CinemaTech

Looking for People Who've Made the Leap

2011-10-14T12:08:00.005-04:00

I've started work on my next book project. It's about people who've taken the leap... leaving a secure job for the unknown.

I'm hoping to interview you, or someone you know, if this describes you:

- You left a job that was pretty safe and secure, but just wasn't taking you where you wanted to go with your life.

- You're now chasing your dreams, doing something that you believe you were put on this earth to do. That doesn't have to be making movies or touring the world with your band... it could be starting a restaurant, surfing school, personal training business, or stained glass studio.

- You've achieved some level of financial stability/success with your new career.

I'd love your help and ideas. My goal is to create a guide that will hopefully be inspiring and useful to others who want to make the leap. (I did it in 1997, when I quit my last full-time job.) Tweet me @ScottKirsner, or e-mail scott kirsner at gmail dot com.

Thanks!

Upcoming: Jill Sobule in LA, and One More 'Fans, Friends' Workshop in Boston

2011-03-14T16:25:00.005-04:00

An upcoming events alert for those of you in the Los Angeles or Boston areas...

- Jill Sobule, the singer/songwriter/entrepreneur who was such a hit at the 2010 edition of Distribution U. in LA (and who is featured in my book "Fans, Friends & Followers"), is playing a show with Julia Sweeney in LA Tuesday night. Her tour schedule also includes dates in Philadelphia, New York, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and beyond.

- And next month, in Boston, I'll be doing a two-hour workshop focused on the newest strategies that artists (and arts organizations) are using to enlarge their audiences. This one is sponsored by ArtsBoston and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, and it's pretty affordable ($35 for people who aren't members of one of those organizations.) It happens April 6th, from 3 to 5 PM at the Boston Center for the Arts. It'll be an updated and expanded version of the talks I gave last November at the two Distribution U. events.

Would love your help spreading the word about either/both events...

Advice from Joel: Tools for Connecting with Bloggers, Twitterers, Superfans and Groups

2010-12-20T20:36:00.005-05:00

Indie producer and editor Joel Heller ran a great lunch discussion at last month's Distribution U. event in Los Angeles, focused on developing a powerful online outreach strategy. Joel worked on the digital marketing strategy for the excellent doc "Winnebago Man," which premiered at South by Southwest in 2009 and was recently released on DVD and on iTunes.

Joel was nice enough to share the notes from his session, along with a collection of links that'll benefit anyone planning an Internet marketing campaign for a forthcoming film, especially as you think about finding existing sites and communities that are likely to be aligned with your theme — what I call "going where your audience is." (I learned a lot from Joel's notes; who knew it was possible to search people's Facebook walls?)

From Joel:

FINDING GROUPS & DISCUSSION FORUMS

Begin to identify your film’s potential “ecosystem” by searching these websites that host groups & discussion forums.

http://www.meetup.com/find
http://groups.google.com
http://groups.yahoo.com
http://www.facebook.com/search.php?&type=groups
http://www.facebook.com/search.php?&type=pages
http://www.ning.com/search
http://groupspaces.com/c/search
http://lists.topica.com
http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html
http://www.freelists.org
http://omgili.com
http://www.dmoz.org

Tip: Keep an open mind when brainstorming groups that might be interested in your film. We discovered late in our release that pit bull owners were interested in WINNEBAGO MAN. The main character has a pit bull, but we didn’t think to reach out to pit bull owners until someone asked us for a flyer to promote the film to her local pit bull club. After that, we reached out to pit bull clubs in other cities and offered free tickets to the group leaders to come to see the film on opening night.

Tip: When approaching group leaders to work with you, be prepared with ideas of what your can offer them of value. Can you promote their cause? A joint fundraising screening? A poster giveaway or passes to see the movie?

GOOGLE’S “ALERTS MANAGER”

It’s easy to monitor who’s talking about your film and what they’re saying. Google Alerts can be set up to monitor everything from mainstream newspaper sources to blogs and websites.

http://www.google.com/alerts/manage

Tip: Set up Google Alerts, not only to monitor your movie, but for other recently released movies (with similar genre or subject matter). This will help you identify reviewers, bloggers, websites and groups that might also be interested in your film.

Tip: You can configure Google Alert Manager to deliver the results as an RSS newsfeed. I prefer this to getting a deluge of emails. (You must be signed into your Google account to access the alerts manager) My settings are: Everything / As-It-Happens / All Results / RSS Feed

SEARCHING FACEBOOK WALLS

Facebook allows you to search the wall posts of anyone who has not set up their wall to be private. It’s the online equivalent of standing outside a movie theater and listening to how people talk about your movie to their friends.

http://www.facebook.com/search.php?&type=eposts

Tip: This is a great way to discover superfans – who you can message and invite to join your street team. (FB is especially useful for messaging, since Twitter does not allow you to privately message someone unless they are already following you.)

FINDING OLDER TWEETS USING GOOGLE SEARCH “UPDATES”

While Twitter’s search function is limited to recent tweets, Google offers a robust historical Twitter search.

http://google.com
Enter your search term, click search, then select on left side: More > Realtime

Tip: Use the the timeline tool in the upper right corner to go back in time.

CAPTURING ONLINE WORD-OF-MOUTH

Row Feeder is a great tool to automatically archive Twitter and FB wall posts. For each search term you choose, Row Feeder will archive every related tweet and wall post, and save it into a Google Docs Spreadsheet.

http://rowfeeder.com

Tip: If you find yourself addicted to searching Twitter every hour, this is a great way to unplug - and know that you won’t miss anything. Google Doc spreadsheets can be shared, so your whole team can privately access the spreadsheet online.

Tip: You can sort the spreadsheet by any field, so for example, you can easily identify Twitter users with the largest number of followers.

WEBSITE REACH & INFLUENCE

With limited time and resources, how do you decide where to focus your online marketing efforts? These tools show you estimated website traffic. (But traffic should not be your only consideration... Most importantly, how good a fit is your film for a website’s audience?)

http://compete.com
http://alexa.com
http://technorati.com

TWITTERER REACH & INFLUENCE

Tools to make sense of who’s who on Twitter.

http://fflick.com
http://twitaholic.com
http://tweetmeme.com
http://www.twellow.com
http://listorious.com
http://twittercounter.com

Tip: Study how other people are using Twitter successfully. Helpful resources include:

http://mashable.com
http://oneforty.com/
http://140conf.com/

KEYWORD REACH & INFLUENCE

Popular key words and trends can provide a window into how people think - and what they’re looking for online. How can you make it easier for them to stumble upon your film?

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
http://www.spyfu.com/
http://www.semrush.com/

FINDING RECENT UPLOADS TO YOUTUBE

Normal YouTube searching buries new videos in the results, so this is useful discovering fan reaction videos and mash-ups as they get posted:

http://youtube.com
Enter search term, click search, then select: Search Options > Upload Date

Tip: You can send a private message to any YouTube user by clicking on their username and then “send message”.

ANALYZING YOUR WEBSITE’S TRAFFIC

Google Analytics offers a wealth of data to help you identify how people are using your website, and how they found you.

http://analytics.google.com

Tip: Here are the analytics I find most useful:

Traffic Sources > Referring Sites
What websites linked to your site & how many visitors did they deliver?
Traffic Sources > Keywords
What search terms brought people to your website?
Visitors > Map Overlay
Visitors broken down by their geographic location. You can drill down by country, state and city.
Content > Top Content
What pages are popular on your site and what is the average time visitors spend on each page?

Time Warner CEO compares Netflix to the Albanian army

2010-12-13T20:21:00.003-05:00

Couldn't resist posting about this quote from Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, on Netflix being overhyped. (Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was named "businessperson of the year" by Fortune.)

"It's a little bit like, is the Albanian army going to take over the world? I don't think so," Bewkes told a New York Times reporter.

Interesting comment from a CEO whose stock started the year at $30 a share and is ending it just below $32 a share; Netflix, by contrast, started the year at $53 and is ending it at $183. Who is it again, who is not going to take over the world?

I think what miffs media CEOs is that Netflix has spent the past decade developing a strong relationship with consumers, who view the site as delivering value for an $8, $10, or $20 per month plan. Meanwhile, most people have no connection or brand relationship at all with media companies and studios like Time Warner. Yes, they produce great content, but they've forgotten to build a digital relationship of their own with consumers.

What's the biggest challenge facing indie filmmakers?

2010-11-23T20:02:00.001-05:00

We posed that question to our Distribution U. audience at UCLA last Saturday. Here's what they said:

Links from Distribution U. in NY...And looking ahead to Saturday at UCLA

2010-11-17T09:35:00.008-05:00

Wow... we had a great group of 200 filmmakers converge on NYU's Cantor Film Center last Saturday for the first Distribution U. of 2010... and now we're looking ahead to the second (and thankfully, final) workshop of the year, this Saturday at UCLA.

Just wanted to share some stuff from NYU.

- Eric Kohn of IndieWire was there as one of our guest experts, running lunch discussions on how filmmakers can get reviews, whether in traditional media or blogs. Afterward, he posted this write-up of the marketing and distribution case study we did on "Exit Through the Gift Shop," with speakers Marc Schiller of Electric Artists and Richard Abramowitz of Abramorama.

- "Star Wreck" director Timo Vuorensola couldn't join us (he was preparing to start shooting his latest project, "Iron Sky"), but he sent this six-minute video explaining his approach to building communities around his films — and raising money for the productions online.

- Participant Moishe Kaufman posted his notes from the morning and afternoon sessions on his great blog about film, the Internet, and media, The M Word.

- Dustyn Gobler, who was part of our excellent team of volunteers in New York (and is also an experienced post-production consultant), posted his notes on his blog.

- One of our other guest experts, producer and Filmmaker Magazine editor Scott Macaulay, had put this post on his blog before the event (it contains some audio from Distribution U. 2009, at USC). Anne Thompson of IndieWire, who'll be a guest expert this Saturday in LA, published this post on her "Thompson on Hollywood" blog, which contains another bit of audio from 2009.

- Here's the Twitter stream from the event. (This Saturday, we'll again be using the hash tag #distribu.)

- Participants shared some really kind words with us afterward. My favorite: "Honestly, this event really exceeded my expectations. Awesome."

- If you're in LA, we hope you can join us this Saturday (or spread the word to folks who might benefit.) We're grateful to our friends at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, who've made it possible for us to come to campus.

- Our discussion leaders in LA are a pretty impressive bunch, and you'll be able to sit down with three of them for a small group chat that we think will be full of helpful guidance:

• Roko Belic, Director, "Genghis Blues" and "Happy"

• Joe Beyer, Producer, Sundance Institute Online

• Adam Chapnick, Founder, Distribber

• Jonathan Dana, producer and producer's rep, "Road to Nowhere"

• Nolan Gallagher, Founder and CEO, Gravitas Ventures

• Jim Gilliam of NationBuilder, the Internet strategist who helped Robert Greenwald launch (and finance) his Brave New Films series of documentaries and online videos

• Roberta Grossman, Producer/Director, "Blessed is the Match"

• Madelyn Hammond, Marketing Expert, Madelyn Hammond & Associates

• Producer and editor Joel Heller ("Winnebago Man")

• Justine Jacob, Director, "Ready Set Bag" and Partner, Lee & Lawless

• Oren Jacob, CTO, Pixar and Executive Producer, "Runner's High" and "Ready Set Bag"

• Skot Leach, Co-Founder, Lost Zombies

• Cara Mertes, director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program

• Cora Olson and Jennifer Dubin of Present Pictures

• Danae Ringelmann, Co-Founder, IndieGoGo

• Chris Shellen, Web strategist and producer, "Marwencol"

• Jill Sobule, crowdfunding pioneer and musician; Jill's latest release is "The California Years," funded entirely by her fans.

• IndieWire writer Anne Thompson of "Thompson on Hollywood" (formerly of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

• Nancy Willen, Head of Acme PR, Documentary Publicist (“Taxi to the Dark Side”)

How to Get a Free Pass to Distribution U.

2010-11-05T21:31:00.002-04:00

The two Distribution U. events that I'm organizing with Peter Broderick are fast approaching... and I've been remiss in telling you how you can get a free pass.

First, the New York edition happens November 13th at NYU's Cantor Film Center, thanks to our friends at the Tisch School of the Arts, and the Los Angeles edition happens a week later, November 20th at UCLA, generously sponsored by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Second, here are some of the people who'll be on-hand to share their advice about audience-building, social media, distribution, and crowd-funding:

Richard Abramowitz (who organized the successful theatrical rollout of "Anvil: the Story of Anvil"), Jill Sobule (the singer-songwriter who enlisted her fans to fund her latest album), Marc Schiller (the digital marketing expert who heads Electric Artists), Caitlin Boyle (semi-theatrical maven and head of Film Sprout), transmedia producer Noah Harlan, Internet guru Brian Chirls, Jim Browne (theatrical booker and founder of Argot Pictures), Adam Chapnick (founder of Distribber, the innovative company that works with filmmakers to maximize their digital revenues), Ira Deutchman (producer and Emerging Pictures CEO), Sandi DuBowski (producer/director "Trembling Before G-d" and outreach director for The Good Pitch), Justine Jacob (director of "Ready, Set, Bag!" and an attorney at the law firm Lee & Lawless), marketing consultant and former Variety chief marketing officer Madelyn Hammond, producer and producer's rep Jonathan Dana ("Road to Nowhere"), Amy Dotson of IFP and "Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo," "ZENITH" director Vlad Nikolic, Scott Macaulay (producer and editor of Filmmaker Magazine), Slava Rubin and Danae Ringelmann (co-founders of IndieGoGo), Anne Thompson (journalist and blogger "Thompson on Hollywood"), Robert Bahar (“Made in LA”), Roberta Grossman ("Blessed Is The Match"), Joel Heller ("Winnebago Man"), Skot Leach of Lost Zombies, Cora Olson and Jennifer Dubin of Present Pictures, and Ben Niles ("Note by Note").

