Talking with Jon Reiss, Author of 'Think Outside the Box Office'

Back in September, I sat down with filmmaker Jon Reiss to talk about his forthcoming book, Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era.' Jon takes a very nuts-and-bolts approach to creating a distribution strategy that combines the best of the old world and the new world. The book just went on sale this week, and if you're in New York, Jon is giving a presentation tonight at the IFC Center. (Jon was a discussion leader at Distribution U. earlier this month in L.A., and the photo above is of him signing a few advance copies of Think Outside the Box Office at that event.)

In our conversation, we talked about:

- Why filmmakers still feel compelled to make feature-length films, when everyone is watching short videos on the Internet
- Developing a marketing and distribution strategy before you hit the festival circuit
- Thinking about your core audience, especially if you're making a narrative feature or a doc on a broad societal issue
- Services Jon recommends for selling DVDs and digital downloads.

You can download the MP3 (it runs about 14 minutes) here, or just click "play" below.



Your comments welcome...

Audio: Panel on How Filmmakers Are Building Fan Bases

My audience-building panel at the Independent Film Festival of Boston was surprisingly packed for something scheduled at noon on a beautiful Sunday. Panelists included new media guru Brian Chirls, documentary producer and cinematographer Sean Flynn, and Chris Holland from B-Side, who is also the author of 'Film Festival Secrets.' The attendees were mostly filmmakers, with some musicians and comedians tossed in for biodiversity.

You can click the player below to hear the audio. (A downloadable MP3 can be found here.) According to Brian, who recorded the panel, we talked about a wide range of things, including:

- Benefits and pitfalls of social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.)
- Strategies for reaching audiences before, during and after production
- Crowdsourcing to build audiences as well as help production
- How much of your content to post online for free
- Ad revenue models
- Distribution formats (DVD, download, streaming, theatrical, etc.)
- Applying all the above to other media such as music and art

I also recall that we talked a bit about the pendulum shift that is happening with regard to building a fan base for your work. In the old days, when you had a movie distributor or a record label behind you, you spent maybe 10 percent of your time on promotion and marketing tasks (like doing interviews with the media), and 90 percent of your time actually creating. I think the pendulum is swinging, toward a world where success is going to require more of a 40/60 split between audience-building and creating. That's not necessarily bad news, since audience-building can feed your art, and in fact be an art form unto itself. Just think about how much people like Andy Warhol, Frank Lloyd Wright, and John Waters all seem(ed) to enjoy promoting their work...

What do you think?

Two Panels in Boston This Sunday

This Sunday, I'm taking part in two panels related to Fans, Friends & Followers.

The first is at the Independent Film Festival of Boston, at noon: "How Filmmakers are Building Their Audiences Online in the 21st Century," with Brian Chirls, Chris Holland of B-Side, and producer/cinematographer Sean Flynn. That takes place at the Somerville Theatre's Screening Room, and it's *free and open to the public.*

The second is at Grub Street's Muse 2009 conference for writers, at the Park Plaza Hotel. That one (apparently sold out already) is on "Creating a Web Presence."

New Book on 'Film Festival Secrets' (and Free Copies for CinemaTech Readers!)

Christopher Holland has just published Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers.

It's an incredibly comprehensive roadmap to getting a film accepted by festivals -- and what to do once you're in, like working the crowd, dealing with media relations, and handling post-screening Q&A. I've never seen so much good advice about making the most out of festivals collected in one place.

Chris once worked for the Austin Film Festival as a marketing coordinator, and he's now the director of festival operations for B-Side Entertainment.

There's a great Web site related to the book, where Chris offers free digital copies.

He has also sent me a few paperback copies (retail value: $24.95) to give out to CinemaTech readers. If you're interested in getting your hands on a free copy, just post a comment below about the project you're working on now and the festivals you hope to get into. (Be sure to include your e-mail address.) Mailing costs are on me.

In Boston this Friday & Saturday: DIY Days

DIY Days, organized by Lance Weiler and Arin Crumley, are coming to Boston this weekend. Friday is a screening of films from the 'From Here to Awesome' festival, and Saturday is a day-long conference on the new world of filmmaking, distribution, and marketing.

Both events are free, but you need to register. MassArt is hosting. I'll be giving a talk called "The Era of Digital Creativity" in the afternoon...

Is There a Future For Indie Film? Filmmakers and Festivals Will Decide...

Can we all concur that the business model for making and distributing independent films is in flux?

(Mark Gill certainly thinks so … and this article from the Wall Street Journal adds more detail to the picture.)

I’d like to humbly suggest that film festivals need to play a different, more muscular role in helping filmmakers earn money from their creative endeavors.

The model today, for filmmakers lucky enough to win a slot at high-profile festivals like Toronto, where acquisitions execs are prowling, is to hustle and hope for a distribution deal –- before, during, or after their festival run.

And yet we know that the majority of films – even those that win entrance to Toronto, Tribeca, or Sundance -- don’t ever get that deal.

