Author: Ted Hope
Today’s guest post (part 1 of 2) is by 2010 Brave Thinker Of Indie Film Sheri Candler.
I think I have been promising this post for a while, ever since I wrote the New Independent Filmmaker’s Business Model. If you haven’t read that post, give it a little peruse so you can see what I am on about. The key premise is that all artists should be building a tribe (a Seth Godin term as it relates to marketing) or an engaged audience for their work. One that transitions from one project to the next throughout your career and indeed your life. These supporters will be your friends, your evangelists, your patrons and if you cultivate this relationship, you will not have need to reach a mass in order to make a comfortable living. I have been thinking though that maybe the idea should be compared to a web.
In looking through some other advice on this, I can see why some can be turned off by the idea. It seems most of the advice focuses only on how to lure people in just so you can sell them something, kind of like how the spider spins her web. It’s a strategy I guess, but that isn’t what I am going to tell you to do here. I am a firm believer that self promotion is about helping other people. What I propose is offering value, sharing knowledge and genuinely wanting to connect with people and connect people you know who should know each other. Perhaps it is better described as a web, an interconnected community. One that you lead, but is dependent on everyone’s interactivity. To me that is much more palatable to an artist because it is authentic, no ulterior motive, which is refreshing in today’s society. But reciprocity does happen because it is really human nature to help someone who has helped you, in fact in this scenario, it is expected.
First elements to understand when constructing you community web:
Categories
Let’s Choose Our Future
We can determine the future. It is within our control, our power.
But you must decide, which reality do you want going forward? And you must act to bring that choice forward. It is a choice that effects not just your film, career, your company, or your national cultural industry, but this choice & your decision has global & long-lasting implications.
Door #1:
Massively centralized, corporate control of the funding, production, promotion, distribution, presentation, and appreciation of culture.
Door #2:
Creators & their collaborators being able to fully support themselves through their art & work, by aligning & collaborating with specifically defined and dedicated audiences.
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Demand Jafar Panahi’s Freedom
Filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years in prison, and twenty years without making films, contact with the press, or travel. Another filmmaker, Mohammad Rassoulov, has been likewise sentenced to six years in prison. They are both in Iran and sentenced by the court there. Artists and citizens everywhere must do all they can to prevent this attack on artistic freedom. The Cannes Film Festival and other organizations have started this petition that all should sign as soon as possible.
If your ability to earn a living as an Indie Filmmaker is not a big enough issue to catch your attention, how about considering that your freedom is at stake? What if you knew that the principal and practice of free speech was at risk, would that wake you up? How about if you knew that corporate interests were once again being favored over those of the people? Well, today is the day that all those things are happening, so whachagonnnado?
The FCC meets today and proposes regulations that could seriously undermine net neutrality. It generally appears that corporate interests are being looked after, and we are headed towards a tiered internet where providers can favor some content over others. Prepare to get really upset. Prepare to do something to fight back and protect a free and open internet.
Al Franken says it is the most important free speech issue of our time. VC fund, Union Square Ventures, recommends prohibiting “application-specific discrimination”, and that seems to make good sense.
You can watch it all live right here starting at 1030A EST.
Today’s guest post is by Orly Ravid of The Film Collaborative (TFC), the first non-profit, full service provider dedicated to the distribution of independent film. Orly was featured as one of HFF’s Brave Thinkers Of Indie Film, 2010.
* This is part 1 of 3 parts to this Sundance focused blog.
* Part 2 will be written during the festival.
* Part 3 will be written in the aftermath of the glow of the fest.
If I were a filmmaker going to Sundance, and let’s say that I had a film with no recognizable press-generating cast that would be attractive to a distribution company for a large MG… What would I do? Seriously, I asked myself that question. And I realized how tempted I would be, even I, to find some sexy publicists and rockstar agents or sales company so that I could get the hot sexy sale at Sundance and make all my dreams come true.
What can a distributor do for you that you cannot do yourself with just a little bit of money, not even a lot, and some low fee consultation? And above all, what are you giving up by not building community for your film before and during the fest, instead letting other people run your show, potentially losing out on the momentum of the festival?
Let’s look at some films from Sundance last year that were in this position and the routes they took and what they may have netted. These are films that cut distribution deals of some kind and got less than wide releases from their distributors:
