TFC Tidbit of the Day 20- Event Theatrical Exhibition
Fathom is a great known service doing event screenings in key theater chains across the country. Their key chains are: Regal, AMC, Cinemark, and some Loews and Pacific Theatres too but they’re fewer in number.
Films such as I.O.U.U.S.A have made great money and had a great release with Fathom. Other services such as Cinedigm and Screenvision are also offering similar programs at the same top chains. AMCi announced it’s reserving screens for indie films too, but details have not been released on this program yet. Stay tuned.
Are you a filmmaker who has worked with a distributor or service company for theatrical exhibition? Tell us about them in our Distributor Report Card.
Orly Ravid July 22nd, 2010
Posted In: Distribution Platforms, DIY, Uncategorized
Tags: AMC, AMCi, Cinedigm, Cinemark, Distributor Report Card, live event theatrical, Lowes, Pacific Theaters, Regal, Screenvision, The Film Collaborative
TFC Tidbit of the Day 19-Theatrical Exhibition
Every filmmaker wants a theatrical exhibition for their film because of the prestige and the classic appeal. Key, in our opinion, is to know what’s possible and what you’re paying for. There are lots of services that charge big fees to book your film. Be knowledgeable about when you can book yourself (Landmark, Film Forum, Quad, Laemmle Theatres, Cinema Village, lots of others), or spend less on theatrical.
Publicity is the most important part of theatrical and that’s what you should spend money and time on. A New York Times review is usually a key goal, and it won’t come from having just a NYC release (that’s new NYT policy). A Theatrical release is important to directors for the obvious reasons and it is a very useful marketing component, but the operative word is “useful”. It’s useful only if it does not cost you more than you’ll make back from it and ancillaries that are enhanced by it.
According to one of our VOD partners, Comcast and InDemand have said, off-the-record, that they will start insisting on a 10-city day & date release for films to have access to their service. This policy would be implemented to help sift through the glut of the content in supply. We caution, before filmmakers rush into that spend, to think whether their film is likely to make it onto key Cable VOD platforms. Will the spend on theatrical likely be recouped on VOD? Also, cable VOD wants day and date releases, but theatres don’t so be cautious when planning your distribution route.
Are you a filmmaker who has worked with a distributor or service company for theatrical exhibition? Tell us about them in our Distributor Report Card.
Orly Ravid July 21st, 2010
Posted In: DIY, Uncategorized
Tags: Cinema Village, Comcast, Distributor Report Card, Film Forum, InDemand, Laemmle's, Landmark, New York Times, Quad Cinema, The Film Collaborative, theatrical distribution, theatrical exhibition, VOD
TFC Tidbit of the Day 16- Qualifying for Academy Award Consideration for Documentary Filmmakers
Just because a documentary doesn’t get a theatrical distribution deal doesn’t mean it can’t be considered for an Academy Award. Since many great docs don’t get distributed theatrically, many filmmakers choose to qualify the film themselves. But it’s not cheap. The least expensive option is the IDA’s DOCUWEEKS program (www.documentary.org), or you can four-wall the film yourself. It needs to run at least two times a day, for a week in New York City AND Los Angeles. Theaters that regularly cater to this kind of Academy-qualifying runs include the Laemmle’s in LA, and the IFC Center in NYC. Know in advance that you should expect to pay at least $30,000 to qualify this way. If you are considering this kind of run….TFC can help.
Are you a documentary filmmaker who has worked with a distributor for theatrical exhibition? Tell us about it on our Distributor Report Card.
Orly Ravid July 18th, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized
Tags: Academy Award, Distributor Report Card, documentary, IFC Center, independent film, Laemmle's, The Film Collaborative, theatrical exhibition
Post Cannes, Panels, and Publishing — June 2010
On Ted Hope’s website, there is a discussion brewing about the relevance and right pricing of panels and seminars and the degree to which filmmakers should be attentive to and responsible for the business side of their film’s release.
Film is a relatively new art form. It is the most expensive art medium in the world. My thinking is, if it’s your money it’s your decision. If it’s grant money, it’s really a non-issue. If investors are counting on their money back, it behooves you to either let them know up front what the realistic possibilities are, or commit yourself to supporting the return on their investment. TFC’s entire purpose and mission is to try to make up for the fact that the US does not have the same funding as Europe does that supports an industry of art film.
At Cannes I was invited to be part of the Cannes Producer’s Network networking breakfasts and through that I spoke to producers about The Film Collaborative. I have been and will continue to be invited to speak at panels and seminars and all of that industry stuff and seen as an “expert”. I think there’s good and bad that comes with all that. The good is that some great information is often shared, and often for free or for a lot less than one would pay for it if one had to reach out to each panelist individually. One makes connections one might not otherwise. The bad is that filmmakers sometimes think they now have the answers and that is not enough. AND, panels at festivals and markets are often put together by people who actually are not in the day-to-day world of distribution and/or sometimes festivals are swayed by other influences and panels are stacked with not-so-appropriate panelists. Sometimes panels are positioned as having all the information about a topic but are actually quite limited either because of time or the panel itself. The saying “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” can and does often apply. And in today’s new media world, intimate knowledge with the present space and all its ever-and-quickly-changing nuances is critical. It’s also important not to apply information that may not apply to your film.
