Filmmaking Stuff Filmmaking Stuff provides resources for independent filmmakers. The website includes articles on how to take a story idea from script to screen, including articles on scriptwriting, producing, finance, shooting, editing, directing, marketing, distribution and how to build an audience. Filmmaking Stuff also has articles detailing how to make money making movies – including interviews with Hollywood Producers, Directors, writers and other filmmaking professionals.

If you were one of the readers of Filmmaking Stuff who got to meet me at Sundance, you know that the Sundance Film Festival was a blast. Snow. Cold. Wet feet – And a gazillion filmmakers all trudging through the elements to just be part of the action. And my action these days is Movie Distribution and crowdfunding.

Specifically, I enjoy showing filmmakers how to leverage the internet to source an audience – so that you can get movies seen and selling.

Inline with this passion, I was invited to participate on a crowdfunding and distribution panel with some folks.

John Rustin (BnY), Jerad Anderson (Watchbox Media, Inc.), Jason Brubaker (Filmmaking Stuff), Danae Ringelmann (IndieGoGo), Moderated by John Corser

This panel was interesting. I was impressed by Danae Ringelmann (of IndieGoGo) and some of the tips she shared on successful crowdfunding. Such as: Start early. Know why you want to make your movie. Have some idea of how to reach your target audience.

After that the conversation moved over to distribution and sourcing an audience… During this time, I shared a few of my usual tips on how to market and sell your movie. And this led us to the topic of streaming platforms. I was totally excited about Jerad Anderson of Watchbox and what he shared about his new streaming platform for filmmakers.

Later in the talk, Adam Chapnick from distribber walked into the room. Distribber allows you to get your movie seen and selling on all the popular video on demand marketplaces without the creative accounting usually found in traditional distribution deals. (Disclosure – Distribber pays me to promote. So do your own diligence.) With that said, check out distribber.

And finally… If you missed Sudance but you want to get the good stuff, check out www.HowToSellYourMovie.com

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

One of our Filmmaking Stuff newsletter readers named Jake asked the following question:

Should Filmmakers Move To Hollywood? Image via Wikipedia

“My filmmaking friend in LA told me NOT to make anything in my small town because I would just be wasting my time. He told me no one in the industry will take me seriously if I make my 1st feature outside of Hollywood. So instead of making what I CAN make right now, I’ve been working to move to LA to start doing something… My question is this: is he right?”

My response to this question is a big fat NO!

Unless you plan on working for a major studio, you no longer need Hollywood.

If you are a filmmaker with an idea and the passion to create a feature film, you can do it from anywhere on earth. And here are a few reasons why:

Getting Money In Hollywood Sucks

Everybody in Los Angeles is competing to find someone (or some studio) willing to back their movie project. Can you imagine a town where your waiter is an aspiring actor, your cable guy is an aspiring screenwriter and your taxi driver is an aspiring producer? Hollywood is saturated with a supply of willing, talented, aspiring workers. And they are all waiting for their big break.

Even if you do raise the money to make your movie, you’ll have to raise a lot more to shoot in LA, because everything (locations, equipment, props, and permits) makes making movies in LA cost prohibitive and a royal pain in the butt.

What a mess!

On the other-hand, if you live in small town and you have good material and ambition, you’re in luck. If you can get past the fact that all your non-filmmaker friends think you’re crazy, you can build a team, find cheap locations (and other resources, including free food) and you can take action.

Heck, you might even make the nightly news (If this happens, just make sure you advertise your movie website and start building your audience list!)

Also, unlike trying to get a meeting with a busy, semi famous studio executive who never heard of you – If you call up the local rich guy to make a pitch, your odds of getting a lunch meeting are pretty high. As I detail extensively in my film financing program, getting meetings does not guarantee success. But it’s a start!

And let’s pretend for a moment that your town has no rich people. Well, thanks to crowdfunding sites like indie GoGo and Kickstarter you can now reach an entire global audience of people who may be interested in sponsoring your work.

Filmmaking Equipment is Now Cheap

When I was getting my start, I saved up an entire summer to buy a used Arri BL 16mm Camera. I shot a short film over a weekend. And then I spent the entire winter saving up enough money to process and transfer the film to video.

That sucked.

Times have changed. These days, if you want to create cinematic quality content all you have to do is go to your local electronics store and pick up an HDSLR camera and start producing your backyard indie. As long as you take time to understand lighting and camera angles, your end result will look pretty amazing.