So of course we'd love to have you join us in New York on November 13th or Los Angeles on November 20th (and you can use the discount code "friend" at either one to save a little dough.)

And if you would like to try your luck at winning a free pass to the Distribution U. workshop of your choice, just share the link to either one on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, along with the tag "#distribu," and we'll pick a winner by Wednesday next week at 5 p.m.

Distribution U., coming to NY (Nov. 13th) and LA (Nov. 20th)

2010-10-08T16:06:00.010-04:00

I'm really excited to be collaborating again with Peter Broderick to put together two new "Distribution U." workshops next month: one at NYU on November 13th, and one at UCLA on November 20th.

We did the first "trial" one of these last November, filling up a ballroom at USC with 200-plus filmmakers and producers. If you know people who were there, they'll tell you about the incredibly positive vibe. The attitude was: if everyone is exclaiming that "the sky is falling" on independent film, how can we survive and thrive and help one another in a world with a slightly lower sky?

The event has a couple objectives:

New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis was at the first Distribution U. workshop last year, and she used it as the basis for her article "Declaration of Indies: Just Sell It Yourself." Documentary Magazine called the event "casual, participatory, and supportive." One of our industry experts from 2009 told us, "The room felt like the future to me..." (At left is Oscar-nominated producer Adrian Belic leading a lunch discussion at the first Distribution U.)

I hope you can make it November 13th in New York, or November 20th in Los Angeles. And we're so grateful to our friends at New York University and UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television for making these two events possible.

Also: there's an early bird registration rate that will last until next Wednesday, October 13th at midnight. Grab a seat soon...and come with your enthusiasm, questions, awesome projects, and ideas.

Clips: IFP Panel on "Big Ideas for the Small Screen"

2010-09-23T10:28:00.004-04:00

These are the clips I would've shown in this morning's IFP Filmmaker Conference panel on "Big Ideas for the Small Screen." (Conference venue couldn't show video from the Internet.)

TV Ennui: Are Viewers Totally Content, or Just Really Averse to Change?

2010-08-23T08:51:00.004-04:00

There's a great collection of stories in today's NY Times, focusing on efforts to change the way we watch TV (online and in our living rooms.) The overall message is that viewers are either pretty happy with the cable/broadcast/satellite programming that finds its way into their living rooms, and that most media companies (except Sony) have pretty much given up trying to produce original shows for the Web. There's also the obligatory piece about 3-D TV.

Links to the stories below, along with a short excerpt from each one:

- Sony's Bet on Sticking With Web Shows

- Crowded Field for Bringing Web Video to TV

- TV Makers Predict a Bright Future for 3-D

- Plenty to Watch Online, but Viewers Prefer to Pay for Cable

- DIY TV: How Are You Watching?

Notes and quotes from the PGA's 2010 "Produced By" conference

2010-06-06T16:55:00.005-04:00

It was a real treat to be invited to speak at the PGA's "Produced By" conference this weekend; I was on a panel moderated by Emerging Cinemas' Ira Deutchman called "Smashing Windows: DIY and the New Hybrid Distribution."

I took some notes throughout the day Saturday on things that struck me as worth remembering, during panels on transmedia, digital cinema, "The Simpsons," and the producer's role. (I had to fly home Saturday night, so didn't stick around for the second day of the conference.) The subtext of most of the sessions I went to was this: we acknowledge that new stuff is happening and new technologies are emerging...and we know audiences want to interact with content in new ways...but it's unclear how we'll make anything approaching decent money in this new world.

I got a chance to ask noted producer (and onetime United Artists chief) David V. Picker whether he felt worried or energized by the changes technology is bringing about. "I'm curious," Picker said. "No one knows how they're going to make their money back. No one has figured it out." But it seems obvious, he added, that "you just can't keep making $100 million movies."

Picker moderated a panel of producers talking about the relationship between producer and director. (The panel was supposed to feature Brian Grazer and Ridley Scott, but both were mysterious no-shows. Not too eager to dwell about "Robin Hood," maybe?)

Larry Gordon, who produced "Die Hard" but also "Water World," said that anything can happen to a project (mostly bad) as you're trying to package together the screenplay, actors, and director. "You're not shooting until you're shooting," Gordon said.

Gordon said a lot of a producer's job is "protective work," mentioning that he once had to battle to keep Paramount executives from firing an actor on one of his films that they deemed unfunny. (The actor was Eddie Murphy, and the film "48 Hours.")

Douglas Wick, producer of "Gladiator" and "Working Girl," said that "creative alchemy [mentioned in the title of the panel] is an interesting topic, because it rarely occurs. A good movie is a miracle. There are so many ways things can go wrong." Producers, he added, are called upon to solve every imaginable problem that comes along.

Bruce Cohen, producer of "Milk" and "American Beauty," said that Spielberg told him on his first producing gig that the producer's job is to "get the director's vision up on the screen." Cohen said that is a "great mantra to start from," but that it's also important to figure out where a director may need help — on creative issues, sticking with the budget, or organizational stuff, to "keep them from getting in their own way."

Cohen had some funny stories about being reluctant to give notes to Tim Burton while he was shooting "Big Fish." He observed that Burton "paces back and forth very fast on the set, which makes it impossible to have a conversation with him, which is the point."

Jeff Gomez of Starlight Runner Entertainment moderated a panel on transmedia storytelling, with an impressive group of execs that included "Avatar" producer Jon Landau and "Battlestar Galactica" producer David Eick. Gomez mentioned that the PGA is forming a think tank on transmedia.

Gomez started by showing some slides to explain his view of transmedia. Some of the benefits: transmedia can create intense loyalty, long-term engagement, lifespan extension (of the property, not the viewers, I presume), a desire to share the experience with others, and increased revenue.

Landau talked about writing Pandorapedia, a "definitive version of the world" of "Avatar," by getting a dozen people in a room for a few days. That helped others who were building content related to the film.

Cary Granat of Bedrock Studios talked about the way Walden Media has created educational programming for school kids around movies like the "Narnia" series and "Holes," through a program called "Reel Thinking."

Larry Tanz of Vuguru mentioned "The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers," intended to start on the Web and then move to TV.

Landau was asked why there weren't more transmedia tentacles extending from "Avatar." He said they'd pitched some that Fox hadn't wanted to fund. "Trying to get a big studio to embrace new ideas is never easy," Landau said. "No one ever got fired for not trying something."

"All these extensions cost money," said Tanz. "And not all of them generate money. You may only be paid for the TV show of the movie... Some of the pieces can be liabilities on the balance sheet."

Transmedia needs to come from an authentic place, Eick cautioned: "Once the audience starts to feel manipulated, you're dead... and maybe not just the off-shoot, but the mothership, too."

The panelists were honest about the current state of transmedia: it can still be hard to figure out where to invest to actually generate good returns (whether that means ticket sales, TV viewers, or game buyers/subscribers.) "It can be hard to understand if webisodes actually have any impact on box office," said Granat, but he pointed to Disney's recent "Tickets Together" experiment in selling advance tickets to "Toy Story 3" on Facebook as something that may point in an important new direction.

Landau agreed that embedding transactions into media, whether virtual goods or ticket sales, is likely the future. He also suggested that some of the spending studios do today on traditional TV and print advertising might be better invested in transmedia projects.

Granat added, "The big studios are not going to continue [investing in transmedia] until they understand the metrics."

But Granat mentioned an interesting transmedia example toward the end: Disney's decision to create a Broadway version of "The Lion King." The studio took a risk in hiring Julie Taymor to reinterpret the film, and wound up creating a stage franchise that has since surpassed the movie in revenues by playing for years in theaters the world over (at a much higher ticket price than the film, of course.)

During a session on "Digital Cinema and You," Cinedigm Entertainment executive Michele Martell trotted out some stats about the industry. Of about 39,000 movie screens in the U.S., 8,400 have digital projectors today, and 3,700 can show 3-D content. Of 100,000 screens worldwide, 15,000 are digital, and half of those can show 3-D, she said. Also, she referred to a survey that found that one in four Americans say they plan to buy a 3-D TV. (But when?)

On 3-D television broadcasts, Fox Sports exec Jerry Steinberg said, "It is still a technology in search of a business model. People will have to pay extra at home, or for theater tickets." But Steinberg is a believer that it'll happen: "What 3-D does for sports is recreate the experience of being in the premium seats, and we as an industry haven't sold that yet." He said his expectation is that 3-D TV, just like high-def, will be an 8 to 10 year transition. "We're two years into it," he said.

Jonathan Dern, a Cinedigm executive and a long-time producer of animated TV shows and movies, said, "I don't intend on producing anything from now on that isn't in 3-D. [That way,] you have an archive that is the future."

In our panel on "DIY and Hybrid Distribution," I tossed out what I've found to be four essential truths of the new media world producers are living in: "Distribution is free. Choice is infinite. Demand is instant. Noise is unprecedented." You can either develop strategies to address those shifts, or you can try to ignore them. (I've found that many studios and more established producers are doing the latter.)

"Simpsons" writer-producer Tim Long moderated a panel of his colleagues, including "Simpsons" creator James L. Brooks, that was a hoot, as you might expect. They talked about some of the guest stars with whom they most enjoyed working (Michael Jackson, Dustin Hoffman, Mr. T) and some with whom they had problems (the late Gary Coleman apparently didn't want to say "Whatchu talking about, Willis?" on his episode.) They agreed that Conan O'Brien is one of the funniest people they've ever met, seeking to entertain anyone who'll make eye contact with him, at any moment. They said that the reason that Homer and Marge have stayed together after so many years is that the sex is great. (Apparently, this is Julie Kavner's explanation of the secret of their marriage.)

"The show is a labor of love, but it's also a labor of work," said "Simpsons" executive producer Matt Selman. More seriously, he added, "we try to cram the maximum amount of awesomeness" into every episode.

I only caught the end of Mark Cuban's conversation with LA Times reporter Dawn Chmielewski, but he made the comment that "if anything, the studios have gotten more power [over the past few years], not less."

He also talked about the EBIF standard for developing interactive applications on TVs, and said that as new Internet-enabled cable boxes crept into American homes, we'd start seeing more applications layered onto TV shows, like the long-heralded ability to click your remote and buy an outfit that a character is wearing, or dive into more data about a documentary. Cuban said that there are already about 20 million cable boxes deployed that support the EBIF standard.

So those are my notes. You can read tweets from the conference here, and hopefully the PGA will post audio or video at some point.

Ten links for today's DIY panel at the "Produced By" conference

2010-06-05T10:39:00.004-04:00

I'm panelizing later today at the PGA's "Produced By" conference in LA, and just wanted to share some links with the audience (and you). The title of the session is "Smashing Windows: D.I.Y. and the New Hybrid Distribution."

Here's are ten links worth checking out (and feel free to add your own in the comments):

- Required reading: Peter Broderick's "Declaration of Independence: The Ten Principles of Hybrid Distribution."

- Manohla Dargis in the NY Times: "Declaration of Indies: Just Sell It Yourself!"

- Videos from the DIY Days series of conferences, on the WorkBook Project

- Ira Deuchtman's blog and Twitter feed

- Book site for "Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age" (with lots of free content)

- Truly Free Film, a blog overseen by producer Ted Hope

- The IndieGoGo blog (site that supports Internet-based fundraising)

- Jon Reiss' blog, filmmaker and author of "Think Outside the Box Office"

- Videos from The Conversation @ Columbia, a gathering held this past March, including panels on "Attracting an Audience Through Social Media" and "Digital Distribution."

- Blog Maverick, Mark Cuban's blog

Chad Hurley Interview Notes from 2005

2010-05-18T14:31:00.004-04:00

YouTube is marking its fifth anniversary this month.

It felt like a good time to go back to the notes from my October 2005 interview with co-founder Chad Hurley; I'd interviewed him while working on this New York Times story about video-sharing sites, which compared YouTube to other start-ups that helped publish your videos, like Vimeo and Blip.tv.

When Hurley and I spoke, the company was still being funded only by its founders; by the end of the year, they'd taken a $3.5 million investment from Sequoia Capital, and by October 2006, Google had acquired YouTube for $1.6 billion.

These are interview notes from my phone conversation with Hurley, lightly cleaned up. It's interesting how determined Hurley was to make the site easy to use for consumers, and to attract up an audience first before introducing advertising.

Wonder if that video has ever surfaced....

Video from The Conversation @ Columbia

2010-05-12T15:29:00.003-04:00

We shot the three main panels at the March edition of The Conversation, held at Columbia University. (The audio is a bit rough at points, due to some mics onstage that were cranked up a bit too high.) Thanks go to Emily Branham, director of the forthcoming doc "BeBe," for doing the shooting (and the audio issues weren't her fault, I should say!)

