit 2003, Futura Plaza 111-113 How Ming Street Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, China T: (852) 2751-1886 F: (852) 2750-4862 info@goldneteasia.com GreeneStreet International 275 South Beverly Drive, Suite 210 Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA T: (310) 860-1113 srich@gstreet.com HandMade Films International 38 Albermarle Street London W1S 4JG Uinited Kingdom T: (44-207) 518-8230 carl.clifton@handmadefilms.com HanWay Films 24 Hanway Street London W1T 1UH United Kingdom T: (44-207) 290-0750 F: (44-207) 290-0751 jls@hanwayfilms.com HDNet International 122 Hudson Street 5th Floor New York, NY 10013 USA T: 212-255-0626 F: 212-255-0602 ladamson@hdnetfilms.com High Point Media Group Deane House Studios Greenwood Place, Suite 16 London NW5 1LB United Kingdom T: (44-207) 424-6870 F: (44-207) 485-3281 sales@highpointfilms.co.uk Hyde Park Entertainment 14958 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 100 Sherman Oaks CA 91403 USA T: (818) 670-7150 F: (818) 783-6319 lisa@hydeparkentertainment.com IDP Distribution 1133 Broadway, Suite 926 New York NY 10010 USA Ignatius Films Canada 1412 Seaview Drive Mississauga ON L5J 1X5 Canada T: (416) 822-4883 ignatiusfilmscanada@yahoo.ca Industryworks 325 West Seventh Avenue, Vancouver BC V5Y 1M2 Canada T: (604) 876-0547 F: (604) 876-0541 craig@industry-works.com Intandem Films 22 Soho Square W1D 4NS London, UK. T: 44-207-851-3800 F: 44-207851-3830 info@intandemfilms.com Intercinema 15 Druzhinnikovskaya Street 123242 Moscow, Russia. T: (7-495) 255-9052 F: (7-495) 255-9053 post@intercin.ru Intercontinental Holdings 436 Wellington Street West, Suite 102 Toronto ON M5V 1E3 Canada T: (416) 523-2820 F: (416) 979-3090 cjhervey@rogers.com Intramovies Via Eustachio Manfredi 15 00197 Rome, Italy. T: (39-6) 807-7252 F: (39-6) 807-6156 Iranian Independents P.O. Box 15875-4769 Tehran 15875 Iran. T: (98-912) 319-8693 F: (98-21) 2227-1157 info@iranianindependents.com Kid Film Orzechowskiego 19 04824 Warsaw, Poland T: (48-50) 175-1201 Kimmel International 250 Hudons St, 10th Floor, New York NY 10013 USA. T: (212) 431-5550 markl@skefilms.com Latido Films Veneras, 9, 6º 28013 Madrid, Spain. T: (34-91) 548-8877 F: (34-91) 548-8878 massimo_saidel@latidofilms.com Les Films Du Losange 22 rue Pierre 1er de Serbie 75116 Paris, France. T: (33-1) 4443-8710 F: (33-1) 4952-0640 d.elstner@filmsdulosange.fr Light Cone 12 rue des Vignole 75020 Paris, France T: (33-1) 4659-0153 F: (33-1) 4659-0312 christophe.bichon@lightcone.org Magyar Filmunió 38 Városligeti fasor 1068 Budapest, Hungary T: (36-1) 351-7760 F: (36-1) 352-6734 filmunio@filmunio.hu Mandarin Films Distribution 1801-02 Westlands Centre 20 Westlands Road, Hong Kong, China T: (852) 2579-1718 F: (852) 2579-1712 virginialeung@mandarinfilms.com Mandate Pictures 8750 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills CA 90211 USA T: (310) 360-1441 F: (310) 360-1447 info@mandatepictures.com Maximum Film International 9 Price Street Toronto ON M4W 1Z1 Canada T: (416) 960-0300 F: (416) 960-8656 MDC International Schillerstr. 7A 10625 Berlin, Germany T: (49-30) 2649-7900 F: (49-30) 2649-7910 info@mdc-int.de MediaPro Distribution 7-9 Prof. Dr. Dimitrie Gerota, Sector 2 Bucharest, Romania. T: (40-74) 823-4247 F: (40-31) 825-6430 mediaprodistribution@mediasat.ro Memento Films International 6 Cité Paradis 75010 Paris, France. T: (33-1) 5334-9020 F: (33-1) 4247-1124 emilie@memento-films.com MK2 International 55 rue Traversiere 75012 Paris, France T: (33-6) 0894-8873 T: (33-1) 4467-3055 F: (33-1) 4307-2963 mathilde.henrot@mk2.com Myriad Pictures 3015 Main Street, Suite 400 Santa Monica CA 90405 USA T: (310) 279-4000 F: (310) 279-4001 pamela.rodi@myriadpictures.com Nanouk Films 572 Grant Street Longueuil QC J4H 3J4 Canada T: (450) 670-4078 info@nanoukfilms.com National Film Board of Canada 3155 chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse Ville Saint-Laurent QC H4N 2N4 Canada T: (514) 283-9805 F: (514) 496-4372 festivals@nfb.ca NETIMA 42 rue du Court-Métrage Quebec QC G2B 1L7 Canada T: (418) 847-4488 F: (418) 843-3202 jo@netima.ca New Line International 116 North Robertson Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90048 USA Nordisk Film International Sales Mosedalvej 14 2500 Valby, Denmark T: (45) 3618-8200 F: (45) 3618-9550 Tine.Klint@nordiskfilm.com Notting Hill Films 4 Stanley Cresent London W112NB United Kingdom T: (44-207) 243-1891 F: (44-207) 985-0210 sharon@nottinghillfilms.com Nu Image 6423 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90048 USA T: (310) 388-6900 F: (323) 655-9868 jmao@nuimage.net Parkland Pictures The Art House, 2B Doria Road London SW6 4UG United Kingdom T: (44-207) 384-2229 F: (44-207) 610-6630 john@parklandfilms.com Pathé Pictures International Kent House, 14-17 Market Place London W1W 8AR United Kingdom T: (44-207) 462-4427 F: (44-207) 436-7891 international.sales@pathe-uk.com Penguin Group UK 80 Strand London WC2R 0RL United Kingdom T: (44-207) 010-3466 preena.gadher@uk.penguingroup.com Pierre Grise Distributions 21 avenue du Maine 75015 Paris, France. T: (33-1) 4544-2045 F: (33-1) 4544-0040 NúFilms 5333 avenue Casgrain, Suite 410 Montreal QC H2T 1X3 Canada T: (514) 925-6000 F: (514) 925-5808 go@nufilms.ca Primer Plano Film Group Riobamba 477 1025 Bueno Aires, Argentina T: (54-11) 4375-0506 F: (54-11) 4375-0506 Odyssey Entertainment 10A James Street London WC2E 8BT United Kingdom T: (44-207) 520-5614 F: (44-207) 520-5611 sales@odyssey-entertainment.co.uk Pyramide International 5 rue du Chevalier de Saint-George 75008 Paris, France. T: (33-1) 4296-0220 F: (33-1) 4020-0551 yoann@pyramidefilms.com Ondamax Films 1225 Alton Road Miami Beach, FL 33139 USA T: 305-535-3577 F: 305-215-2221 QED International 9595 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 800 Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA T: (310) 734-0065 F: (310) 273-3006 kfox@qedintl.com Paramount Vantage 5555 Melrose Avenue Hollywood CA 90038 USA T: (323) 956-2000 Renegade Worldwide 10203 Santa Monica Boulevard, 5th Floor Los Angeles CA 90067 USA T: (310) 843-0223 patrick@renegade-pictures.com Rezo Films International 29 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75009 Paris, France. T: (33-6) 2171-3911 F: (33-1) 4246-4082 sebastien.chesneau@rezofilms.com Rigel Entertainment 4201 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 555 Los Angeles CA 90010 USA T: (323) 954-8555 F: (323) 954-8592 jl@rigel.tv Roissy Films 58 rue Pierre Charron 75008 Paris, FRANCE T: (33-1) 5353-5058 F: (33-1) 4289-2693 c-dessarts@roissyfilms.com Showbox/Mediaplex 16th Floor Hansol Building Yeoksam-1dong, Gangnam-gu 736-1, Seoul 135-983 South Korea. T: (82-2) 3218-5639 F: (82-2) 3444-6688 judy@showbox.co.kr Showbox/Mediaplex, Inc. 16F Hansol Bldg, Yeoksam-1dong 736-1 Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-983 South Korea T: (82-2) 3218-5639 F: (82-2) 3444-6688 judy@showbox.co.kr Silkroad Production Setareh Farsi T: +336.0875.3448 info@silkroadproduction.com Saetre Films 451 Greenwich Street, 2nd Floor New York NY 10013 USA T: (212) 219-9692 F: (212) 609-9099 linda@saetrefilm.com SND Films 89 avenue Charles de Gaulle 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France T: (33-1) 4192-6866 F: (33-1) 4192-6869 gchambet@snd-films.fr Seville International 147 St. Paul Street West, Suite 200 Montreal QC H2Y 1Z5 Canada T: (514) 841-1910 anickp@sevillepictures.com Sogepaq Leganitos 47, 7 28013 Madrid, Spain T: (34-91) 758-3130 F: (34-91) 758-3163 sogepaqint@sogecable.com Sheherazad Media International 2, 3rd Sarvestan, Pasdaran Street, Shariati Avenue, Tehran 16619 Iran T: (98-21) 2286-3260 F: (98-21) 2285-8962 sheherazad@smediaint.com Shochiku Co., Ltd. 4-1-1, 12th Floor Togeki Building Tsukiji, Cho-ku Tokyo 104-8422 Japan T: (81-3) 5550-1623 F: (81-3) 5550-1654 ibd@shochiku.co.jp Shoreline Entertainment 1875 Century Park East, Suite 600 Los Angeles CA 90067 USA T: (310) 551 2060 Sooner Worldwide LLC 9229 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 400 Los Angeles CA 90069 USA T: (310) 443-7788 F: (310) 443-7739 pelson@globalcinemagroup.com Studio Canal 1 Place du spectacle 92863 Issy-les- Moulineaux, France T: (33-1) 7135-3535 murielle.sauzay@canal-plus.com Submarine Entertainment 132 Crosby Street New York NY 10012 USA T: 212-625-1410 F: 212-625-9931 josh@submarine.com Summit Entertainment 1630 Stewart Street, Suite 120 Santa Monica CA 90404 USA T: (310) 309-8400 F: (310) 828-4132 Trish@summit-ent.com THINKFilm 23 East 22nd Street New York NY 10010 USA T: (212) 444-7900 F: (212) 444-7901 dfenkel@thinkfilmcompany.com Svensk Filmindustri Filmstaden Råsunda Greta Garbos Väg 11-13 Stockholm 16986 Sweden T: +46 86803500 international@sf.se Traveling Light Productions 10 Mount Vernon Street #3 Arlington Massachusetts 02476 USA T: (781) 483-3211 F: (617) 824-8803 john.gianvito@verizon.net TF1 International 9 rue Maurice Mallet, 92130 Issy les Moulineaux, France T: (33-1) 4141-1763 F: (33-1) 4141-1769 neschbach@tf1.fr Trust Film Sales Filmbyen 12 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark T: (45) 3686-8788 F: (45) 3677-4448 post@trust-film.dk The Film Sales Company 151 Lafayette Street, 5th Floor, New York NY 10013 USA T: (646) 274-0945 F: (212) 981-8195 andrew.herwtiz@filmsalescorp.com TV2 World Sortedam Dossering 55A Copenhagen DK-2100 Denmark T: (45) 3537-2200 F: (45) 3537-2227 kimc@tv2.dk The Little Film Company 12930 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 822 Studio City CA 91604, USA T: 818-762-6999 F: 818-301-2186 Universal International 76 Oxford Street, 1st Floor London W1D 1BS United Kingdom T: (44-207) 307-1364 kate.wyhowska@nbcuni.com The Match Factory Sudermanplatz 2 50670 Cologne, Germany T: (49-22) 1292-1020 F: (49-22) 1292-10210 info@matchfactory.de Voltage Pictures 6360 Deep Dell Place Los Angeles CA 90068 USA T: (323) 464-8351 F: (323) 464-8362 nicolas@voltagepictures.com The Weinstein Company 375 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10014 USA Wanda Vision 16 avenida de Europa Chalet 2, Pozuelo de Alarcon 28224 Madrid, Spain T: (34-91) 351-7283 miguel@wanda.es The Works International 4th Floor, Portland House 4 Great Portland Street London W1W 8QJ United Kingdom T: (44-207) 612-1080 F: (44-207) 612-1081 joy.wong@theworksmediagroup.com WIDE Management 40 rue Sainte-Anne, 75002 Paris, France T: (33-1) 5395-0464 F: (33-1) 5395-0465 wide@widemanagement.com Wild Bunch 99 rue de la Verrerie, 75004 Paris, France T: 33-1-5301-5030 F: 33-1-5301-5049 avicente@wildbunch.eu William Morris Independent 15 El Camino Drive Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA T: (310) 859-4315 F: (310) 859-4138 rr@wma.com Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., LTD. Taisei Yoshimoto Building, 1-14 Kanda Jinbo-cho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 101-0051 Japan T: (81-3) 5217-6114 F: (81-3) 5280-3886 nakai@yoshimoto.co.jp These are mostly all fairly large companies. Apparently, there are dozens of dozens of smaller companies and one-man/woman sales agents around the world, so don’t be shy about asking any of these larger companies if they can refer you to smaller sales agents that they might know of or with whom they’ve worked. American Television Sales - Cable and Network Forget television sales if you are self-distributing. Getting your film to someone in a position to say yes or no to buying it without representation that they trust is next to impossible. And a network sale is still impossible unless your film is a major, major success. And cable sales pay very little, for the most part. The Dogwalker was really only appropriate for a few cable channels, like IFC, Sundance or something like Lifetime Indie (which, I believe, no longer exists). And if we got $30,000 out of any of those stations (we didn’t), we could’ve counted ourselves fortunate. They only tie up the film for a relatively short period (around 2 years, I believe), but they keep you out of internet sales. If your film is appropriate for F/X or Comedy Central – which programs more straight “entertainment” - and you are fortunate enough to make a sale, you might make a decent chunk of money. But again, you might just be bangin’ your head against the wall if you’re going it alone in that world. If you are determined, you might find a producer’s rep or sales agent who will rep the film specifically for this market. Alternative/Educational/Ancillary Markets I can confidently say that I know even less about selling to alternative / educational/ ancillary markets than I know about international sales. I do know, however, that this market exists and has been lucrative for some. I tried to find information on-line about these markets and who sells to those markets, but was completely unsuccessful. The best I can do here is list, again, the various markets.     