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 are planning to attend the Showbiz Expo, make sure you check out my talk on “How To Sell Your Movie Without The Middle Man.” I go on at 11AM and will provide some valuable tips on how to get your movie seen and selling.

Some of the film distribution topics I cover are:

1. How to drive traffic to your movie website.
2. What all filmmakers must know about trailer promotion.
3. How to optimize your movie website for conversions.
4. Where to market movies both online and offline.
5. Why a marketing plan is essential for all business plans.

If you can attend the Showbiz Expo, awesome. If you can’t, then you may want to check out The Indie Producer’s Guide To Digital Self-Distribution.

Posted under Filmmaking News

The world of film distribution is changing fast. Over the weekend I shared a panel at the New Hampshire Film Festival with movie marketing and distribution professionals.

Many of the participants represent well known movie companies. As a result, the  panel was valuable because many of the thoughts shared on movie marketing and distribution were based on traditional, best practices.

If you were unable to attend the festival – no worries. The innovative folks at the New Hampshire Film Festival videotaped the panel discussion. I have posted it below. In the video, you will see how my thoughts on film distribution and movie marketing are geared towards filmmakers who do not have a budget for a traditional movie marketing campaign.

Hopefully sharing some of the latest trends in film distribution and movie marketing will provide you with at least one or two tips you can add to your own filmmaking projects.

Shout-out to moderator Amy Greenlaw of FilmPop! -  As well as Dan Hannon and Brett Carneiro and the other folks at the New Hampshire Film Festival for hosting the panel.

If YOU would like more information on how to sell your movie, check out the Indie Producer’s Guide To Digital Self-Distribution

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Over the past decade everything in the world of filmmaking has changed. Technology has improved. Distribution has evolved. And filmmakers have taken on the task of distributing their own movies.

If you’ve been reading filmmaking stuff for any length of time, you know how much I obsess over distribution. Why? Because it is essential to your movie business. Without distribution, it is difficult to get financing. So as you plan your next project, if you do not create a marketing, sales and distribution plan, you do not have a filmmaking business – You have a hobby.

On Saturday, October 15th you can find me at the New Hampshire Film Festival. I will be sharing the stage with a group of industry executives and distribution gurus – talking about the current state of movie marketing and distribution and what YOU need to do to get your movie seen and selling.

Film Distribution Topics Covered

• Distribution Tools for filmmakers
• How to get your movie into the popular marketplaces
• SEO for filmmakers
• How to optimize your movie website for maximum sales
• Email marketing for filmmakers
• Leveraging social networks (Twitter and FaceBook) to promote movies
• And more…

In the event you cannot attend the New Hampshire Film festival, I suggest you grab a copy of the Indie Producer’s Guide to Digital Self-Distribution. The step-by-step system contains nearly a decade of movie marketing and distribution tactics so YOU can get your movie seen and selling ASAP.

The Indie Producer’s Guide To Distribution This guide provides a step-by-step resource for getting your finished feature seen and sold. This site contains resources on how to leverage the ever changing world of digital distribution and internet marketing.

Happy Filmmaking!

Posted under Filmmaking News

If you are looking for distribution for your film – STOP IT!

OK. I’m kidding.

You don’t have to stop looking for a dream deal.

But you also don’t have to sit around waiting for the phone to ring. That’s outdated film distribution behavior and it’s lazy.

What are you waiting for?

Maybe you are afraid to start selling your movie on iTunes and Amazon and Hulu because this will somehow deter traditional distributors turned aggregators from acquiring your movie… So that they can get your movie onto Amazon, iTunes and Hulu? Please explain this to me.

I created a product to help you. It’s called the Indie Producer’s Guide To Digital Self Distribution. It provides you with a very robust strategy for getting your movie seen and selling.

Anyway, if you’re sick of waiting around and you’re ready to start selling your movie, grab a copy of The Indie Producer’s Guide To Digital Self-Distribution. You’ll be happy you did.

Posted under STUFF

If you have been reading Filmmaking Stuff for any length of time, you know that this site heavily emphasizes ways to help filmmakers market, sell and distribute their movies, without asking permission.

For those of you interested in more ideas on modern movie distribution, my friends Jon Reiss, Sheri Candler and Orly Ravid have put together a wonderful resource, titled: Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul.

The book provides valuable guidance for those of you interested in understanding the new model of film distribution.

Orly Ravid stopped by Filmmaking Stuff to share her experience publishing the book, and how it compares to her experience in movie distribution.

Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul as a model for looking at film distribution

By Orly Ravid

The traditional model of book publishing is to find a book agent and get a deal with a publisher. There’s usually a lot of rejection and if or when you get a deal, the publisher normally gets the better end of it, especially if you don’t have a name as an author. And often one is frustrated that a publisher has not done this or that and usually the author does a better job marketing the work anyway.

It’s the author’s name and creativity that is selling the book, not the publishing house. The fact of how many publishing houses passed on Harry Potter is a great lesson about how the fat cat corporate gatekeepers don’t always know what time it is.

We did for about 5 seconds consider seeing if we could publish Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul in a traditional way, through a publishing house. Then we thought we would either be turned down since the book is for a very niche interest audience or receive a small advance (most first time authors receive less than $5,000 in advance money. There are 4 authors of this book.) and never see another penny. Sound familiar?

Also, if we are going to champion filmmakers who are using some form of self-distribution for their work, it would be pretty hypocritical to go the traditional route with a publisher.

Here is what we did do and why:

We created a production budget that made sense for the scope of the book and the audience it was made for. We could have budgeted more money for it and waited until we scraped that budget together. It could have taken more than a year to do that. We decided to spend a reasonable amount that would ensure the book was available on all key digital platforms and now even in print. BUT, we decided not to do an iPhone App because that would have cost more and put strain on the budget given that this book is very specific and for a very specific audience.

We clearly defined our audience: filmmakers who are interested in DIY or Hybrid or P2P distribution methods. Not everyone and not even every filmmaker.

We set out to find sponsors to help pay for it. With this reasonable budget in mind, a clearly defined audience and a way to reach them ourselves, we knew what kind of sponsors would appreciate this. We also decided that the way to make it worth their while was to make the book FREE at least for a time and at least in one format always. It ensures the likelihood that the book will be shared widely. We also decided the sales price would be low cost in any case so that price was never a barrier to the book finding its audience and its readers seeking it out.

We did not pursue random sponsors, but rather carefully considered the ones that made sense given the defined audience target. This made sponsorship success much smoother and easier.  We could persuasively communicate that our audience was their target audience and how we would reach them (through our many media and personal contacts) and when (launch during IFP Week) and where (New York and all over the world via the internet). We gave them clear information that they could feel good about and see as a perfect fit for their brand.

We published the book ourselves and it’s available today on all key digital platforms where eBooks are sold. It is about one year to the day from when I first conceived the idea to having it out for all to read. The print edition will also soon be in retail stores via an aggregator, much like going through an aggregator to get onto Netflix, Hulu and iTunes (though we managed our own iBookstore inclusion).
So if you are making a film, there is a strong likelihood you can follow this model but you need to prepare for it well:

1. Who is your audience?
2. How will you reach them? Specifically as we did, targeting certain press, certain blogs, certain podcasts whose readers and listeners match those for the book.
3. What is a reasonable budget for your film that is fundable, recoupable and profitable via these methods of self-financing and self-distribution and/or financing via sponsorship?
4. If you want to try the sponsorship route, you will need to create a presentation deck and go out to companies a minimum of 6 months in advance of your release, but more likely more. Big companies make decisions a year in advance often.
5. For sponsorship to be attractive to a brand, they will need to know a specific distribution plan in order to see how being involved with your film achieves their marketing objectives. It takes planning and advanced thinking that doesn’t rely on hoping a gatekeeper “buys” your film.

This is how we did it for a book and some films can be done this way too, even if they cost 5 or 6 figures or even 7. It’s really just a question of the right pairing between content and audience and brands and above all things, advance planning and TIME and EFFORT that can and will pay off.

I am proud that we did not have to adjust our content for anyone, that we did not have to rely on anyone to give us access to our readers, that we have full control of the book we wrote and above all, that we are in the black before we have even released the book. How many artists can say that?

I would not have done it any other way.

The book Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul is available starting today. Please visit www.sellingyourfilm.com and pick up your free digital copy or preorder a print edition coming soon. Find us on Facebook and follow our hashtag #syfnotsys on Twitter.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

As a filmmaker, you must realize that movie marketing is essential to your success. And while I’m sure you “know” this, you probably aren’t doing anything about it.

In an effort to provide you with bite sized steps you can take to accelerate your filmmaking success, I have listed the top ten things that all filmmakers must include in their movie marketing:

1. Definable hook.
2. Great screenplay.
3. Clearly definable target audience.
4. Cost effective way to reach the target audience.
5. Consistent branding (logos, fonts and colors) on movie marketing collateral.
6. Awesome poster.
7. Great Movie website that helps you “sell” your movie.
8. Marketing plan included in your business plan.
9. Team of people consisting of at least one internet nerd.
10. The willingness to implement your own sales and marketing strategy.

At speaking events, people always ask me questions about DIY or Self-Distribution – usually wondering if these methods are better than handing over all rights for some middle-man to get them into the many VOD outlets.

My response is always the same.

If the deal makes sense (meaning, you are happy with the deal), only you can decide if you should outsource your sales, marketing and distribution to some other middle-man.

But if the deal doesn’t make sense, wouldn’t it make sense for you to do what most traditional business owners do – add a movie marketing division to your production company! Then figure out how to create some movie marketing magic!

- – -

If you liked this article on modern movie marketing, you might also enjoy more info on how to market and sell your movie.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

CONFESSIONS OF A DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER:
12 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started My First Film

I worked in television news for seven years and then traveled the world (40+ countries) documenting the lives and stories of all kinds of people.  So I wasn’t starting totally from scratch.

I had interviewed thousands of people, so I knew how to do that.  I had edited and produced hundreds of videos, so I knew how to tell a story.  What I wasn’t prepared for with my first documentary was the funding and distribution.

Here are some top lessons I learned with my first feature documentary project:

1)     Make a trailer — If you have any need or desire to raise funds for your project, a trailer – a fantastic trailer — is essential.  A trailer is also a wonderful tool for building an audience and creating buzz.

2)     Before you begin your project, think of the END first:  Where is this documentary going to be shown (or where do you envision it being shown)?  Who is your targeted/primary audience? Answering these questions helps you determine the content, tone, style and length of your film.

3)     Start building your audience right away – Launch a Facebook page (or other social media) immediately and build a website with a blog that you update regularly (this builds “organic” web traffic).  Make sure to include an e-mail sign-up form on your site.  These will be your top promoters and customers when you’re ready to launch your film and sell your DVD.

4)     Distribution — Have a distribution plan and (if at all possible) hire a distribution expert.  I took the self-distribution route to keep control and save money, but I can’t help but wonder how much better my project could have done if I’d had help from a professional distributor.

5)     Use your own music – Unless there is a very specific reason to use a specific piece of music, it can be a huge hassle and expense to obtain music rights.  I had to negotiate a deal with each publisher and record company of each piece of music used in my documentary.   I was grateful that at least that two thirds of the music of my documentary was originally composed.

6)     Funding – When you’re first starting to raise money, unless you are already a well-known documentary filmmaker, don’t waste your time on big corporations and foundations. Your best chance for success is to first target the “low hanging fruit”.  Find people and groups who are already “pre-sold” on the subject of your film and want to support your project.  Once you’ve raised $10,000 – $50,000, THEN you have some credibility and can branch out to larger groups.  Kickstarter and IndyGoGo are two great ways to launch your fundraising efforts.

7)     Fundraising Process – This is one of the reasons it’s important to think about where your documentary is going to be seen.  Something I did not realize when I started shooting my documentary is that PBS does not allow any funding of the documentary to come from the person/group/organization/subject that your documentary is about.   For example, if your documentary is about “Mary Jane”, “Mary Jane” cannot give you funding for your documentary otherwise PBS considers your documentary a propaganda piece.

8)      Have a great public relations plan — I got lucky that one of my good friends was a public relations expert, so our team totally rocked with the PR effort and got tons of great publicity.  Having an expert on the team made all the difference.

9)      As part of your distribution plan, develop some products (t-shirts, toys, etc) that you can sell in addition to the DVD to help bring in additional cash.

10) Sundance Film Festival – If you have hopes of submitting your film to Sundance or any of the other big film festivals, keep in mind that some of them require an exclusive first showing in order to be accepted.  Some filmmakers plan their production schedule around these festivals, so check the submission dates in advance and take this under consideration as you plan the premiere for your movie.

11) Be prepared to give away lots of free DVD’s.  This part was a shock to the system because I was totally broke and exhausted! In hindsight, it is really really important to give away some DVDs for free.  It not only creates good energy around the project and helps generate publicity, it’s the least you can do to thank those who helped make the project possible.  I lost count, but I probably gave away 500-700 free DVDs, not only to those who worked on the project or donated, but also to friends, family and the media.

12) This may seem totally odd, but as hard as it may seem, start thinking about your next project even before your current documentary is completed.  You can use the momentum of your finished project to generate interest and funding in your next film.  People will come out of the woodwork to help you once you prove you can successfully complete a project.

Faith Fuller is the primary author of www.Desktop-Documentaries.com and the director of the award-winning documentary Briars in the Cotton Patch: The Story of Koinonia Farm which was broadcast nationally on PBS from 2005 – 2010.

If you want more information on how to make a documentary, you might want to grab a copy of: Faith Fuller’s Documentary Proposal Template

Posted under FILMMAKING

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The other night, I was out at a filmmaking event focused on Horror Filmmakers. This is an arena I am interested in because I totally enjoy making zombie movies. And in my conversations, I can’t tell you how many other filmmakers talked about DIY and Self Distribution as if it was a new concept or a last resort.

Personally, I can’t stand it when I hear the terms self distribution, and DIY.

To explan why, let me use my frozen yogurt analogy. I happen to love frozen yogurt – I’m addicted. But anyway, let’s say I someday decide to realize my dream of owning my own frozen yogurt shop. Part of making my shop a success would involve marketing and sales.