> Tiffany Shlain's Opening Remarks:

ConvoNYC - Tiffany Shlain's Opening Remarks from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Ira Deutchman's Opening Remarks:

ConvoNYC - Ira Deutchman's Opening Remarks from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Panel: What I've Learned About Attracting an Audience Through Social Media (in three parts, with Arin Crumley, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Ryan Werner, Sandi DuBowski, Nina Paley, and Ian Schafer...moderated by me)

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Digital Distribution: Addressing the Big Questions (in three parts, with Cory McAbee, Richard Lorber, Steve Savage, Hunter Weeks, and Thomas Woodrow...moderated by Peter Broderick)

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Stories Elsewhere: Making Media in New Ways (in three parts, with Asi Burak, Gita Pullapilly, Fred Seibert, and Lance Weiler...moderated by Wendy Levy):

ConvoNYC - Stories Elsewhere - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Stories Elsewhere - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Stories Everywhere - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

'Filmmakers Taking Charge,' May 7th at the Maryland Film Festival

2010-04-27T09:33:00.004-04:00

I've been helping out the good folks at the Maryland Film Festival with a new event, coming up on May 7th in Baltimore: the Filmmakers Taking Charge Conference.

It'll focus on topics like "generating buzz in a digital world," "the new rules of distribution," and what filmmakers can learn from the music industry's experiences with radical changes to its business model.

There's a great list of speakers — most of them filmmakers — including Josh and Bennie Safdie ('Daddy Longlegs'), Lena Dunham ('Tiny Furniture'), Ed Sanchez ('Blair Witch Project'), Aaron Katz 'Dance Party'), Joe Swanberg ('Alexander the Last'), and Linas Phillips ('Bass Ackwards'). Janet Pierson, who runs the SXSW film fest, will be there, as will Rick Allen from SnagFilms, Ira Deutchman from Emerging Pictures, and Scott Macaulay from Filmmaker Magazine.

Help spread the word to folks you know near Baltimore/DC/Philly... and there's a $25 discount on passes purchased by this Friday (April 30th).

The Conversation 2010: Post-Game Notes & Analysis

2010-03-29T12:41:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everyone who made The Conversation @ Columbia happen last Saturday — after I'd moderated my opening panel on building an audience, I mostly felt like I was free to goof off and just eavesdrop on other sessions, workshops, and lunch groups.

We're posting all of the links, notes, tweets, and other material from the event over here, on The Conversation's official blog.

Open to your thoughts on what we should talk about next time, and where we should hold it. (Last time was UC/Berkeley in October 2008.)

In SoCal? "Produced By" Conference, June 4-6

2010-03-24T11:03:00.004-04:00

The line-up for the 2010 "Produced By" Conference, organized by the Producers Guild of America, looks great. Speakers include Mark Cuban of Landmark and 2929 Entertainment; James L. Brooks; Brian Grazer; and Darla K. Anderson, producer of "Monsters, Inc." and the upcoming "Toy Story 3." They've also got sessions on producing online content and videogames; DIY and hybrid distribution; and indie film marketing.

If you're a PGA member, it's just $295 to attend; for others, the price is steep: $995. The event takes place at 20th Century Fox Studios. (There's a discounted rate of $595 if you are in another guild or a member of various film industry groups, so that's worth checking out.)

Convo NYC Sold Out ... But We're Looking for a Shooter

2010-03-23T21:42:00.004-04:00

I'm both happy and a bit sorry to say that the New York edition of The Conversation, March 27th at Columbia University, is now sold out. (I've already gotten a handful of e-mails from people asking how they can get in...)

But ... we are looking for a one- or two-person crew to shoot the three main panels of the day and help us share them after the event (likely on Vimeo or a similar site). You'll get a comp pass to the entire day, which will let you participate in the lunch discussions and afternoon workshops. Get in touch with me if you're interested.

Update: We found someone great. Thanks for the responses!

Three Quick Links for the SXSW Crowd

2010-03-12T19:20:00.005-05:00

- For my session with ze frank on Saturday, March 13th at 3:30 PM, you can submit questions (and vote on questions submitted by others) right here.

- For my session with Gary Hustwit on Sunday, March 14th at 3:30 PM, you can submit questions (and vote) right here.

- Finally, here's some info about getting your free copy of the Fans, Friends & Followers e-book (a $12 value, as they say on teevee). (BoingBoing was kind enough to blog about the e-book offer, which only lasts for the duration of SXSW, earlier this week.)

(If you find me at the event, I may also have paperback copies of FFF with me [$15], which I'm happy to inscribe. Don't be afraid to ask...)

What I'll Be Up to at SXSW

2010-03-03T20:52:00.004-05:00

I'm always psyched to go down to Austin in March for South by Southwest. Austin makes you feel hip even if you are not. I love seeing movies at the Alamo Drafthouse and the Paramount. I really enjoy the collision of interactive people and filmmakers in the same space. I always eat too much barbecue.

This year, I'm doing two sessions there.

One is an on-stage conversation with the pioneering Web artist, prankster, and videomaker ze frank, on Saturday, March 13th. I talked to ze for my book "Fans, Friends & Followers," and I've seen him speak, but we've never really met in person, so I'm looking forward to it. One of the themes we're hoping to explore is how do you really connect with people in the digital realm, get them engaged, get them participating in meaningful ways.

The second, on Sunday, March 14th, is a session with doc-maker Gary Hustwit. I'm going to share some of the tools and strategies from "Fans, Friends & Followers," and we're going to talk about Gary's experiences building awareness for films like "Helvetica" and "Objectified," and how he has handled his DVD and digital distribution.

Hope to see you there -- and if not, SXSW is great about getting videos of all their sessions online in the months after the festival.

Announcing The Conversation 2010, in New York: On Social Media, Digital Distribution, and the Future of Film

2010-02-05T15:44:00.003-05:00

I'm excited that we're finally announcing the date, place, and a few of the early speakers for the next edition of The Conversation, a gathering we first held in the Bay Area back in 2008.

It'll be held Saturday, March 27th at Columbia University (thanks to the support of faculty member Ira Deutchman and event manager Daisy Nam there.) Those of us on The Conversation's advisory board are working to rope in some amazing speakers and sponsors, and ensure that this East Coast event will be every bit as good (better?) as the West Coast version, which brought together a phenomenal group of pioneering filmmakers, storytellers, designers, and technologists.

Registration is now open and there is a steep discount if you sign up before February 14th.

We are also soliciting your ideas for speakers, topics, and workshops you might want to run at the event, using our fancy-schmancy wiki.

And we'd love your help spreading the word.

Among the topics we plan to address:

Video interview with Ian Calderon of the Sundance Institute

2010-01-27T14:47:00.002-05:00

Here's an interview I shot in 2009 with Ian Calderon, who since 1981 has been the chief digital guy for the Sundance Institute and Film Festival.

In the 17-minute video, filmed at DCTV in Manhattan, Ian and I talk a bit about the challenges and opportunities indie filmmakers face in the digital world.... how 3-D releases might impact the world of independent film...Twitter (of course)...and how difficult it is becoming to break through the marketplace noise, whether you are submitting a film to Sundance or uploading a video to YouTube.

New Directions for Independent Cinema: Ian Calderon from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

This video first appeared last week on Anne Thompson's excellent blog, Thompson on Hollywood. Anne's post alluded to a 2010 edition of The Conversation in New York, which is happening on March 27th. More soon...

At Sundance, some new thinking about distribution

2010-01-25T11:47:00.003-05:00

I was really encouraged to see this piece in the New York Times today, 'At Sundance, New Routes to Finding an Audience,' Brooks Barnes. It suggests that at least a few filmmakers who've gained entrance to one of the most prestigious indie film fests are thinking about using it as a launchpad for their distribution strategy.

From the piece:

OneTooManyMornings.com

“Bass Ackwards,”

Sundance Selects

Saturday: Live Streaming of the Filmmaker Summit at Slamdance

2010-01-22T16:20:00.003-05:00

Tune in Saturday, January 23rd for the live stream from the Filmmaker Summit at Slamdance, featuring speakers like Lance Weiler, Jamie King of 'Steal This Film,' Jon Reiss, Timo Vuorensola of 'Iron Sky,' and someone named Steven Soderbergh.

Here's part of their mission statement:

From Sunday's NY Times: "Declaration of Indies: Just Sell It Yourself!"

2010-01-16T08:39:00.003-05:00

NY Times film critic Manohla Dargis was at Distribution U. last November at USC, working on a piece about the revolution in indie film distribution.

Her piece appears in Sunday's paper, giving prominent play to the revolutionary ideas and efforts of people like Peter Broderick, Jon Reiss, Sacha Gervasi, Andrew Bujalski, and David Lynch. The opening:

Well worth a read. And here (again) is the video interview that Peter and I shot at Sundance 2009, talking about the future of indie film distribution. (We also hope to do at least one other edition of Distribution U. in 2010, so stay tuned.)

The Future of Indie Film Distribution: Peter Broderick from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

Events for 2010: Canada, UK, NYC

2010-01-05T14:11:00.002-05:00

I'm excited about four upcoming events, all of which involve travel to fun places and the opportunity to hang out with some leading-edge film, video, and TV folk...

In January, I'll be doing two workshops in Halifax and Montreal with Telefilm Canada. Both are called "Multiplatform, Multi-Success," and they're part of the Telefilm Canada initiative "From Cinemas to Cell Phones." (Participation in both of those requires an application.)

Also in January, on the 27th, I'll be doing a free workshop in Liverpool on "Building Audiences and Generating Revenue in the Digital Age." This is part of the Visionary Sessions series put on by Northwest Vision and Media. After my talk, the great Krishna Stott is running a related workshop. If you know folks in Liverpool/Manchester, let them know about it.

Then on March 14th at SXSW, I'll be running a session with filmmaker Gary Hustwit on "Fans, Friends & Followers: Creating Your Own Cult (of the Non-Apocalyptic Variety.)"

And we're starting to plan a NYC edition of The Conversation, likely at Columbia, in the March/April timeframe...more on that soon.

And the data from 2009 says...

2010-01-04T20:12:00.005-05:00

Here's a great chart published in the Wall Street Journal today about how Americans spent money on movies in 2008 and 2009:

A key passage from the related article, by Sarah McBride:

2009 was an amazing year for theatrical revenues -- perhaps a high water mark, thanks to the recession (movies offer an affordable night out) and an unusually strong and diverse release slate?

It seems clear from these trends that, for today, the bulk of revenues will still be from theatrical releases (if you can promote them and get butts in seats) and DVD sales and rentals. But indies need to have a smart strategy for digital, since that market is poised to grow -- and indies will be more flexible than the studios about pricing, free samples, and release windows, which could give them an edge. (Here's a New York Times story from this morning about how the studios are struggling to make their DRM-wrapped movie files more portable and flexible... without dropping the DRM, of course.)

What do you think 2009's revenue trends mean for indies?

A question for 2010: Does the audience want you to make a film?

2009-12-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Here are the big questions I'm going to be focusing on in 2010: what kinds of visual content does the audience want to see, aside from full-length features? Who's making it? And how is it being monetized?

I wonder how many filmmakers will also be thinking about those questions in 2010... and how many would rather simply continue making feature films, regardless of what the audience is doing...and sprinkle a trailer and perhaps a couple bonus clips around the Internet as "marketing."

2009 was a phenomenal year at the box office, but growing even faster than ticket sales were online video viewing, and usage of social media services like Facebook and Twitter. One more data point: in a little over a year, Apple has delivered two billion iPhone apps through its iTunes Store.

So how sure are you that the audience wants you to make a movie? That they'll show up to your premiere? That they'll buy your DVDs?

Where the audience goes, the business will follow -- we learned that when people left vaudeville theaters for nickelodeons, and when they started buying TVs, VCRs, videogame consoles, and Internet-connected PCs.

It's hard to imagine how vast the opportunities are for story skeins unspooling on Facebook pages, narratives being shaped in part by the YouTube community watching them, or hybrid games/movies that mix real-world locations with video and interactivity, and require the player/viewer to pay for the experience through the iTunes Store. Vast, yes, but scary, too -- since it is all terra incognita.

We're living through a transitional moment, when audience viewing behaviors are changing, new creative possibilities are emerging, and the business is evolving.

You can either take advantage of transitional moments and be a pioneer -- or you can be passive and simply wait to see how things play out (and potentially, miss enormous opportunities, fail to develop important new skill sets, and watch your career prospects fade.)

I'm eager to hear who you see as the leaders of this new storytelling revolution... Who will be the pioneers to watch in 2010?

Recommended: Hugh MacLeod's book 'Ignore Everybody'

2009-12-26T09:08:00.000-05:00

One of the great gifts I received this week is Hugh MacLeod's book Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. That's one of MacLeod's cartoons at right (one of my faves).

The book is very much in line with the thinking here at CinemaTech about how creative work will be made in the 21st century, how audiences will be successfully built, and how you can tap into your true vision to create remarkable stuff. A short passage:

exactly

I had a chance to meet MacLeod earlier this month is San Francisco, where he was at a tech conference selling some signed limited edition prints of his cartoons. His blog, Gapingvoid, is here.

5 Spots Remain for In-Depth Workshop on Building a Fan Base & Generating Revenue, 12/1 in San Francisco

2009-11-24T14:07:00.008-05:00

I'm doing an in-depth version of my workshop on "Building Big Audiences and Generating Revenue in the Digital Age" next Tuesday evening, 12.1.09, at BAVC in San Francisco. There are just five spots left (and the registration rate goes up on Saturday at midnight... if any seats remain.)

