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’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

If you’ve made a feature film, congratulations! As an independent filmmaker, you’ve just accomplished a feat that many find impossible. You’ve put together a cast and crew, refined your script, found some financing and in the process, you’ve even figured out how to ignore all your significant other’s not-so-subtle hints that a career selling life insurance wouldn’t be that bad.

But behind all the excitement, you and I both know there is one nagging question on your mind. And it is the same question asked by every independent feature filmmaker. You’re wondering: “How am I going to sell this thing?”

That is a good question. And if you’re crossing your fingers for a huge paycheck and a three-picture Hollywood deal, what I’m about to tell you is going to be very different than what you had hoped for.

Thanks to technology, any person with a thousand dollars can grab an HD camera and create a backyard indie. And while this does not guarantee quality, it does create a market flooded with cheaply produced movies. Couple this with a decline in traditional sales channels and your odds of finding a profitable deal have become increasingly challenging.

For most filmmakers, this revelation comes as a shock. After all the work you put into making your movie project a reality, the prospect of putting a no-deal DVD onto a bookshelf and failing to get a return on investment is discouraging. And if it wasn’t for the internet, I’d probably tell you that a career selling life insurance wouldn’t be too bad.

But I have good news! Like you, our first feature was met with empty distribution promises and crappy deals. So by necessity, we started selling our title on Amazon as both a physical DVD and a video on demand download. At first, none of the producers liked that idea. I mean, even if a traditional deal sucks, at least there is still validation of seeing your title on the shelves at the local video store…

Then we made our first sale. We thought it was an anomaly. How could we possibly make money with our movie? We had no stars. We had no formal distribution. And most people on earth had never heard of our title (including you.) But then we made another sale… And then a third… And then a dozen…

That was 2006. Since that time, our movie has sold in ways we never imagined. As a result, every four months I get a nice check. And while it’s not enough money to buy my retirement, I can’t complain.

This success was enough to convince me that making money as an indie filmmaker is no longer about the BIG pay day. These days filmmakers need to create good work, find their target audience and focus on selling movies consistently over time. As a result, I now believe the modern moviemaking model is to eventually create multiple streams of movie income.

For many filmmakers, this sort of talk might be crazy.

Think about it. In years past, filmmakers only self distributed their movies when they had to. It wasn’t a choice! But these days, filmmakers can choose to self-distribute, because 9 times out of 10, making your title available on Amazon and iTunes and other popular VOD marketplaces can potentially pay more than a traditional deal. Because a deal that pays zero is not a deal. (Of course I’m expressing my opinion.)

The following “How To Sell Your Movie” checklist will provide you with a broad overview of how to market and sell your movie without the middle-man.

This checklist should be considered a good start – but many of you will want further information. For that, check out: www.HowToSellYourMovie.com

Wherever I thought it would help, I’ve mentioned partner companies and affiliates. This means, if you follow my suggestions and use one of these services, I’ll get a commission. The folks I mention are good people. And you can ignore my links at will. I won’t be upset. But if you like this checklist, tell your filmmaking friends to check it out!

That said, let’s get started!

How To Sell Your Movie – Check list

1. Create a website specific to your movie. Go to www.MovieSiteHost.com and grab hosting for your site and reserve your domain name there. When you purchase your hosting, a domain name is usually included in the purchase price.

2. Branding is the marketing equivalent of matching your belt with your shoes. Don’t make your marketing complicated. Make sure your colors, logos, posters and fonts are consistent.

3. Most filmmakers make a crazy website with all sorts of bells and whistles. Your website should be simple. You should have a trailer, an about page, a buy now button, links to your social networks and an audience list.

4. Out of everything I mention, getting people onto your audience list is most important. An audience list will allow you to collect a name and email address of your visitor. To build an opt-in list, which is FREE for the first 500 subscribers, check out: www.AudienceList.com

5. Take a moment to think about your target audience. Hopefully you have a marketable hook for your movie, and a plan for reaching your target demographic. If not, figure it out!