Distribution Changes Everything

Read this carefully. Everyday I am amazed that more filmmakers are not getting naked and running into the streets cheering (Ok. I’m kidding.) But here is the deal…

The biggest, most awesome change in cinematic HISTORY is distribution. And modern movie distribution changes EVERYTHING!

Thanks to companies like distribber (my affiliate link is  MovieSalesTool – they pay me to promote) – Anyway,  you can now get your movie into sites like Hulu, Amazon, iTunes and NetFlix (and other cable VOD outlets) without giving away all of your rights (for life) to some bottom feeding distributor who will likely never pay you what they promised. This is BIG.

What does this mean for Modern MovieMakers?

This means that instead of raising money and crossing your fingers for a dream distribution deal, you can now create a marketing plan within the context of your movie business plan. This is important and liberating. Non-discriminatory distribution allows filmmakers to treat their movie business like any other business. You do not need to ask permission to create a product, access a marketplace and make sales!

In other-words, as long as you have a camera and internet access, you can now make, market and sell your movies without asking permission. (Ok, if you really want to get naked and run into the streets, I won’t stop you.)

A few words about marketing.

Whenever I put on my  film distribution talks, invariably someone will ask me about marketing. And it’s a good point. Because distribution is now part of your movie making business, you will need someone on your team who can market.

Here is the big disconnect. Hollywood (and traditional sales agents and distributors) will tell you to leave distribution to the experts. They will tell you to give up the rights to your movie because their company has been in business for a gazillion years.

But this kind of talk is crap. I mean, obviously if these guys offer you a huge cash advance, it might make sense. But if there is no money involved, what value are they giving you? The promise of getting your movie seen and selling on iTunes and Hulu? You can just as easily access iTunes and Hulu too.

My point is, unless these old-timers know how to source the appropriate target audience (and they openly share their marketing budget with you and are fully transparent with each marketing step) then there is no value to give away your rights in exchange for validation. Validation and a crappy distribution deal does not pay the bills!

In MovieMaking Conclusion

Wow. I intended to write a quick reply to Jake’s question and I totally blasted you with my filmmaking passion. Just remember, the best question to ask is this:

“Given the resources that I have now, what is the movie that I can make this year?”

Hopefully you are now inspired to make, market and sell your movie from anywhere on earth. If that’s the case, I’d love to read your comments below.

One last thing…

After reading articles like this, I get a lot of email from filmmakers who need my help marketing and selling their movies.

If that’s you, here are some options:

Option 1 – Hire Me

In the event you want to hire me to help market your movie, please know that my fee is roughly $10,000, plus expenses. Compare this to what studios spend on marketing. When you add up all the costs and labor necessary to build buzz (including advertising and social media and blogging and outreach) – it’s intense. So 10K is actually a bargain.

Option 2 – Apply For Inner Circle Coaching Program

A lot of you don’t know this (because I haven’t promoted it) but I also have a movie marketing coaching group open to a dozen filmmakers. The group coaching lasts for six months. And the fee is $2,000 dollars. Aside from working on a marketing plan that you can implement for your movie, the group coaching includes a weekly call and group strategy session. The coaching group is a good way to share ideas with other filmmakers. And inturn, they share ideas with you.

[Note: If you are interested in the coaching program, you must first be selected. Please send an email providing an overview of your movie, as well as the reasons why you want to be included in the next coaching group. ]

Option 3 – Just Grab Your Action Guide

If these options are out of your budget, you might just want to grab a copy of your movie marketing system.

How to Sell Your Movie Action Guide

Also – Special thanks to filmmaking Jake for the question. Hope this helped!

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

I know what you’re thinking – Why is this filmmaking, modern moviemaking advocate of internet VOD distribution talking to you about how to design a DVD cover?

Because…

Regardless of distribution technology, your audience still values the visual representation of your movie as a tangible product. And in ways akin to marketing an eBook via Amazon Kindle, you still need a killer design to represent your movie.

To help explain this further, I reached out to my buddy Ian Hannin. If the name sounds familiar, it means you probably read popular comic books. Over the past decade, Ian is responsible for coloring some of the most popular comic books in existence for Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

But in addition to Ian Hannin’s comic book coloring experience, he also designs movie marketing materials, such as movie posters, virtual covers, DVD covers and the actual artwork that goes on a DVD disc to make it look pro.

Jason Brubaker
How important is having good movie art for filmmakers?

Ian Hannin
People judge a book by the cover. Same with DVD or virtual DVD. You need to have high end, awesome illustration.

Jason Brubaker
What components of movie marketing art are most important?

