Dear Board of Directors and Board of Advisors,

We hope this e-missive finds you well and that you are enjoying your holiday season.

We just wanted to update you a bit on the latest and greatest at The Film Collaborative (TFC).

EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES

ResourcePlace is growing weekly and is a very utilized resource for filmmakers, who seem to love it. The Digital Distribution Guide is also being maintained and utilized by members. Unfortunately, the Distributor ReportCard (The “Yelp” for Film Distribution) has still not quite taken off (probably due to filmmakers’ fear of distributor and investor repercussions) but we will resolve the best solution for that and The Collaborators platform in the new year.

FILM FESTIVAL DISTRIBUTION

Both the number of festivals and films that we serviced and handled increased in 2013. Also, the two main full time positions, trafficking and shipping, were smoothly transitioned (at the very height of the season), combining the two responsibilities into one (for cost-savings reasons). Our festival operations database continues to be perfected by our resident technologist, David Averbach, and is quite an astonishing program that streamlines the work and saves a lot of money, time, and headache.

For 2014, we will improve the re-organization of the new combined department, creating an appropriate systematic infrastructure. TFC is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, in film festival distribution. We sent out a very popular newsletter about festival revenues that was also featured in Filmmaker Magazine.

TFC DIRECT DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

Regarding TFC’s two direct digital distribution programs, 15 new films have been shepharded through the flat-fee program in 2013. We have also accepted 3 films into the commission-based program. We have seen a huge increase in interest since September, when we greatly expanded this section and added a direct link (the Digital tab) on our website. Filmmakers love the concept of DIY distribution but don’t want to have to go it completely alone, so this department serves its educational purpose quite well. In particular, our filmmakers really appreciate the access to the top digital platforms our flat-fee program affords, not to mention the postive revenue stream (where they keep all the revenue that comes back from the platforms) within months of release.

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP

The Fiscal Sponsorship Program currently has 7 projects. We continue to attract solid projects with fundraising potential. Most notably, LOVE LAND, by Joshua Tate, a narrative feature drama about people with disabilities, raised over $100,000 in 2013 through private donations. 15 TO LIFE, a documentary by Nadine Pequeneza, has received grants from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Fledgling Fund and the Eastman Fund. The film is the story of a child, condemned to die in prison, who battles the U.S. justice system for a second chance. Nadine recently began consulting with Jeffrey Winter on the film’s festival run. GLOBAL GAY, a documentary by Remi Laine that chronicles the battle for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, has also extended their relationship by working with Jeffrey on their distribution and festival strategy. We expect really big things from this important film on gay rights around the world. All three films are in post-production.

The fiscal sponsorship program continues to seek projects with solid story potential and fundraising prospects. Our goal is to attract a core group of fiscally sponsored projects from active filmmakers who are ready to move ahead with their projects.

SOCIAL NETWORK MARKETING

Sheri Candler, as the Director of Digital Marketing Strategy, frequently advises TFC members at Conspirator and Collaborator level on how to approach social media channels in order to reach an audience and keep their attention. This starts with audience identification, as any sound marketing strategy would.

However, she notes: “I continually see this as a sticking point for most filmmakers who create their film first and then start thinking about who the audience is and how they will be reached. Through TFC’s live speaking events, informative blog posts and private consulting sessions, we endeavor to encourage the idea of identifying an audience and regularly connecting with them through both online and offline efforts as a natural extension of the artistic work. Funding tools like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, audience demand screenings through sites like Tugg and Gathr, and direct digital distribution through Vimeo, Distrify and VHX are incredible new opportunities, but they are only successful if the filmmaker has done the very hard work of connecting with an audience and continually engaging them. Knowing your personal culture and exhibiting that to the world through social channels is now paramount to gathering an audience around your work and keeping them interested.

Looking toward 2014, TFC will continue to drive this idea until it does become second nature to an artist. For the younger generations, it already has.”

Social Media Stats for TFC

TFC Website Stats

310% increase of traffic to the blog
132% increase of unique traffic to the website overall
13.7% increase in new visits

222% increase of web traffic to Fiscal Sponsorship info
16% increase of web traffic to ResourcePlace
221% increase of web traffic from Google organic search
93% increase of web traffic from Yahoo organic search
96% increase of web traffic from direct search
105% increase of web traffic from Facebook
218% increase of web traffic from Twitter

Top 3 posts

The Preacher’s Daughter—A low budget indie film that broke Lifetime records
State of Independent Sales (147% increase from original publishing date in November 2012)
Independent’s Guide to Exhibition and Delivery in 2013

THEATRICAL & HYBRID THEATRICAL & MARKETING

TFC handled the DIY theatrical release for I Am Divine which now has 40 theaters booked. TFC also provided crowd-funding management for two films that raised over $142k on Kickstarter and shaped the strategy for the GATHR only release of “The Anonymous People,” which has grossed over $150k despite only doing one-night engagements.

For 2014 our goals are to expand our support for economical, customized Hybrid Theatrical/Digital DIY strategies that will enable filmmakers to reach a larger audience at a lower cost than competitors and to expand our slate of genre films. We will however have to run this through the for-profit (TFC DIRECT) because it is a more commercial activity.

MEMBERSHIP

Our membership continues to increase without solicitation and our members seem very contended.

FESTIVAL PRESENCE

TFC continues to be present at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, SXSW, Tribeca, Toronto (TIFF), Palm Springs International, and other key international and regional festivals.

Overall, TFC is doing very well, without having raised any corporate funding or receiving any grants. We do, however, expect to receive grant money in 2014 and while we are proud to be lean and mean, thriving with an extremely low overhead, we have risen in stature to the extent that we can now vie for grant money targeted to our mission and we intend to utilize that accordingly.

Orly will have her law degree in May after clerking for the California Supreme Court and intends to stay on with TFC, grow TFC Legal™ hopefully, while also developing her legal career.

Looking forward to your comments, ideas, or questions. Thank you so much for being on our Board, we are grateful for your time and attention.

From all of us at The Film Collaborative, we wish you a happy holiday season and a joyous and healthy new year.

Warm regards,

Orly Ravid, Founder Co-Executive Director
Jeffrey Winter, Co-Executive Director
David Averbach, Creative Director and
Director of TFC Direct Digital Distribution Initiatives
Sheri Candler, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy
Lynnette Gryseels, Fiscal Sponsorship
Gene Merker, Festivals Manager
Bryan Glick, Acquisitions / Membership
Kathy Susca, Membership Services