Do you remember when the idea of making movies seemed like a far away dream? Do you remember when you first got the idea for your movie? Do you remember Your first day of production? Do you remember your first screening and how well everyone loved your work?
The veterans of the movie industry tell us that all this distribution deal disappointment is a result of improved technology. They optimistically tell us that our lost DVD revenues will be recouped by Video On Demand. Some refer to this as simply a market correction, implying that someday, somewhere, someone will figure out how to once again pay the big bucks for movies. But this is a pipe-dream.
After posting the following ROI marketing formula, many people have written to tell me that my numbers are unrealistic. And for the gazillionith time – I get it! Everybody agrees that recouping a 1M dollar budget based on Pay Per Visit advertising alone is an outlandish proposition.
Without a defined market or an established sales channel, it is difficult to justify financing, which makes it very difficult to pay cast and crew – which, by the way, makes it difficult to produce a movie. And assuming you can answer these questions, the problem is still economy of scale. If you can’t reach the masses (or reach enough people willing to pay for what you’re selling), how will you ever recoup your initial movie investment?
I don’t give a crap about the idiot Hollywood snobs who would much rather ignore you and your HD camera. And so what if you never worked with Spielberg or for that matter any “name” talent. And who really cares if some band of ivy league film school graduates spent their 30k making an 8 minute, 35mm short, when you decided to make a feature?
If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to finance and sell your movie… Then your guess is as good as the studio’s guess. Micro-budget movies are changing the landscape. In this article Jason Brubaker discusses some things filmmakers can expect when it comes time to sell your movie…
