CinemaTech

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Ira Deuchtman's blog and Twitter feed

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

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

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

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

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

- Blog Maverick, Mark Cuban's blog

Chad Hurley Interview Notes from 2005

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

YouTube is marking its fifth anniversary this month.

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

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

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

Wonder if that video has ever surfaced....

Video from The Conversation @ Columbia

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

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

> Tiffany Shlain's Opening Remarks:

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

> Ira Deutchman's Opening Remarks:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Conversation 2010: Post-Game Notes & Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three Quick Links for the SXSW Crowd

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

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

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

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

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

What I'll Be Up to at SXSW

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

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

This year, I'm doing two sessions there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And we'd love your help spreading the word.

Among the topics we plan to address:

Video interview with Ian Calderon of the Sundance Institute

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

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

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

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

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

At Sundance, some new thinking about distribution

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

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

From the piece:

OneTooManyMornings.com

“Bass Ackwards,”

Sundance Selects

Saturday: Live Streaming of the Filmmaker Summit at Slamdance

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

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

Here's part of their mission statement:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Events for 2010: Canada, UK, NYC

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the data from 2009 says...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended: Hugh MacLeod's book 'Ignore Everybody'

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

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

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

exactly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

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

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

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

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

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

The video is now up.

video platform
video management
video solutions
free video player

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

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

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

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

Back in September, I sat down with filmmaker Jon Reiss to talk about his forthcoming book, Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era.' Jon takes a very nuts-and-bolts approach to creating a distribution strategy that combines the best of the old world and the new world. The book just went on sale this week, and if you're in New York, Jon is giving a presentation tonight at the IFC Center. (Jon was a discussion leader at Distribution U. earlier this month in L.A., and the photo above is of him signing a few advance copies of Think Outside the Box Office at that event.)

In our conversation, we talked about:

- Why filmmakers still feel compelled to make feature-length films, when everyone is watching short videos on the Internet
- Developing a marketing and distribution strategy before you hit the festival circuit
- Thinking about your core audience, especially if you're making a narrative feature or a doc on a broad societal issue
- Services Jon recommends for selling DVDs and digital downloads.

You can download the MP3 (it runs about 14 minutes) here, or just click "play" below.

Your comments welcome...

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Distribution U. Wrap-Up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The five films we talked about were:

- ”Two Spirits”

- ”Tricks”

- ”In My Sleep”

- “While Time Stands Still”

- ”Becoming Bert Stern”

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

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

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

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

Madelyn Hammond leads a lunch discussion group.

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

Sacha Gervasi shares some advice with the audience.

Thomas Mai leads a lunchtime discussion on foreign sales.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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