We'll explore several important case studies of media pioneers who've built big fan bases online, including Joss Whedon, OK Go, M dot Strange, ze frank, Michael Buckley, and Jonathan Coulton. We'll talk about online fundraising, selling merchandise, digital downloads, and other new revenue streams. We'll detail some of the really simple techniques for turning a small audience into a big audience -- stuff I've picked up, and stuff you've picked up.

And as a group we'll brainstorm strategies for several projects being developed by the workshop participants.

Even though this is San Francisco, I'm assuming that participants are artists, not techno-whizzes, so this will be a workshop delivered in plain English, with lots of time for Q&A. I want you to leave with a few practical, powerful things on your to-do list, not questions and confusion.

The full description of this evening workshop is here. Everyone will get a free paperback copy of Fans, Friends & Followers.

I wrote the book for independent artists (filmmakers, musicians, stand-up comics, writers, artists) trying to make a giant dent in the world, without a major media conglomerate's resources. And that's exactly who this workshop is for.

Hope to see you there!

"Fish Where the Fish Are" (Video w/ Tim Kring & Reif Larsen)

2009-11-23T14:29:00.005-05:00

Last month, I had the chance to host a session with "Heroes" creator Tim Kring and author/artist Reif Larsen at the first annual Boston Book Festival.

Larsen's talk was hilarious; Kring spoke about the origins and essence of transmedia storytelling (although he also spent a bit too much time for my taste screening "Heroes" promos).

The message that stuck with me from this session was that if you want to be a storyteller, rather than struggling to get people to come to you (on whatever medium/distribution platform you've chosen to use), why not take your story to where the audience is? "Fish where the fish are," Kring says. That may mean bringing your message to cell phones, video games, embedded Web videos, whatever. You may be surprised at the artistic and economic sparks that fly in those different media.

The video is now up.

video platform
video management
video solutions
free video player

At the 45-minute mark, we talk about attention. I suggest the game that all storytellers are playing is about winning peoples' attention.

"Our greatest asset is our sustained attention," Larsen said, quoting Ken Burns (who had done a session earlier in the day that I missed.) "That's the asset that is quickly disappearing."

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

2009-11-16T19:50:00.004-05:00

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...

SXSW Panel Highlights: Audience-Building for Creatives (Video)

2009-11-16T17:31:00.003-05:00

The folks at SXSW did a nice job plucking six minutes of highlights from a really jam-packed panel I moderated this past March.

The panel featured artist Natasha Wescoat, politics blogger Markos "Kos" Moulitsas, musician Jonathan Coulton, filmmaker Brett Gaylor, and animator Burnie Burns. (Everyone but Markos is featured in some way in Fans, Friends & Followers.)

I posted an MP3 of the complete panel earlier this year.... and in the current issue of SXSW World magazine, I have a short piece about audience-building on page 24.

New approaches to audience-building are a big focus of SXSW each year -- and it's obviously an issue I care a lot about.

The Distribution U. Wrap-Up

2009-11-10T08:32:00.009-05:00

Wow: two hundred filmmakers made their way to USC on Saturday (braving a walkathon that encircled the campus) to talk about the future of film marketing and distribution.

Amidst the continual caterwauling about the indie film “crisis,” Distribution U. was remarkably optimistic, as Peter Broderick and I had hoped it would be. Rather than organizing a panel where various experts would wring their hands about how it’s impossible to turn a profit making indie films anymore, our objective was to focus the day solely on strategies and tactics for finding an audience and earning a return.

I began the day by looking back at the history of cinema, briefly. Thomas Edison thought that movies projected for a communal audience would spell the end of his lucrative Kinetoscope business: the movie industry’s first existential crisis. In the late 1920s, most of Hollywood was convinced that sound technology was too expensive and complicated, and probably a passing fad anyway. TV was seen as a threat to the studios’ box office take, and a few decades later, once a big TV licensing business had emerged for movie studios, they were certain that the VCR and home taping would mean the end of that gravy train. Now, studio honchos and indies alike worry about declining DVD sales and digital revenues that, of course, will never be sufficient to support high-quality content creation.

But the bulk of my talk consisted of examples of how filmmakers (and musicians, artists, and writers) are engaging with their audience in new ways, and generating substantial revenues. (This was a one-hour version of a three-hour Fans, Friends & Followers workshop I’ll be giving in San Francisco on the evening of December 1st, at BAVC.)

Peter’s presentation was split into two hour-long parts, and though I’ve seen him speak several times before, each time there are new examples and clips that make me excited about the future. You can certainly keep hoping for the lottery ticket distribution deal, where someone hands you $10 or $20 million and turns your film into a great hit. Or you can be as creative with marketing and distribution as you were with your film, and take matters into your own hands.

One tidbit from Peter’s talk: he emphasized the need for filmmakers to create a persona – to be a human representation of their film, the “character” responsible for its creation. You might call this personal branding, and I know it doesn’t come as second-nature to every producer or director, some of whom prefer to operate behind-the-scenes. One of the filmmakers who was present at Distribution U. to lead a lunchtime discussion group, Adrian Belic (“Beyond the Call,” “Genghis Blues”), is a near-perfect example of someone who has cultivated a larger-than-life filmmaker persona. Belic is so enthusiastic about his movies, and bursts forth with stories about them, that you feel like the absolute next thing you must do is go see them.

We ended the day by inviting five filmmakers up to the stage to tell us a bit about their current project. (People were chosen at random.) Then, several of our guest experts – as well as other filmmakers in the audience -- offered constructive ideas and advice about marketing, sales, and distribution. (Among the folks who chimed in were Belic, Thomas Mai of Festival Darlings, filmmaker and marketing guru Marc Rosenbush, producer Cora Olsen, and Madelyn Hammond, most recently a top marketing exec at Variety and Landmark Theatres.)

The five films we talked about were:

- ”Two Spirits”

- ”Tricks”

- ”In My Sleep”

- “While Time Stands Still”

- ”Becoming Bert Stern”

It was a nice mix of narrative features and docs from some really driven, creative filmmakers.

We closed the day by asking the participants to boo if they were feeling more depressed and pessimistic than they had been in the morning. The room was quiet. Then we asked for applause if people were feeling more energized and enthusiastic, and it seemed like just about everyone was clapping.

Were you at Distribution U.? If so, what was the idea or tactic that struck you as most useful? What did you get out of the lunch discussion you were part of? Was there any advice you had for the five filmmakers who were part of the brainstorming session, but didn’t get a chance to impart? Do post a comment….

And here are some more pics from the event...

Madelyn Hammond leads a lunch discussion group.

Cora Olsen talks with the audience after her case study session.

Sacha Gervasi shares some advice with the audience.

Thomas Mai leads a lunchtime discussion on foreign sales.

Adrian Belic leads a lunchtime discussion group on theatrical bookings and working the festival circuit.

View from the back of the room. (Yes, we're hoping to release a DVD of the course at some point...)

Catching Up: Peter Broderick Video, DVD Data, 'Inbound Marketing' book, SMPTE Talk

2009-10-31T08:38:00.005-04:00

- Filmmaker Magazine this week published an interview I conducted with Peter Broderick at Sundance this year, talking about new approaches to indie film distribution. (You can tell I have the usual Park-City-in-January cold.) I'm planning to post the full 30-minute interview here soon. This video is part of a series I'm doing on the future of entertainment, underwritten by the nice folks at Akamai. The idea was to take some of the topics we discussed at The Conversation last fall in Berkeley and make them more accessible to people anywhere in the world. I invite you to embed the video wherever you like, link to it, or comment on it.

The Future of Indie Film Distribution: Peter Broderick from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

This video, of course, is also a nice little appetizer for the Distribution U. workshop Peter and I are doing next Saturday, November 7th, at USC.

- This NY Times piece from Monday is really worth a read: "Studios' Quest for Life After DVDs." Here's just one juicy passage from Brooks Barnes' story:

- The best book I've read about marketing and social media in a long while was just published this month. It's called Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs. This is the kind of book I guarantee you'll find useful if you work in marketing or are trying to sell DVDs or downloads of a film (or other creative work.) It was written by two of the founders of a marketing firm in Boston called HubSpot, and the company also runs this weekly video podcast about Internet marketing, which you can subscribe to (for free) in iTunes. (That, by the way, was not a paid promotion...just an honest endorsement of something worthwhile!)

- Variety was kind enough to run some coverage of my keynote talk last Wednesday for the annual SMPTE Tech Conference in Hollywood. (This was a version of my talk about Inventing the Movies, with lots of movie clips. It was fun to have a few digital cinema pioneers in the audience whom I'd interviewed for the book back in 2006 and 2007.)

Three Cool Ideas: Streaming from the Set, OpenIndie, and "14 Islands"

2009-10-17T14:20:00.001-04:00

I hear about way too much cool stuff via e-mail, and am constantly feeling guilty that I don't / can't blog about more of it.

So, if you are doing cool stuff (whether or not you have been letting me know about it), please keep it up! You're awesome.

For now, just wanted to share three cool ideas that have popped into my inbox this month:

1. Australian marketing and distribution consultant Simon Britton e-mailed to let me know about a cool live streaming project he is involved with that takes place on November 4th, to help generate awareness for a feature film about sharks called 'The Reef.' From his post:

[director] Andrew [Traucki]

Simon tells me via e-mail that he "will be be going to location for the stream, doing some camera work and editing. In typical Australian style, everyone on the team does whatever is required!"

2. OpenIndie is a new distribution project from Arin Crumley and Kieran Masterson which hopes to raise $10,000 from 100 filmmakers this month. (They are about half-way there.) Eric Kohn serves up the details on IndieWire, but the gist is that they'd like to have independent filmmakers pool their e-mail lists of people interested in seeing their film (or in putting on screenings), and then be able to collectively use the people in that database to understand where the greatest demand is for a given film, organize screenings and fill theaters (or house parties.)

3. I love this contest for filmmakers in the UK: "The 14 Islands Film Challenge." From the PR e-mail I received:

You, Me & Peter Broderick: Distribution U., Nov. 7th @ USC

2009-10-14T07:55:00.005-04:00

Here is the scary thing about talking about the new landscape of marketing and distribution at a film festival:

The panels and presentations are often too short (and sometimes too superficial) to really make much of a dent. Ask the audience at the end whether they're feeling more confident and in control of their destiny, or more anxious and confused, and they're likely to say the latter.

I've been talking for the last couple months with Peter Broderick about taking a different approach. We wanted to create a full-day workshop that'd dive into some of the marketing and audience-building strategies I explore in Fans, Friends & Followers, and would get into the nitty gritty of distribution and savvy deal-making, which Peter works on every day with his clients. We also wanted to bring in some guest filmmakers to talk in detail about how they've gotten attention for their work -- and made money from it.

Finally, we wanted to make this a great opportunity to meet other filmmakers and writers and producers who're working on this "bleeding edge" of new marketing and distribution strategy -- to create lunch discussion groups around topics you're interested in -- and, if you'd like, to get some ideas from Peter, me, and the rest of the group about actual, tactical things you might do with your film, online and off.

We're calling it "Distribution U.: A One-Day Crash Course on the New Rules of Marketing and Distribution." We're doing it on Saturday, November 7th in LA, on the campus of USC. If you register before noon on October 18th, you can take advantage of the early bird discount.

Our goal is to cram in as many examples, case studies, data points, and proven strategies into eight hours as is humanly possible. The complete schedule is here.

Right now, we're planning on doing this just once.

Hope you can make it, and if not, perhaps you'll spread the word to friends who are in LA.

(And if you'd be interested in a DVD of the proceedings, which we're considering, send me an e-mail.)

Live Streaming on Wednesday: Power to the Pixel

2009-10-13T22:12:00.002-04:00

Great speaker roster for this year's Power to the Pixel conference in London, including folks like Ted Hope, Nina Paley, Hunter Weeks, and Lance Weiler. You can watch the presentations streaming live on Wednesday here.

Video: 'Heroes' creator Tim King talks about transmedia storytelling

2009-10-11T09:46:00.007-04:00

While in LA last month, I had a chance to sit down with "Heroes" creator Tim Kring in the show's production offices. Kring is part of a session I'm hosting on October 24th at the Boston Book Festival.

We talked for about a half-hour. I asked Kring about the ukelele made of mango wood that was sitting on a stand in his office, and he played a couple chords for me. We talked about George Lucas as the original transmedia storyteller, introducing characters like Boba Fett on television first (and in a parade!), and then later weaving them into the narrative of the Star Wars films, books, and of course, toy lines.

The part of the conversation I captured on video covers Kring's approach to transmedia storytelling... some of the books that have spun off from the "Heroes" TV show...how he thinks about the audience's desire to participate in the "Heroes" universe...and a little bit about "Flag of Orpheus," the trilogy of books (unrelated to "Heroes") that Kring is working on with the novelist Dale Peck. (I mistakenly call it "Gate of Orpheus" in the interview...the perils of shooting and asking questions at the same time...)

An Update on the State of Indie Film Online

2009-10-03T17:01:00.007-04:00

I worked on a piece for Variety this week that intended to examine why no online destination has emerged specifically to serve up independent films.