Schools Museums Airlines Trains     Ships Military Installations Non-profits and more I can’t think of, I’m sure The DVD Release Ah, the big one. This is the place where we hope to really start earning money. And although The Dogwalker has been available via DVD for several months (at the time of this writing), we are, in many ways, only just beginning. Luckily, DVD sales via the internet has no shelf-life because there are no shelves. If we are smart and persistent, we might be able to generate significant income over the course of several years. For films like The Dogwalker, this is where the money is, so there is much to cover here. DVD sales, though declining, are still a vibrant, viable and even potentially lucrative distribution avenue with a number of small film success stories. Distribution consultant Peter Broderick has a many success stories that he tells to filmmaker clients and at the various seminars and conferences where he is invited to speak. He is DEFINITELY someone to contact before you begin your distribution effort. But, as he’ll tell you, those successes are not without a lot of smart decision-making and good, old-fashioned hard work. Here’s rule #1. Maintain the right to sell the DVD and Digital Downloads from your film’s site. No matter what fancy distribution deals get waved in your face - unless it is a very lucrative buy-out - make this demand! It is the ONLY way to maintain some meaningful control over the success of your film’s DVD and Digital distribution. The beauty of the DVD, once-created is that you have a real product. A saleable, consumable product that YOU can bring to market it a variety of ways. You can’t sell a big film reel to the masses nor can you sale high-end HD masters. No one can view them. But a DVD is like a fruit harvest and you can sell it in just as many ways as you can sell an apple. Here are just some of the ways: Store Retailers – Brick and mortar types like Blockbuster, Target, Borders, Best Buy, etc. as well as hundreds of other boutique and specialty stores. Online DVD Retailers – Amazon, of course, and dozens of others. Website Sales – Selling from your website and potentially thousands of other affiliate sites. Direct Sales – A direct mail or television campaign that directs people to phone or online sales. Although it has been done before, it is not a common way to sell DVDs. However, there is a company that is beginning to start this kind of marketing called Moving Pictures started by a man named Don Baker (they have yet to launch their website). House Parties – Setting up home screenings around the country. The idea, essentially, is that people in attendance can buy the DVD after the screening. Why, since they’ve just seen it? Because people like to own things they like (plus there’s all the extras on the DVD. Used to great effect by the political documentarian Robert Greenwald. Event Sales – Almost literally strapping the film on your back, this entails traveling from relevant event to relevant event across the country, setting up a both (or some kind of sales station) and selling the DVD to the masses in attendance - or persuading exhibitors or the host organization to sell on your behalf for a slice of the pie. By relevant events, that means events relevant to your film’s genre, style, story, message, etc. That could be a political rally, a dog show, a car show, a sci-fi/horror convention or any one of the thousands of film festivals. Flea Markets – Like event sales, but even more ghetto. It’s going to flea markets across the country and essentially selling out of your vehicle or whatever sales station you create. Most flea markets have a vendor fee to participate, however, so you want to make sure it is affordable and there is enough foot traffic to make it worth your while. And I’m sure there are many more that I’ve forgotten or are unaware of. But, again, you have a marketable, saleable commodity and it is only a matter of finding or creating marketplaces in which to sell it. But you can only do that if you choose to or maintain the right to sell it personally.  Producing The DVD Here am talking about pulling together and/or creating the elements of the DVD. Do not underestimate the importance of a well-produced DVD with lots of cool extras. Everything you include of value is a “product” that can entice buyers to purchase the DVD. Here’s what we included on The Dogwalker DVD:      The movie Audio Commentary Interviews with the film’s creative principals Deleted Scenes 4 Short Films I wrote/directed I always encourage filmmakers to shoot behind-the-scenes footage to include. We did, but there just wasn’t enough of it to put to use. The good news is that much of the additional material can be added after the fact. You don’t need much more than a consumer DV camera (the video on a standard DVD is compressed). You can do a vlog that can go on the site AND the DVD. You can follow the film’s journey after completion on the fest circuit. And if you are already past that opportunity, you can tape interviews with the creative principles. Just make sure you have a good microphone and decent lighting. Of course, the audio commentary can be done talking into a mic connected to a camera or into a digital recorder. It might be wise, as well, to take all of that into Final Cut Pro and clean it up – editing it tightly, beautifying the visuals and sweetening the audio. Of course you want to wrap this all in a nicely designed menu with smart chapter breaks. Again, if you are not a professional (or very talented amateur) graphic designer, you should not be designing the menu. Also, some experience specifically creating DVD menus is important to that you can design it utilizing all of the options and possibilities. If you can get someone to do it for free, that is great. Otherwise, you should find the bucks to get someone who knows what they are doing and can make the menu look great. However, you should be the one to go through and select the chapter breaks. First, check out a number of DVD’s and see what the organic points are for creating chapter breaks and then find them in your own film.  Authoring, Replication and Fulfillment This is the creation and physical distribution of your “product” (your film). Most filmmakers hate referring to their film as product, but at this point, this is exactly what it is. It is a piece of (valuable) merchandise that needs to be put into a deliverable format and disseminated to your customers. Luckily, authoring and fulfillment has become incredibly affordable these days, even to the most financially challenged filmmakers. Authoring (creating the master from which all DVD copies will be struck), can cost as low as $1,000 (or as high as $10,000+ depending on the company and complexity of design) with replication/packaging costing as little as .80 per DVD to create fully designed/packaged/ready-to-ship DVD. Additionally, companies like DiscMakers offers package deals that include authoring and replication for one affordable over-all price. Other options include home burning (called duplication as opposed to replication) using a consumer or prosumer DVD burning program/system such as can also be purchased by DiscMakers. There are also companies that allow for create-as-ordered DVD’s, referred to as DVD On-Demand. Marc Rosenbush from “Internet Marketing for Filmmakers” has more to say about DVD On-Demand Services Vs. Replication in his course: http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com/jacques For Dogwalker, we secured a DVD distribution deal through a company called Reel Indies, owned by Mill Creek Entertainment. They handled the retail distribution of the DVD, but allowed us to retain the rights to sell from our site. They authored the master at their own expense and replicated for us at a discount price. Fulfillment is about getting your DVD to your customers. If you are selling in low volume, you accept payments via Paypal and can ship it yourself. DVD’s are relatively inexpensive to ship (and you would nonetheless pass those shipping charges onto your customer). But if you are doing good business you should be working with a fulfillment house/shopping cart that will provide you with a full e-commerce package – allowing you to take credit card payments and ship expediently. You will have to provide them with some number of DVD’s to keep in stock. They may charge you a storage fee as well as fee per sale. Marc Rosenbush recommends 1ShoppingCart.com. For our site, we are working with NeoFlix, which also provides a host of web marketing tools specifically customized for filmmakers. My contact there, Daria Finn, can get you up and running quickly and guide you through the myriad of sales/marketing options.  Retail DVD Sales Retail DVD sales in a brick and mortar store are best left handled by established DVD distributors such as Reel Indies (what we used for Dogwalker). The big stores only by from distribution companies they trust, and doing it yourself, store by store, is time prohibitive. DVD distributors should also be making deals with online distributors. However, that is something you may want to do yourself – or at least supplement their efforts. I found that a handful of online DVD retailers were missed by Reel Indies. Here’s a list of Online DVD Retailers: IndieOrbit.com InDplay Film Baby Film Fresh GreenCine IndiePix dvdpacific.com dvd-movies.olumbiahouse.com Blockbuster Best Buy Barnes and Noble Walmart Target and Borders (both thru Amazon) newegg.com CinemaNow.com dvdavenue.com reel.com And another list with contact info: DeepDiscountDVD.com • Web: DeepDiscountDVD.com • Phone: 1.800.264.5076 • Email: cs@deepdiscountdvd.com Amazon.com • Web: Amazon.com • Phone: 1.800.201.7575 • Email: support@amazon.com DVDEmpire.com • Web: DVDEmpire.com • Phone: 724-933-0399 • Email: info@dvdempire.com DVDPlanet.com • Web: DVDPlanet.com • Phone: 1-800-624-3078 • Email: help@dvdplanet.com buy.com • Web: buy.com • Phone: 888.880.1030 Half.com • Web: Half.com • Phone: 877.935.2646 • Email: customerservice@half.com Netflix • Web: Netflix • Email: service@netflix.com DVD Overnight • Web: DVDOvernight.com • Email: info@dvdovernight.com List of other DVD stores: http://worldfilm.about.com/od/dvdvideostores/DVDVideo_Stores.htm Good dvd blog: http://www.panandscan.com/tags/show/DVD_Retail Digital Distribution Digital Distribution is essentially Video On Demand over the internet via streaming or file download, and, at the moment, is primarily restricted to watching the film right on your computer. Eventually, however, this will be the most popular way for films to be delivered to audiences. The potential revenue stream is small right now, but every little bit helps. And it is good to project forward as digital downloads become more and more commonplace. You can get more information about this (and other distribution info) from Stacy Parks at Filmspecific.com. Here is a partial list of companies currently doing digital distribution: Unbox: http://www.unbox.com, Video-On-Demand service from Customflix and Amazon.com EZTakes: http://www.eztakes.com, Video-On-Demand service that lets you download to own movies, and burn them to DVD for watching on your DVD player or computer Spotflix: http://www.spotflix.com, Video On Demand service that rents (instead of sells) films online for a 24-hour period. Cinemanow: http://www.cinemanow.com, Video-On-Demand service owned by Blockbuster and Lion’s Gate Studios. They are one of the original companies pioneering Video-On-Demand distribution for indies, and offer download-to-own, streaming, and download-to-burn services for customers. Google Video: http://video.google.com, Google Video is the first open online video marketplace where you can set your own price and of course leverage the enormous built-in Google audience. Green Cine: http://www.greencine.com, Independently owned and operated film addict’s film site since 2002. Atom Films: http://www.atomfilms.com, Video-On-Demand service that specializes in short films and animations. They do not charge customers to watch films, so you will not receive any royalties. However, they do pay small advances. WAMclips: http://www.wamclips.com, Brand new, but exciting start-up. Marketing and Selling From Your Site This is the most potentially lucrative (and therefore the most important) aspect of SelfDistribution. It is through doing research for this section that I came across Marc Rosenbush’s “Internet Marketing for Filmmakers” course. I am applying all of his techniques to The Dogwalker and I have yet to find better information elsewhere. So, I’ll just leave it to Marc: http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com/jacques Make a smart move and take his course! Final Thoughts I’ll keep this short and sweet as we’ve covered a lot of ground here. I just want to keep a few key points in your mind: Self-Distribution is a community effort and is never truly only self. It takes a village to distribute a film. Surround yourself with dependable support. Never bank on promises only results. People make a lot of promises they can’t keep – sometimes with good intentions sometimes not. It’s important to hold people accountable and follow up with them regularly. If they’re dropping the ball, move on quickly. Ask for what you need….over and over, again, if you must. And if someone can’t do/provide something for you, ask them to refer someone who can. Start early. Doesn’t matter what phase of things you are about to launch, don’t lag. Start planning as soon as you can and schedule yourself time to get it all done well in advance. Never leave yourself unprepared to handle the response of your audience/buyers. PLAN FOR DISTRIBUTION BEFORE YOU SHOOT…heck, before you write. If you are writing a small film for yourself to make, then it is imperative that you begin thinking about distribution as early as possible. You will want to write a film that you know has a market you can reach – even if it is an art film (or especially, if it is an art film). And you will want to write in a way that speaks to your intended audience and that you can begin marketing even as you are developing it. And as you prepare to shoot, you must also prepare to distribute. This includes the development of the website, but may also include lots of other marketing strategies/techniques. Most importantly, you must plan for the development of marketing assets (like photo stills from the shoot, of course). And finally, you must create a distributable film – meaning, all rights are free and clear. Self-Distribution is a lot of work, but you’ve already put a lot of work into your film. Don’t stop now. The financial upside can be well worth it. But the emotional upside - the feeling of completion, the feeling that you gave your film every opportunity for success is immeasurable. It is like a child that needs constant nurturing and encouragement. It’s your baby! Support it and it will eventually support you and your life as a filmmaker. Good luck! Appendix  Contact Info Bigfoot Entertainment Peter Michael Michael Jeff Mickey Deluxe Labs Louis FilmBuzz Filmmakers Alliance Flag Marketing Film Specific Diane Thomas Ethan Robert Jim Internet Marketing For Filmmakers Kaercher Campbell & Associates Greg Karen Larson Sound Mitch Monkeyland Audio NRG OTX Richard Plaster City Reel Indies Elizabeth Melissa Jacques The Dogwalker Website Truly Indie Viral Friend Generator Withoutabox Mike Doug Deb Chris Connie Broderick Cioni Clement Consiglio Cottrell Falzarano Gaidry Harris Hawk Henderson Laemmle Larsen Levine Peterson Stanley Sweeney Thelemaque Thomas Freed Wanecski Wells White http://www.bigfootentertainment.com upwards@earthlink.net Michael@plastercity.com dipsoninc@aol.com jeffc@vfrfilms.com micottrell@earthlink.net http://www.deluxe.com sodadesign@mac.com http://www.filmbuzzmarketing.com http://www.filmmakersalliance.org http://www.flagmarketing.com http://www.filmspecific.com diane@filmmakersalliance.org tethanharris@earthlink.net bob@filmhawk.com jim@larson.com http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.co m/jacques http://www.kaerchercampbell.com gregl@laemmle.com larsenassc@aol.com http://www.larson.com mitch@filmfestivalgroup.com http://www.monkeylandaudio.com http://www.nrg.com http://home.otxresearch.com rpeterson@cafilm.org http://www.plastercity.com http://www.reelindies.com lizastanley1@gmail.com lotuslandgrp@aol.com jacques@filmmakersalliance.org http://www.thedogwalkerfilm.com http://www.trulyindie.com http://viralfriendgenerator.com/?id=lightwheel http://www.withoutabox.com MkRThomas@aol.com dougfreed@hotmail.com marketing@irishclassical.com harispilton@gmail.com connie@beaconcinema.com  Producer’s Reps: CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY (CAA) Key staff: Micah Green, Rick Hess, Kevin Iwashina, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Emanuel Nunez, John Ptak, Roeg Sutherland, Bart Walker Sundance '06 Slate: "The Darwin Awards", "The Foot Fist Way", "God Grew Tired of Us", "The Science of Sleep", "Sherrybaby" Sundance '05 Films: 'Matador' (sold), 'Rize' (sold, co-represented) Contact Information: CAA 9830 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90212 310/288-4545 Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: 'Trust the Man' (Toronto 2005), 'Harsh Times' (Toronto 2005), 'Prarie Home Companion' (co-represented) Other info: Previously sold "Crash", "Good Night and Good Luck", "Running with Scissors", "Brokeback Mountain", "Fur" CINETIC MEDIA Key staff: Liesl Copland, Erin Heidenreich, Matt Littin, Dana O'Keefe, John Sloss Sundance '06 Slate: "Cargo", "The Ground Truth", "Little Miss Sunshine", "One Last Dance", "Puccini For Beginners", "Quinceanera", "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang" (Slamdance), "Stephanie Daley", "The Trials of Darryl Hunt", "Wordplay" Sundance '05 Films: "Brick" (sold), "Duane Hopwood" (sold), "The Fall of Fujimori" (sold), "How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer", "Lonesome Jim" (sold), "Mad Hot Ballroom" (sold), "New York Doll" (sold), "On A Clear Day" (sold), "Protocols of Zion"(sold), "The Puffy Chair", "Reel Paradise" (sold), "Strangers with Candy", "Swimmers", "Why We Fight" (sold), "Cronicas" (sold), "Murderball" (sold), "Mysterious Skin" (sold), "Rock School" (sold). Previous Sundance Films: "Napoleon Dynamite", "Super Size Me", "Pieces of April", "Control Room", "Capturing the Friedmans", "The Machinist", "Dig!". Contact info: Cinetic Media 555 West 25th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001 (212) 204-7979 office@cineticmedia.com www.cineticmedia.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "The King" (Cannes 2005), "Where The Truth Lies" (Cannes 2005), "The Heart of the Game" (Toronto 2005), "Water" (Toronto 2005), "A Prairie Home Companion" Other info: Cinetic Media is a U.S. based consulting firm providing strategic advisory services to the entertainment and media industries. Our key practice areas are project financing, project sales, and corporate consulting (strategy and finance). The firm's clients range from multi-national media conglomerates to individual motion picture producers. JONATHAN DANA Sundance '06 Slate: No films. Sundance '05 Films: Ballets Russes (sold) Previous Sundance Films: "Spitfire Grill" Contact info: 1221 1/2 Ozeta Terrace Los Angeles, CA 90069 310-273-0194 jdana46@aol.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: n/a JEFF DOWD Sundance '06 Slate: "Subject Two" (co-representing with Lantern Lane) Sundance '05 Films: "This Revolution" Previous Sundance Films: "Better Luck Tomorrow", "Scratch", "Two Family House" Contact info: 3200 Airport Avenue Suite 1 Santa Monica, CA 90405 tel. (310) 572-1500 Fax (310) 572-1501 www.jeffdowd.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: n/a EMERGING PICTURES Key staff: Ira Deutchman, Josh Green Sundance '06 Slate: n/a Sundance '05 Films: None Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: Emerging Pictures 245 West 55th Street, 4th FL New York, NY 10019 PH (212) 245-6767 FAX (212) 202-4984 www.emergingpictures.com ira@emergingpictures.com josh@emergingpictures.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals (and beyond): "Red Doors", "The Devil's Miner", "Tony N' Tina's Wedding", "Second Best", "Home Of The Brave", "The Ballad of Bering Strait", "Ball In The House/Relative Evil", "Way Past Cool", "Kiss Me Guido" Other info: Emerging Pictures representation services are backed by the unique ability to leverage its distribution/exhibition venture, Emerging Cinemas, to offer some limited theatrical exposure, if appropriate. The company is establishing a network of digital cinemas inside of underutilized arts institutions around the country. Ira Deutchman has been making, marketing and distributing films for nearly thirty years, having worked on over 130 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He was one of the founders of Cinecom and later created Fine Line Features-two companies that were created from scratch and in their respective times, helped define the independent film business. EPSTEIN, LEVINSOHN, BODINE, HURWITZ, & WEINSTEIN, LLP Key staff: Andrew Hurwitz, Sue Bodine, Dan O'Meara, Josh Sandler Sundance '06 Slate: "The Hawk Is Dying" (co-representing with UTA), "Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon", "Son Of Man", Sundance '05 Films: "The Dying Gaul" (sold), "The Talent Given Us", "Police Beat," "212" Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: 212/262.1000, x 278 (Dan O'Meara) Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "The Tiger and the Snow", "Transamerica," "Ushpizin," "Garden State," "Open Water," "Riding Giants," "Deadline" EASTGATE PICTURES Rona Wallace Sundance '06 Slate: "Forgiving the Franklins", "Neo Ned" Sundance '05 Films: "Shakespeare Behind Bars" (sold), "Steal Me" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: 400 East 57th Street #12A New York, New York 10022 212-751-6234 rowestgate@aol.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "The Last Hangman", "Stolen" Other info: Previously sold "Open Water," "The Big White," "Elvis Has Left The Building". Extensive background in the industry as an executive prior to forming Eastgate Pictures three years ago. Previous companies include: Stratosphere Entertainment, the Samuel Goldwyn Company, LIVE Entertainment, MGM/UA. THE FILM SALES COMPANY Key staff: Andrew Herwitz, Jared Moshe Sundance '06 Slate: "Off The Black", "Black Gold", "Wrestling With Angels", "Destricted", "Iraq in Fragments", "Who Needs Sleep", "The Great Happiness Space" (Slamdance) Sundance '05 Films: "Loggerheads" (sold), "Mardi Gras Made In China" (sold), "On The Outs" (sold), "El Immortal" (sold), "After Innocence" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: "Born Into Brothels" (sold); "CSA/Confederate States of America" (Sold); "Long Life, Happinesss and Prosperity" (sold); "Investigation Into the Invisible World" (sold): "Love and Diane" (sold) Contact info: The Film Sales Company 151 Lafayette Street, Fifth Floor New York, NY 10013 646/274-0945 Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: Imagine You and Me (sold); Cowboy Del Amor (sold); Our Brand Is Crisis (sold) Other info: Handled "Fahrenheit 9/11," "My Architect," "Kontroll". Andrew Herwitz is president of The Film Sales Company, the New York based sales agent/producer's rep. The Company specializes in securing distribution (both domestic and international) for English and foreign language finished films (both fiction and documentary) as well as financing for English language packaged projects. Prior to establishing the company, Herwitz was at Miramax for six years, most recently as co-head of the film acquisitions department. Before that he practiced entertainment law at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison in New York City. Herwitz is a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Business School and Harvard Law School. FILMS TRANSIT INTERNATIONAL, INC. Key staff: Diana Holtzberg, Jan Rofekamp, Barbara Truyen Sundance '06 Slate: "American Hardcore", "A Lion In The House", "KZ", "The Giant Buddhas" Sundance '05 Films: "Shape of the Moon" (sold), "Shake Hands With The Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire" (sold), "Yang Ban Xi: The Eight Model Works" (sold), "The Real Dirt On Farmer John" (sold), "La Sierra" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: See below. Contact info: Films Transit International, Inc. 166 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003 212/614-2808 diana@filmstransit.com www.filmstransit.com Other info: Recent releases: "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster", "The Corporation", "My Flesh and Blood", "End Of The Century: The Story of The Ramones", "Bukowski: Born Into This", "War Photographer", "Imaginary Witness: Hollywood & The Holocaust". Founded in 1982 by Jan Rofekamp, Films Transit International, Inc. is one of the worlds leading international sales companies of quality documentaries in two specific genres: Arts & Culture, which include all our documentaries about Arts, Culture, Biography, Cinema and Music, and Society & Politics, which include all our documentaries about Society, Politics, Human Interest and History. We strongly believe in a festival strategy to add prestige to the films worldwide career. Many of our films are selected for the major film festivals like IDFA, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto and win prestigious prizes. GREENBERG TRAURIG Key staff: Steven Beer Sundance '06 Slate: "Tis Autumn", "Things To Do" (Slamdance) Sundance '05 Films: "Zombie Honeymoon" (sold), "This Revolution" (sold), "Who Killed Cock Robin" (deal pending) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: 212/801-9294 BeerS@GTlaw.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till", "Dorian Blues", "Its All Gone Pete Tong" Other info: Focus is on discovery of new voices and talent. Seeking relationships for career and business collaborations and not merely a film sale. In presenting a film, we share prospective marketing programs with distributors. We highlight all business elements including core audience potential and media and consumer product access points, where they exist. I only handle a few projects at a time because I manage each project personally and do not delegate duties to assistants. INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT (ICM) key staff: Shaun Redick, Hal Sadoff Contact Info: 10250 Constellation Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90067 (Map) Phone: 310-550-4000 Fax: 310-550-4100 http://www.icmtalent.com LANTERN LANE ENTERTAINMENT Key staff: David Garber, Rob Lynch, Enid Garber, Galia Farber Sundance '06 Slate: "Subject Two" (co-representing with Jeff Dowd), "Punching at the Sun" Sundance '05 Films: We had nothing in Sundance 2005 but now represent BETWEEN. Picked up CHISHOLM 72 - UNBOUGHT & UNBOSSED at Sundance 2004 and did theatrical promotional screenings and sold the video rights to 20th Century Fox. Represented ROLLING KANSAS at Sundance 2003 and sold to Comedy Central as a Premiere before selling the video rights to Monarch Home Entertainment. Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: www.lanternlane.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals (and beyond):"Thing About My Folks", "Monster", Theatrically released "Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer" and "Seeing Other People" (distributed the video and tv rights). The company licenses films to studios and does direct sales to video and TV. Other info: Lantern Lane is a full service distribution and Producer Rep firm. We work with independents and established production companies to bring feature length films to the market. We consult on all aspects of distribution and Marketing and do direct sales. LICHTER, GROSSMAN, NICHOLS & ADLER, INC. Key staff: Linda Lichter, Jamie Feldman, Stephen Clark, Jonathan Shikora, Melissa Rogal, Annie Granatstein Sundance '06 Slate: "The Darwin Awards", "Salvage" Sundance '05 Films: "Ellie Parker" (sold), "Rize" (sold, with CAA) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: Lichter, Grossman, Nichols & Adler, Inc. 9200 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1200 Los Angeles, CA 90069 Phone: (310) 205-6999 Fax: (310) 205-6990 PARADIGM CONSULTING Peter Broderick I consult with filmmakers on distribution strategies. To maximize revenues, it is essential to proactively design a distribution strategy for each film rather than simply react to offers. I work with filmmakers to develop unique strategies which utilize state-of-the-art techniques for theatrical, video, and global distribution. I help filmmakers determine whether to make overall deals or split up the rights. I enable filmmakers to use the internet effectively to sell directly to core audiences in the U.S. and overseas, and to build personal audiences who will continue to support them in the future. I have previously repped many features and documentaries at Sundance, including "Manic"; "Some Body"; "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane," "The Hi-Line," "The Same River Twice," "Blue Vinyl," "Sound and Fury," and "Southern Comfort," (which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary). Peter Broderick President Paradigm Consulting upwards@earthlink.net 310-393-7483 REQUIRED VIEWING Key staff: Steven Raphael, Paul Davis Sundance '06 Slate: "Forgiven", "Wristcutters", "Dreamland" Sundance '05 Films: Police Beat, Talent Given Us (sold), The Motel (sold), Mitchellville (sold), The Dying Gaul (sold) Previous Sundance Films: "Brother to Brother" (sold), "Down to the Bone" Contact info: 917/287-1679 sterapha@aol.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: n/a Other info: Also doing academy campaigns on "History of Violence", "The New World", "The Dying Gaul", "Favela Rising" SUBMARINE ENTERTAINMENT Key staff: Josh Braun, Dan Braun, Harry Geller Sundance '06 Slate: "TV Junkie" (co-rep with ICM), "In Between Days", "Small Town Gay Bar", "An Unreasonable Man" (co-rep with William Morris) Sundance '05 Films: "Forty Shades of Blue" (sold, with Roger Kass), "Unknown White Male" (sold, with Roger Kass), "Education of Shelby Knox", "Liberace of Baghdad", "Romantico", "Protocols of Zion" (sold, with Cinetic Media), "Commune" Previous Sundance Films: "Supersize Me," "Control Room," "Born Rich," "In The Realms of the Unreal," "Dirty Work," "Los Angeles Plays Itself," "Overnight," "DIG!" Contact info: Submarine Entertainment 132 Crosby St. #8 New York, NY 10012 212 625-1410 212 625-9931 fax information: harry@submarine.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "Boys of Baraka," "The Roost," "Seamless," "Monster Road," "Jailbait," "William Eggleston in the Real World" TRACTION MEDIA Key Staff: Roseanne Korenberg, Douglas Stone, Mark Anker Sundance '06 Slate: "Half Nelson", "Solo Dios Sabe", "Steel City", "Who Killed The Electric Car? (select international rights) Sundance '05 Films: "Hard Candy" (sold), "Pretty Persuastion" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: tma@traction-media.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "Duck Season," "Fateless" UNITED TALENT AGENCY (UTA) Key staff: Rich Klubeck, Jeremy Barber, Stuart Manashil Sundance '06 Slate: "Nightlistener", "Right at Your Door", "Hawk is Dying", "Science of Sleep" Sundance '05 Films: "Hustle & Flow" (sold), "Thumbsucker" (sold), "Junebug" (sold), "The Devil & Daniel Johnston" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: 310-273-6700, indiefilm@unitedtalent.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "Factotum" (sold at Cannes '05), "Chappelle's Block Party" (sold at Toronto '05) Other info: Current or recent packaged films: "Fast Track", "Southland Tales" "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "The Libertine", "Girl With the Pearl Earring". UTA Independent Film and Film Packaging Dept is engaged in film packaging, film finance, film & producer representation, domestic sales, distribution & international sales consultation. WASHINGTON SQUARE FILMS Key staff: Christopher Pizzo, Laura McDonald Sundance '06 Slate: "Flannel Pajamas", "Salvage", "Old Joy" Sundance '05 Films: "Love, Ludlow" (sold), "The Forest For The Trees" (sold), "Room" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: Washington Square Films 310 Bowery 2nd Floor New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212/253-0333 FAX: 212/253-033O cpizzo@wsfilms.com lmcdonald@wsfilms.com Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "The Outdoorsmen" (Tribeca, sold) Other info: Washington Square Films' film sales division handles licensing arrangements for all film rights in North America. Additionally, the sales division has well-established relationships with foreign sales companies and frequently partners with them to license film rights in all territories outside of North America. The film sales division also provides various consulting services to independent film producers and to independent film funds. WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY Key staff: Cassian Elwes, Rena Ronson, Phil Alberstat, Jerome Duboz, Craig Kestel Sundance '06 Slate: "Come Early Morning", "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out", "A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints", "Half Nelson" (co-representing with Traction Media), "Moonshine", "Open Window", "Special", "Stay", "An Unreasonable Man" (with Fremantle Media) Sundance '05 Films: "Hard candy" (sold), "Wolf Creek" (sold) Previous Sundance Films: n/a Contact info: William Morris Agency 310/859-4000 Other Film Sales at '05 Festivals: "Thank You For Smoking", "Harsh Times"  Search Engine Optimization Sites and Info: http://instantseoexpert.com/Affiliates/mp3s/aff-call-all.mp3 http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Website-Promotion-Help/Getting-the-Most-out-ofYour-Blog/ http://www.bruceclay.com/web_rank.htm http://www.livingroom.org.au/searchengineoptimization/ http://www.textlinkbrokers.com/blog/more/232_0_1_0_M/ http://www.flyteblog.com/flyte/2005/08/seo_philosophy_.html http://www.searchengines.com/intro_optimize.html http://nowsourcing.com/blog/category/blogging/ http://www.technorati.com http://makemoneywithkassper.blogspot.com/search/label/Blogger%20%20Blogspot%20Tools http://makemoneywithkassper.blogspot.com/search/label/Blogging%20Tips http://makemoneywithkassper.blogspot.com/search/label/SEO SEO Series Batch 7 - Top 5 Google Ranking Factors SEO Series continues with the most important search engine factors that Google's algorithm known as "Googlebot" values the most. . SEOMoz released a document about the Google's algorithm and how it works and here are top 5 positive and top 5 negative factors from that document. Top 5 Positive Factors: 1. Keyword Use In Title Tag - In my opinion the most important factor for getting great search engine rankings! Explained here: Google Top 10 - Post Title Optimization 2. Global Link Popularity Of The Site 3. Anchor Text Of Incoming Links 4. Link Popularity Within The Site 5. Age Of The Site Top 5 Negative Factors: 1. Server Is Often Inaccessible To Googlebot 2. Content Which Is Very Similar Or Duplicate to Existing Content On The Web 3. External Links To Low Quality Sites 4. Participation In Link Schemes or Actively Selling Links 5. Duplicate Meta Tags On More Pages Get In The Google Top 10 - Post Title Optimization Post Title Optimization is one of the most important things you need to do for getting good or great results in the SERPs. When you know how to choose a title for your post than you can get a lot of traffic from the search engines! Optimizing Post Title Includes: 1. Choosing your title carefully - it means that you use the title that is most likely to be used for a given term 2. Use the term in your post - mention the term on the beginning of the post and in the end of your post. 3. Comment and mention the term - Respond to someone's comment and mention the term in the comment Recently I have done a little research on how to get in the Google Top 10 for several search terms and I've been more than successful. Here's an example: I wanted to rank in the Google's top 10 search results for the term "add categories to blogger" which is a very often used term in the search engines. The term specified shows up 22.200.000 on search results and it's not that easy to get in the first 10 pages of the search, not to say in the top 10! But, by carefully choosing the post title for my post and doing some post title optimization I got into top 5 of the search results for that term! Try typing in the term "add categories to blogger" or "adding categories to blogger" or even "adding categories to blogspot" and you'll see my blog showing up in the 5th place! So, by optimizing your post title you can go direct in the Google's top 10 search results for a given term.  Info About Distributing Trailers On The Web That I Don’t Understand (but you might) Distributing your trailers on the web: Okay, so we are looking at about three steps for posting video to the web in the maximized most distributed way with the the least amount of work. Step 1. Encode. (check out my settings) Step 2. Post to Tubemogul. (that reposts to 9 sites) Step 3. Edit the resulting blip.tv post and check off the re-distribution options as shown above. These three simple steps assume you’ve done the leg work of creating an account on the 9 different video sites tubemogul will post to and that you entered all your log in and passwords to tubemogul as shown here. It’s also assumed that you’ve set up your blip.tv account to cross post to the various places the most important of which is probably iTunes and the democracy player now known as Miro. But twitter and others are important for even more incoming links so you may have to set up various accounts just to fill in all the blip cross posting info which I urge people to take the time to do. But if you’ve done all that pre-leg work as I have, and it’s only about a days worth of tinkering on variou easy to use sites, then really all you have to do is those 3 steps to have a video all over the web. General Maintenance: You can use Tubmogul to see your collective view count. Also some of the sites you’ll set up in this process provide you money if your video does well on their platform like Revver. So now and then you might want to log in to see if you’ve made anything. And you may want to log into say youtube and see what the comments are and maybe comment back or accept friends or what have you if your video ends up being popular. So that’s the system for now. It isn’t a perfect system, myspace keeps acting funky, but other then that, it works to get your video all over the net and give you and RSS feed and free subscription options on various platforms including iTunes. So for now I feel I’ve cracked that code and can move on to solving other problems. However, this all will evolve and change in the future. And if tubemogul is reading, I’ll just say this, the only thing that would be better would be going to more video sites. But if the other video sites are reading I’ll say this. The only thing better then working with Tubemogul is to simply allow a content creator to submit an RSS feed to you and your site scrapes off the content and includes it in your video site. Transcodes it, monetizes it, whatever. And if the creators of RSS are reading, all I’ll say is that the only thing better would be license, commenting and various transcoded format info included in the content creators RSS feed. And by license I mean not only CC but also a payee info so if a site monetizes content on the RSS feed they know who to pay. But I’ll add a second thing that would be better to add to the workflow of publishing of video on the web. When you publish video you upload a file. Well what if you actually uploaded two files. The second file could be a meta data file. Your RSS feed could have an encloser for your video file and a second enclosure for the meta data of that video. You could create the meta data in a stand alone local application or a web application that multiple users could contribute to or the best option would be generate the meta data file from your editing software. When you shoot and edit a lot of meta data gets added to the clips, time stamps, locations, descriptions, transcribing footage etc… And if you think about editing music and other video assets from the web, in the future the meta data of the media you edit might have extremely rich information already embedded. That information can be kept in tact while you edit and exported when your video is complete. So the result could be as simple as being able to provide a credits page with time stamps or could be as complex as being able to watch video in an envirnoment that leads you get more informaiton about the footage, people, objects, products etc, while you watch the video. And the best use of this would be auto mash ups that could be created by computers on the fly. For example you search for videos Arin Crumley is in and you see a montage of all the videos I’ve been in recently. Doesn’t matter who posted them or where they are on the web. The meta data could have very specific information about what’s in the video footage.  EARN EXTRA MONEY Marc’s course “Internet Marketing For Filmmakers” can help you earn extra money through his Affiliate program. Check out the course, then sign up as an affiliate. Marc will pay $99 for every sale you refer. http://www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com/jacques

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