I'm blushing... but you know me knightly, I've always thought the socratic method was the only way to teach. LOLThe truth is, there is some merit in this plan... but I think it's suffering from problems that are common to the indie scene... a weird combination of overconfidence and low self-esteem.
One of the cardinal rules of development in this industry is to surround yourself with people who know more than you do... so, if I'd been pulling this together I would have hunted for the smartest people on the indie scene, all of whom had expertise in one facet of the business and then built a collaborative project on the back of that teams' skills.
In particular I would have looked for someone like Mr Modern Life, who had taken a couple of films to market in Europe... then maybe someone like Directorik, who has done the same in the US... and then Bill Cunningham, who knows the DVD Premiere scene inside and out... and finally someone who had been in on the foundation of Customflicks.
These are all people who know more than I do about specific areas of film distribution... I would have added in my knowledge of marketing and in particular how it relates to virals and social networking... Oh, and I'd have to have Filmjumper as well, he's a bloody genius at net marketing.
Anyway... given a team like that you could actually make an "investors club" for movies work...
But, if you've too much confidence in your own skills, but at the same time are scared of the big fish, because you doubt your ability to play in the market proper, then it's almost automatic to try these "in isolation" tactics. It feels safe, because instead of taking a film to sales agent and distributors you try the "soft" option of direct sales to the public.
The only problem is... it's not a soft option.
The other truth is, whilst this scheme has been in development, it's been out evolved by movieset.com (the link leads to my article about the project... don't want to mislead anyone! LOL)
which has approached the same problem... but with a better solution, that's free for everyone to use and they backed it with serious venture capital... like a real business.
Don't get me wrong, I think there is a place for a "movie investors club"... I'm just not convinced by this one.
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