From the piece:

As usual, there was a lot of material that didn't fit into the piece... and Snagfilms CEO Rick Allen e-mailed to take issue with some of the data I presented.

- Gary Hustwit told me his last doc, 'Helvetica,' has already broken into six-figures of iTunes earnings. He says his new film, 'Objectified,' is now available for pre-order on iTunes, and it's already in the iTunes top ten list for documentaries. Hustwit is also selling a USB drive containing the movie (pictured above). They're $75 each, and they've been produced in a limited edition of 500. Hustwit says they're selling briskly.

- Cory McAbee told me that a deluxe package of 'Stingray Sam' goodies is selling well through his site: for $49, you get a DVD, t-shirt, photobook, soundtrack CD, and two digital downloads (HD and standard definition).

- Rick Allen, CEO of doc-streaming network Snagfilms, takes issue with the traffic figures I cited in the story, supplied by Compete.com. Compete says the Snagfilms site gets about 100,000 unique visitors a month, compared to about six million for Hulu. Allen accurately points out that some of Hulu's most popular full-length films actually come from Snag (like 'The Future of Food' and 'Super-Size Me.') And he argues that a lot of Snagfilms content is viewed on other site, describing Snag as "a massively sub-distributed network." Unfortunately, Snag doesn't share any data of its own about how often films are viewed on its site or others, so reporters like me have no choice but to cite statistics from independent third parties like Compete or Quantcast.

- An interesting quote from Eric Lemasters, who handles digital distribution for E1 Entertainment: "iTunes and Netflix are probably leading the pack, but there’s a huge middle of the pack. Hulu is doing well, as is EZTakes. There's Amazon, Blockbuster [Movielink], CinemaNow. They all seem to be holding their own. EZTakes has done the best in that world. Snag and Jaman aren’t moving the needle much." Lemasters says 'Welcome to Macintosh' and 'The Bridge,' both docs, have been doing especially well on iTunes.

- Steve Harnsberger of Jaman says that site has no plans to shut down, but they're focusing more on providing "white label" video delivery services for other customers, like content owners, electronics manufacturers, and potentially telcos. "The Jaman site is definitely here to stay," he says. "It's a demonstration site for our technology."

- Distribution consultant Adam Chapnick of Distribber: "You have to be reminded that people like studio movies more. The reason that 90 percent of revenues online goes to studios is because most people don’t like indie movies." One reason that indie-only Web sites haven't succeeded, he believes, is that "most people don’t say, 'I’m in the mood for an independent film tonight.' They want a destination where all film can be aggregated."

- Some data points from Chapnick: "I know of one film property that's been making $50k/ month on iTunes, but it's not a feature, it's a stand-up comedy offering. I'm told by Netflix that they pay up to 30k for their [streaming] rights; of course that means they probably pay at least twice that to a really worthy title.

"But my bet is that 90 percent of indie films sell under 1000 units on iTunes, and 90 percent of indie films on Netflix are paid under $2500 for a year of [streaming] rights..."

- Some data from an anonymous source about indie content on Netflix and iTunes:

Your comments welcome...

Today's Big Question: What Do You Give Away for Free?

2009-09-19T10:05:00.006-04:00

Any sentient being would agree that you need to make free a part of your strategy these days: a free collection of behind-the-scenes footage, a free song from your soundtrack, a free look at the first 10 minutes of your film, a free game for mobile phones to get people interested in your fantasy world.

The question I've been hearing at the last few conferences and film festivals I've been to is this: "Yes, free is important. But how much should I give away for free?" What people would like to know is, at what point do all those freebies help someone decide that, no, they're actually not all that interested in your film...or, are you giving away too few free samples, thereby under-marketing your project? If you gave away less for free, would you make more money? If you gave away more for free, would you reach more people?

I think these questions are all fundamentally unanswerable. But I'm interested in your take. How can you determine, in a scientifically-provable way, whether you would've earned more (or less) from a given film if you gave more stuff away for free (or less)?

I'm suggesting that the amount of free you do needs to be a gut decision -- though it probably makes sense to dial it up and dial it down a bit over time and see what the impact is.

And here's an example just so we have a case study to discuss: Cory McAbee's space Western serial "Stingray Sam" was released this week, in theaters, on DVD, and as a digital download.

My sense is that the first episode (10 mins long), along with some songs, a trailer, some behind the scenes video, and a mess of still photos and storyboards, is a pretty good mix of stuff to offer for free. And I also like the mix of various packages at different price points that they've set up when you're ready to buy.

But would "Stingray" do better if the first five episodes were given away free, and the rest were paid downloads? What about if everything was free, supported by ads? Hard to know unless you try it -- and trying it entails taking a risk on revenues.

I think filmmakers will help one another, serving as guideposts, if they share actual revenue figures on their experiments with free vs. paid. And not enough do that. (Three counter-examples are Hunter Weeks, Morgan Spurlock, and Gary Hustwit.)

What do you think?

Disney's CEO, YouTube's Founder, and Wired's Editor Debate the Future of Monetizing Content

2009-09-11T10:33:00.010-04:00

"The Digital Chiefs," a lunch panel earlier this week organized by the Hollywood Radio & Television Society, was one of the best conversations about digital media I've been to in a long while.

That was primarily due to the organizer's choice of a moderator: Disney chief executive Bob Iger. Having Iger asking the questions offered a really interesting window into what's on the mind of at least one major media CEO.

And that was mainly how Disney and other media companies will earn money from their content.

Iger's panelists were Wired editor Chris Anderson, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, and Jonathan Miller, chief digital officer at News Corp.

I'm posting some audio (a little quiet, but listenable) below, along with a few rough notes from the discussion.

My notes:

can

Free

search.twitter.com

I left a bit before the panel was over to head to a meeting, but here's more coverage of the panel from the LA Times' "Company Town" blog and from Variety. (Seems like I didn't miss much...)

And here's a 30-minute audio segment from the panel (just click play below, or download the MP3 file.) Bob Iger is the first and last to speak in this clip.

Photo of Chad Hurley and Bob Iger, above, courtesy of Getty Images.

What Percentage of DVDs Are Rented Today Through Vending Machines?

2009-09-07T08:48:00.003-04:00

The NY Times covers the dispute between the studios and Redbox today. (Just to recap, the studios worry that dirt-cheap $1 rentals via kiosks will hurt their DVD sales and even could put a crimp on VOD and digital downloads... and so they're trying to withhold DVDs from Redbox until four weeks after their initial DVD release.)

But there's this interesting tidbit in the story about where the DVD rental business stands today:

I didn't realize that vending machines and Netflix now represent the majority of the DVD rental biz....

Are the MPAA's Lawyers Already Onto This Dude?

2009-09-05T17:02:00.000-04:00

Perusing some reviews of the new Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera, I stumbled across this astonishingly honest one by S. Lakshmi:

5) Recording movies in the local multiplex without arousing suspicion

Glad that multiplex bootleggers are conscientious enough to post their product reviews on Amazon...

Talking FFF...At DocMovies, Directors Notes, and DIY Days

2009-09-04T11:44:00.004-04:00

Continuing to try to spread the word about Fans, Friends and Followers...

Recently published are:

- An interview with DocMovies. Here's the very last part of that Q&A (also available in Hebrew.):

- The Directors Notes podcast from the UK, hosted by MarBelle.

- My talk from DIY Days Philadelphia, on August 1st:

Many more great videos from that event are available here.

Why Disney Bought Marvel

2009-09-01T15:18:00.004-04:00

Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times has an interesting take on why Disney paid $4 billion this week for Marvel Entertainment and its stable of 5,000 comic book characters. (Here's the NY Times story on the deal.)

Goldstein writes:

What do you think?

Kickstarter: New Site for Crowd-Funding Projects

2009-08-25T17:27:00.004-04:00

We've been following various sites for a while that aim to help film and video folks raise money for their projects. One of the newest entrants is Kickstarter, which seems to be open to any sort of film/video/music/art project.

They're featured in the New York Times today. From the piece:

There's also more in a blog post on the Times' Web site.

Unfortunately, right now you have to be based in the US to use Kickstarter, and you have to get an invitation from some unknown source. Clearly, they don't want the site flooded with more projects that their donors can support... which seems smart. (They also aren't taking a percentage out of the money that gets donated just yet.)

Exploring Tectonic Media Shifts, Later This Month

2009-08-14T14:49:00.006-04:00

I'm looking forward to the big, biennial NAMAC conference being held in Boston later this month, August 26-29.

(To the uninitiated, NAMAC is the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture, a group of organizations dedicated to "the independent moving image arts, or what we call the 'media arts.'")

I'll be running a workshop (hopefully a very interactive, useful, high-energy one) on Friday, August 28th about the challenges of cultivating audiences and generating revenue in the digital age.

We're in the midst of a major tectonic shift in the way media is produced and consumed, and the conference will address a lot of the big questions that are being raised by this shift -- questions that I often blog about here.

Questions like...

- What kinds of content are people watching, and what platforms are they watching it on?
- What makes content 'go viral'?
- How do viewers want to participate with content-makers?
- How do you get viewers to do something after they've viewed your content?
- What is the relationship between content and social networks?

The event brings to Boston some very smart, forward-looking people, including Wendy Levy from BAVC, filmmaker and media prof Brad Lichtenstein, Tamara Gould from ITVS, Joaqin Alvarado from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris. (And, I'm sure, many others whom I just haven't yet met.) I'm looking forward to it...

For locals interested in attending the conference, there is a $75 day rate (and a $50 student rate.)

It's Not Quite Coppola Talking About the Fat Girl and Mozart, But...

2009-08-13T09:38:00.004-04:00

Lots of people remember this sorta bizarre prediction from Francis Ford Coppola about the democratization of film, when he says that cheap video cameras will allow just about anyone to make movies: "Some fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart, you know, and make a beautiful film with her little father's camera."

Peter Jackson has his own riff on democratization in an interview published today by Reuters to promote "District 9," which he produced.:

The Internet Rewards Authenticity (Not Fakery)

2009-08-09T13:36:00.004-04:00

One topic I find myself discussing with all kinds of creative folks these days is how the Internet rewards authenticity. Even when the production values are so low as to be subterranean... people can sense when something is for real, and they gravitate to it.

Check out these two marriage-related videos, one shot at an actual wedding with a single, shaky handheld camera, and one staged by Disney executives to spread the message that their theme parks are a great place to get engaged (and shot with multiple cameras).

Authentic:
"JK Wedding Entrance Dance" - 19+ million views (several different copies of the video are posted on YouTube)

Fake:
"Disneyland Musical Marriage Proposal" - 1.6 million views
(I'm a Disney fan, and this is a little too cheese-a-rific even for me...)

Interestingly, the "JK Wedding" couple also got invited to perform on NBC's "Today Show", which reaches more than 4 million viewers. (But somehow, the "Today Show" reprise feels inauthentic.)

What do you think?

What Happens to DVD Extras in the Digital Age?

2009-08-08T14:13:00.003-04:00

One interesting phenomenon of the DVD era is how much bonus material is often packed onto the disc: from "making of" documentaries to Q&As at film festivals to director's commentary to fan-generated content. Blu-ray DVDs come with even more goodies.

But one question I've been thinking about lately is: what happens to all this stuff in an era when most people consume movies as digital downloads, sent directly to a PC, mobile phone, or TV?

You'll notice that when you download or rent a movie today from iTunes, Amazon, or Movielink, you're getting the feature only. There's no way to buy, for instance, Robert Rodriguez's fun "Ten Minute Film School" and "Ten Minute Cooking School" videos that have shown up on his DVDs. You can get commentary from Francis Ford Coppola on the Blu-ray release of the "Godfather" trilogy, but not when you download "The Godfather" from Amazon's video-on-demand department.

Here are two scenarios. I'm curious what you think (and perhaps you envision other scenarios):

Scenario #1:

All of these goodies that are today DVD extras eventually become available on the Internet for free. They're used to help market the original theatrical release of the film and get people into theaters, or later to get persuade to purchase or rent the digital version. (Remember, this is a world where DVDs are fading into the sunset.)

Scenario #2:

Some of the goodies become available on the Internet to market the movie in advance of its release. But some expensive-to-produce, in-depth pieces of content (like a great "making of" documentary, or an interview with an ordinarily reclusive director) carry a price tag. For an extra buck on your digital rental (or an extra two bucks on top of the download-to-own price), you might get this bonus material. Or, you might buy it a la carte for a couple bucks after you've seen and enjoyed the movie.

Here are a couple of interesting examples of content that's circulating on the Internet to promote movies, which just a few years ago would've only existed on DVD.

- Maurice Sendak talks with director Spike Jonze about how the book "Where the Wild Things Are" was originally received. Intended to promote Jonze's "Wild Things" feature film, which is coming out this October.

- William H. Macy and Kate Micucci sing "It's Time to Get Laid" (and play ukelele!) to promote the DVD release of the indie comedy "Bart Got a Room."

What do you think? I certainly would like to see filmmakers find a way to earn extra revenue from the extra stuff they produce -- but perhaps it'll be just as valuable as an engine that helps drive ticket or download sales.

The Four Kinds of Fans

2009-08-04T12:05:00.005-04:00

One of the biggest questions circulating at DIY Days Philadelphia last Saturday was, how do you spur your fans to actually do something? Once someone has joined your Facebook fan group, friended you on MySpace, or started following you on Twitter, how can you actually get them to buy a ticket, a DVD, a download, or some merch?

