Here is an interesting infographic from Bundle showing a breakdown of the cities whose dwellers do the most digital media consumption on Netflix, Hulu, Blockbuster online, etc. They sure do like streaming in Texas!

 

via

This is cross-posted on Focal Press’ Mastering Film Blog. I received an email recently from Zak Forsman, tweep of mine, announcing his crowdfunding campaign for a film he is working on called Down and Dangerous. It’s based on his dad’s exploits as a drug smuggler. Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular way to raise funds for projects, with platforms like Kickstarter having funded over 10,0000 projects. Of those 10,000 the 2nd most successful type of campaign is for film and video, being narrowly beaten by music. I have been watching Zak’s campaign and was astounded by how much money was being pledged in a really short period of time. So I figured I’d ask him. Below is the outcome of that conversation.

FP: What made you decide to embark on a crowdfunding campaign for this film?

ZF: I had no choice, really.  We wanted a movie we could do this fall — something fun for our friends and fans.  I did not have the money to put up on my own so I looked to crowdfunding as a means to determine if there was a desire out there to see this from us, and to expand the awareness level around the project and to raise the budget by effectively pre-selling it in the form of HD downloads and DVDs to the audience.  That last one, I think, is not exactly how it’s playing out though.  I don’t think people are generally getting on board because of the tagline or synopsis or that they’ve been dying to see a crime thriller about a smuggler.  They are getting on board because they want to see me, the cast and everyone at The Sabi Company do something we are excited and enthusiastic about.

FP: Did you consider any other platforms besides Kickstarter? If so which ones and what made you decide on Kickstarter?

Read Zak’s answer and the rest of the interview here.

Funny infographic on 7 types of iPhone users. Hopefully you are thinking of ways to target mobile phone users for your indie film. Maybe this will help you know your audience a little better.

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by Shane Snow via

Here is a conversation with the creator of Button Ijo: Amir Pohan. He is a filmmaker and founder looking to showcase Indonesian filmmaking talent to the world with this VOD portal. It’s built on Dynamo.

BTBO:  What’s your role at Button Ijo? Can you talk a little bit about your background as it relates to film?

AP: I’m the founder/CEO/Director/Head Honcho at ButtonIjo. I am a filmmaker. I studied at New York Film Academy and got my degree from Columbia College Chicago. I am now making films and documentaries in Jakarta, Indonesia. I’ve made some documentaries as a producer, co-director, director and as an editor. Some examples are The Jak, on which I was the co-director and editor, it was shown at the Durban International Film Festival, South Africa in 2004 I believe.  It also played in Rotterdam if I’m not mistaken. After that I was the executive producer for another documentary, The Conductors, which won the Best Feature Documentary at The Indonesian Film Festival [FFI] in 2008. These two movies were made under another production company.  After I started ButtonIjo I made the documentary Dead Chicken In A Rice Barn, which won the Best feature Documentary award at the Indonesian Film Festival in 2009. this is like the Indonesian Oscars.Now i just finished my first fiction feature film Ennui which will be released in september 2011.

BTBO: What’s the story behind the name?

AP: I originally intended to make buttonijo.com to sell home made t -shirts, hence the “button” in the name, ijo means green in Indonesian slang, so it means “Green Button”. But then I thought, why not sell my films as well…? So now on the site I will sell, not only t-shirts, but also films, music and photos which you can download to buy.

BTBO: How did you decide that there was an audience for VOD in Indonesia?

AP: To be honest I don’t think there is an audience for VOD in Indonesia yet, but at least I am the first one who is offering VOD here. All I have to do is be patient and wait for the internet speed to increase. Internet business wise Indonesia has a very big market, so the opportunity is right there. The reason I decided to make this site is because as an Indonesian filmmaker it is rather difficult to get your movie released in theatres, so this is an alternative for indie filmmakers to have their films distributed if they can’t get their films into the film theatre. Plus it’s cheaper to have your film as a VOD compared to make [sic] DVDs

BTBO: I see you are using Dynamo Player for your site. How did you decide on that player?

AP: I decided on the Dynamo player because it was the only option available for free. Otherwise I would have to custom build the player myself. The one thing I don’t like about this player is that you have to pay before you can see anything. I’d rather have a player where you can see, lets say, 20 to 30 minutes of a program first and then you pay. At least that way people might get hooked on the film and would pay to finish it.

BTBO: What kinds of films are looking to add to your library?

