Workshop 3: A Rising Tide Lifts All Filmmakers
To hear the podcast of this post, click here.
Hi, this is Anna Callahan from Super Indie Films, and you’re reading the transcript of our third podcast for independent filmmakers. This podcast talks about helping other filmmakers to help your own film, digital rights management, and how TV and the internet affect what kind of series sells. Let’s get started with:
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats – Help sell everyone’s film
You’ll notice that Four Eyed Monsters didn’t just sell their own films, they promoted other people’s films as well. Our biggest problem as independent filmmakers is that our market is very small. The market for online distribution includes people who have high speed internet (high bandwidth), feel comfortable watching video on their computer, have computers with big screens or a projector, and know about and love independent film. What we can do to help increase that market is to promote all independent films. Network with other filmmakers and promote their films, and have them promote your films. People enjoy a recommendation more than a sales pitch, so if you and another filmmaker help promote each others’ films, you’re likely to get more interest and more sales.
Protect My Film! Why DRM is not good for indies
DRM is digital rights management. DRM means that when someone downloads your film it’s locked and can’t be played on another computer. The way this is marketed to independent filmmakers is that DRM is protecting you, it’s making sure that your film is not stolen from you; that every time someone watches your film they pay for it. There are many different studies that show for both independent music and independent film that having digital rights management on your work is not helpful to indies. There are lots of reasons why, but here I’ll only talk about what I think is the most important one, which is this: distribution and marketing cost money. One great marketing method is for your fans to give a copy of your film to a friend, to take a copy to work and show it to their coworkers, or take it to a friend’s house to show their friends. This is the best targeted advertising you will ever have. Every time someone does this they are hand-picking someone that they know, that they have influence over, and that they think will like your film. People want to support independent filmmakers, especially if you have a blog or podcast that talks about all the trials and tribulations you went through to make your film. Four Eyed Monsters had their entire film available for free on youtube, and this only helped them sell more copies online. So don’t be too protective because it’s targeted advertising that’s completely free.
Tug of War – The push model (TV) versus the pull model (web)
Television is, as a medium, a push model. What that means is that consumers sit down and they have stuff pushed at them. They can’t choose to watch Lost on a Sunday, for example, they can only watch what’s on. The internet is inherently a pull model. In fact, you can’t see anything unless you go there and choose to watch it.
I believe that this will make a difference in terms of what sells better on the web and what sells better on television. Lately tv is filled with reality shows, comedies, shows like CSI, and other very episodic shows. These are very good for television because it doesn’t matter if you saw the previous episode or the previous ten episodes, you sit down and you can enjoy it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve missed anything. On the internet, exactly the opposite is true. The internet is a place for long series where if you’ve watched the first four episodes you can’t wait to see the fifth one.
So as an independent filmmaker, making stuff for distribution on the internet, your best model is actually to come up with something that you can distribute as a series. Give away the first one, give a way the first two, and people will pay to see the rest of the story. Even if you’re making a feature length film, split it into 20 minute segments. If your film is an hour and a half to two hours, those 20-min segments will be approximately the same amount of footage as a half-hour tv show. Give away the first one and then sell the other ones. Or make a long epic — make a seven season tv show that’s in 20 minute segments. Any time you can get your customers to be return customers you’re going to do much better. Sooner or later they’ll be home sick from work and want to watch characters they already know — make sure those are your characters.
Thanks for listening to Super Indie Films third podcast. Our next podcast will cover two topics: Hi-Def: The relationship between tv, computer video, and hi-def, and Does Size Really Matter? Download speeds and wait times.
February 4th, 2012 at 11:46 pm