Let me ask you this – In the yogurt shop context, would I hire some other company to handle my sales and marketing? In exchange, would I pay their expenses and give them more than 40% of my margins? And if I decided not to go that idiotic route, would I then describe my activity as Do It Yourself?

“Well, I opened this yogurt shop and decided to do all the sales and marketing myself…“

Why should your movie business be any different than a yogurt shop? You created your movie. Thanks to the internet, you can now access the same VOD marketplaces as the BIG distributors (iTunes and Amazon) – so why on earth would you lock up your VOD rights for 7 years or more?

I don’ t get it. If you do, please comment.

And if you like this stuff, you’ll love the Filmmaking Stuff newsletter.  To get the newsletter, click here >>

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

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Hi Filmmakers,

If this is your first time visiting Filmmaking Stuff, welcome! For those of you who have been a member of the Filmmaking Stuff community for some time, hello again! I’m writing you from my home in Laural Canyon. For those of you who don’t know this part of Los Angeles, I’m in the canyon between the Hollywood Hills, and within walking distance to Jim Morrison’s former house (which is for sale if any of you have an extra 1.6 Million).

I wanted to write YOU because our filmmaking community is growing like crazy. It seems many of you have told your friends about www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com – and your friends have told their friends, and their friends have told their friends… So THANK YOU for spreading the word! The goal is to grow our community of modern moviemakers to at least 10,000 by December 2011.

Because our filmmaking community is growing so rapidly, you can tell I’m already planning my filmmaking stuff goals for 2011. I am looking for ways in which we can help each other increase our moviemaking business. Obviously our facebook and twitter pages provide at least one way to connect, but I think there is more we can do. Over the next few months, I will share some solutions. (And you’ll be the first to know.)

Filmmaking Stuff News Updates – In Prep For 2011

1. Film Festivals:

I’m in the process of scheduling workshops and panel discussions at various film festivals around the world. My focus is showing filmmakers how to market and sell their movies, utilizing new methods in VOD distribution (and also how to leverage these sales channels to raise money from prospective investors.)

Why is this important to you? Because, before VOD, filmmakers had to find some sort of  middle man to market and sell their movies. But this has changed for the better. These days, you can finally make a movie and distribute your movie without asking permission – which means, you can finally pitch your movie project as a REAL business to investors. (Please stop putting stuff in your business plan about how you hope to get into Sundance and garner a dream distribution deal. 1995 is over. Investors don’t want to play the lottery. They want a business!)

So, if you know of a local film festival that would benefit from the “Maximize Your Movie Profits Without The Middle Man” workshop – feel free to tell them them about Jason Brubaker and Filmmaking Stuff. If I book a gig as a result of your efforts, you will get a copy of the entire Movie Maker Action Pack.

2. New Filmmaking Product:

Speaking of the Action Pack, two weeks ago I totally updated and silently released my latest product. I call it the Independent Produer’s Guide to Digital Self Distribution. It is a step-by-step action guide with some fill-in-the-blank type stuff.  Not surprisingly, this action guide is complementary to my workshop.

In truth, there are a lot of people out there that tell you that twitter and facebook is a great way to promote your movies. And while I agree that FB and Twitter are powerful tools, the other material never fully addresses (or solves) the real question: How do we make filmmaking a viable business? Hmmm?

If you have the same question, then you’re in luck. With the Indie Guide to Digital Self Distribution, I’ll show you how to market and sell your movie through video on demand and direct DVD sales – And I will also share how I lost over $100,000.00 with my first feature and how you can avoid my mistakes. Here is the link>>>

3. Modern Moviemaking Podcasts:

I started a FREE filmmaking podcast. Next time you open iTunes, search for Filmmaking Stuff. You’ll be able to subscribe to the Filmmaking Stuff, Filmmaking Podcast. In the coming months, I hope to interview a whole bunch of industry folks. I am going to focus on finding professionals willing to give away their secret sauce… I’ll keep you posted.

4. Modern Moviemaking Community, online:

Since publishing the modern moviemaking manifesto, some of you have written, requesting an online community where you can share ideas with other filmmakers involved in our movement. So I have taken the initial steps to creating the modern moviemaking community. If you want to be among the first to know about it (because it’s exclusive), make sure you get on the list.

5. Happy 2011. OK… I know I’m early.

For those of you who have gotten to know me, you already understand that I’m passionate and excited for the future of moviemaking. I have so many little projects lined up for 2011, I figure – Why wait? I’m eager to get moving and you should be too. Why? Because I believe the movie industry is changing fast! And it is vitally important that you stay on top of all the changes.

My suggestion? Read everything you can about finance, marketing, filmmaking and video on demand distribution. We are entering a new era.  This is the filmmaking equivalent of the automobile replacing the horse-drawn wagon. We are in the middle of a movement!

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT>>>

Posted under FILMMAKING