The “expert” books are useful (Jon Reiss’ is one we’re fond of especially for docs that can be segmented and merchandized, and Scott Kirsner’s is good too for fan building, and of course Roberta Munroe’s for short films) but with regard to actual distribution details, books are quickly out-of-date for anything new media oriented or related to business opportunities. Whether one likes it or not, people handling lots of films tend to be ahead in knowing about distribution and marketing opportunities and the knowledge is more real and detailed and nuanced. I’m not advocating old world anything; I don’t even believe in rights licensing model but I do believe in the best distribution possible per film, and it’s different per film.
Lawyers love to charge by the hour or take a big commission for their “expertise” and I suggest that a lawyer who has no or little distribution background relating to your deal but doing a distribution contract will get you a great air tight contract perhaps, but a crap distribution deal and a big fat waste of time and money and rights into the film. It’s not black and white of course, I’m just making a point. Every “expert” has a limited perspective to his/her experience and an agenda, and of course that includes me too. So think for yourself, cross-reference, and keep up-to-date, or designate someone on your side to. The digital space is truly changing weekly. The MSOs behind the Cable VOD space are not letting go of their turf any time soon, whilst Google makes its play, and all the Telcos make theirs… CinemaNow is going to be working its Digital Locker at Best Buy (digital) and Blockbuster (digital) and we shall see what happens with iTunes, Hulu and Netflix etc etc. On the DIY digital distribution front — I always await the numbers intel regarding platforms such as FansofFilm, and to see if Amazon VOD can ever generate business for the DIY releases — and for some, 4 and 5 figures of revenue is as much as they could have hoped for or expected, but some it’s not. The dilemma is really evaluating the numbers when a licensing option is an option because there is a certain leverage in the marketplace that bigger distributors still have over the DIY model and unless you’re a brand like Banksy whereby you already have a built in following, your film may have just enough commercial potential to need the distribution and marketing muscle of a company that may be able to do more than you can do via DIY. And yet, for many films, there is no such company that will step forward and a lot one can do on one’s own.
But back to panels – I will say this, I don’t think Ostrow & Company is an appropriate company to be introduced to filmmakers in a panel or industry networking setting (and they have been) because they ask for more than $10,000 up front (I think it’s up to $11,000 or $14,000 on average) and I don’t know of too much good they have done for anyone. Neither do any of my ‘industry’ peers.
My last thought before I sign off… This past week it was announced that TFC brokered a deal with IFC for Made in China. We did and we’re very proud of our service and always impressed by the impeccable taste and service to films at IFC (even though I cannot say I am in love with their $$ waterfall). We charge a fraction of what sales agents charge and we don’t recoup for fancy dinners in Cannes. I want a world in which sales agents are used for what they do best, getting filmmakers deals they cannot get themselves, there are buyers around the world and I do believe there is a place for a company to get films to market and do business that otherwise would not be done, especially for theatrical films or where good TV deals are still viable. I do however wish for filmmakers to save themselves and their investors the waste of big fees and expenses being recouped out of a deal one could have done directly.
Film is the most expensive art medium in the world, it’s also presently the most powerful. If you’ve already made a film, you might as well stay committed to its exhibition and your end of the bargain with investors and above all, your ability to keep making your work, for your audience.
At your service,
– O/R for TFC
Orly Ravid May 31st, 2010
Posted In: Amazon VOD & CreateSpace, Best Buy, Blockbuster, Digital Distribution, Distribution Platforms, DIY, Hulu, Mobile / Wireless, Netflix, Uncategorized
Distribution: Decisions, Windows, and Timing
Back from a quick stint @ SXSW. What an impressive festival / new technology conference. So many great panels and stats, some of which we will synthesize later this week in one new post. But today, as we come out of Beta, I wanted to guide people on how take in the plethora of information that comes about from panels and posts and articles about distribution.
