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.

I don’t care if you don’t like it. If you are going to increase your odds of movie success, you need to find out how to become a movie marketer. To get started, I recommend spending as much time as possible learning about internet marketing.

Two rules of internet marketing for filmmakers:

1. Have more time than money? Create content to get search ranking.
2. Have more money than time? ADVERTISE!

It is always more fun to get free traffic. But if you gotta pay for traffic, there is nothing wrong with that either (assuming you have the money). And in case you don’t know, with movie distribution all messed up, you will have to become your own distributor.

Best to find out everything you can!

In my next filmmaking article, I’ll talk about some simple marketing tips all filmmaker’s need to know.

 

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

The other week I went on a minor rant about filmmakers hellbent on streaming movies from their movie website. And after some very thoughtful feedback, the truth is (as much as I hate admitting this) I realized I may have made an error.

In my article, I mentioned that most customers will feel more comfortable watching movies on established platforms, such as Hulu, iTunes, Amazon and NetFlix. At the same time, I totally discounted filmmakers presently testing ways to stream from their sites. And as any great marketer knows, ALL marketing decisions (assuming they make financial sense) have to be tested.

What works with one movie, may not work with every movie.

With that said, a lot of filmmakers (who do not have website traffic) are being fed the idea that “content enablers” will magically source an audience. They will not. So if your website does not have a lot of visitors, before you worry about where to stream your movie, I suggest you work on increasing your traffic as well as building your audience list. Then later, when you reach mass, you can focus on directing folks into your sales funnel.

The other tip is this: DO NOT stream a movie from your own hosting company server. That is silly. Let someone else handle the bandwidth and content delivery issues. Here are two resources for selling your movie (both of which are affiliates and pay me to promote – so research each before you make any purchase):

1. Movie Sales Tool – www.MovieSalesTool.com it’s my special link for distribber. They help you get your movie onto iTunes and other popular marketplaces.
2. Dynamoplayer -  www.dynamoplayer.com – OK. This is not actually an affiliate of Filmmaking Stuff (yet), but maybe by the time you read this, the CEO Rob Millis will finally return my call and I will be promoting this one a lot more. UPDATE: Rob just got back to me and we will chat next week. (Looking forward to it Rob.)

Again – while both of these companies provide great services for filmmakers, it is important that you remember the major, key aspect of the brave new world of modern moviemaking – Regardless of platform – YOU are responsible for sourcing your own audience. Don’t forget that!

To help you out, I have created a step-by-step guide called the independent producer’s guide to digital distribution. If you need help driving targeted traffic to your website and selling your movie through VOD marketplaces, the guide offers some tips.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

If you’re already a seasoned feature filmmaker, take a moment and think back: 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?

That happened to me with my first feature. Like you, I thought our movie would get into Sundance, play well, build buzz and if we were really lucky, we had hoped the movie would garner us a 3 picture deal. But that didn’t happen.

Sure, we got some offers, but they were not “deals.” (A deal actually pays money!)

So instead of exchanging our movie for an empty promise, we decided to try selling our movie on the internet. Little did I know, this one decision has changed the course of my movie making life. That was five years ago…

And since that time, the internet as evolved. If you’re a filmmaker with a movie, you need to get it selling in all the popular internet marketplaces, including Amazon and iTunes.

You don’t need a middle-man to make this profitable. I am going to show you my internet marketing secrets…

You can check out my “How To Sell Your Movie” system by visiting the website here.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

As we get closer to an independent filmmaking business driven by video on demand distribution, I am on the hunt for various case studies that can help filmmakers navigate the changing world.

I caught wind of an indie production company based in Australia called Rapidfire Productions. This is a production company that operates as a self sustaining modern moviemaking business. They develop, produce and distribute their genre specific titles through their own distribution arm. David W. Allen is one of the producers. Earlier this week he stopped by Filmmaking Stuff to share some ideas on how to make, market and sell movies through new forms of internet distribution.

Jason Brubaker
What is your name?

David W. Allen
David W. Allen

Jason Brubaker
How did you get started making movies?

David W. Allen
I have always been into making movies with my long time best friend and director of our most recent feature, “The Gates of Hell,” Kelly Dolen. As kids in our early teens we would always be running around with a video camera making home movies and writing our own horror and action screenplays.

Jason Brubaker
And then when you felt ready, you made the shift to features?

David W. Allen
Yes. Our first feature length film was a low low budget vampire flick called ‘Reign in Darkness’ which we both wrote and directed. We only had $49k to make this with and considering the budget it came out okay.

Jason Brubaker
Sounds like an exciting first feature.

David W. Allen
We jumped on a plane to LA wide eyed and innocent to sell our film and make it big in Hollywood.

Jason Brubaker
I felt the same way after our first feature. It’s like you work so hard to make the impossible, possible. Hollywood sure seems like the logical next step.

David W. Allen
Ahhhh how naive we were all those years ago. [Laughter]

Jason Brubaker
So what happened? Were you able to sell the movie for an amazing cash advance and get a 3 picture deal?

David W. Allen
We ended up getting a distribution deal with a sales agent who we were introduced to by an entertainment lawyer.

Jason Brubaker
Was it a good deal?

David W. Allen
No. We got ripped off and didn’t see a great deal of money for the film. That was 10 years ago. Today the title is still selling out there, online. The movie is making money for other people but not us.

Jason Brubaker
How did that change your perspective about traditional distribution?

David W. Allen
I learned a very valuable lesson with ‘Reign’ and vowed if we ever made another feature film we would distribute ourselves.

Jason Brubaker
I agree with you. Especially when it comes to video on demand distribution.

David W. Allen
I could see where the Internet was heading and knew it was going to be the way to reach our future audiences with our Independent films.

Jason Brubaker
What is Rapidfire Productions?

David W. Allen
Rapidifire Productions was established by Kelly Dolen and myself in 1999 with the sole purposed to produce a diverse, wide range of Independent high concept genre films, ranging from action, drama, horror and sci-fi.

Jason Brubaker
So you are staying very genre specific?

David W. Allen
Our long-term goal was to make commercially successful projects that satisfy a marketplace craving for intelligent genre films and build a distribution arm for low budget Indy films.

Jason Brubaker
And it sounds like your title called “The Gates Of Hell” fits your model. Tell us about the project.

David W. Allen
The Gates of Hell is a dark psychological thriller and horror flick which is inspired by a combination of “old school” films like The Exorcist and The Thing and the adrenalin of cutting edge video games like Gears of War and Manhunt.

Jason Brubaker
Could you tell our readers where to find out more about your movie?

David W. Allen
Here is the website: www.TheGatesOfHellMovie.com

Jason Brubaker
How did you come up with the idea?

David W. Allen
It was back when Kelly and I were sharing a place together and we were talking about what we can make next for a low cost and high commercial value. We were talking about a filmmaking seminar we attended in Melbourne, Australia conducted by Dov Simmens, a Hollywood indy filmmaking guru.

Jason Brubaker
I am familiar with Dov and his work. What was the most inspiring advice he gave you?

David W. Allen
He said the best thing to do with your first film is to get a bunch of young people and take them to a single location and chop them up.

Jason Brubaker
Ha! I think that is sound filmmaking business advice.

David W. Allen
That was the thought process that ignited the idea for The Gates of Hell.

Jason Brubaker
So once you had your idea, what came next?

David W. Allen
Kelly and I started brainstorming ideas and we come up with an old condemned orphanage that used to house discarded deformed children that upper class people didn’t want.

Jason Brubaker
That sounds like a true horror movie.

David W. Allen
We researched this online to see if in fact a place like this did exist and they did back in the early 1940’s. And then we added some Hollywood to the idea and the first treatment was written.

Jason Brubaker
So once you had the treatment, what came next in your process?

David W. Allen
From there Kelly ran with the idea and developed it into a screenplay which was constantly developed over some years to get it to a stage where it was ready to make. We had a local artist drawing characters for the film and story boards you name it was all happening.

Jason Brubaker
What was your role during this time?

David W. Allen
I focused on the producing and marketing. I was responsible for developing an internet marketing strategy, building the website and creating the entire online distribution business model. I planned an online release from the very beginning.

Jason Brubaker
Building your movie business plan based on an internet marketing strategy is a very new concept. Was there any pushback from other producers or investors?

David W. Allen
The Investors had no intention of going down this path. They wanted the big blue sky and Hollywood. But I knew in the end they would end up going with my plan to self-distribute.

Jason Brubaker
What was Kelly’s role?

David W. Allen
Kelly went out and raised the large majority of the money from investors of our previous film and the new investors came from people he knew from his years selling home audio equipment at the large retailer JB HI-FI. The main investors were customers of Kelly’s from this store and over the years they come to value him as a friend more than just a shop assistant.

Jason Brubaker
So would you say that filmmakers must first understand the value of relationships?

David W. Allen
There is such a valuable lesson to be learned here especially with the social networking explosion on the Internet… Success is all about the relationships both online and offline.

Jason Brubaker
That makes me remember a quote I learned while selling overpriced hot tubs in college. “People buy from people they trust and like.”

David W. Allen
In my opinion this is the key to being successful in offline and online business and film distribution. Over time your followers will come to trust you and believe you, so when you have something to sell they will be far more likely to buy because they feel like they know and trust you.

Jason Brubaker
So let’s talk more about your movie sales strategy. How did you handle the sales, marketing and distribution?

David W. Allen
After the film was completed we took the film to a number of film festivals such as Screamfest, Amberg, Sacramento, and NYC. We also attended some film markets such as AFM and Cannes.

Jason Brubaker
Were you able to gain any traction?

David W. Allen
The film had great reviews but with all the positive hype around the the film the distribution deals were not very favorable and we didn’t want to go down the same path as we did with our first film ‘Reign in Darkness’ where were got a raw distribution deal.

Jason Brubaker
That is a tough choice. Many first time feature filmmakers will consider deals that do not pay a dime, just for the validation that comes from someone else saying “Great work! You’re a REAL filmmaker!”

David W. Allen
Yeah. But being passionate about everything Internet, I was pushing the proposal of just self-distributing online. But it was a hard sell to our investors who wanted to see the film in cinemas and up in lights.

Jason Brubaker
That is interesting. I guess some of those folks need traditional validation too?

David W. Allen
Well, all I wanted was to see a positive net return for sales of the film and focus on introducing the film to its market online and letting its popularity spread over time.

Jason Brubaker
Sounds like a pragmatic approach to your modern movie business. Were you able to get your way?

David W. Allen
I managed to get my way in the end with a little compromise. The investors wanted to see the movie in the cinemas so we did a distribution deal with an Australian distributor for Australian and New Zealand rights.

Jason Brubaker
Sounds like a hybrid deal. You retain some rights, while licensing other rights through other channels. Was this a profitable strategy for your movie?

David W. Allen
As I am writing this, the distributor is still yet to do anything with ‘The Gates of Hell’, which is no surprise to me, but a big lesson for the investors who wanted a quick return and blue sky.

Jason Brubaker
At least you can move forward with your own internet movie marketing strategy. Can you tell us a little more about your marketing plan?

David W. Allen
My marketing plan is simple. With very little money, I am taking the advice of a brilliant marketer Seth Godin and build a tribe and sell the movie to that tribe who over time will spread the word.

Jason Brubaker
What are the mechanics involved in building a tribe?

David W. Allen
I will be collecting emails from prospective customers so we can sell them backend products that they actually want.

Jason Brubaker
What about marketplaces? Where will you actually sell your movie?

David W. Allen
My distribution plan is to start off with selling the DVD then when I get some traction in the market I will approach a VOD distributor and then an iTunes aggregator and Amazon. I will also look at Netflix but I will wait until it gets more popularity so to get a better upfront fee.

Jason Brubaker
You mentioned DVD. Who is going to handle your DVD fulfillment?

David W. Allen
For the DVD distribution I use a company called Disk.com. They were highly recommended to me by some of my Internet marketing peers who use them to create and distribute their information products. They are based in the USA and is a great place for the shipping of the DVDs within the US and throughout Europe and the UK. There are some great companies here in Australia but the shipping costs would be way too high given our main market is in the USA and UK.

Jason Brubaker
Outside of distribution and your website, how are you spreading word of mouth?

David W. Allen
Facebook Pages and Twitter play a bit part in my strategy. I use these platforms to build what is called Market Leadership. I also hit the forums and get involved in the top ones and this is a great way to get people to check out the film.

Jason Brubaker
What about getting prominent website owners to review the movie?

David W. Allen
I am sending out copies to influences in the market place, people who already have a large following in the horror market and if they like the film they will tell their tribe about it.

Jason Brubaker
When I first saw your movie website, I was impressed. I think it has all the components necessary to create a movie sales funnel. But you also have something called an opt-in box to build your mailing list. How important is a mailing list for modern moviemakers?

David W. Allen
Very important! It is such a valuable asset for filmmaker if they don’t abuse it. It takes so long to build traffic to your website so you want to be capturing as many leads as possible so you can stay in touch with them, send them cool free stuff and then sell them backend products related to their film.

Jason Brubaker
Yes. I think filmmakers need to take charge of sourcing their own core audience. But what about in-between projects? How do you leverage your list?

David W. Allen
Between projects, the other thing filmmakers can do is introduce other people’s related products to their list for a fee or on an affiliate basis. Over time your mailing list will become very valuable. The bigger and more responsive the list, the more other industry players will want to pay filmmakers money to get related products or films in front of their subscribers.

Jason Brubaker
What suggestions do you have for other filmmakers who want to create their own movie business?

David W. Allen
Look at the market you’re making the film for first. This is a business and if you are going to spend money on making a film you better be sure there is a big enough and hungry enough market out there to buy your film and other backend products.

Jason Brubaker
You keep mentioning marketing related products. Could you explain this a little more?

David W. Allen
I look at the film itself as a lead generation product for the purpose of building a big list. I am not all that concerned about making the money back on the DVD itself but on other monetizing avenues over time including advertising.

Jason Brubaker
That is an interesting concept. Most filmmakers do not think like marketers. Yet if we want to make money making movies, it makes sense that we would need to diversify our product offerings.

David W. Allen
The modern filmmaker needs to think beyond the film itself as the only means of generating income. The money online is where the eyeballs are. Think about it.

- – -

To find out more about Rapidfire Productions and their titles, GO HERE

Posted under DISTRIBUTION, INTERVIEWS

As a filmmakers, getting your movie seen and selling  has become incredibly challenging. If you’ve been following filmmaking stuff over the last year, you know that one of the major issues we are trying to solve is this question: In a world where DVD sales are non-existent (because there are no more DVD sales outlets), then how can filmmakers make enough VOD sales to justify a budget?

In an effort to solve this filmmaking problem, today we will cover step 6 of this 7 part series on how to sell your movie on iTunes, Amazon and Netflix for Maximum Profit.

Step 6 – Increase Targeted Web Traffic

To increase your website traffic, you might decide to work out Search Engine Optimization tactics with your web marketer, pay for online or off-line advertising, or incorporate a bit of everything. Unpaid traffic is called organic. Organic traffic is the best kind because whenever you pay for a customer, you diminish your profit margin from the outset. So obviously, the goal for all movie marketers is to acquire a customer for the very lowest price possible.

One secret I utilize is frequent press release submissions. Years ago, it was advised that you only wrote and submitted press releases when you had something newsworthy to say. But these days, in addition to targeting traditional news outlets, most press releases are included in search engine results. Without getting overly technical, this means for a very small amount of money, submitting one press release complete with links to your website can increase your web footprint.

Over time these releases are picked up by blogs and other websites hungry for related content. And the resulting benefit is more awareness of your movie, for a minimal cost.

If both your traffic and your budget are low, search out other filmmakers who have successfully sold their movies to a similar market and find out if they would be interested in promoting your movie to their mailing list. Assuming your movie is congruent with what their audience enjoys, these other filmmakers may gladly help you out for a cut of the profits. I have found that giving affiliates a good return for effective marketing creates long term win-win business relationships. These other filmmakers are able to create a stream of revenue between their movie projects. And you benefit by expanding your movie’s reach quickly.

This is also a good time to revisit those sites from your initial research. Compile a list of one-hundred target websites, then reach out to site owners and kindly ask if they would be interested in reviewing your movie. Regardless of whether or not these folks like your movie, what is secondarily valuable to you are links back to your website. Over time, these back-links, combined with your trailer and social networking profiles will serve to funnel more and more prospective viewers back to your website. And the cycle continues…

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Since my last filmmaking podcast, I have been contacted by many of you. Some of you like my filmmaking ideas. Some of you think I’m crazy. But regardless of what you think, the world of independent filmmaking is changing. This is mostly because distribution is changing, which affects financing, which affects your ability to pay your cast and crew.

As a result of these changes, filmmakers who want to make a living making independent movies need to start thinking about their target audience from day one. While I would never suggest that you completely forgo your artistic integrity, I would suggest you answer the following questions:

1. Who is going to buy and watch your movie? (Hint, if you answer everybody, you answered nobody.)
2. How will you reach your intended niche, target audience?
3. How many VOD downloads will it take to recoup your initial investment?

Since those of you who make movies are mostly filmmakers, not marketers, it becomes increasingly challenging to market your movie and your work. But some aspects of marketing are easier than you think. How do you get started?

One easy thing you can do is set up your own email marketing system. Email marketing works like this, the bigger your list of targeted subscribers, the more sales you can potentially make.  I use email marketing for both my filmmaking and my filmmaking stuff, for an example of how this works, grab your free filmmaking book by clicking here.