An important starting step, I'd suggest, is to start thinking about four different kinds of fans.

1. The Impulse Fan. The impulse fan sees a video you've made, or hears about your band from their roommate, and signs up to follow you on Twitter or joins your Facebook group. This fan will never do anything else -- ever. They are good only for your ego: yesterday, you had 1000 followers on Twitter, and today you have 1001.

2. The Prospective / Occasional Fan. The prospective fan is someone who can be lured out to a show or screening, or convinced to buy a new CD/DVD, but with some effort. You may need to dangle free samples. You may need to offer a free ticket to a pre-release, top-secret, underground album listening party. You may need to mention that there will be free, limited edition t-shirts given to the first 25 people who show up. The prospective fan can be activated, with a little creative strategizing. They can be "converted" into an occasional fan, showing up every once in a while to your events or buying a book or digital album download every couple years. And they may even be transformed over time into a True Fan.

3. The True Fan. Kevin Kelly defined the True Fan as "someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name." A True Fan will follow what you're doing on your own site, your blog, your Twitter feed -- wherever you choose to communicate. You shouldn't ignore their care and feeding, but these fans have already been activated.

4. The Super Fan. The Super Fan is a True Fan who is willing to help you out in some way. In Fans, Friends & Followers, the singer-songwriter Jill Sobule says she has a super fan who built and helps manage her Web site. Cartoonist Dave Kellett talks about super fans who have given him a lift from the airport in their city to a local event, or have been willing to accept shipments of books on his behalf and cart them to a book signing. Jonathan Coulton says that super fans have helped him find a great concert venue in which to perform. Super Fans, if you ask nicely (and offer them copious thanks and credit) will post flyers for you in their city, or point you to the best bar for a post-screening cast party.

I don't purport to have discovered all of the keys as to how you activate Prospective / Occasional Fans. But two things are certainly essential: making them feel part of your circle, and that you're grateful for their support. Incentives and discounts and give-aways can help. So can events that feel special, secret, unique, limited in space, or invitation-only.

What do you think the typical breakdown is between these four types of fans, for the typical artist? Just to throw something out that you might think about, I'd suggest:

- 25 percent Impulse Fans,
- 50 percent Prospective / Occasional Fans,
- 20 percent True Fans, and
- 5 percent Super Fans.

I welcome your comments below. If you'd like to read another take on different types of fans, here's a blog post from music industry guru Jason Feinberg.

Pixel Pitch: $10,000 for Your Cross-Media Project

2009-08-03T11:20:00.003-04:00

Power to the Pixel conference director Liz Rosenthal e-mailed recently to you all know that the deadline is approaching for this year's Pixel Pitch. It's a chance to win nearly $10,000 (£6,000) for your cross-media project.

Apply by Friday, August 14th to be eligible.

And good luck!

Power to the Pixel also offers this interesting essay on "The Extended Reality of Cross-Media Storytelling." It begins:

Audio: Talking to Chuck Tryon, Author of 'Reinventing Cinema'

2009-07-22T21:58:00.005-04:00

Over the last week, I've been reading the really excellent new book "Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Media Convergence." The author is Chuck Tryon, a professor at Fayetteville State University who also runs the always-enjoyable Chutry Experiment blog.

We caught up by phone yesterday for a conversation about some of the ways that new technologies are changing cinema. Among the topics we covered:

- The shift from print to digital movie criticism
- Will studios remain power players in the future?
- With democratizing technology, will there simply be too many movies available from up-and-coming indie filmmakers?
- The notion of the "endless film" - the movie that is never finished (with a hat-tip to Ted Hope)
- Can filmmakers ever transcend their desire for total control over their product?

You can download the MP3 (it runs just under 20 minutes) here, or just click "play" below.

From the publisher's official overview of the book...

A New Record Label Aims to Give Artists a Fair Shake

2009-07-22T11:04:00.004-04:00

Radiohead's manager, Brian Message, is part of a group creating a new record label, Polyphonic, that'll let artists keep half of the profits they generate, emphasize digital distribution, and perhaps experiment in ways similar to Radiohead's "Name Your Own" price initiative. Polyphonic has $20 million of funding so far.

Here's coverage from New Music Express, The Telegraph, and today's New York Times.

The Times writes:

Interesting approach.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a Web site for Polyphonic. Could this digitally-savvy crew really have started to promote their company before launching a Web site? (This MySpace page for Polyphonic Records does not seem to be theirs.)

So let's play the game "Find the Web Site." Who'll be first?

Worth Reading This Monday: Turning Distribution Upside-Down... Make More Movies?...Redbox + Studios

2009-07-20T11:35:00.004-04:00

- Filmmaker and futurist John Ott has this very thought-provoking post on what would happen if theatrical screenings became the equivalent of concert tours, and if movies were released in other formats first to build up demand for those screenings. Ott writes:

- The media analyst firm SNL Kagan apparently concluded that studios should make more movies, not fewer. (Something CinemaTech has been advocating for a few years now...) In a scenario based on 611 major studio releases between 2004 and 2008, a 15-movie slate would have done much better than slates with just five or ten titles.

- Interesting Wall Street Journal piece today on the relationship between Redbox and the studios. The central question is, will Redbox cannibalize DVD sales? From Sarah McBride's piece:

Worth Reading: Crowdsourced Animation...AMPAS Rules & The Internet...'United Breaks Guitars'...The Etsy Economy, And More

2009-07-16T15:44:00.006-04:00

A bunch of great stuff to point you to... some of which I've tweeted about earlier in the week...

- Sony Pictures is going to handle theatrical distribution of a crowd-sourced animated short called "Live Music" this November, from the start-up company Mass Animation. The budget was about $1 million (spent on what, exactly?), and 51 people around the world contributed shots; each was paid $500 (that adds up to about $25,000 of the budget) and will get a credit on the film. Here's the press release, the Mass Animation Facebook page is here (they don't seem to have a corporate site), and the teaser is below:

-Filmmaker Noah Harlan has this thoughtful rant about the Academy's Rule 12, which limits experiments with day-and-date releasing (at least if you want to be Oscar-eligible.) The rule says: "No type of television or Internet transmission of a contending documentary feature may occur anywhere in the world until 60 days after the completion of the New York and Los Angeles seven-day qualifying runs.” Here's an earlier Deadline Hollywood post on the issue.

- Some analysis of the impact of the music video "United Breaks Guitars" (worth watching if you haven't seen it) -- a customer complaint about United Airlines that turned into a viral hit.

- Fortune Small Business looks at the online crafts marketplace Etsy, where a few artists earn six figures annually -- but most are still working day jobs.

- Adam Chapnick points us to this important explanation of how to create "overlays" on your YouTube videos -- for instance, to suggest to viewers that they buy your DVD/CD/book.

- I'm a big Steely Dan fan, and I love the approach they're taking on their summer tour: playing some "Internet Request" concerts, where the entire set-list will be determined by fans.

Calling All Creatives: DIY Days Philadelphia Happens August 1st

2009-07-14T08:01:00.004-04:00

If you're in Pennsylvania, DC, NYC, or the environs... consider being part of DIY Days Philadelphia, on Saturday August 1st. The one previous DIY Days event I've participated in was phenomenal -- and it's free (but you do need to RSVP to hold a slot.)

Here's the scoop:

Registration is now open

Video demo: Stereo speakers that can be layered atop a flat-panel display

2009-07-13T11:01:00.005-04:00

From Emo Labs, a way to "layer" stereo speakers on top of a flat-panel display with a thin sheet of plastic:

(via Forbes.)

The Redbox Experience

2009-07-13T07:46:00.004-04:00

I rented two movies from my local Redbox kiosk in the past week ('Rachel Getting Married' and 'Marley & Me' -- the latter chosen by my spouse, I feel compelled to add). I used a free credit coupon that you can get from their Web site for 'Rachel,' and we paid $1 for a one-night rental of 'Marley.'

Here's my take:

- Redbox is a classic low-end disruptor, as "Innovator's Dilemma" author Clay Christensen would call it. They are attacking the video market with a cheap price, and targeting the mass market, where video selection is not all that important -- they just want the big hits. (Each Redbox kiosk stocks 200 titles.) It's cheaper, even, than renting an on-demand movie from the cable company.

- The selection ain't bad. Our local kiosk had at least four or five titles that seemed worth watching, and I don't feel like my tastes would qualify as "mainstream."

- I wonder if movies stop showing up on the kiosk's screen when they're not available. Hard to tell how easy or hard it is to rent hot new releases from the kiosks. (Perhaps you'll comment.)

- Are you old enough to remember the early days of ATMs, when banks that had them only had one, and customers weren't very familiar with how they worked? Redbox is like that. Since there's one kiosk, if you get in line behind someone, you may be waiting a while. Similarly, if you're at the kiosk and want to spend a few minutes considering the choices, you may feel rushed by someone tapping their foot behind you. (That, my wife explained, was what resulted in 'Marley & Me.')

- The experience was perfectly pleasant, though I would've liked to see some star ratings or reviewers' comments attached to each movie description. Even if you returned a movie a day or two late, you'd still be paying just $2 or $3 for the rental, and wouldn't feel like you'd been fleeced.

- My local Redbox is near the exit from the grocery store. They're going to get people to rent movies on nights when they might not have stopped by the video store. So this will "steal" some time from TV and pay-per-view.

- With 15,400 kiosks already up and running, and one new one being installed every hour, Redbox is also gonna kill plenty of local video stores and hurt the surviving chains. After our first rental, my wife said, "Let's not use this again. I don't want the local place to go out of business." (And we're already Netflix subscribers, visiting the local video store 6-8 times a year at most...)

Your thoughts?

From 1995: Esther Dyson on Monetizing Creative Content

2009-07-12T09:06:00.004-04:00

There's a review of Chris Anderson's new book 'Free' in the NY Times today that references a fifteen-year old article (in Wired, it turns out, which Anderson now edits) by Esther Dyson, the investor and tech forecaster.

I tracked down the original piece, 'Intellectual Value,' published in July 1995, and it is an incredible read (you might call it a book proposal for Anderson's book, written a decade and a half early).

Dyson wrote:

It's an amazing piece of futurism.

Update: Virginia Postrel, author of the book review that ran yesterday, points us to the original version of Dyson's essay, which ran in her Release 1.0 newsletter in December 1994. It includes this pretty scary (and prescient?) passage:

Thursday Goodies: Porn as a leading indicator, Netflix prize, Distribution roulette podcast, and more...

2009-07-09T07:42:00.005-04:00

- It's always fun to debate whether porn is a "leading indicator" for the way other media will go.... and this NY Times story will get you thinking. Given that much of the porn industry is abandoning narrative for short, "chunkified" content, is that the wave of the future? From the piece:

- Seems like a team of programmers has managed to improve Netflix's movie recommendation algorithm by more than 10 percent, potentially winning the $1 million Netflix prize.

- CineVegas just posted this great distribution podcast, where a panel of experts talk about how they'd handle distribution of several different kinds of indie films, like an "edgy, sexy film," a "subculture doc," or a "quirky character doc." (You can read IndieWire's summary of the panel, too.)

- Here's an interesting read on why Hulu succeeded in attracting an audience, while other sites like Veoh and Joost didn't. I'd note that Hulu still isn't a notable financial success, given the cost to produce all that network programming (nor is YouTube.)

- The LA Times is reporting from the annual Allen & Co. Sun Valley summer camp for media moguls, where at least some of the talk is about monetizing content.

- I did an interview to promote Fans, Friends & Followers with the music site zed equals zee, Their first question:

Does Length Matter? ... Distribution Strategy for 'Lovely by Surprise' ... A First Film for Cinetic Film Buff

2009-07-07T20:46:00.004-04:00

- This piece from yesterday's NY Times suggests that attention spans on the Web are getting longer (though the average video is still just 3.4 minutes in duration). Microsoft blogger Don Dodge offers more on length, based on a recent chat with MTV executive David Gale. Dodge writes:

- I wonder what the turn-out was like today at the 88 movie theaters that offered a live simulcast of the Michael Jackson memorial service.

- Jake Abraham has a nifty piece on Filmmaker Magazine's Web site. (Abraham was part of the founding team at InDigEnt Entertainment.) He writes:

- Anne Thompson reports that 'New Orleans Mon Amour' will be the first film distributed by Cinetic Film Buff, a new cable VOD service. No info about Film Buff on Cinetic Media's 1997-era Web site, but there is a Twitter feed.

Video: Forecasting the Future of Public Media, from Silverdocs

2009-07-01T12:11:00.003-04:00

Pat Aufderheide, the brainiac who runs the Center for Social Media at American University, put together a fun panel at Silverdocs last month to try to forecast the future of public media. The video is now available here. Responding to Pat's scary/fascinating/hopeful scenarios for the next five years were:

The video below is the first segment... not sure if the other segments will play automatically... but the entire session ran about 90 minutes. That should supply plenty of Holiday Weekend Viewing Pleasure.

Can Yoostar Spark a Movie Karaoke Craze?

2009-06-30T13:27:00.005-04:00

Next month, Yoostar will start selling a $169 system that includes a camera, green screen, and software that will put you into well-known movie scenes. Once the automagic compositing is done, you can share the resulting video with friends on Facebook or other sites. (It's like blending the offline ego trip of karaoke with the online ego trip of social networking!)