So months later, the filmmaker is stuck trying to figure out a self-distribution strategy, or working with shady sales agents who may sell the broadcast rights to Bolivia for a few grand. (I know you’ll never believe this, but sometimes the filmmaker never actually gets that money.)

For most movies, playing at a festival (or two or three) is the most attention their film will ever get from the media, movie lovers, agents, and yes, potential distributors.

I acknowledge that some filmmakers will choose to continue playing “festival roulette”: spin the wheel and hope for a deal.

But I think smart filmmakers ought to consider using the highest-profile festival they can get into as the platform for launching their movie. During the festival, or on the day it ends, they should make their movie available through their own Web site, perhaps using DVD-on-demand services like NeoFlix, Film Baby, or CreateSpace/Amazon. Same thing for making downloads available: get that movie onto Amazon Unbox, B-Side, or iArthouse.

And I think festivals ought to do more to create opportunities for their filmmakers: a deal with iTunes, for instance, which puts movies into that popular marketplace (iTunes is notoriously difficult for individual filmmakers to work with), or a broadcast deal with a cable channel or pay-per-view service to put the movies on TV, plastered with festival branding, which would serve as a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” for movies that might not have stars or high production values.

From a filmmaker's perspective, it’d be good to have a movie available during the festival. If I read a glowing review of something playing at Toronto this weekend, I’m going to want to download it or buy the DVD right then –- and I may not feel the same way a week later, after the festival ends (I may not remember the movie at all by that point.)

From a festival perspective, I understand the fear that allowing movies to be sold online during the run of the festival might diminish that “I saw it first” feeling that festival audiences enjoy. They might prefer for distribution to begin only at the end of the festival. But if the DVD or download featured the festival logo as part of the opening credits, that could also serve as additional marketing for the fest.

So...wouldn’t distributing a movie during, or just after, it plays a festival totally torpedo any chance for distribution?

For some old-school distributors, yes. But the more forward-thinking distributors might look at strong sales of downloads or DVDs in the weeks following a festival as an indication of viewers’ interest in the movie. They might appreciate a filmmaker who has been collecting e-mails and ZIP codes of everyone who has purchased her film, since that data can be used to pick the perfect cities for a theatrical run, and to promote that run.

And distributors, if they want to work with a filmmaker, can always ask that she pull down the DVD or downloadable version of her film. (It’s important to ask DVD or download services whether you can do this; some require that you give them the movie for a specified period of time.)

I spoke earlier this week to a Sundance spokesperson, who said that nothing prohibits a filmmaker from selling his movie online during the festival, “although we wouldn’t recommend it.” She said no filmmaker had yet tried it, to her knowledge.

Toronto’s rules say that films can’t be available on the Internet prior to the last day of the festival. (It’s hard to tell if that refers just to downloads, or to DVDs sold through a Web site like Amazon, too. Even if that’s the case, the rules would seem to allow you to sell DVDs during the festival through Wal-Mart or Best Buy or another retail outlet, if you could cut that kind of deal.)

“We know certain festivals where it’s clear they discourage distribution during the festival, but I think that even those festivals aren’t going to discourage it for long,” says David Straus, CEO of Withoutabox, which helps festivals run their submission processes, and is increasingly getting into the distribution business. “I think festivals see that it’s important that filmmakers really have the ability to start monetizing their film at the festival, and they can be the catalyst to help them do that,” Straus adds.

I think it’d be great to see more filmmakers and festivals experimenting with these kinds of new strategies. (I wrote a bit about how the relationship between festivals and their filmmakers ought to evolve back in December, during the International Film Festival Summit.)

Of course, I could be totally wrong, and this could be a dead end. Some people believe that films that don’t get picked up for distribution at festivals are completely worthless, and that nobody wants to see them. (I don’t.) Some people believe that things never change, and that distributors will forever give the cold shoulder to filmmakers that pursue the kind of self-distribution strategy I’m proposing, to make the most of their festival buzz. Some people may feel that it isn’t part of a film festival’s mission to help filmmakers make a living.

And some people –- the real pessimists –- may believe that there will never be a new business model for independent film.

I’m curious what you think.

Launch time for 'From Here to Awesome,' a New Twist on the Film Festival

Three of the most thoughtful and high-energy DIY filmmakers around -- Lance Weiler, M dot Strange, and Arin Crumley -- have launched a new kind of online festival.

Called 'From Here to Awesome,' they're accepting submissions of full-length features and shorts right now. As with all festivals, the goal is to bring more attention to deserving work -- and the FHTA crew plan to use the Internet to achieve that, rather than, say, inviting a couple thousand friends to a snowy ski town in Utah.

There are no submission fees, and the festival will connect the "top ten" filmmakers with scads of distribution opportunities. (Most of these are distribution opps that any filmmaker can take advantage of without being part of FHTA, but the festival has prizes -- like free DVD replication of your movie, or free E&O insurance.) There will also be a "virtual conference" later this spring.... which seems like something to stay tuned for...

