Archive for the 'distribution' Category

Things are moving a bit slowly now with distribution. But, that’s not bad. We have chosen to navigate these uncharted waters slowly and methodically. There are quite a few horror stories about indie film distribution, and we’re not going to be one of them.

We recently hired two producer reps out of LA to represent Fissure: Zac Reeder and Glen Reynolds at Circus Road Films. They will be managing our distribution. Currently, all rights are still available for Fissure.

Stay tuned. We hope to have Fissure on the shelves of movie rental stores and on your cable or satellite channel by the end of the year.

The more I learn about film distribution, the deeper the rabbit hole goes (to quote The Matrix). It’s amazingly complex and diverse. It’s never as simple as “Here. Buy my film.” There are so many degrees and levels and territories and rights and agents and rabbit holes.

With the advent of digital filmmaking, it has become a buyer’s market. There is so much supply that demand has dropped considerably. Let me give you one example. Horror films have saturated the market. Typically, horror films are cheap to make, require no name talent (you kill them all off anyway), and fear sells across cultures. But, horror films are a dime a dozen.

So, what are our options for our movie? The biggest challenge we have is that there are no recognizable names. We have some great talent and actors who have been in big films. James Macdonald’s extensive resume includes movies like Phone Booth, Hollywood Homicide, Space Cowboys, Stealth, Home of the Brave, Mercury Rising and Broken Arrow. His list of TV credits are even longer.

Our other actors have formidable credits as well, like Scarlett McAlister (The Missing & The Astronaut Farmer) and Crystal Mantecon (Road House 2 & Prison Break) and Todd Tyler (Walker Texas Ranger). We have some great talent! And it shows on screen.Then, there’s the story. It’s a wonderful, unique story that’s never been told before. It’s the kind of show that you can watch three and four times and still see new and fresh things. There’s an incredible science behind the story that indie film buffs will be drawn to. Those commenting on the film say it has the potential to be a cult classic.

So, how do you sell that? It comes down to marketing and being able to position your film amidst the fray.

Some of our strategies include an amazing website. This week we start work on a new movie website. It’ll focus on a lot of web 2.0 technologies, like blogging, commenting, email blasts and links to social networks. Which leads me to another marketing strategy…social networking. With explosion of tools like MySpace, Facebook, etc., it’s imperative that you start networking. There are blogs, newsgroups, networks, niche groups, and millions of others little networks–and it’s key that you plug into these groups.

I’ve now taken off my filmmaking hat, dusted off my old marketing hat from Corporate America and jumped back into the business arena. It’s familiar, yet new. Lots of the same concepts apply, but instead of selling mobile phones and services, I’m selling movies.

I wanted to take a few moments to talk a bit more about distribution. It’s interesting talking to different people about this part of the moviemaking business. Distribution does seem to be quite subjective at times, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot like selling a home. Let me explain.

First, we build a spec home (the movie). When we build the home, we make sure the location (genre) is good, and what people are looking for. As they say in the business, it’s all about location, location, location (genre, genre, genre). Then, we make sure the amenities are of great value (casting, production value, story). And, we make sure we stay on budget and on schedule (budget and schedule).

Once the house is built, very rarely to home builders sell directly to home buyers (self distribution). Rather, the home builder (filmmaker) hires realtors (sales agents) to sell the home (the film) directly to the new home owner (Blockbuster), at a commission. When it comes to films, there are a variety of rights you can sell, but it typically comes down to three categories:

• Theatrical (in the theater)
• Broadcast (cable and satellite)
• Video (Wal Mart and Blockbuster)

And, those three rights can be sold anywhere in the world in separate territories. So, there are lots of variations and combinations of sellable options. For this movie, all rights across all territories are available for purchase at this time. We are currently talking to a variety of sales agents, and we’re getting some great feedback. Many are very pleased with the story and production value. These are some actual quotes from potential sales agents:

“The film is very well made, and we very much enjoyed its visual qualities.”“It’s a well-shot film.”

And, we did receive our first critic’s review:

Fi•ss•ure: A separation or disagreement in thought or viewpointIt can certainly be said that this was true of the discussion after the jam packed premier of Russ Pond’s movie, Thursday, Nov 15, 2007! Everyone bustled and buzzed about this fantastic project! My take? Well, where do I start? Slowly at first to be perfectly honest. It began with a great view, its main character. Instantly I thought he should be on 24. His look was perfect, his acting, good. His obvious discomfort about something we didn’t quite know about yet was well portrayed. Therapy session-good start as well.It took too long to get to the juicy part. But the juicy part was really good! It was enjoyable not having a lot of different locations in the film. You could then try to figure out what you’re trying to figure out! Casting was also excellent. Each person perfectly fit their part.The movie had a lot of great issues and to hear the way everyone thought it “ought to have gone” afterwards was really a testament to the greatness of the film. The struggle over death and hence despair, the battle to heal oneself, the mystery of science, the healing between father and son, etc…. My favorite part of course, was the end. I am a woman, after all, and nothing is better than a man wanting to tell his son how much he loves him, even though… The even though?Well you have to go through to find out!- Christy the Critic

For our first review, it’s positive, and that’s very encouraging. We’ll keep you updated on the progress of our new home.