From Variety's coverage:

(The game Rock Band, incidentally, has sold more than 40 million song downloads since its release -- so this actually could be an interesting new revenue stream for rights-holders... if it takes off.)

Forbes has more coverage. Here are two videos, the first a demo of the system, and the second a look at what the results can look like, starring Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association.

Weekend Reading: Making $19,000 on Twitter, Broderick's Distribution Bulletin, Finding Your Built-In Audience, Gigantic Goof

2009-06-27T09:52:00.006-04:00

Some stuff worth reading this weekend...

- Mike King's blog on the music business has this incredible post about how Amanda Palmer, a member of the band Dresden Dolls, earned $19,000 on Twitter in ten hours.

- Peter Broderick's latest distribution bulletin focuses on Timo Vuorensola, the Finnish filmmaker and crowd-sourcing pioneer, now working on 'Iron Sky.' It also includes a link to the complete Vuorensola interview from 'Fans, Friends & Followers.' You can subscribe to Peter's distribution bulletin via e-mail right here.

- Chris Thilk at Movie Marketing Madness riffs on and adds to a post I wrote earlier this month about how filmmakers should approach the challenge of building an online audience. It's great stuff...

- There is apparently some new online marketplace for indie films called Gigantic, according to Variety. The geniuses behind this service, unfortunately, don't own the domain Gigantic.com and also don't show up when you search for Gigantic. I'm sure it will be an astounding success. Go check it out (if you can find it, put a link in the comments.)

Netflix vs. Redbox

2009-06-23T08:24:00.004-04:00

Interesting article in yesterday's New York Times about the growing competition between Netflix and Redbox, the DVD-rental kiosk business that is owned by Coinstar.

Amazing facts: a Redbox kiosk stocks 200 titles (mostly new releases). They have more than 15,400 kiosks operating today, and are adding one new kiosk every hour. The president of Redbox is an ex-Netflix executive, Mitch Lowe.

I see Redbox's kiosks threatening local video stores more than Netflix...given that you still have to pay a $1 fee for every day the movie is late... and given that renting from Redbox, like the video store, requires a trip in the car (rather than just a trip to the mailbox.) Netflix is auto-magic; Redbox requires effort. (Not to mention Netflix's movie streaming service, which is pretty solid -- a good way to either sample movies you might want to watch on DVD, or watch entire movies if you don't care that much about resolution.)

But I'm surprised by some of the titles Redbox carries, like 'Waltz with Bashir,' 'W,' 'Religulous,' and 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.' You can also reserve a DVD on the Web site, to make sure it's still available at your closest kiosk when you arrive.

Have you tried Redbox yet? Do you use it regularly? What's the experience like?

(Update: The Wall Street Journal just posted a great story about Netflix's strategy that references Redbox.)

Keynote at LA Film Fest's Financing Conference: Endgame Entertainment CEO & Director James Stern

2009-06-20T18:15:00.005-04:00

The LA Film Festival's Financing Conference started this morning with a great keynote from James Stern, CEO of Endgame Entertainment, and director of the recent doc 'Every Little Step.' IndieWire has the full text of his address, but here are four big ideas that stuck with me -- along with a ten-minute audio clip where Stern talks about niche marketing, 'the App Store effect,' handheld devices, and turning your film into an impulse buy.

The audio:

Here's the MP3 file, or just click play below.

The Second Most Important Question a Filmmaker Can Ask

2009-06-19T07:58:00.003-04:00

I had some great conversations with documentary filmmakers earlier this week at SilverDocs, and look forward to more stimulating debate at the LA Film Fest's Financing Conference tomorrow.

At SilverDocs, I suggested that there are two important questions filmmakers need to ask during the process of making a film. Filmmakers already ask the first one, constantly: will you give me money to help make my movie?

But the second one -- just as important -- isn't one that most filmmakers know about, or ask often enough.

Here it is: what groups, online communities, blogs, Web sites, or non-profits do you think would be interested in this film?

I think you should ask that of everyone you meet: your cinematographer ... your investors ... your screenwriter ... your prop master ... everyone you interview for a documentary. And keep a list of their answers.

You will discover that there are magazines, blogs, fan communities, and organizations with millions of members that you should build relationships with. Let them know what you are working on. Get them (and their audiences) involved in some way -- as you are making the movie. Give them sneak peeks as you are in post-production. Give them a trailer or early cut to show at their annual convention. Enlist their help in spreading the word once you're on the festival circuit or in theatrical release. Do ticket and DVD give-aways to get their communities buzzing.

You ought to be asking this second question throughout the process of making your movie because that will help you discover who the most powerful taste-makers are, online and off. People you encounter who know these bloggers and publishers and non-profit presidents will make introductions to them for you. That's something that no amount of Googling during the post-production phase can do, unfortunately.

What's the benefit of all this? Rather than building a great Web site and then trying desperately to get people to come to it, you'll have created powerful connections to people who already have an audience, and can tell that audience about your project.

There would be no movie if you weren't good at asking question #1: will you give me money?

And there won't be much of an audience if you aren't good at asking question #2.

(Of course, these two vital questions pertain to the business of making and marketing movies. I acknowledge that when it comes to the art of cinema, there are lots of important questions, starting with, "What do I need to do to tell a great story?")

Two from the LA Times

2009-06-16T20:06:00.003-04:00

Two pieces on the digital media future that ran in the LA Times this week:

'Hollywood hits the stop button on high-profile Web video efforts' and 'Digital technology and dollar signs' (an op-ed piece I wrote.)

From the first piece, by Ben Fritz and Dawn Chmielewski:

It mentions the recent shut-down of 60Frames Entertainment, Disney's Stage 9 Digital studio, and earlier failures like NBC's DotComedy Web site and SuperDeluxe.

Meanwhile, in my piece, I argue that perhaps Hollywood hasn't been experimental enough with the Web, or taken users' behavioral changes seriously enough. (The top talent in Hollywood still wants to make feature-length, big budget content for cinemas, I'd argue...not short clips for mobile phones.)

From that piece:

Your thoughts?

Monday Links: New Movie Review Aggregator, Mark Cuban @ D7, New Distribution Venture, and the Ransom Model of Fundraising

2009-06-15T09:42:00.006-04:00

- The NY Times ran a story on Saturday about a new site aggregating movie reviews, started by David A. Gross, a former marketing exec at 20th Century Fox. It's called Movie Review Intelligence. I found it pretty useful...

- There are a bunch of great videos from the Wall Street Journal's D7 conference earlier this month, including interviews with NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, the founders of Twitter, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, and Mark Cuban. (There's also a video interview and several performances by Jill Sobule, one of the stars of Fans, Friends & Followers.) Definitely worth checking out...

- The Times writes today about a new distribution venture for movies with budgets up to $10 million, called DF Indie Studios. Behind the launch are Mary Dickinson and Charlene Fisher.

From the Times' piece:

- Ross Payton is a designer of role-playing games who also hosts the video podcast Raillery. He read Fans, Friend & Followers, and wrote in to share the story of his success in raising money via the "ransom" model. More about that here.

Kinda Bizarre Audience-Building Strategy: Come to My Apartment

2009-06-14T19:30:00.002-04:00

Interesting approach to audience-building: requiring fans to make a pilgrimage to experience a given work.

Check out this Wall Street Journal story about the only way you can hear a Sufjan Stevens song called "The Lonely Man of Winter." The rights to the song are owned by Alec Duffy, who won it in a contest. You can't hear it online, and you can't buy it on a CD.

From the story:

All Your Questions, Answered

2009-06-09T19:29:00.003-04:00

I had fun today doing a live Webcast (which will eventually be on iTunes) about building an audience and a business model in the digital age. It was hosted by PermissionTV, and they took a number of questions via Twitter. (I also gave away a couple copies of Fans, Friends & Followers to a few lucky viewers.)

But we didn't get to all the questions during the hour-long Webcast, so here are some quick takes on other questions. (Please add your thoughts...)

Q. bobwoolsey: What is the best way to get advertisers for programs?

A. If you can sell ads or sponsorships to companies on your own, that's going to let you pocket the most money. Otherwise, you can have Google or another ad sales firm (like Brightroll, Blip.tv, or ScanScout) place ads in or around your video and cut you in on a portion of the revenue.

Q. kellyannlive: Is there a good balance between providing valuable content for your "fans" and letting them run the show?

A. I think this will be different for everyone. Some people, like Matt Hanson with 'Swarm of Angels', seem to enjoy creating content in collaboration with the community. Others will want to pick specific tasks, like when Jonathan Coulton invited his fans to submit a solo for the song 'Shop-Vac.' How much you want to let fans do is entirely up to you.

Q. marcaross: do blogs still matter?

A. Obviously, I think so. There are some people I enjoy hearing from in bursts longer than 140 characters. Blogs are also indexed by Google... which is not as true with messages on Twitter and some social networking sites.

Q. jonarcher: Wondering what the difference is b/n #kirsner's FF&F model and the 1000 True Fans model.

A. I like Kevin Kelly's "1000 True Fans" idea, although there has been considerable debate about the sorts of artists it will work for. With my Fans, Friends & Followers research, I certainly was trying to explore the same terrain as Kevin -- how does this new relationship with fans work, and how can you earn a living? -- by talking to people I identified as pioneers, and analyzing some of the lessons they've learned.

Q. MichaelKolowich: @scottkirsner Can you comment on need for good production values in web video? Do they matter? Someday, a "flight to quality"?

A. I think Web video is always going to have an aesthetic that's different from broadcast TV, in part because it needs to grab your attention in a short period of time, and in part because lower production values can feel more intimate and authentic. So far, the number of pixels doesn't seem to have mattered much -- but decent lighting and sound are always nice. Lately, I have been thinking that if we start watching Web video on our TV sets in a couple years, that will change and HD will be important.

Q. bobwoolsey: What is the easiest way to get to the book?

A. Google works, or you can visit this page to find out how to buy it as a paperback, PDF, or Kindle download.

The Digital 25: Visionaries & Innovators, according to the Producers Guild

2009-06-09T11:18:00.004-04:00

Check out the interesting list below, released yesterday by the Producers Guild of America.

Some great names on it, but for a list that aims to recognize people who "have made the most significant contributions to the advancement of digital entertainment and storytelling over the past year," I'm not sure I'd still have the founders of YouTube, MySpace, or Second Life on there... (but I did learn about Mass Animation, a cool crowd-sourced animation company, headed by ex-Sony Pictures exec Yair Landau, from the list.)

THE DIGITAL 25:

-- Sandy Climan, Steve Schklair, Jon Shapiro, & Peter Shapiro, Co-founders -- 3ality Digital
-- Jeff Bezos, CEO -- Amazon (Amazon Kindle)
-- Steve Jobs, CEO -- Apple computer (iPhone)
-- Henry Selick, Creator/Director -- CORALINE
-- Alex Albrecht & Kevin Rose, Co-founders -- Diggnation
-- Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO -- DreamWorks Animation Studios
-- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO -- Facebook
-- Seth MacFarlane, founder -- Fuzzy Door Productions
-- Jason Kilar, CEO -- HULU
-- Roger Guyett (Visual Effect supervisor), Mike Sanders (Digital Supervisor) and Steve Sullivan (CTO) -- Industrial Light & Magic
-- Evan Spiridellis & Gregg Spiridellis, Co-founders -- JibJab
-- Jason Goldberg & Ashton Kutcher, Co-founders -- Katalyst Media
-- Yair Landau, Founder -- Mass Animation
-- Tom Anderson & Chris DeWolfe, Co-founders -- MySpace
-- Fred Seibert, Creative Director -- Next New Networks
-- Shigeru Miyamoto, Video Game Designer -- Nintendo
-- James Cameron, Chairman and CEO -- Lightstorm Entertainment
-- Ed Catmull (President), Pete Docter (Director of UP), John Lasseter (EVP, Creative), Jim Morris (GM & EVP, Production), Andrew Stanton (Director & VP, Creative) -- Pixar Animation Studios
-- Laura Michalchyshyn, President/General Manager -- Planet Green
-- Jonathan Kaplan, Founder -- Pure Digital
-- Jim Jannard, Founder -- RED digital Cinema
-- Sam Houser, founder/director -- Rockstar Games
-- Philip Rosedale, Co-founder -- Second Life
-- Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone & Evan Williams, Co-founders -- Twitter
-- Steve Chen & Chad Hurley, Co-founders -- YouTube

Audio: Sunday's Panel on 'Where Film & Internet Collide' at the Apple Store SoHo

2009-06-08T08:45:00.005-04:00

There was a really great crowd at the Apple Store SoHo yesterday for the panel that IndieGoGo organized about how the Internet is changing production, promotion, and distribution.

A bunch of folks had Flip cams (and other cameras) in the audience, so if you recorded video of some of the panel, do post a link to it in the comments here.

I've got some rough audio (listenable, but recorded on my iPhone) of the entire panel, which runs 90 minutes. Slava Rubin of IndieGoGo talks first, then me, then Gary Hustwit, Noah Harlan, and Chris Roberts (just to give you a feel for people's voices.) Gary makes docs... Noah does narrative and transmedia stuff... Chris mostly narrative.

You can read some tweets from the panel here. Some interesting tidbits: we talked about how to promote your film on Twitter, various funding and business models for film and Web video series, and how much life the DVD still has in it (doc-maker Gary Hustwit predicted that this is the last year he'll make DVDs for his films, and speculated about a really nicely-designed USB drive that would contain one of his films.) We also bashed iTunes a bit for being so impenetrable to indie film and video folks who'd like to sell their work there.