In Variety: Summit Addresses Festival Issues

Here's a quick dispatch I wrote for Variety about the Int'l Film Festival Summit this week. It was the fourth edition of the summit; first I've attended.

The New Filmmaker/Festival Partnership

Just got through moderating a really interesting panel on how film festivals can get more involved in distribution...interesting in that it exposed some truths and opportunities that I think are important for filmmakers and festivals.

Here at the International Film Festival Summit, the oft-repeated wisdom is that acquisitions executives only attend a few select festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, etc.) And the majority of films that play at second- and third-tier festivals will never get theatrical or home video distribution deals.

So what of the worthy movies that play at these festivals, but don't get picked up?

Some entrepreneurial filmmakers will self-distribute, pressing their own DVDs, or working with services like Amazon's CreateSpace to make DVDs or digital downloads available. (Here's a starting point for filmmakers that choose to go that route.) They'll book their own limited theatrical engagements. Two people I spoke to here (Gary Meyer and Adrian Belic) used the same word in describing this process: hustle...as in, "you've got to get out there and hustle the movie."

But a lot of filmmakers won't. They'll leave the last movie behind, and start working on another (and some will get frustrated and become accountants.)

That's where I think there's an opportunity for festivals to create relationships with companies like CreateSpace, B Side Entertainment, or IndiePix, helping create a clear path for films that don't get picked up. That relieves the filmmaker of having to evaluate all of these new distribution avenues on their own. (To be clear, I'm not in favor of forcing any filmmakers into a one-size-fits-all deal. This needs to be voluntary.) And for the festival's audience, it does them the service of making it obvious where to find movies that played at the festival in prior years.

In my perfect world, every festival Web site would maintain a permanent page for every film that had played the festival in previous years, along with information and a link about where the film is available. Some will be picked up by big distributors, and be available for purchase at Amazon or rental at Netflix. (And incidentally, referring new people to Amazon and Netflix can be a nice little source of income for festivals, thanks to those companies' referral programs, which pay a small fee whenever anyone makes a purchase or signs up for a subscription.) Some films may be available for download at iTunes. And others will be available through other outlets, where the festival has made a deal with a firm like IndiePix. (IndiePix, in such deals, splits the revenue evenly among the festival, the filmmaker, and itself.)

Am I being too unrealistic to imagine a world where every movie good enough to play a festival is available in some form, after the festival has ended?

Variety publisher lists '10 Festivals We Love'

I'm in Las Vegas this week at the International Film Festival Summit, and it's an interesting mix of people...mostly fest directors, but also a few filmmakers and tech company execs.

One idea I've been talking about with speakers and attendees is whether any fests will actually give audiences a role in choosing some of the content that plays -- for instance, voting on a half-dozen movies that fest curators have selected, and giving the winner a spot in the program. Some smaller fests, like Slamdance, are doing experiments in that vein.

Charlie Koones, the publisher of Variety, gave a keynote yesterday morning that had some interesting advice for festival organizers ... and also filmmakers, in that Koones listed ten of the most interesting and exciting festivals, in his view. (Disclosure: I'm a regular contributor to Variety.)

Koones urged festivals to pick more challenging films. "It's better to piss off your audience than to bore them," he said. "Edgy films are fodder for conversation [in the press and among attendees]." Koones also suggested that festival organizers "beware of world premieres. There may be a reason why that world premiere film is available," he said. "It's better to have great cinema than it is to have bad cinema first."

Koones listed ten "festivals we love," which he described as "interesting and exciting" events, not listed in order of importance.

1. Cannes
2. Plus Camerimage
3. Dubai
4. Karlovy Vary
5. Telluride
6. Ann Arbor
7. Toronto
8. Silverdocs
9. Fantastic Fest
10. Mar Del Plata

The omissions are interesting.... Sundance? Tribeca?

This Weekend: Woods Hole Film Festival

I had the pleasure of lunching today with filmmaker/techie David Tamés, who has been doing some shooting of late on the Ray Kurzweil documentary 'The Singularity is Near.' David has a great blog called Kino-Eye.com, and also maintains a list of events that would surely be of interest to CinemaTech readers in the Boston area.

And if you happen to be headed to Cape Cod this weekend, David has organized three really cool panels at the Woods Hole Film Festival:

- The future of long-form documentary in the age of Internet video
- Delivering Video via the Internet: Challenges and Opportunities, and
- Media Literacy in the 21st Century

Not only that, but one of David's short films, 'Smile Boston Project,' is screening at the fest next Saturday.

San Francisco's Countless Film Fests

Just a note of appreciation: I saw a flyer for the Queer Women of Color Film Festival (June 8-10), and it made me happy to live in a city where such a thing would exist (and be entering its third year).

I also got to wondering: does San Francisco have more film festivals than any other city in the US? In the world?