Ian Hannin
Make sure the design complements the subject matter and tone of the movie. A lot of filmmakers fail to think about their target audience when designing movie marketing collateral.

Jason Brubaker
What’s the biggest mistake filmmakers make in their design?

Ian Hannin
The craftsmanship of the DVD cover often leaves a lot to be desired. In the popular marketplaces, such as Amazon and iTunes, your movie will be competing for virtual shelf space with expensive studio titles. Your job is to create high resolution, easy to read and enticing movie marketing materials… Does the movie artwork draw you in and make you want to see the movie?

Jason Brubaker
A lot of filmmakers try to do this themselves. What is your advice there?

Ian Hannin
If you have someone in your team good at graphic art, awesome. Just make sure your art complements the movie and helps you attract your target audience. But if you don’t have a good guy on your team, you can always email me. Maybe I know someone.

Jason Brubaker
You mean like you?

Ian Hannin
Maybe. HaHa!

Jason Brubaker
How can filmmakers hire you?

Ian Hannin
Go to www.IanHannin.com and contact me through the contact page.

Jason Brubaker
How much do you charge?

Ian Hannin
Depends on the package. Just email me at www.IanHannin.com. Let me know what you’re looking for.

Jason Brubaker
Thanks for stopping by Filmmaking Stuff!

Ian Hannin
Thanks. Happy to help filmmakers in need of art!

- – -
Next time you need to make your filmmaking stuff look awesome, reach out to Ian Hannin and see if he can help you. Oh, also, in full disclosure, I am friends with Ian. He will probably buy me a burrito for any business I throw his way.

Happy Filmmaking!

Posted under INTERVIEWS

Given the ways in which independent movie distribution is changing, having a great filmmaker websites for both your production company and your movie is one of the most important aspects of your eventual movie marketing campaign.

The first step in getting your website established, involves reserving website hosting and a domain name for both your production company, as well as separate sites for each of your movies. And if you already know the name of your movie, you will want to reserve it as soon as you can (before somebody else grabs it).

Create a Filmmaker Website Fast

To set up a website for your filmmaking business, you will need hosting and your domain name. To do this, head over to my friends at www.MovieSiteHost.com – Like most links I mention, MovieSiteHost pays me to promote. I would not recommend them unless I utilized the service myself. And so far I have utilized MovieSiteHost for all of my websites, without issue. In the few instances when I needed to reach someone in customer service, my calls were always answered.

In terms of setting up your actual site, I no longer recommend building a site from scratch. Instead, consder using something called a content management system – or CMS. With a CMS, you can have your own movie website in minutes…

Just in case some of these terms of confusing, let’s recap: Website hosting can be compared to the vacant lot where you’ll eventually build your office building. Your domain name can be compared to your street address. And the CMS is the raw materials needed to build your office building, or in this case, a sophisticated website.

Assuming you are utilizing www.MovieSiteHost.com for your hosting, these elements can be implement in a few clicks of a mouse.

Assuming you have a little technical know-how, when you arrive at MovieSiteHost, you will first need to reserve a domain name for your production company.

To set up your initial CMS website (for your production company or your movie), after you reserve your domain name, you will be redirected to your MovieSiteHost control panel. Once there, click on an icon called “WordPress.”

From there, you will install WordPress on your server.

After a minute or two, your movie CMS will be installed. You will then be issued with a username and a password. Once you have it, you can log into your new website and begin your customization.

In my opinion, WordPress is one of the most robust and powerful content management systems in the world. And the reason I recommend installing a CMS for filmmakers, over building a traditional website is because once you set up WordPress, you will be able to create and modify your content and change the entire look and feel of your website, with the ease of sending an email.

By making these tweaks yourself, you will save the cost of constantly contacting your webmaster.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Like it or not, many social networking sites run the risk of going out of vogue. So as a filmmaker, if you are working to build a relationship with your audience – From day one, you will want to migrate your fans off the social networking sites and get them into your own email, mailing list.

For this, I recommend using a reputable third-party email marketing service such as www.AudienceList.com.

In full disclosure, the company does pay me to promote, but it is the company I utilize for my own business.

With this tool, as soon as you sign up for one of their inexpensive accounts, you can easily create ways for your movie fans to connect with you. For an example of how this works, STOP: If you would like over $47 dollars in useful filmmaking tools for FREE, sign up below:

If you just clicked that link, you probably got an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Assuming you clicked, you were then redirected to a “Thank You Page.” And on that page you were able to download all sorts of premium filmmaking tools, for free. This is what legitimate email marketers call the “double-opt-in” process.