AP: I just finished shooting my first feature fiction film, which i am editing now, and I will add to the library. I also have 2 other documentaries that are almost finished [one is about Dangdut music, the other one about a local musician, Zeke Khaseli] If i can find a way to have  people pay to my own PayPal account instead of dynamoplayer’s account I would add other people’s films as well. But for now I can only offer the films that I have made [on buttonijostore.com] on the main website, www.buttonijo.com I will offer not only my own films but other people’s films as well, but just as a digital download.  So no VOD on the main buttonijo.com. If you wanna see the streaming videos from the main site it’ll be just a click away.

BTBO: Any closing thoughts?

AP: I just hope that VOD will catch up here in Indonesia so more indie filmmakers can have the opportunity to show their films if they can’t show them in theatres.

Our friends over at the Sabi Pictures affectionately known as “Zak Forsman, Kevin Shah an ‘em” are launching a brand new Kickstarter campaign for an intriguing looking film based on Forsman’s father’s adventures as a smuggler in the 1970s. If the first few days are any indication, this is sure to be funded. A true indie, Forsman are committed to ensuring other filmmakers are armed with the knowledge they need to get their films out. He does so as editor of the New Breed blog on The Workbook Project and by organizing LA screenings of works by fellow filmmakers under CINEFIST.

Here are 3 things to emulate from this campaign

1. Include a video

   If you are a filmmaker this is a no-brainer. It’s your chance to show off your skills so I wouldn’t downplay this at all. Forsman’s is impeccable. You think to yourself if this what his campaign video looks like the movie’s sure to be awesome.

   Make it personal

   Granted, Zak has the added benefit of a story that’s inspired by his dad. Still, you get a chance to connect with the people you are asking to pledge in your bio and in the video. He does that in the video by looking at me. It may seem obvious but I have seen some campaign videos where they are shooting the side of the subject making it seem kind of impersonal. He also smiles, not a huge grin but I hadn’t seen any pictures up to this point that included Zak’s teeth so this also makes me feel more connected. Telling me how hard the actor has been working to prepare already coupled by stills to prove it is also a good emotional pull. I think, “Gee, since he’s already started I’d hate to see all that work go to waste.”

   Start with your list

   Though Zak and I are friends on Twitter, I am not on there nearly as much as I should be and consequently miss some things. Email is still the killer app. That’s how I found out about it. By letting his list know about his campaign he is not leaving it to chance that people will happen upon his website or Facebook page or Twitter stream. It’s a great way to let other people know about the campaign and spread the word. Even better if they are bloggers.

All right let, let me go actually donate now! On a side note,  is it just me or does the guy in the poster look like Robin Thicke?

See the video below.

All the votes have been counted and I think I am going to go ahead and close this survey. Thanks to everyone who voted! Below are the final results. See some of the title suggestions after the pie.

Beyond the Box Office has a creative bunch of readers. Here are some of the suggested titles.

This is cross-posted on Filmmaker Magazine. Welcome to part 2 of a 2 part interview with David Raycroft, co-founder and Vice-President of Product and Operations of Milyoni, the company that is responsible for streaming Warner Bros The Dark Knight and Harry Potter titles through Facebook. In it he talks about their Video on Demand (streaming solution). In part 1 he talks about one of their solutions, iFanStore that allows the easy set up of a storefront on Facebook that integrates with your fan page.

MM: How has the Warner Brothers Dark Knight experiment been going? How would Milyoni measure the success of that project? How would Warner Brothers?
We have been very pleased with the launch of the Dark Knight on Facebook. Response has far exceeded expectations. Warner has already rolled out 5 new titles and more are expected.

The Dark Knight Streaming on Facebook

MM: Is it proving that people are willing to watch an entire feature length film on Facebook? (ie do your analytics tell you how much they watched?)
We have not studied if people are watching the full length of the film

MM: Why Facebook credits instead of some other payment platform?
This was a Warner Bros requirement, we support other forms of payment including credit cards and paypal.

MM: Are there any technical (length/format restrictions) or content considerations (profanity/nudity restrictions) for streaming a video on Facebook?
Certainly MPAA guidelines must be followed. Facebook profile attributes allow us to apply age restrictions to content. That being said, I believe that Facebook would pull down content that was considered offensive or generated significant complaints.

MM: Do you provide analytics on streaming video to customers? What do they include?
We provide a lot of analytics on # of visitors, # of views, demographic information and engagement statistics.

MM: Is Milyoni’s Video on Demand service actually available to anyone or just major corporate partners?
Our service is available to any content developers and owners. The key is to have a strong, active community, Fans that will become consumers and viral promoters.

MM: How much does it cost to have Milyoni set up Video on Demand?
Costs are variable based on the number of titles, the CDN and infrastructure requirements and a number of other variable factors.

MM: When will it be available to everyone?
The application will be generally available end of April, beginning of May. We are very interested in talking with content producers about helping them connect with their communities on Facebook.

MM: Does the announcement of AT&T’s data usage cap concern you at all in term of the ability for viewers to access streaming video content easily?
I think that we will always need to be aware of changes to data plans and the like, but more and more content will be delivered to mobile devices, so I suspect that plans and networks will keep up.

MM:  Any closing thoughts?
Facebook is a place where people connect, share and spend more time online than any other place on the internet. It is an amazing place for artists to build communities and connect directly with their fans. That makes it an ideal environment for people interact with artists and each other. A new age is dawning on media distribution, where artists can interact directly with their fans and deliver their work directly to that community.

Be sure to check out part 1 where David discusses Milyoni’s iFanStore that allows the easy set up of a storefront on Facebook that integrates with your fan page.

Malaika likes watching films as soon as she hears about them. To get filmmakers to feed her insatiable appetite, she blogs about online film distribution at Beyond the Box Office. She’s currently working on a book on the same topic, that will cover how to distribute films by streaming to PCs, mobile devices and set-top boxes. Follow Malaika on Twitter.

This is cross-posted on Filmmaker Magazine. After seeing that Warner Bros was streaming The Dark Knight and soon thereafter Harry Potter films though Facebook, I thought it was genius.  More information is shared on Facebook. It’s a great way to close the window between discovery and consumption. In addition, on Facebook, you can get very meaningful analytics, not to mention the monetization aspect. In part 1 of this 2 part interview I talk to David Raycroft, co-founder and Vice-President of Product and Operations of Milyoni, the company that made it all happen. He talks about one of their solutions, iFanStore that allows the easy set up of a storefront on Facebook that integrates with your fan page. In part 2 he talks about their Video on Demand (streaming solution).

Selling on Facebook

MM: From what I can see you have 2 offerings: The iFanStore and Video on Demand. Can you describe in as much detail as possible, the process of having an iFanStore created through Milyoni?
There is a requirements gathering process. It is important to understand the number of products that will be carried, where they will be fulfilled from, and specific business objectives. This helps define the project scope and help determine pricing and time to implement.

Depending on the results of the requirements gathering process it can take anywhere between 7 days and 7 weeks to implement a storefront. The biggest factors are existing systems and fulfillment operations. The more complex the existing environment the longer an implementation will take.

MM: Is there a minimum number of Facebook fans/products you think a person should have before considering an iFanStore? For instance if a filmmaker has just 1 DVD to offer, does it make sense?
We have customers that range in size from a few thousand fans to 10s of millions of fans. It is really more about the community that has been built and how engaged they are. A great example of a film maker that has created a strong community and uses our solution to promote his film is Matt Farnsworth and his horror film “The Orphan Killer”. When we started working with him, he had less than 50,000 likes and now has over 80,000. He sells DVDs, Blu-Rays and a couple of Tee Shirts. You can check out his store at http://apps.facebook.com/orphankiller/

That being said, we do recommend that you have well north of 10,000 fans to create the kind of community that can drive transactional revenue.

Orphan Killer Movie Facebook Storefront

MM: Once the iFanStore is up is there anything a ‘proprietor’ can do to encourage people to make purchases? Is there anything you have seen work fairly well for users of the iFanStore?
Putting up a store in Facebook is just the first step. To really be successful it is important to engage with the community and connect your content to a commerce opportunity. We have a set of Social Merchandising Tools that create a seamless link between your fans and your store.

We also provide a set of “merchandising manners” that are the best practices we have found to increase fan interaction and drive impulse purchases. The most important thing is to interact with the community and create a passionate response, our tools simply create a frictionless way to turn that engagement into sales.

MM: What is the iFanStore business model? (ie. Is there a flat fee? Does Milyoni take a percentage of purchases?)
We are a Software as a Service solution. Our business model includes a monthly service charge with a per transaction fee.

MM: How much does it cost to set up an iFanStore?
The cost of an iFanStore depends on a number of variables. The final price is based on the complexity of the fulfillment integration and the features you want to enable. We need to understand the business and technical environment to provide accurate pricing.

MM: Do iFanStores work on mobile devices?
Our stores are compatible on all mobile browsers. We will be optimizing for smaller screens by mid 2011.

MM: Finally, what do you provide in terms of analytics to Milyoni customers?
We provide a unique mix of visitor, viewer and consumer data. We have robust reporting on demographic and transactional activity and a wide range of graphical views. We are the only solution that combines profile data, ecommerce data and social engagement data.

Check out part 2 of the interview where David discusses Milyoni’s Video on Demand solution.

The New York Times reports

The Internet providers, including AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast Verizon and Time Warner Cable, announced the deal on Thursday in Washington with the major trade associations for movies and music, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, as well as organizations representing independent filmmakers and record companies.

The deal that is aimed at curbing piracy will send a number of alerts to consumers that they are watching “infringed content.”

The kicker is that at the more extreme end of these ‘alerts’ your internet connection can be slowed or web surfing blocked all together.

These warnings escalate from simple e-mail notifications to a set of “mitigation measures,” like slowed connections or a block from Web surfing altogether.

There are some obvious with the fact that this can happen. Right now the trigger for this is “infringed content.” Suppose the definition of that is expanded to “plain old content someone doesn’t like?”

The big glaring question is what this means for Netflix. What’s to stop my internet being slowed because I stream content from Netflix and the ‘industry’ doesn’t like it?

I find this particularly interesting as AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile is in process. I expect that this will renew calls for net neutrality. Or maybe not.

Here’s another way of dealing with piracy.

I remember first hearing about Alrick Brown while watching him on a short-lived reality show called Film School about NYU film students. The end of that season culminated in his presentation of his final project whose name was something close to The Adventures of Super Negro. Maybe it was the British Caribbean-ness of his name, but he made an impression back then. Fast forward 7 years to 2011 and his movie, Kinyarwanda (the official language of Rwanda) is winning an Audience Award at Sundance.

On July 4, Ava Duvernay announced that AFFRM will be handling the theatrical release of Kinyarwanda. You’ll recall that the first AFFRM film was the critically-acclaimed I Will Follow. They promised to release 2 per year, so here’s the next. I have heard a lot of good things about this one, so definitely looking forward to it.

Below is Ava making the announcement.

Thanks much to the people who have already voted on a name for the book. Here are the results so far for enquiring minds. There were a LOT of really good suggestions too!

It’s not too late to have your voice heard, I’m putting the finishing touches on the proposal now, which see which title makes it! Cast your vote and spread the word.

Perhaps! A well known publisher has shown some interest in the book on online film distribution. I’m in the process of crafting what is hopefully the best book proposal ever by studying this book. In doing so I have been rethinking the title and have come up with a few. Can you take 60 sec to pick or suggest one?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BVHZJM2

‘preciatecha! (Southern for “Thanks!”)

Greetings! Here is an interview with Ryan Stoner, CEO of MoPix, a turn-key platform to enable filmmakers to create their own mobile film apps. They appified the BitTorrent released movie, The Tunnel. The Tunnel garnered a lot of press for selling frames of the film as funding. MoPix is currently in private beta.

BTBO: What inspired the founding of MoPix?

RS: MoPix was founded as a solution to the problem many of our independent filmmaker friends are currently facing here in Los Angeles and around the world and our desire to help them.

How do I distribute my film?

Outside of the film industry, most film fans think that if a filmmaker can easily raise funding through Kickstarter or other platforms, they can surely distribute their film.

But that is not the case. The distribution model is still based upon opening box office performance as the critical indicator of a film’s success and influences all downstream contracts regarding DVD, international, network, satellite, cable television, and Internet and mobile sales.

As a result, most filmmakers must either give up control of their film to secure distribution or keep control and distribute it through an online platform where there is no proven revenue model.
So our solution is to give power to the filmmakers by allowing them to be the distributors and directly release their film as an app through our MoPix platform.

If independent filmmakers truly believe they don’t need Hollywood to make a film, shouldn’t we also believe that we don’t need Hollywood to distribute our films?

By film apps I don’t mean apps for filmmakers, I mean films distributed as an app. I expect that this will become more and more popular as time goes on. The first iphone app I heard of for a film was for Sita Sings the Blues. Now you can find freelancers, companies like Stonehenge Productions and Mopix (to come) that will turn your film into an app. I also hope that as time goes on we will see companies really leveraging the features of the iOS to enhance the storytelling experience.

Here a list of 10 cool film apps for the iPhone.

1. The Dark Night

OK even if this app sucked as long as the movie was in it, it probably would have made my list because I love this movie and pretty much all things Batman, except for the one that had the Governator in it.

Distributor’s Name: Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) via iTunes store

Business Model: “The Dark Knight: App Edition” is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The entire feature film and bonus materials can be purchased for $9.99 (US) through an In-App Purchase.

From the App Store description:
The Dark Knight: App Edition,” protected by Widevine, allows consumers to download a permanent copy of the film to their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, or stream it through the App. They can watch over three hours of bonus clips; explore a rich gallery of photos and trailers; test their film knowledge with interactive video trivia; listen to memorable one-liners and export them as ringtones; post Twitter and Facebook updates; and monitor relevant movie buzz in real time.

2. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

So this is actually a book and short film rolled into an iPad app to provide a truly interactive storytelling experience.

3. Inception

Another from Warner Brothers. They are doing a good job of packing a bunch of features into their app.

Distributor’s Name: Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) via the iTunes store

Business Model: The “Inception: App Edition” is available for free through the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The entire feature film and bonus materials can be purchased through an In-App Purchase at an introductory price of $11.99 (US).

From the App Store Description:

“Inception: App Edition” will not only allow fans to download or stream the blockbuster film, they can also enjoy exclusive bonus materials including three never-before-released tracks from the Academy Award® nominated score composed by Hans Zimmer that can be streamed via Airplay. The App also includes concept art, productions stills, movie poster artwork, bonus video showing a behind-the-scenes look at how Christopher Nolan’s unique vision was brought to life, and copies of “The PASIV Device Instruction Manual” and “The Cobol Job” comic.

4. Sita Sings the Blues

Distributor’s Name: iTunes Store

Business Model: The “Sita Sings the Blues” App is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or the itunes.com/appstore at http://itunes.apple.com.The complete Sita Sings the Blues movie is now available FREE for the iPhone.

From the app store description:

The filmmaker juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana (an Indian epic).Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920′s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds. Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.”

5. Sync or Swim

Distributor: Stonehenge Productions through iTunes in the App Store

Business Model: The “Sync or Swim” FilmApp is available for free through the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore.The app comes with just the trailer and some extra videos. The entire film can be purchased through an In-App Purchase, which enables downloading, as well as access to the entire array of bonus content available within the app.

Some of the bonus features that come with the app are as follows: the buyer gets the opportunity to purchase the DVD; try their hands at synchro trivia game; get news feeds from the director, blog & USA synchro on the go; watch clips from the film and links to Facebook.

6. Race to Nowhere

This one is cool because it has a direct call to action embedded in this social issue film app. It allows the sharing of personal testimonials and communication with the U.S. Department of Education.

Distributor: Stonehenge Productions through iTunes in the App Store

Business Model: The FilmApp for the film “Race to Nowhere” is available for free through the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The entire film can be purchased through an In-App Purchase, which enables downloading as well as access to the entire array of bonus content available within the app.

The “Race to Nowhere” FilmApp includes these features: social media integration, social activism components, games and in-App purchase options, to name a few.

This FilmApp is the first of its kind to offer the ability for users to record and share a personal testimonial about the education system in their countries, the impact it has had on them and the changes they would like to see. It also provides an important means by which viewers can add their voice and become advocates for change. This FilmApp also allows users to get involved on a political level by facilitating direct communication with the U.S. Department of Education urging change.

I had the pleasure of doing this talk at the Triangle Video and Film Meetup this past Wednesday. The audience was very cool. Based on the surveys I got back people were most interested in getting their content on iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand and were happy to hear about aggregators like Distribber and IndieFlix who can help them do it.

It contains great quotes from my interview with Mynette Louie and Tze Chun of Children of Invention, great content from Brian Newman and quotes from Thomas Allen of Short of the Week and lots more. Anyhoo, take a gander and let me know what you think.

Here’s a quick primer on making your film available for download or streaming. Download means you make it so that your film will reside on someone’s computer or device. Depending on someone’s internet connection it might take a while for them to access your content, however, this method is good in that once your audience has it, they have it and in high quality. Your film won’t be subject to choppy video, stops and starts etc.

In order to do this all you need is to upload your film to your website, create a link to the file and it’s available for people to download. iTunes is another popular way to make your content available for download onto a PC. iTunes only works with aggregators to get film content, unlike music where they are far more open. So you will have to submit your film to an aggregator who will then submit it to iTunes for approval. Examples of aggregators are Indieflix, Distribber and New Video Group. Oh, that’s another thing to notice, Apple has to approve your film. This process is not instantaneous but I have heard 2 weeks is about the average amount of time. There are ways around this though.

How do I make money on iTunes?

When you make your content available for download, you can charge people before they download it. iTunes has this capability built in. iTunes does a 70%/ 30% split with the content creator getting 70% of the price. The aggregator may take a portion of this depending on their business model or they may just charge you a flat fee for getting it up there. Something else to consider with respect to iTunes is that your content will be available on “only” the 187 million or so iDevices at the time of this writing.

How do I make money on VODO?

VODO is another way to make your film available for download. It leverages BitTorrent the peer-to-peer sharing network (like Napster of yore). All you have to do is upload your film. I am not aware of an approval process. The content will be free, but you can ask people to donate/sponsor you or make related items available for sale. VODO will take a 25% cut. See Sita Sings the Blues or The Yes Men Save the World for good examples of selling related items for free content.

Streaming your film online

Streaming means you make it available without download. Your content is displayed on a player. YouTube and Vimeo are examples of this. Sometimes a user has to wait for the content to load and then it will play, while other players (like Netflix Watch Instantly) use that technology makes it so that your users don’t have to wait for the content to load. It’s my personal favorite. Besides Netflix, sites like YouTube and Vimeo make it fairly easy to upload your content and make it available. Netflix, like iTunes only works with aggregators, so you will have to use one of them to get your content on Netflix. Like iTunes, it’s also subject to approval.

I told you why I like streaming, here is why you should like it. Many players are embeddable so it makes it easy for people to share your content. If a blogger is covering your film, they can include either a trailer or the entire film by embedding the player on their blog. There are some that will allow you to distribute your film on Facebook. YouTube and Vimeo are, Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand are not. It’s also always best to take advantage of people’s need for instant gratification. Streaming does this nicely.

How do you make money streaming your film online?

Here I will just talk about how to do that from the perspective of the capabilities of the technology. There are other ways besides these. Some players will embed ads in your content and you will get money for that. Some players like Hulu will pay some fractional amount every time your content is viewed. Some players like Distrify and Dynamo have monetization built in. This is the best of both worlds, it gives you an ability to monetize your content in a meaningful way and allows your content to be shared easily. They both have embeddable players. You set the price for your viewing of your content over a rental period and upon clicking a person is offered the opportunity to stream your film at a cost. They both do a 70/30 split similar to iTunes. Here’s a How To for Distrify.

Be sure you have the correct distribution rights

If you are totally self-distributing your film then this isn’t an issue for you, but if you aren’t and you want to distribute your film online then you must retain SVOD or streaming video on demand rights to your film. I highly recommend carving these out for yourself.

One thing to note is that for many of these, you’ll have to do your own promotion and marketing. That is, it’s fine and dandy to get your film on iTunes but it doesn’t mean anyone will know it’s there. Apple will not help you in this regard.

In addition, if you put your content up on a site with a lot of other content you have competition for attention.

All righty I think that’s enough for now. Stay tuned for a post on AP Online Film Distribution. In the meantime let me know if you think this is something you might do? If not, why not?

No sci-fi or action film? That’s OK, transmedia is for you too

When I went to the inaugural IFP/Power to the Pixel Cross Media Forum I had one burning question on my mind. Suppose you don’t have a big sci fi/action film and a big budget with big sponsors, can you still create a transmedia experience? Do non sci-fi or action films lend themselves to effective transmedia experiences? I was specifically thinking about I Will Follow, the film directed by Ava Duvernay that has got rave reviews from Roger Ebert and has garnered a lot of press based on its unconventional method of distribution. It’s a film that follows Maye as she packs up and clears out the house she has been living in with her aunt, Amanda, who was a successful and free-spirited musician whose life was cut short by breast cancer. No aliens or pirates or otherworldliness. What about a story like this? What might a transmedia experience for this story look like?

First a definition of transmedia. Henry Jenkins, University of South California professor describes transmedia storytelling as

storytelling across multiple forms of media with each element making distinctive contributions to a fan’s understanding of the story world.

I spoke to Caitlin Burns of Starlight Runner entertainment and posed my burning question to her. Caitlyn said that while sci-fi and action films certainly lend themselves very well to transmedia storytelling because it’s easy to make a universe around them, there’s nothing to stop one from creating a compelling transmedia experience around film that doesn’t fall into those genres. However, funding or sponsorship may prove challenging.

Later Andrea Phillips of Deus Ex Machinatio gave a talk that pretty much gave a total breakdown of how it could be done. She used the example of Romeo and Juliet. Below are 3 takeaways.

How to create a transmedia experience

1. If you are using social media for your transmedia extension, consider using it to hold your characters in an iconic state forever. For example, when Romeo & Juliet were pining away for one another. If I were to apply this principle to I Will Follow I would use it to explore Amanda when she was a drummer for her rock band, maybe through an online tour diary or a fictional Facebook Fan Page which would be more interactive.

2. Additionally,

A very good reason for transmedia extensions is to tell more stories than can fit within the confines of a film. – Andrea Phillips at IFP/PttP Cross-Media Forum 2011

Transmedia extensions in this way can explore the motivation of characters who perhaps get very little airplay in a film. I Will Follow has a number of stories that were introduced in the film that could be explored. I won’t list them out of respect for people who haven’t seen it yet. But feel free to in the comments.

3. Have your audience be a character. You have to be careful with this one, she said, because you don’t want the audience to be a character that could too greatly affect the story. So in the case of Romeo & Juliet, given audiences’ propensity for happy endings, you don’t want them to be a character that would make it so that neither of them died. She suggested perhaps the nurse. She said this is the concept that creatives have the most trouble wrapping their heads around. Cue head explosion.

By the way, here’s the trailer for I Will Follow.

The only WINDOW anyone in the film industry needs to focus on is closing the one between when a person discovers a film and when they can watch it. End of story. All these windows do just is provide a place through which the desire to watch a film can escape.

There will always be people who won’t spend any money on anything, but for the most part people just want to see what they want to see how they want to see it. The same with music. I um, had a friend who used to use something Napster-like back in the day. Most of the collection was dedicated to import versions of songs that I, um, she could not get in the States or she would have to pay $40 for what was essentially one song. When it comes to films for me personally, it’s about seeing soon as possible with the least amount of effort.

“Oh that sounds like a cool film”

“Wait, I can’t see it now? Not showing in my area? Guess I’ll check it out later then. I hope I remember.”

Then you have to go through the work of getting my attention again when it comes out on whatever other platform, assuming of course that you support them. That’s so… inefficient.

I was at the North Carolina Black Film Festival last weekend where I saw a documentary called Film Hustle. In it the subject of the documentary talks about his travails to sell his DVDs of Confessions of a Thug, hosting special signings at outlet stores across the country. While a decidedly offline method it apparently works as he’s sold more than half a million units. In it viewers get this little nugget as a man he is trying to sell a DVD to says he’ll come back later. He said all sales people know that when a person says that they’ll come back later or they’ll think it over the sale is as good as gone.

Now if this is a fundamental truth known by all sales people why is the film industry predicated upon setting up the conditions to make this more likely?

Anyway, I have been way less succinct than the gentleman below. Watch and learn. Thanks to Ross Pruden for pointing me to the Tech Dirt article that talks more about this.

I just got an invitation in my email to buy ads with my LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is one of the top business-oriented social networking sites with over 100 million users.

The great thing about LinkedIn is it’s very easy to find influencers because you can see people’s job titles. This is a great distinction from Facebook when it comes to marketing. Obviously the purpose of each of those sites are a lot different. Up until now they didn’t have any ads, so targeting influencers was a little involved. You could be active in groups you think they might frequent or reach out to them directly, although it helps you have a mutual connection.

The ads are pay-by-click or impression, like other sites.

LinkedIn has an offer right now for $50 worth of free ads that ends in April, something definitely worth considering. See a screenshot below of setting up a campaign. Who would you target with LinkedIn ads?

Hey folks. Short post here to let you know big changes are coming on April 1. The team at RTCamp just finished up QA and we are looking things over now. The hope is to bring you more content, particularly from the book or books. That’s right, after going through the 1st draft I decided it’s too much to pack into one book. There’ll be at least 2, maybe 3, according to the general platform of distribution: web, mobile and set top box. I am also planning to focus a little more on 101s and HOW TOs. I am also totally open to guest posts if you are interested. In case you didn’t see the tweet, here is a sneak peek.

Honestly though, it looks better on a mac.

For folks interested in online video including HDSLR, IPTV, mobile video and wireless, this year’s National Association of Broadcaster’s show will feature products, technology pavilions and educational sessions specifically focused on that subject – http://bit.ly/NABVid

The kind folks there have provided a special registration code, giving you FREE ACCESS to the exhibit floor, the Opening Keynote and State of the Industry Address, Info Sessions, Content Theater, Exhibits and PITS – a $150 value. Pass it along and visit http://bit.ly/NABRegSM06 to redeem or register at http://nabshow.com/register with the code SM06.

As some of you may have seen from my tweet during DIY DAYS I was impressed by Broadcastr and its capabilities. Scott Macauley, editor of Filmmaker Magazine (who was nice enough to allow me to pick his brain for a bit after the talk) had a fireside chat with Scott Lindenbaum of Broadcastr and Electric Lit.

Broadcastr is a mashup (remember when those were novel?) of audio recordings and a Google Map and you can access it on the Internet, or an iPhone/iPad/Android application.

