Here is a guest post by Pyung Kim, writer and producer of the film I Hate You (bio at the end).

Looking to Kickstarter to finance your movie? Here are a few tips to help ensure a successful crowd funding campaign.

1) BEG YOUR FRIENDS TO HELP YOU

You’ll definitely need the help of friends to pull this off, especially if you’re starting without any resources. Running a successful crowd funding campaign – much like making a movie – is ultimately a collaborative endeavor. And I’m not necessarily talking about help in the form of donations. Remember that support comes in many other forms during the campaigning process that are just as important. Do anything you can to encourage endorsements or activity such as link sharing and retweeting. And I mean anything that will bring more attention to your campaign! Maybe don’t do what Anthony Weiner did…but almost anything else!

2) CREATE GOOD, VISUALLY DISTINCTIVE ARTWORK

This not only means the poster or screen shot you’ll use on Kickstarter – having a film website is part of this. And it serves as more than another opportunity to drive traffic to your campaign. If you have a website for your film that is well designed and visually appealing, it adds credibility to you and your project.

I personally don’t have the know-how to create a cool website, but my partners and I were fortunate to have a great web designer in Devin McKeon. As an example, check out the website he did for our film, a romantic comedy called I Hate You.

3) SHOOT A TRAILER (IF YOU CAN)

A trailer? Before I’ve even shot the movie??

That’s right.

Here is my conversation today with Craig Cannon (@craigrcannon), the campaign manager for How To Be Black written by Baratunde Thurston, Director of Digital at The Onion. Pardon my voice, I am still recovering from SXSW in this talk.

Make cool content. Don’t worry about giving away scalable, digital content away for free. Because that’s how you bring people in.

In this he breaks down the phases of the campaign and formation of their digital street team and the tools they used, a list of which I make after the jump. He also discusses the related collateral/mini-projects that have been created to support the book and make it more participatory.

Audience Engagement Tools

Wufoo – Online Form Builder for street team applications

Vokle – Live videocasts and recording

Facebook – Private group for street team

Knodes – Deep social media analysis, allowed street team to see who is most influential in their network and see their missions

Asana – Project management/shared task list (Not mentioned in the interview but Baratunde told me during a separate conversation)

Here is a continuation of Anthony Williams’ guest post on the trials of crowdfunding. Here you get a look into the thoughts that go through the mind while embarking on this journey. Read Part 1 here.

Even though this film is a creation of my own, I felt that everyone who was a part of it would be eager to campaign for it as well out of pride for their work. Some people have stepped up, doing what they can when they can, but the level of help that’s needed is still lacking. Naturally, midway through the campaign, the stress and discouragement set in deeper as the days continued on. Contributions are less and less even though the “LIKES” on the Facebook and Twitter posts as well as my work efforts become more and more. I’m becoming more and more burnt out. Everything was and still is somewhat stuck in standstill mode, and I still don’t know how to get out of it.

Now I’m not going to lie—I expected such challenge and opposition frankly because of the content of the film. I’m a ballsy writer and filmmaker. I like to make films about things people don’t like to talk about and on subjects people don’t like to touch. I like to make films that tell the truth with no holds barred, leaving no one out, and with Absolutely Positive being that type of film, it’s obvious that’s a prime reason for the campaign’s current struggle. The pitch video was long and over-informative so I thought that may have been a main factor. I actually even received a few comments that the pitch video was a little…liberal, if you will, and that approach may have also been a deciding factor for those who may have wanted to share the video with others but didn’t. So…I set out to change, in the middle of the campaign. New video, new approach, everything.

It’s seeming to get a better generation of shares, but the donations are still limited. Of course, my mind can’t help but think:

Am I setting myself up for failure with the film’s content and subject matter, or is it unique?

Am I starting to wear people out by constantly talking about it and borderline begging for contributions?

Can I really make this as successful as a lot of the other Kickstarter campaigns are? How do I reach that level if I’m doing all I can already? Am I doing something wrong or did I forget a crucial step in my planning phase?

All of these thoughts still loom in my mind each day I log on to the computer to start another day of campaigning. Eventually, I try to knock them out with these constant reassurances:

I’m not setting myself up for failure because a lot of other campaigns are reaching their goals while asking for more money than we are. The content may be unique and risqué, but it’s a story worth telling and can’t be told any other way.

I may be starting to wear people out with constantly talking about the campaign, but they see the dedication toward what I love to do. They know I’m working myself to the ground to get where I need to be. And at most, if they keep hearing about it, the buzz stays in their ear and they’ll be encouraged to donate, whether it’s because they want to, or whether it’s to get me to STOP talking about it so much. Either way, it’s a win-win!

Yes, I can make it as successful as any other campaign on that website! Thinking outside the box, being bold in my endeavors, and taking chances is what will get me the results needed. If I don’t have enough faith in my project, then no one else will.

I’m sure I’m not the only one faced with the same problems and self-daunting questions. It comes with the territory of the business. Even though there are still a few days left remaining to reach our goal in our campaign, it’s a lonely road to walk. But we as filmmakers have to ask ourselves if it’s one worth walking. I’m not the type to quit midway through, so I’m in it until the end as any filmmaker should be. Know that you are a good filmmaker. Know and believe that your project is worth what you’re asking and worth all of the effort you’re putting into it. Speaking from continual personal experience, I know the journey is long, arduous, and lonely, but it’s one that has to be walked in order to get where we need to be. I know, without a doubt, that I am a ballsy filmmaker, and others know it as well. I know that my films are not for everyone and actually may not set well with quite a bit of people, but the confidence within me tells me that it’s something that will work out for the best in the end. I imagine all of my projects causing noise and raising ruckus, but they’re projects that will always leave people talking and thinking and creating dialogue about things that people are too afraid to talk about otherwise. That’s exactly what Absolutely Positive was meant to do and has already done with those who have seen it. That in itself frightens people (myself included), but I wouldn’t have it any other way and definitely wouldn’t change it for anything. The hurdles in our way may seem too large to jump and will require everything we have. I just have to keep my head up and keep trucking until the last second falls off of the campaign clock. I encourage you to do the same, even when you feel that you can’t.

There are no colorful, magic bubbles to take you to the end; it takes more than just a hop, skip, and a jump to get to the Emerald City, and there may not always be help along the way. If you have all of that, then great (maybe you should give me a call and point me in a few directions). But just in case you don’t, be prepared to travel it on your own. Either way, you’ll come out on the other side alive and all the wiser from the experience.

Here is a guest post by Anthony Williams who has raising funds for his film Absolutely Positive. Here he talks about the realities of crowdfunding. When you are done (or before) check out his campaign on Kickstarter. 

I knew the walk down the yellow brick road of crowdfunding was going to be a long and tough one, but I didn’t know how much until I put my foot to the pavement. But still, in the midst of it all, my eyes are set on the Emerald City.

I started a Kickstarter campaign for the post-production needs of my film, Absolutely Positive. Absolutely Positive is a film about four characters who decide to get tested for HIV. The film follows them and shows why they decide to get tested, the thoughts that go through their minds while waiting to get their results, and how they decide to live their lives after finding out their results. It displays a truthful insight into the many worlds and faces of HIV and sheds light on the importance of personal accountability as well as lack of discrimination, showing that HIV has no limits and knows no bounds. It only takes one person, and it only takes one time.

Before production, there was crazy enthusiasm that had been building throughout the community around the film. Friends and fans were excited; buzz continued to generate; all was swell. After completing the film and hosting a few screenings, I did my research about effective crowdfunding, took a lot of advice, and seemed to have a good grasp on the whole crowdfunding thing in the beginning. So when it began, the momentum was pretty decent.

As expected, running the Kickstarter is a full time job (and a lonely one at that), and with me working a regular full time job already, one can only imagine how much stress and pressure started to build. I set the campaign for 60 days and each one of those days so far has been filled with me constantly being logged onto social media sites, talking face-to-face about the film with every person I come in contact with, contacting organizations around the community and the country in hopes of gaining their support in spreading the Kickstarter link and word about the film—all of which became too much too fast for just me to handle. Although the plan to make this campaign is a surefire success, it’s pretty large, and I’m finding I am the only one executing it, in turn finding there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all I need to make the campaign soar like I want.

Read the rest in Part 2.

This is a follow up to the previous post called Online Film Distribution 101 but with new entrants to the streaming market: WatchFilm, PreScreen, Constellation and FilmDIY. They each have a slightly different approach and here I just focus on what’s important.  I am eager to hear your thoughts on them, whether you’d consider using them or you have used them. 

WatchFilm

A new entrant to the streaming video scene, WatchFilm is comparable to Dynamo and Distrify. They take a cut, have no monthly fee, seem to be focused on the UK as the currency they use when I looked at it last was Pounds Sterling. Of the four, WatchFilm takes the least as of this writing, in the neighbourhood of 25% I believe. The viewer sees a trailer of the film then can buy or rent  your film for 24 hours.  They also support iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices.

Prescreen

Prescreen takes a slightly different tack. This was created by the founder of Groupon and you can see the influence.  Each film is up for 30 days. They start off on the first day with a lower price and encourage people to share with their friends to encourage sales. After the first day the price goes up. Upon signing up for an account some basic demographic information is collected. That information is shared with you the filmmaker to help you target your marketing after (or while for that matter) your film is up on the site. They take half of the proceeds.

Constellation

Constellation employs the theater/ticket model Tribeca Film Festival has been using for their streaming films. A viewer can wait for particular show times. They purchase a ticket for a particular show time and watch the film streaming at the Constellation site at the same time. Typically films are hosted virtually by someone attached to the film: a director or actor. A viewer also has the option of watching it immediately. There’s a lot of social integration with Facebook and Twitter to encourage viewers to share what they are watching. It doesn’t work on iPhone or iPad but on the site it says it’s coming soon.

filmDIY

They have an embeddable player. They use PayPal for payments and also house a library on their site. You can create a mini-site hosted by them for your film. They do a 70/30 split with no upfront fee.. You can make your film available for rent or download  and it will be viewable on iPhone and iPad. They also have a Facebook app so you can sell your film there too. From their site:

We provide special solutions for your marketing and distribution needs.

filmDIY helps you create your own Subscription Services, Bundle solutions,

Dedicated Website for all your films, Rentals VOD, Download to own, Discount codes, and much more,

No extra charge.

 

So what do you think? Would you/have you used them?

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?