My favorite tweet about the panel: "'Where Film & Internet Collide' panel is the MOST informative event at NYC#internetweek hands down..." I didn't attend other events at Internet Week, but I'm sure that person is right.

Here's the MP3 file, or just click play below.

'Fans, Friends & Followers' update: Events, Articles, and a Twebinar

2009-06-04T16:14:00.003-04:00

I'm spending a lot of time on the road in June to spread the word about 'Fans, Friends & Followers.' Maybe I'll see you on my travels?

Events:

- Tomorrow (Friday , June 5th), I'll be running a filmmaker pitch session at Making Media Now, put on by Filmmakers Collaborative

- This Sunday (June 7th), I'll be at the Apple Store in Soho to moderate a free panel on film funding, promotion, and distribution as part of Internet Week NY.

- On June 17th, I'll be at Silverdocs to run a Silver Session workshop on 'Building Big Audiences & Generating Revenue in the Digital World' (sign up is required, and space is limited), and also to participate in a panel on the future of public media.

- On June 20th, I'll be at the Los Angeles Film Festival to moderate a panel called 'Digital Distribution: The Future is Here, But Where is the Money?'

Articles:

- Kendall Whitehouse has just published a great interview with Kat Parsons, an LA singer-songwriter who is following some of the same strategies for connecting with fans (and enlisting their support) as I explore in the book.

- Chris Holland from B-Side interviewed me via e-mail about some of the challenges filmmakers face as they're forced to do more marketing, promotion, and social networking.

- Liz Rosenthal of Power to the Pixel posted about the book this week, including an MP3 link to the interview I did with documentarian Robert Greenwald, which is excerpted in the 'Fans, Friends & Followers.'

Twebinar:

- Next Tuesday (June 9th), I'm doing a "Twebinar" on cultivating an audience for your work and developing a successful business model, with PermissionTV. You'll see a live video feed at 2 PM EDT, and you'll be able to Tweet in your questions. (Hence, "Twebinar" instead of just "Webinar.") It's free, but you'll need to register here.

How Do You Discover Movies?

2009-06-03T14:45:00.003-04:00

Just a quick question for you...and perhaps you'll answer in the comments.

How do you discover new movies today, predominantly? If you think about the last few movies you've seen (whether in theaters, on DVD, via iTunes or BitTorrent), how did you hear about them? Was it via a Netflix suggestion, a Variety review, an e-mail or Tweet from a friend? (Or maybe even an old-school billboard or TV commercial?)

That is all - I'm eager to hear what you have to say.

(As for me, I think I mainly discover movies via reviews or stories in print media... from the NY Times to the New Yorker to Variety...though I hope to see a movie tonight that I discovered via Flixster, a nifty little app on my iPhone.)

Audio: Dan Bricklin on Piracy, Monetizing Content, and More

2009-06-02T13:52:00.004-04:00

Dan Bricklin is a technology pioneer who has a new book out called "Bricklin on Technology."

We talked last week about a few of the topics he addresses in the book, including how content will be monetized in the future, how creators (whether musicians, filmmakers, or software developers) ought to deal with piracy, and how Dan is promoting and selling his new book (including Twitter and YouTube). The MP3 is here, or you can just click 'Play' below. (It runs about 25 minutes.)

Imax: A digital transition, and smaller screens

2009-06-01T14:24:00.002-04:00

I hadn't been following the growing uproar (covered by Variety) over the smaller-size Imax screens that have been going in to multiplexes. There's even a site called Liemax that aims to help you discern "real" (giant) Imax locations from "fake" ones.

Here's a recent LA Times piece in which Imax's co-chairman says the company is considering sharing more info with consumers about screen size.

And there's this interesting stat in today's NY Times story on Imax:

Some Notes from the 2009 Producers Institute Opening Panel

2009-05-30T19:22:00.004-04:00

Really fun conversation this morning at the opening session of the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies, covering all things related to the evolution of documentary storytelling.

Lots of people have been Tweeting from the event using the tag "#pint09." While there wasn't a live video feed of the panel as promised, I'm told that recorded video will show up soon (and I'll link to it once it does.)

I blogged earlier about some of the topics we planned to cover. We got to about half of them.

A few random notes, mostly sparked by things the audience said:

1. If you focus too much on new technologies and communications platforms, like Twitter and iPhone apps and Facebook, you can risk missing a big chunk of your audience (unless your film is intended explicitly at people under 35.) What about people over 35? Filmmakers ought to think about making their film available and generating buzz in traditional places (like theaters, film fests, Netflix, and Amazon) as well as on the Interwebs, iTunes, mobile devices, house parties, etc.

2. A lot of filmmakers can get intimidated by how much there is to do in this new world of audience cultivation and digital distribution: so many new platforms, formats, and modes of interactivity. But I also think there are so many new ways that you can seek out help from people you've never met. Your creative crew can grow from five to fifty if you know how to ask for assistance and get people involved (with tools like wikis, Ning, and even simple blogs like this one). Of course, you also have to be open to the kind of ideas and contributions you get -- and be willing to give up a bit of control in exchange for getting pro bono assistance from folks around the world. (In Fans, Friends & Followers, Jonathan Coulton, Robert Greenwald, and Timo Vuorensola talk about their approaches to crowdsourcing.)

3. We need a good way to connect filmmakers with social media experts, for advice/guidance/collaboration. Even tech-savvy filmmakers can benefit from smart ideas about engaging the audience and getting them talking about your work... and many social media folks would love to sink their teeth into some substantial film projects. Perhaps this is a job for the 2009 edition of The Conversation, now sort of in the planning stages for NYC later this year.
(We're still trying to nail down the right venue.) But if there are other initiatives doing this sort of thing, let me know...

Great Video w/ Henry Jenkins on Participatory Culture & How Media is Changing

2009-05-29T14:08:00.002-04:00

Really worth watching... five-minute video by Niko Pereira featuring Henry Jenkins, MIT prof and author of "Convergence Culture."

Henry Jenkins on Transmedia - November 2009 from niko on Vimeo.

Gary Hustwit, Lance Weiler, Christopher Roberts, and Me ... Next Sunday at the Apple Store SoHo

2009-05-29T12:53:00.005-04:00

I'm psyched to be moderating a panel next weekend as part of Internet Week NY that will focus on changes in film funding, distribution and marketing.

Here's the event info on Facebook. It runs from 2:30 to 4 PM on June 7th at the Apple Store in SoHo, and it's free (though space is limited, and I'm told it was standing room only last year.)

Gary Hustwit (director of docs 'Helvetica' and the new 'Objectified') was a huge hit on my panel at SXSW this past March... Lance "Mr. Transmedia Experience" Weiler is always great... and I'm eager to meet Christopher Roberts, director of 'Up With Me'. (The panel is organized by the nice folks at IndieGoGo.)

Calling All Documentarians: Your Ideas About the Future of Doc Storytelling

2009-05-25T12:20:00.005-04:00

The great Wendy Levy of BAVC has asked me to moderate a panel this Saturday in San Francisco, for the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies. Here's the description and the list of panelists. I'd love to get your questions, comments, and predictions here -- and we'll weave them into the conversation Saturday morning as much as possible (with credit). I'm told the panel will be live streamed here.

Descrip and panelists:

Here are some of the topics I plan to bring up... feel free to respond or to add others in the comments below.

How to Lose $1.87 Million on YouTube

2009-05-25T08:22:00.003-04:00

Great article in today's NY Times about the Susan Boyle phenomenon -- and how it has generated zero online advertising revenue for the creators of "Britain's Got Talent."

From Brian Stelter's story:

The article cites an estimate that about $1.87 million in ad revenue would have been generated by the Susan Boyle videos so far. (Here's some background data about Boyle's audience reach online.)

What can you as a content creator do to avoid a similar fate? Set up an account with YouTube's Partner Program as soon as you can (once you've met their criteria), so that when and if you have a big hit of your own, you're earning some coin from it.

How Your Film is Like the Palm Pre, But Not Like the iPhone

2009-05-24T14:48:00.003-04:00

This story in today's NY Times about movie marketing got me thinking... in particular, there's one great quote at the end that I'll share in a second.

Most people making a movie imagine that they're like Steve Jobs and the iPhone. When they're done, they're going to exit the editing suite, unveil their wonderful film, and have the world suddenly care about it: film festivals will want to be the first to premiere it, theaters will be falling all over themselves to show it, and eventually, cable networks will want the rights to play it and consumers will be lining up to buy the DVD.

Isn't that how things always work for Steve Jobs and Apple? The merest hint that they're going to release a new product brings the entire media world scurrying to the company's doorstep.

But it just doesn't work that way for most filmmakers.

Instead, you ought to look at what Palm is doing with its new smartphone, the Pre (it'll go on sale next month.)

Palm started building up anticipation for the phone in January, with some very limited demos at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that led to glowing reviews. It has been building up anticipation: software developers say it's easy to create apps for the Pre, and tech publications have been evaluating its features and wondering how it will compare to the iPhone. Essentially, this is a product that has had six months of steady build up in advance of its release -- and a lot of marketing work on Palm's part.

That's the kind of work many indie filmmakers (and some studios, too) fail to do for a new movie. People ought to know it's coming, have a sense for what it's about, be excited about it, and have had opportunities to get involved with it ... all well before the release date.

Here's the quote from today's NY Times story:

That's a great insight. Products like the Pre, even with all their advance hype, don't have a week or two to succeed. They'll sit in phone stores for months or years waiting for consumers to discover them. That's not true of films -- and it's why a pre-release marketing strategy is incredibly important.

From Ted Hope: 38 Concerns for American Independent Film

2009-05-23T19:14:00.005-04:00

Producer Ted Hope has collected a list of 38 things he's worrying about - issues we need to deal with in order for quality indie film to have a future. It's well worth a read ... and the comments are great, too.

It begins:

(One of Hope's latest projects is 'Adventureland,' a really enjoyable trip back to the 1980s.)

From Cannes...

2009-05-20T19:56:00.003-04:00

A few quick links related to Cannes coverage: David Poland and Jeffrey Wells have some details on a panel that discussed how the Internet is changing film journalism. And Anthony Kaufman has some great stuff about how indie film financing is changing, also written from Cannes. That is all for now...

Doing It Right: Web Site for 'Herb and Dorothy'

2009-05-18T12:25:00.004-04:00

We occasionally look at movie Web sites here on CinemaTech and talk about what they're doing wrong. And sometimes we look at Web sites that are doing lots of things right.

Here's one that's worth a gander: the site for the documentary 'Herb and Dorothy', about two eccentric Manhattan art collectors who assembled a world-class collection on middle-class salaries.

Some of the things I like:

A few things they could do better:

Your thoughts? Trailer is below.

Film Funding Site IndieGoGo Hits $100K in Member Contributions

2009-05-18T10:41:00.005-04:00

Slava Rubin of IndieGoGo e-mailed last week to let me know that the film funding site has collected $100,000 so far from its members to support the production of independent films.

I asked the obvious question: how many films have been made -- and released -- so far with IndieGoGo support?

Here's what he said via e-mail (I added links, and the $ raised):

In Boston? Making Media Now Takes Place on June 5th

2009-05-12T15:33:00.004-04:00

The agenda looks great for this year's Making Media Now conference at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. The theme is "Surviving as a Filmmaker in Tough Times," and the speakers include Sandi DuBowski ('Trembling Before G-d'), Robert Greenwald ('Rethink Afghanistan') and Doug Blog ('51 Birch Street'). I'll be there for the tail end of the day, to moderate a filmmaker pitch/feedback session.

I've been to this event once before, and it seems to be the biggest and best annual gathering of filmmakers in the Boston area. The early registration rate expires May 21st. The conference is organized by Filmmakers Collaborative.

With No Promotion, New Soderbergh Film Debuts on Amazon.com

2009-05-06T11:57:00.004-04:00

Steven Soderbergh's 'The Girlfriend Experience' appeared as a $9.99 online rental on Amazon this week, three weeks before its theatrical debut. Variety blogger Ben Fritz asks why Magnolia, the pic's distributor, isn't making more of a fuss. Ben writes:

The first news of the digital release showed up on Gizmodo.

Live on HubSpot.tv, This Friday at 4 PM EST/1 PM PST

2009-05-06T11:49:00.003-04:00

Update:

Here's the video from the show:

I'll be a guest this Friday afternoon on HubSpot.tv, talking about how filmmakers and other artists are using social media -- and some of the insights from my book Fans, Friends & Followers. You can watch it live on Friday at 4 PM Eastern/1 PM Pacific, or you can find it on iTunes later as a podcast. HubSpot is a company here in Boston that creates tools for Internet marketing -- among them are a set of graders that will evaluate your Web site, Facebook profile, or Twitter stream. Definitely worth checking out...

You can send in questions during the show on Twitter, or post anything you think I ought to mention as a great tool or good artist case study in the comments below.

JibJab Video & Interview Excerpt

2009-05-04T19:25:00.002-04:00

Over on Andy Plesser's Beet.tv site (which covers the world of online video), they're running an excerpt from Fans, Friends & Followers that features JibJab founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, along with some video of Gregg that Andy shot last year.

Here's the video: