We are on the verge of a new film culture and infrastructure.
The clips online are getting longer and so is the audience’s attention span, or so says the New York Times.
that independent filmmakers don’t have the resources and skills to make something that is compelling for much longer than five minutes), I am optimistic that viewers’ changing habits will benefit us all.
another guest post today from filmmaker Jon Riess
At the urging of Jeffrey Levy Hinte – my wonderfully supportive producer on Bomb It (he’s leaving the business folks so don’t bother calling him!), I have started writing about my experiences self distributing Bomb It for Filmmaker Magazine. These articles will form the basis for the book that I am writing Reel World Survival Skills: Everything I Wish I Had Learned in Film School.
The first one just came out titled MY ADVENTURE IN THEATRICAL SELF-DISTRIBUTION, PART 1 While the article is subtitled “Or how I “invented” the two-month window and spent six months wanting to kill myself every day.” it was a positive experience overall It was gruelling – but I think the film was helped tremendously by the release. This has been confirmed by our video company Docurama/New Video.
The next article will cover DVD distribution – self distribution and working with a distributor.
Let me know what you think of the article!
Jon
This looks fun. I wish I was going to be in Berkley on Nov. 15th. The Haas Digital Media Conference.
I’ve moved the “Truly Free Film Heroes” sidebar over from my Let’s Make Better Films Blog to here at TFFilms and clarified it a bit in the process (although you don’t get to add a descriptive on Blogger’s “Links” gadget unfortunately). The Truly Free Film Heroes are the folks that I have found that are actively engaged in working to create a Truly Free Film Culture.
As freeing as the growth and utilization of new media is, the death of traditional media certainly hurts Art Film and The Specialized Film Market. When I read (online of course!) articles like David Carr’s “Mourning Old Media’s Decline”, I can feel that jolt of panic. It starts in my legs, and then spreads…
“The auto industry and the print industry have essentially the same problem,” said Clay Shirky, the author of “Here Comes Everybody.” “The older customers like the older products and the new customers like the new ones.”
Festivals are a great place to sell DVDs of your film, but will the Festival let you? It’s probably a good idea to inquire in advance. Will you be able to set up a table outside the theater? Will you need to have a website in order to sell them? Will you need to have some one do the fulfillment? Figure this out before you show up.
Major Festivals are great for media exposure, but they reach a really limited audience. Sundance is predominately film industry professionals and wannabes; what about the real ticket buying people? If someone hears about your film and they can’t attend the festival, how will they get to see it?