6. Get your movie selling as a Video on Demand rental and download. To do this, upload your movie to the many VOD marketplaces, such as iTunes, Amazon and NetFlix. For an easy way to accomplish this, try www.MovieSalesTool.com

7. You can sell DVDs too. Amazon’s Create Space makes this easy. And even though it’s more expensive, I advise you to stay out of the shipping business. Let CS manufacture your DVDs and fulfill your orders on demand. This way, you can focus on increasing your sales, as well as your next movie projects. Not shipping.

8. Your trailer is your sales tool. Upload your trailer to YouTube as well as other, popular video sites. Make sure your trailer mentions your website. Put your focus on optimizing YouTube. Why? Because YouTube is both a social network and the second largest search engine on earth (also owned by Google.) It’s worth it!

9. Write press releases related to the availability of your movie. Include back links to your site. Send the release out via one of the online press release submission sites. In addition to this, don’t be afraid to call magazine editors and journalists who write for your target audience. As they say, if you don’t ask – you don’t get!

10. Join online forums related to your target market. Create a profile, complete with a signature link to your website. Now, whenever you join a conversation, you’ll spread your links.

11. Just because you’re in a forum doesn’t mean people care about you or your movie. If you join conversations without adding value – or if you become one of those spam happy people who talk about your movie and fail to add value to the discussion, you will be seen as a spammer.

12. If the idea of contributing to forum conversations annoys you, then just pay for advertising on the site. The whole point is to increase awareness of your movie and get prospective audience members to your site.

13. Create a facebook page, a Twitter account and join the popular social networking sites. Again, you’ll want to build a fan base for your movie. And to manage it, try www.Ping.Fm This tool allows you to update all your social networking sites at once, which is cool!

14. The purpose of using social networks is to connect with your target market, spread word about your movie and once again, lead people off the networks and onto your Audience list.

15. The reason you can not rely solely on social networking for your audience list, is because many of those sites have gone out of vogue. I lost 10K “friends” on one of them. As a result, I estimate this tip is worth $100,000.00.

16. Additionally, have your webmaster put a button on your website so people can tweet, bookmark, and share your movie website with friends on their social networking sites. (Can you please click the tweet button at the top of this article?)

17. If you have the budget, purchase some offline advertising in publications related to your movie. To find related publications, go to a book store and look for magazines. Also, try Google.

18. All of these methods are intended to get people back to your website. The purpose of your site is to get people to watch your movie trailer and click the BUY NOW button. Anything that distracts these visitors must go!

19. You’ll soon realize that most people will not buy your movie on their first visit to your website. If they don’t click, then at least try to get them to opt into your audience list. Then you have a chance of getting them to buy later.

22. Out of all the people who click the BUY NOW button, many won’t buy. But some will!

23. Consider using that money to purchase more advertising and then repeat the cycle. The goal is to keep investing and reinvesting the money until you produce a self sustaining machine.

24. Sales will tend to level off after a few years. This is the normal. When this happens, find some other filmmakers with a movie geared towards the same target audience. Offer to promote their movie to your audience list. If these other filmmakers have an audience list too, ask them to promote your movie. Be willing to pay them a cut of your profits.

25. Time for your next project. But unlike before, you’ll have a strong mailing list at your disposal. And as a result, you can now ask yourself the following magical questions: “How many VOD downloads do I have to sell to recoup my investment? And how am I going to sell them?” Answer those questions, and you’ll also be talking the talk with your investors.

Once again, if you liked this check list, you’ll love my latest action guide:

>>> www.HowToSellYourMovie.com <<<

Happy Filmmaking! (And tell your friends!)

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

The problem with traditional independent filmmaking is the ever growing gap between investment dollars and a filmmaker’s ability to recoup the initial investment. This is nothing new. Independent filmmaking has always been a risky business. And we freely share this with any prospective investors, usually stating: “filmmaking is risky and you will most likely never see a dime.”

While these types of disclaimers have always been transparent and accurate, filmmakers could often counter this objection by getting investors to focus on the misguided idea that the movie might get into Sundance. The movie might garner ginormous buzz. And if you’re really lucky, the movie might sell to the highest bidder! The benefit of investing in independent movies wasn’t the promise of a solid investment. Rather the driving force behind investment dollars was the chance of winning instant fame, fortune and a never ending supply of coolness.

Many filmmakers still hold this dream close to heart. But the realities of the independent movie business are sobering. Out of the gazillion movies made each year, only a few get into a major film festival. And out of those movies, very few garner a deal worth mentioning. Adding to this problem is the ever prevalent demise of DVD sales channels, resulting in filmmaking becoming less profitable and less cool than it once was. And as a result, the “invest in my movie because it’s an awesome business” pitch is no longer believable.

Technology is also changing independent moviemaking. For two-thousand dollars, every filmmaker can now grab a camera, shoot a feature and compete for virtual “shelf space” in iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and most of the many VOD outlets. In the context of business 101, this means that our high quality, expensive goods (our movies) are now competing with cheaply produced goods of a somewhat comparable quality. And if we were in the widget business, this would mean massive layoffs are in the near future. Or to put it another way, our old way of making movies no longer fits the marketplace.

This of course raises the question: How do we make independent moviemaking profitable (and fun) again?

A lot of people have solutions. One that is gaining popularity is the idea that filmmakers should hire someone to cover the marketing and distribution of the movie from day one. In this sense, filmmakers can focus on making the movie while the marketer can focus on the marketing, social media and list building duties. In this regard, instead of trying to find a traditional distribution deal, complete with a cash advance, you get enough people to know you and know your movie from day one. And once your mailing list (or community of followers) reaches a certain mass, you will hopefully sell enough copies of your movie to recoup your investment.

When I think about how this idea of community applies to my own filmmaking, I always think about my mom. Would she join a community just to follow a filmmaker? Would she buy the tshirts and pay five dollars in a crowd funding, financing pool to earn an associate producer credit? Would she tweet about my movie project? Maybe. But the last time I checked, she just wants to come home from work, sit down on the sofa, relax and watch something without complication.

I know my mom does not fit the same target, tech savvy demographic as most modern moviemakers, but I use her as an example because my mom, as well as my friends who aren’t in the business, as well as strangers I see on airplanes (prospective customers) – most of these folks aren’t looking to go out of their way to watch a movie. They just want to watch a movie in the most convenient way possible. And if their iPad or iPhone is convenient at the moment, fine.

That said, I do agree that modern moviemakers need to build a targeted audience list and grow community around individual movie titles – Everyone fits into some kind of demographic. And everyone wants to be part of something. And many folks aren’t even conscious of this. But building community around your project is easier said than done. The reality is, it will take tremendous efforts to make the metrics work, begging the question: How much must a community grow to support a movie budget of at least one-million dollars?

One-million dollars is not a lot of money in terms of traditional indie filmmaking budgets. And if we assume all traditional distribution will eventually be replaced by some form of VOD, then as a filmmaker, business success really comes down to three economically focused questions:

1. Who is your movie’s target audience?
2. How will you reach your target audience?
3. And how many VOD downloads does will take to recoup the initial investment?

If you can’t answer these questions, then you know from day one that your odds of success are dramatically decreased. 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 makes it difficult to produce a movie.

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? And if you can’t figure out how you’re going to recoup your budget, two things have to change:

1. Filmmakers will need to make smaller movies.
2. Filmmakers will need to pay cast and crew less money.

At first thought, neither of these options seems to make independent movie making profitable (or fun) – which is why people keep creating solutions without first scrutinizing the traditional filmmaking paradigm. As a result most current solutions fail to fully SOLVE the indie producing for profit problem – Which prompted me to share my own solutions.