When you arrive on the page, you’ll see that I ask for your name and email address. The reason I ask is because I want to build a long term relationship with you. And if I don’t ask, I won’t get.

In the context of movie promotion, Kenton Hoppas (who once participated in one of my workshops – and we are now working together) provides a great example of how this works for his movie Career Courier. [Example is found here]

As you can see, Kenton’s initial movie website is very streamlined. It involves both a YouTube trailer as well as an opt-in form. This is intentional. The goal of his initial site is to collect names and email addresses of prospective audience members (AKA potential customers) and he’s starting early.

Through both online and offline marketing efforts, his objective is to grow community around his movie – which could spread positive word of mouth… Which could eventually lead to DVD sales. After the movie, Kenton would have the ability to promote related products or other movies of a similar genre.

If you’re wondering when you should start promoting your own project and company, I’d say the sooner the better. But there is a science to this – know your audience. And make sure all of your communication is on point. For example, if you are making a movie about vegetarians, it would not be a good idea to send out coupons for hamburgers. (Unless you were being ironic.)

As a rule of thumb, never email blast from your own servers. Always use a 3rd party email marketing company that insists on something called a double opt-in. A double opt-in means that after people submit their name and email to your list, they will still need to check their email for a confirmation link. Then in each subsequent email you send them, you will always provide an easy way to opt out.

In my business, I prefer Audience List (which aside from being awesome pays me a commission to say this) www.AudienceList.com – Once you sign up and put an opt in form on your website, you can being growing your list. Then as your list grows, you will want to always find ways to reward your loyal fans. Usually this comes in the form of offering free stuff. Two simple examples would involve giving away poster art as well as your movie soundtrack.

Sometime down the road, long after your movie has played the festivals and sold out on iTunes, you may find there is value in promoting other movies of a similar genre – or better yet, selling your next movie. This is when having a list really pays off, literally. Or as they say, the money is in your list.

To join the filmmaking stuff community and get over $100 dollars in free filmmaking tools, visit www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com[podcast]http://filmmakingstuff.podbean.com/mf/web/3tg63c/FilmmakingforMultipleStreamsOfMovieIncome.mp3[/podcast][podcast]http://filmmakingstuff.podbean.com/mf/web/3tg63c/FilmmakingforMultipleStreamsOfMovieIncome.mp3[/podcast]

Posted under DISTRIBUTION, FILMMAKING

If you’re filmmaker seeking practical filmmaking tips you can use TODAY, I’d like to share some thoughts with you.

The world of filmmaking is changing. Producing content is getting cheaper. And distribution outlets are becoming increasingly accessible. While these changes have not fully hit mainstream Hollywood, you can rest assured that it’s only a matter of time until the ripple effect has a leveling impact.

And when these changes hit, will you be ready?

Here are my 5 filmmaking tips on how to prepare for these changes.

1. Filmmaking Tip #1 – Build Your Fan Club. Like any business, in order to prosper, you need to create, build and keep customers. For filmmakers, this means building an audience of people who like your work. (If you like this website, you can sign up for my fan club by going here: http://www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com)
2. Filmmaking Tip #2 – Create content. If you’re serious about your filmmaking future, you need to have a YouTube page and you need to be making creative short movies at least every month. Why YouTube? Because I believe the site will become a hub for Video On Demand movies, they are owned by Google and YouTube allows you to create community around your work.
3. Filmmaking Tip #3 – Create new products. Every business needs to sell a service or a product to survive. As an independent filmmaker, your primary product is feature films. To make this business viable for yourself, you need to fill your file cabinet with story ideas. Then you need to figure out how to turn those stories into feature films, ready for sale.
4. Filmmaking Tip #4 – Surround Yourself With Talent. You can’t do everything yourself. Find a group of 10 other filmmakers who have complementary talents and an equal level of passion and enthusiasm. Then join forces and create some (movie) products!
5. Filmmaking Action Tip #5 – Learn how to sell. You will need sales skills on two fronts. Firstly, you should know how to sell, so you can raise movie money. And secondly, you should know how to sell so that you can accelerate sales of your movies. Once you learn the basics – stop fetching coffee and take a sales job outside of the industry, selling something tough. If you can master sales skills, you will start cold calling heavy hitters with no hesitation. This make pitching your ideas or (independent movie) products a cinch.

Anyway, I hope these filmmaking tips are helpful.

As always, if you have thoughts or ideas or questions, feel free to comment or email.

Posted under FILMMAKING