From the site:

“Users can take a GPS-enabled walk as stories about their surroundings stream into their headphones, like a museum tour of the entire world. Users can record their own content, create playlists, follow their friends, and share on Facebook.”

It just launched recently and already they have some impressive partners. A search in the area of Haiti will pull up several UNICEF broadcasts, a search of Chapel Hill, broadcasts by live storytelling organization, The Monti. Fodor’s and MTV personalities are also using it.

Lindenbaum talked about it as a great way for local businesses to drive traffic or to just be more interesting by having people record stories about the place. The other Scott said Broadcastr is “what Foursquare should have been.” The benefits are obvious I think for poets, orators and comedians, but what about filmmakers? Don’t worry, I got you. This post will focus on 5 ways I think Broadcastr can be useful to filmmakers.

1. Create a Director/Producer’s/Somebody Important’s guide to a location

I’ll go ahead and get this example Lindenbaum gave out of the way. The idea is that a set of recordings would be made describing or giving anecdotes about different locations, a playlist created that one could then charge for. I think people would be more likely to purchase a playlist of someone’s guide if the person is well-known. The guide needn’t be related to one’s film. Lindenbaum thought Ted Hope would be a good candidate for this. I imagine his would be something like Ted Hope’s SUPER Guide to Manhattan: 12 Truly Independent Places You Must Visit. I was going to say SUPER Guide to <insert Ted Hope’s favorite food> restaurants but sadly, my exhaustive seconds-long research turned nothing up.

2. Character’s guide to a location

You can have your actors record, in character, stories that happened in that area. They can be really specific like a street if it exists or just a town. You would have to find some way that isn’t obnoxious of letting listeners know this is for a film, one, so they know the story recorded isn’t real, two so you can point them to your film.

3. Give your audience a transmedia experience

Go whole hog and tell a whole additional, side story related to your film in the way described in the previous step. If you do that, you get to add, wait for it… Transmedia Producer to your list of credentials.

4. Engage your fans

Have your fans record their experiences with your film, where they saw it or anything related to it, like a poster or trailer. Have them say how they felt about it, what they saw. Encourage them to share their recordings on their favorite social networks. You could incentivize them by turning it into a contest or offering a perk.

5. Behind the scenes

Regale listeners with funny and juicy stories from the set.

5 things I like about it:

1. It’s easy. No video to edit, just record audio and upload.

2. Content on Broadcastr is easily shared via your favorite social networks. I didn’t see any way to embed it on your site though. Something for them to consider.
3. It’s another way for people to discover your film.
4. Should you decide to charge for your playlists it could be another way to monetize your film.
5. You own the rights to the content.

Does this look like something you might use?

A lot has been said about the best way to distribute independent films now. Some say new, independent filmmakers should concern themselves first and foremost with getting the most eyes on their work and should embrace piracy. Platforms like Eggup seek to leverage our natural tendency to share yet still provide a way of monetization for filmmakers. For others like Nina Paley of Sita Sings the Blues it’s a matter of principle: content should be free, the container shouldn’t. So how does one make money from a free film? Read on.

Photo credit: AMagill

I don’t recall now what I was doing when I decided I wanted to watch something. I typically watch streaming films when I am multitasking, like styling my hair. This is also why there is a plethora of still to be watched foreign films in my Netflix queue, I can’t multitask and watch those.

I had heard about The Yes Men Fix the World being released on BitTorrent many moons prior, most recently at the Open Video Conference and decided I would watch it. A BitTorrent virgin, I had no issues accessing the film. 87 minutes later I went to the movie’s website as I do for most documentaries that I watch. I don’t recall whether or not there was an explicit call to action at the end of the film, but that never hurts. Once there I was delighted to see all the related products I could purchase. This film is really good for related products because you don’t actually have to have seen the film to appreciate them. That’s when I saw the perfect holiday gifts: the New York Times Dream Edition featured the movie.

At 10 for $7.50 each for 10 fabulous friends (don’t be mad if you don’t get one, they are after all, between $7.50 and $15 each) my $75 and me parted ways. Note: I did not purchase a special $75 edition of the movie nor did I watch 2 premium on demand versions. But that’s me.

For more on Better than Free see this talk by Brian Newman.

It might be possible. This article from the Inquisitr (via @InShot) breaks down a very exciting initiative from PayPal. They want people to be able to easily make purchases using their remotes. I had kind of ruminated on the possibility of this during NewTeeVee Live last week. This seems to make it closer to being a reality. It could definitely change advertising. From an indie filmmaking perspective to give a person the option of purchasing one’s film right after watching would be nice.