Creative Commons distribution model?

Hey Guys!

We are a small production house in Honduras with a great animated feature film.
http://www.pichinguitos.com/inicio.htm

and videogame:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=www.pichinguitos.com&hl=es_419

At this moment we have decided to release our film under the creative commons license. (Not free culture license. We will keep the right for the sale.)

We are doing this to let our film reach more people in our home country and let the film find its way to its right audience.

Our film is a social satire, very frenetic, and psychedelic! It has no use of profanity or gore as expected from Happy tree friends or Southpark.. It has a very 80s 90s and european vibe.
Awesome script, great original soundtrack.. Most people who have seen the film have called it "Genius" "Exceptional" "Crazy" "Awesome" Hahaha..

I'm looking for advice. Would a distributor want to release a movie on this terms?

Check out some of our videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThePichinguitos

What do you guys think about that distribution model? Its a new concept.. Almost everything is pirated and online any ways.. But movies are still shown on TV.

We want to do this mainly to put our name out there.

Cheers!
 
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I think the idea is interesting. I'm assuming that you didn't come up with this strategy in a vacuum. I'm assuming that you looked at other distribution models and weighed the costs and benefits of the traditional system that everyone uses, and recommends, and decided on this option after careful review.

I'm thinking of doing the same. I'm shooting a movie this month, shooting starts on October 27, and I won't be done with the film before March of next year. I hadn't thought about the creative commons avenue, but what I have decided to do is to release it online for free for a period of time, during initial release, and promote that free period.

I have no idea what will happen, but I'd like to try it out anyway.

Good luck with your movie.
Aveek
 
Of course, its a measured decision. There is only another animated feature film freed under that License http://sitasingstheblues.com/ Our movie would be number 2, It's also the first animated feature produced in Central America. We have plans to dub it to English with a few minor celebrities attached. Its a pretty crazy movie with a very odd style. I just wonder if any distributors would be interested in taking this route.. Its very new and aggressive. But we would just love to try out something new and take a leap of faith. Haha.. Thanks for your answer!
 
Actually it isn't really a distribution model. It only allows people to distribute it.

I think it will be harder to sell the movie, because the paid version has to compete with legal free versions.
Selling sand to a desert is hard work almost nobody will want to do.
Unless the sold sand has something special...
 
Thanks WalterB,

We might take the traditional route of distribution, but we think at the end it would be much better for our brand to let it out in the open. We are still thinking about selling it mainly for TV. It just doesn't matter anymore if a film downloadable online anymore or if its on DVD already.. You can always sell it on TV if you have an audience.

Its strange times right now for digital distribution, we think there is no more hiding the fact that if some wants to watch your film online for free, they will! Why not facilitate it to the broadest audience possible. Specially for independent films and filmmakers who are trying to appeal hard to reach niche markets.
 
We are still thinking about selling it mainly for TV.

Selling what exactly? TV stations do not buy films (except in the case of commissioning), they buy a license to broadcast a film and in my experience they're usually only interested in an exclusive license, at least for their territory/region. If you are distributing effectively for free on the internet (and can't therefore offer an exclusive license) what is it you are planning to sell to a TV station? Secondly, in addition to this licensing issue, you are going to have to meet broadcast delivery specs, which will require planning and a budget for some professionals, if you wish to sell anywhere in North America, most of Europe or a number of other countries.

There are roughly 15,000 TV stations in the world and I've only had dealings with fewer than 0.5% of them but from what you've said, I think your TV sales plan is unrealistic for most "western/developed" territories.

G
 
Thanks Audiopostexpert,

Yes, when I said sell I ment sell broadcasting rights to TV and cable networks.
Speaking frankly I think it would be far more interesting for a Network to show your film has an audience, then to warranty it's not going to be uploaded online by anyone with access to a dvd and torrents.

New studies about piracy are showing, that a movie like Batman, or something like Pi being online illegally are not stopping people from watching them on TV. By now people are getting tiered of downloading their favorite movies, and they are freeing up their hard drives. Movies are abundant now and customers want almost everything for free, unless you can spend a fortune on marketing that can make people really want to buy your film even if its crap.

Here are a few examples of movies that have done something similar and have sold their broadcating right for tv or gotten distribution deals:
The Tunnel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQrozMTWlY
Star Wreck:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHAPXlVq5lk
Sita Sings the Blues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgQm3V3cuKs

I'm really not even trying to defend my point at all, I'm just brainstorming with you guys.

Something I know for sure is I want to give my prospect audience something for free. I want them to play around with our product, do what ever they want with it.
People on our Facebook fanpage have done Fan art of our characters based on our trailers.
https://www.facebook.com/pichinguitos and let me tell you something, that is awesome!

We might give away our production files for people to play around with.. We are not pressing the button just yet. We will setup everything for it. Marketing and human psycology still play a roll even on watching something for free.
In all honesty I don't see how the old distribution model is working at all at least for indies..

Keep the ideas and comments coming!
Cheers!
 
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Yes, when I said sell I ment sell broadcasting rights to TV and cable networks.

You obviously can't sell the exclusive broadcast rights to a TV or cable network if those rights have effectively already been granted (under a creative commons license) on the internet. So what you're talking about is trying to sell non-exclusive broadcast rights? If so, I think that's going to be an extremely tough sell and even if you do manage to find a TV/cable network interested in non-exclusive broadcast rights I wouldn't expect them to offer much more than peanuts and probably not even enough to cover the cost of the professionals you'd need to hire to bring your film up to broadcast standards in the first place!

Your plan doesn't sound realistic to me but I'm not an expert in this area, so I suggest you have a good chat with an experienced TV sales rep/Exec well before you settle on your current plan!

G
 
Thanks G,

Non exclusive is right!
We are socializing our ideas right now.
We will do what ever is best for our film.

I think we will start by giving away our production files.. illustrations and animation files, its just going to be so much fun watching other animators do crazy stuff with our project. Hahaha

We apreciate your thoughts and we are definitely taking note. We will do what ever is possible to keep our audience happy without harming our business.

Thanks for the advice.
 
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