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  • Home
    • About
    • In the Press
  • Blog
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    • Film Insight
    • Events >
      • Producer Foundry >
        • Producer Foundry Pitch Workshop
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How Filmmakers Can THRIVE in the Future of Film Distribution

1/29/2020

2 Comments

 
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To cap off my first ever distribution month, I thought I’d talk a little bit about where Independent Film Distribution is heading.  Markets are going to be a big center of commerce for the film industry for a few years, but they’re going to continue to wane for the truly independent filmmakers, which means one of the biggest areas for entry for filmmakers is likely to go away.  With the fall of Distribber, and how Amazon looks like it’s going to scale back its filmmaker direct distribution programs there’s only one real path left for filmmakers.  That path is to build an audience that’s highly engaged with your content, and distribute not only your film to them, but other products related to your Intellectual property (IP.)
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BUILD AUDIENCE
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So the first step in this (as I’ve brought up in at least half of the blogs this month…) is to build a highly engaged audience and following.  This is something that Youtubers have become fantastic about.  You have to have lots of touch points with your audience and provide them a perspective that they emote with but can’t find anywhere else.  By that I mean…
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Donald Evans
​​Clever Username
Ashley P
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Judah J.
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Create Niche Content that speaks to an underserved audience

With a massive glut of generalized content You have to identify an underserved niche and start to make authentic, high quality content that speaks specifically to a small niche of people.  This turns the old TV model on it’s head, instead of being a 6/10 for 10 people, you need to be a 10/10 for 2 people, and budget your film in such a way that you can keep your business afloat on the revenue from that much smaller audience.  Luckily, when you do this you’ll be able to successfully sell film, as you won’t be competing as directly with outlets with huge, bland libraries. 
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Think less about format

Movies don’t just have to be 90 minute feature films any more.  If you can establish a following, keep content coming in the form of shorts, webseries, and features.  Don’t spend more time on them than you have to, but make sure that you continue to release new content to engage with your audience. 
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Sell Merchandise

Once you have a dedicated following, think about ancillary ways you can monetize your brand and your content.  Bands sell T-Shirts at their shows as their primary source of revenue, and film trends tend to follow about 5-10 years behind the music industry.  You have to start building ways to monetize your Intellectual Property and your Brand beyond simply selling your movie at 3.99 a pop. 
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Community Screenings

Theatrical releases are not cost effective for many filmmakers.  Instead, you can focus on building community screenings that give your core audience a place to congregate, and if you organize them well they can also be a great place to sell merch. It’s also a great place for you as the filmmaker to Skype in and answer questions directly. 
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Create Custom Experiences around your IP

Mark Cuban (former owner of Landmark Theaters and Shark on Shark Tank) is fairly well known for saying this is the future of entertainment.  It’s not always easy for Indies to commute in this space, but if you’re releasing a horror film you might consider a themed haunted house as part of a release or as part of a community screening.  There are other ways to make this work in conjunction with your core IP, but it’s difficult to scale and tends to be a custom solution for each film.

Like it? Share it!

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​Thanks so much for reading!
  This blog is something of a mix between a distribution blog and something to make you think a little bit more like an entrepreneur.  If you like this sort of content, make sure you come back in February for Entrepreneurship month.  If you don’t want to miss it, make sure you subscribe to my mailing list, follow me on twitter, Reddit, Facebook, or check out my Youtube Channel.  If you want to be extra awesome, throw me a few bucks on Patreon. 
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2 Comments
Independent film distribution link
5/5/2020 08:09:51 am

The hardest part is building the audience. I’ve found numerous ways are slow and plodding but having good content will get you a leg up.

Reply
Abinash Srichandan link
9/8/2020 01:58:12 am

The Digital era has changed the logistics of movie distribution. Long before the multiplex era, all that existed were single screens. Single screens ranged anywhere from 300 seats up to 1,300 seats from the small screen to large 70mm screens. The world of movie distribution has seen huge changes in terms of logistics and transparency. With the emergence of multiplexes & KDM tech movie distribution is a lot simpler.

Read More about the Different methods of Movie Distribution in Different Era;
Visit: https://bit.ly/337ypn1

Reply



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    My name is Ben, I'm an Entrepreneur, Producer's Rep, and Author.  I'm the founder of Guerrilla Rep Media, Co-Founder/CMO of ProductionNext, and founder of Producer Foundry.  Together, the organizations seek to help make filmmaking a more economically sustainable endeavor.  I am dysic, I have capitalization issues, and the blogs are often unedited. opinions all my own.

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