What I’m about to share is the official Jason Brubaker solution for saving the independent movie industry. And it has a name. I call this philosophy…

“Modern Moviemaking.”

Admittedly, I should have added some shazam to my idea and called it Filmmaker 5.0, or Dogma 2010 – but coining phrases is not my strong suit. Rather I want to join the other filmmaker thinkers and focus on a workable solution. Additionally, I’m just like you. I’m a filmmaker, passionate about making movies. But at the same time, I want to help us figure out a way to make a living making movies.

So this movement is your movement. Should you choose to participate in this brave new modern movie making world, there is one solid, economically viable way to make movies profitable again. And it will require that you adopt a modern moviemaking paradigm. So are you ready to join the modern moviemaking movement?

Modern Moviemaking Manifesto

1. Modern Moviemakers will think of movie making in ways akin to how entrepreneurs think of start up companies. Instead of raising investment dollars for just one title, Modern Moviemakers will create a mini-studio, complete with research and development, planning, production, marketing, distribution and sales under one roof.
2. Modern Moviemakers will focus on producing a slate of at least five genre specific movies. These movies will be created inexpensively and will be delivered to the audience via ALL popular VOD marketplaces.
3. Instead of paying freelance day-rates, Modern Moviemakers will put crew on a salary, with benefits. Everybody in the company will own equity in the company. So in this regard, someone who owns 10% in company stock will get 10% of all movie profits. This will supplement crew salary with an ongoing, lifelong stream of income.
4. Modern Moviemakers will work to grow our community (and customer base) bigger. And over time, our fans will begin to know us, know our company and celebrate our work. Only in this way will we eventually reach mass great enough to increase ongoing revenue through multiple streams of movie income.
5. Modern Moviemakers focus on muti-title diversification, with the goal that multiple movie titles build enough buzz to create long term, sustainable revenue. In this regard, we can begin to focus on creating entire library instead of just depending on one title to support our career.

There is no fee to join the Modern Moviemaking Movement. If you think it makes sense, just tell two or 3-5 of your closest filmmaking  friends about the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto.

To get the Modern Movie Making Manifesto, CLICK HERE

If you would like to listen to the Modern Moviemaking podcast, CLICK HERE

I look forward to making movies for life. I hope you’ll join me in the movement.

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Jason Brubaker is a Hollywood based Independent Motion Picture Producer and an expert in digital self-distribution. He is focused on helping you make, market and sell your movies more easily by growing your fan base, building buzz and creating community around your title.

To read more of his articles, check him out at: www.FilmmakingStuff.com

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

For those of you who have completed your feature film, one of the biggest challenges you have is finding a movie distribution company and a great deal.

I am currently working on the release of our first feature documentary called Toxic Soup and I can tell you that things are changing daily out there. The world of distribution as we once knew it – well, it’s gone. Fortuantly, I know a thing or two about getting some ROI on movies via internet self distribution.

I am working with some folks to create a one-stop-shop for those of you who wish to market and sell your movie so you don’t have to settle for a crappy deal. There is enormous need for it. I forget some times that most filmmakers would rather focus on making movies and let someone else handle the marketing and sales. Anyway, stay tuned – I’ll have a solution in a few short weeks.

And for those of you who can’t wait, my article on digital self distribution will hit the stands in an issue of Movie Maker Magazine. Hopefully this will be a good starting point for you.

If you are in a situation where you have a movie, but no deal – please feel free to leave a comment on this site, or email me directly. It will help me address your concerns.

And as always, if you want to stay up to date with the ever changing climate of filmmaking stuff, please feel free to sign up for my newsletter and also get a free copy of my book. Go here: www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com

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Related articles (things are changing in movie distribution):

• Distribution pact brings better streams to Netflix users (arstechnica.com)
• Netflix, Relativity Media Partner On Streaming Movie Service (informationweek.com)

Posted under DISTRIBUTION