While I am obviously utilizing list-building to create a more meaningful relationship with filmmakers (and YOU), this model can be (and should be) applied to your own movie business.

The major difference between email marketing and traditional movie marketing methods is that members of your target audience find you, and give YOU permission to email them. This is important, because unlike traditional movie marketing methods, with email marketing, you will only communicate with people actually interested in your movie.

To make this easy, your audience list is simply a collection of email addresses. Most filmmakers will also collect the person’s first name with the email address so that they can personalize the email. So instead of saying “Hello Zombie Movie Lover”, you can say “Hey, Jason!”

While I usually stick to just collecting a name and email address, www.AudienceList.com also makes it easy to collect information such as the address and phone number of your site visitor. While this extra information may help refine your  marketing strategy – the truth is, most of your movie website visitors will not take time to fill out an extensive opt-in form.

An opt-in form is a little box that asks visitors to provide you with their name and email address. Here is an example:

With services like www.AudienceList.com, as soon as your visitor opts-in, the contact information is added to your database and managed for you, automatically! These subscribers are now part of your “list,” and you can email them with updates, deals and movie festival screening times – to name a few examples.

The other week I gave a talk at the UCLA film school. And someone asked me why I emphasize audience list building so much – So this is important. Given the disruption to traditional distribution sales channels, building an audience list for your movie and your career might be one of the most important decisions you ever make. Why? Because regardless of how the independent movie industry changes, one constant will always hold true. YOU will need to get people to sit down and watch your movie, and hopefully pay you for this privilege. www.AudienceList.com can help you get started.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

If you like Filmmaking Stuff, you’ll love Jason Brubaker’s Filmmaking Stuff Podcast.

In these audio podcasts, you’ll get valuable information on how to source your audience, audio interviews with industry heavy weights, how to maximize box office revenues, ideas on filmmaking business models and business plans and movie distribution…

To access this FREE filmmaking podcast, click on Jason Brubaker’s picture.

Posted under

As a filmmaker, you need to be promoting both yourself and your movie via Facebook. Assuming you already have a personal profile, you know the site allows you to easily stay in touch with friends, have conversations with co-workers and find pictures of your ex-girlfriend. But from a promotional perspective, Facebook is a powerful tool for filmmakers.

If you are part of the Filmmaking Stuff community on Facebook, you probably noticed how nearly 3000 filmmakers have leveraged the community to reach out to share ideas with filmmakers, from all over the world. But in addition to using Facebook for direct personal interests, when you account for the ever changing world of movie distribution, Facebook provides you with a big opportunity to source and connect with your target audience.

If you have a personal Facebook profile, and a movie worth promoting, you need to set up a page for your movie. To do this, go to facebook.com and scroll to the bottom of the page. From there, click the link that says create a page.

You’ll then be redirected to a web page that asks you to pick your page type. If you’re promoting a movie, choose “entertainment” and then pick “movie.” Facebook will then ask you for the name of your movie.

From there, Facebook will ask you to log into your account. If you do not have an account, (and you should), you’ll have to create one. Once complete, your page will be set. All you gotta do is fill in pertinent information about your movie, including a description, photos, links to your movie website and possibly, your movie trailer.

Your next step in the process is to reach out to your facebook friends and invite them to “like” your movie. Depending on your genre and story line, not all of your friends will respond to your request. Don’t take it personally. Many of my movie projects have been ignored by friends, probably because they are over-inundated with various requests from Angry Birds, Farmvill and other distractions.

Assuming you can break through the noise, the advantage to utilizing Facebook to promote your movie is your ability to connect with your audience. Unlike BIG Hollywood power-players, your fans have access to you.  This allows you to add value to their experience, beyond simply watching your movie. By cultivating these relationships, your audience is more likely to promote your movie to their friends, which helps you build your fan-base and make more sales, without spending much money.

In the event you would like to promote your movie further, Facebook  provides you with some very targeted advertising opportunities to reach your target audience. For example, if you are promoting a zombie movie, you will actually have the ability to reach out to zombie enthusiasts and get them to “Like” your movie.  Because they have demonstrated interest in the genre, your ability to build a relationship with these fans, and possibly get a sale, may increase.

One of the coolest aspects of building a Facebook fan page to promote your movie is the ease at which you can build buzz and community around your title.  Fans will be able to post content on the wall, and as a result, you will be able to monitor word of mouth and find out what people are saying about your movie. And in the event you get a few spammers, you can moderate comments to ensure that the content doesn’t become stupid.

In addition, some filmmakers allow fans to post photos to the fan pages. This sort of activity reinforces community and encourages word of mouth. For example, if your movie is in the festival circuit, you might ask your fans to post pictures of the screening. Then once the photo is posted, frends of these fans may see the picture – which may cause them to “like” your movie too. But the hidden benefit of user generated content is – you don’t have to worry about generating additional content!

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

If you’re just starting out as a filmmaker, deciding if you should attend a traditional film school is something you need to decide. And it’s a costly decision – some of my friends here in Los Angeles are over fifty-thousand dollars in debt.

While most of my friends value having a college education, all agree that having a  film school degree will not guarantee success in Hollywood. Like any industry, becoming successful requires passion, commitment and hard work.

Last year, I was introduced to filmmaker Seth Hymes. When he was in high school, he worked as Production Assistant, Sound Tech and an Editor. After high school, he went off to film school. In fact, he graduated from NYU with honors. From there, he was an editor for Fox News Channel and also managed to get two features into production.

So I sat down with Seth and asked him some questions about his experience.

Jason Brubaker
Seth. After visiting your website and chatting, you seem to have an interesting perspective on formal film school education. What are your thoughts? Is there any value in film school?

Seth Hymes
No, there isn’t. And it’s a great question. What does “value” mean? It means that something adds merit or worth to your life for a reasonable cost. A lot of people say things like “you learn the basics” and it’s a “good place to experiment”.

Jason Brubaker
So in your experience, you think film school is over priced?

Seth Hymes
Well, in film school, you write a check for $100,000. In return, they give you a $2,000 video camera and tell you how to push the on button. Are you going to learn something? Sure. Is it valuable? No. There is no value in learning basic technical concepts for an obscene mark up in cost.

Jason Brubaker
In the past, students enrolled in film school because held the promise of networking, as well as access to equipment. You’re saying this sort of stuff is no longer relevant?

Seth Hymes
The 3 main “values” of film school are no longer relevant. They are, access to equipment, lessons in filmmaking craft and connections. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, when people like Lucas, Scorsese, and Spike Lee went to film school, it was probably a good investment. You couldn’t just pick up a high quality HD camera and start shooting. Filmmaking equipment cost a ton of money and was hard to find. You really couldn’t learn about things like continuity and storyboarding without either apprenticing with a filmmaker or going to school. And it was a good place to meet other creative professionals.

Jason Brubaker
But all of that has changed.

Seth Hymes
Yeah. If you look at today, High Definition filmmaking equipment costs less than a semester at most film schools. The craft of filmmaking, from lighting, editing, shot composition, writing – all of it is available to learn on websites like yours, as well as other sites all over the net. And these days, most connections happen through the net. And further, many new filmmakers find their agents because they produce a short and get some heat on youtube, rather than meeting them in school.

Jason Brubaker
Sort of a silly question. But would you recommend that anybody attends film school?

Seth Hymes
I do not recommend anybody attend film school. It is an unholy waste of money and time. And not only are the schools making a huge profit, they also neglect to teach their grads about anything of real value or importance when it comes to having a career in the business. Things like real networking, fundraising, or film distribution.

Jason Brubaker
So instead of film school, what suggestions do you have for any students who is considering a degree in filmmaking?

Seth Hymes
If you’re considering film school, here’s the litmus test. If it’s a community college or vocational school where classes are anywhere from $60 to $1000, go for it. If anyone is charging more than that, they are making an obscene profit and should be dismissed outright. You will be mocked within the film business for attending such an institution. Instead, I recommend that students save their money, buy their own equipment, and learn how to shoot their own movie.

These days, filmmakers can learn everything you need to know in a week or less.

Jason Brubaker
Reading your posts on other websites and the comments that follow, I can see why some filmmakers, especially the filmmakers sitting on film school debt can get a little emotional with your perspective.

Seth Hymes
Most film school grads and filmmakers agree with me, but there are a few haters. Some people hate hearing the truth. It’s hard for some people to admit they got hosed out of $100K, but the consensus everywhere is that film school is a waste.

Jason Brubaker
I took a look at your website. Tell us what you teach there.

Seth Hymes
I teach people first, exactly why places like NYU are a complete joke and secondly, what to do instead of film school. There’s a lot of pressure to go to college, and I understand that. My book “Film Fooled” is a powerful reality check, a class by class account of NYU’s film curriculum to help people realize that no, they are not missing out on anything by skipping film school.

Jason Brubaker
Sounds like you think film schools should improve their curriculum.

Seth Hymes
Yeah. I get into the stuff they should be teaching in schools. Mainly, how to be taken seriously as a director from day one, how to get on real film sets, meet real working filmmakers, write feature scripts, manage a set, hire film students, and get seen. Anyone taking my course will be 4 years ahead of any film school student in just a week.

Jason Brubaker
Ok. So tell us about your online film course.

Seth Hymes
Ok. To find out more about my courseware at Film School Secrets, prospective filmmakers can Click Here!

Jason Brubaker
Thanks for stopping by Seth.

Seth Hymes
Thanks for having me.

- – -
As a general disclaimer, all the links in this article are affiliate links. Please conduct your own due diligence before making any purchase, both here and anywhere on earth.

Posted under INTERVIEWS

Filmmakers need to source their target audience. Image via Wikipedia

Given the erosion of traditional movie distribution sales channels, as a filmmaker you must now find your target audience wherever they hang out and then get them to know you, know your work, and hopefully pay money to watch your movie.

In the past, filmmakers never had to worry about sourcing an audience because the entire movie industry operated like a big factory. Filmmakers made the product and the distributors sold the product through theatrical and DVD distribution. But as a result of the internet and enhancements to video on demand technology, distribution has been disrupted and the old model has been forever screwed up.

So now, if you want to succeed as a filmmaker, it is not enough to simply get you movie into iTunes. I mean, anybody can do that. What you also need to do is have a killer website, attract your target audience, and then get them to take action.

While it’s nice to believe that all website visitors will automatically buy your movie, the truth is, most visitors will not buy your movie on the first visit. For starters, they don’t know you. And they probably don’t know anything about your movie. So your job is not necessary to focus on the sale, but rather, focus on opting them into your audience list.

There are many ways to create an audience list. But unfortunately, most of the methods are crap. In my career, to save money, I have tried forgoing using a reputable email marketing company, and opted instead for one of the popular social networks. For awhile, this was awesome – even thought it took years, I had 8000 “friends” and one one of the sites… But then that site went out of vogue. As a result, my sourced audience was useless.

To avoid the same fate, I HIGHLY recommend that you use a reputable 3rd party email marketing company to manage your audience list. While there are some great companies out there, over the past three years, I have utilized a service called Aweber. This is a reputable email marketing company… [and yes, they DO pay me to promote - so conduct your own due-diligence.]

But the reason I promote this service over other services is this: Aweber adheres to Spam Laws and requires “double-opt-in.”  This means, after your visitor opts-in, they get an email asking if they’re sure they really want to hear from you.  And because of their business practices, Aweber is respected by email service provides – like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail- which helps avoid spam filters. Additionally, as part of the service, you are able to set up something called a sequential email auto-responder. An auto-responder allows you to pre-write and create multiple emails for your audience.

So let’s say you were trying to sell your Zombie movie. After the opt-in, your first email could tell your audience more about your movie. And over the following weeks, your subsequent emails could then provide more and more value to your prospective customer – the result of which compels your fan to BUY NOW.

Once your prospect makes a purchase, you could automatically migrate this person to your customer list. And once this fan is in your customer list, you could then promote another zombie movie (from another friendly filmmaker). And because you “sourced a zombie audience member,” the odds of getting a second sale are greater.

Most filmmakers don’t get excited about the wonders of sourcing an audience. But again, most filmmakers do not realize we are in a new era of independent filmmaking. The good news is for you is, with a website, some creativity and an email marketing mechanism, you can start sourcing your audience TODAY.

If you would like to find out more about email marketing and how this can help you with your own independent movie business, you can get some FREE information below:

Happy Filmmaking!

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Image via Wikipedia

The other night, I spoke at the UCLA film school about how to make, market and sell your movie without the middle-man. And while most of the UCLA film students in attendance agreed that my way of making a movie may not be fully inline with the studio ideal – many of these filmmakers agreed that getting a movie made is better than merely just talking about making a movie.

Thanks to familiarity with YouTube as well as access to affordable production equipment, many film school students, as well as modern filmmakers are embracing accessible, non-discriminatory distribution channels without hesitation or excuses.  And this experience is changing the ways in which filmmakers think about making a movie.

While it’s still true that making a movie can be a pain in the butt, the barriers of industry entry are down.  As a result, filmmakers are now empowered to go out and make their movie. And just in case you are not attending film school, I’ll share the BIG question you need to ask yourself as a filmmaker:

“Given the resources that you have now, what is the movie that you can make this year?”

Posted under FILMMAKING