Cable and Satellite VOD is on everyone’s mind and a common discussion topic on panels and in articles because it is still the lions share of revenue in digital distribution (it has been about 80% and now sliding down to upper 70’s and will soon be in the 60’s as Internet / Broadband and IPTV grow). The first thing I noticed is not everyone means the same thing when discussing Cable VOD revenues and terms and not every filmmaker knows to ask the right questions. So first off, when reading about or discussing revenues, remember there are three kinds of revenues and “Gross” may not mean Gross to *YOU* the filmmaker. One may want to clarify if the numbers are the Gross that the cable operators get? the Gross that the Distribution company or Aggregator gets? or to the FILMMAKER? There’s a big difference. And when analyzing VOD options one will want to know how many middle men are in between the revenue coming from the Cable operators, what sort of traction and pull the middle men have with the cable operators in terms of placement (because there’s a big difference between 12,000,000 homes and 50,000,000 homes and there are about 40 operators, Comcast and Time Warner being the leading two among them). And one will want to know the splits with the Cable operators — IFC and others get 50%. Studios can get more than that, i.e. better splits, and also better promotional leverage but will only take on more commercial films, generally speaking. Cable and Satellite VOD is an important revenue generator but it’s not the only one and it’s not going to happen for every film so we encourage filmmakers to do their homework before hyper-focusing on that. Non-Theatrical & Automated-House Party-Screenings can generate even more money than Cable VOD, depending on the film… so that brings us to the focus of this blog entry — in Distribution, it’s all about making informed decisions, and utilizing as many windows and the best timing possible. You can’t do online distribution before Cable VOD but you can do it afterward. If you are doing a theatrical then ideally coordinate that with Cable VOD, knowing that operators want to premiere films if possible or benefit from a successful theatrical. Both IFC and Magnolia do day and date and find that to be a mutual beneficial driver of revenues. Both the RENTAL and TRANSACTIONAL windows make money on Amazon and iTunes so no reason not to do both in their respective ideal times. Whether one uses the FREE model as a driver for transactional (e.g. B-Side and W.O.M screenings), or VOD & Theatrical Day & Date as mutual drivers (as Magnolia and IFC and others do).. or the $1 transactional price-point that works so well for iTunes and Red Box or a subscription model that works so well for Netflix and that Hulu is trying. As noted below, YouTube is trying a rental model so that filmmakers can set their own prices and viewers know that revenues are going to them.. we support this of course but until its a proven model, we encourage filmmakers to utilize as many options as possible and all in their right time.
At SXSW there was a panel called: “Nobody Wants to Watch Your Film: Realities of Online Film Distribution #watchyourfilm
The panelists were: Efe Cakarel (The Auteurs.com), Graham Leggat (San Francisco Film Society), Peter Becker (Criterion Collection), Sara Pollack (YouTube)
Here is a link to it: http://magnetmediafilmsinc.com/blog/2010/03/sxsw-nobody-wants-to-watch-your-film-realities-of-online-film-distribution-watchyourfilm/comment-page-1/#comment-23
TFC’s comment: We love all the platforms and services at the panel and frankly there has always been a combination of Rental, Transactional and Subscription and Ad-Supported / Free as a transactional driver business and we believe there always will be and all are sustainable and valuable and should be utilized together. We love Efe at The Auteurs and will be working with them, and are very impressed with YouTube’s new model and look forward to working with them too and of course hope it works well over time. We are helping filmmakers build their own brands and platforms as we build ours and connect them to all key revenue generating ones as well. Therein lies a total solution so filmmakers should not have to choose between parts. Platforms are stores, not distributors and just like all good brands, one’s film should be ubiquitous and for as long as the bigger platforms are key revenue generators and audience aggregators, we will continue to treat them all like stores, with no exclusivity -for the best health and sustainability of the filmmakers. And we don’t take rights either!
Today The Film Collaborative (TFC) comes out of Beta whilst we continue to develop our Yelp for Distribution. Stay Tuned!
Orly Ravid March 15th, 2010
Posted In: Digital Distribution, Distribution Platforms, Uncategorized
Pre-Sundance
This will be a short post whilst because I still have to pack and prep for Park City, and there will be so much more to say after our launch at Sundance. We will keep you updated from the snowy road.
Sundance 2010 is upon is AND it’s good to know that some films (three it seems) will be available on-demand via the Sundance Selects label, for those who cannot be in Park City UT. The three films are The Shock Doctrine, 7Days, and Daddy Longlegs are the lucky three. Five Sundance films will be available for rental on YouTube. The rentals — “The Cove,” “Bass Ackwards,” “One Too Many Mornings,” “Homewrecker” and “Children of Invention” — will cost $3.99 and will be available only from Friday to the end of the film festival on Jan. 31. Renters will pay for the movies using Google’s Checkout online payment service.
ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS and BASS ACKWARDS which is part of the NEXT section at Sundance has cleverly started self-distributing, recognizing that for most, those glorious 7-figure deals never come, so might as well strike while the iron is hot.
Speaking of having movies on demand, congrats to Netflix, it added yet another platform, Nintendo’s Wii to its long list of device and platform partners.
And lastly, before I go: I heard through the grapevine that Random House is going to handle its own distribution of books and cease going through Amazon. I like those implications… that a big brand that is distributing artist brands can be direct-to-customers and not need to go through yet another wholesaler or retailer brand.. One less middle man! And to that end, according to Variety: “A consortium of studios, retailers and electronics manufacturers that are members of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem have agreed on a format that will enable entertainment to be played across a number of digital platforms and devices. The first devices and services using the format are expected to roll out early next year. While specific technical details have not yet been disclosed, studios will essentially have to create just one standard or high-definition file that can be played on any service or device over the Internet, on a set-top box or mobile device. Studios currently have to create multiple files of their movies or TV shows in order for them to play in various formats. The creation, distribution and storage of such files has created a headache for content creators and retailers looking to capitalize on the proliferation of devices like Apple’s iPod and iPhone as well as consumers’ growing desire to watch entertainment on their videogame consoles or computers.”
Stay tuned for Sundance and Digital Distribution Guide updates. We’re going to add a European digital distributor called Content Republic
Orly Ravid January 19th, 2010
Posted In: Uncategorized