A Case Study: For Lovers Only

cameronchapman

cameronchapman

I just came across the story of For Lovers Only, which was released in 2010. It's an interesting success story, and one that I think could be replicated even if you're not the Polish brothers.

The film was shot on virtually no budget (the only things they spent money on were travel and lodging, since they were filming in France), and with only two actors. Granted, one of those actors was Stana Katic, of Castle fame (the other was Mark Polish). But I think getting a well-known TV star (or equivalent) is possible for a lot of indie filmmakers, especially if it's an interesting project.

For Lovers Only was distributed directly through iTunes. Since it was released, it's made over half a million dollars, virtually all profit. There was no big advertising campaign, no big studio backing, etc. They got the word out via social media, specifically Twitter.

There've been some great write-ups about the film on Love. Laugh. Always., Filmmaker Magazine, and The Wrap.

Now, For Lovers Only had some things going for it that a lot of us might not be able to emulate. Namely:
- A name actress with a sizeable social media following (Stana Katic has over 100,000 Twitter followers, which is impressive, but there are a ton of other actors/actresses out there who have just as many)
- Producer/director with track record of successful films
- France (location! location! location!)
- From all the reviews, it's a great film (I haven't seen it)

So the first criteria above is a challenge. The second is something that comes with time, hard work, and a bit of luck, and the third is something that can be done if you can manage a few thousand dollars for a travel budget. The fourth is subjective, and probably the most difficult to be sure of. But it's also the one thing that every single indie filmmaker can do, without a huge budget.

But seriously, if the goal is to create a successful film, we should all be aiming to find an actor or actress with that many Twitter followers (or Facebook fans, etc.). There are probably hundreds of actors on Twitter with that many followers, the key is to make sure that the actor/actress is active on Twitter and that their fans are responsive.

This is probably the most encouraging story I've read about successful self-distributed indie films. Sure, there was a lot going for this film, but at the same time almost everything can be emulated on almost any reasonable budget.

Has anyone here actually seen the film? I wish it was available from someplace other than iTunes (since that's basically the one media streaming service I can't get on my TV). Opinions on how this kind of success can be emulated?
 
The antagonist of my short film in production [Budgeted at ~£500] has 17,364 followers on Twitter and 43,003,340 video views on Youtube. He has agreed to put the trailer up on his channel so I'm hoping that will drive interest in the project much more than I could've expected. If you get some sort of name that you can have a good relationship with, then I think you can put your expectations on something more than just a personal project.
 
I had the opportunity to meet the director at a Film Independent seminar in LA, and he was both interesting and impressive. I made a point of watching it on iTunes. I found it a bit dull from a story perspective, but well done.

Don't forget, though, that he had several other bigger budget movie credits first, including The Astronaut Farmer starring Billy Bob Thornton.
 
mlesemann said:
Don't forget, though, that he had several other bigger budget movie credits first, including The Astronaut Farmer starring Billy Bob Thornton.
Click to expand...

True. I always feel like unless you're talking about the Steven Spielbergs and Christopher Nolans of the world, that only makes a difference in getting funding, not necessarily in end revenue. And since this film didn't have any funding, I'm not sure how relevant that really is. I'm sure it helped get Stana Katic on board, but who knows how much influence that had. Of course, this is all speculation on my part. I have no idea, really.
 
I would add a few things to the recipe of success of For Lovers Only as I followed it from the beginning.

1.) A "name" with a lot of followers is not enough - the person must actively communicate with their fans, followers. Both Stana and Mark was very kind, helpful and thoughtful when it was about the film. They retweeted and thanked the tumbler posts, fan articles, linked them on their FB page, answered the questions, etc. . The people who created something because they liked the movie could feel that they are appreciated and being part of the common success.

2.) The the first screening of the film was on a festival, where Stana was the member of the jury and to where a few dozen fans travelled to see and maybe meet her. (It was outside of the official program, and was absolutely not promoted anywhere, except the daily programs of the festival. The fans didn't travelled there to see the movie, it was a last minute announcement that it will be screened, they were not organized.) I can't tell whether she would have been willing to held a special meeting with her fans without the movie too (IMHO, knowing her I think yes), but the opportunity to ask her about it, right after the first experience was unbelievable. That connected the participants directly to the movie, it was not just a film, but an event of their life. Later that year Mark Polish attended two festivals too and he was also very kind and open to meet the fans and discussing the movie with them.

So as much as the social media was used as a main promotion field, the effectiveness came from the personal contacts. Those who had the chance to talk with them felt a bond with the creators and wanted to share it with their friends.

3.) This comes from the previous ones: it is better to get a "name" with less follower but a colourful, direct and kind personality, then someone who is followed by many, but don't "crouch down" to the fans. I loved For Lovers Only very much, but probably even if I hadn't been enchanted by it, I would have wanted to help with all my means the people who treated us as equals.

I know that the private personality of an actor/actress is the last thing what a director/producer normally consider at the casting, but if the success of the movie depends mainly on the interpersonal connections, it is very important. (FLO was lucky, its release wasn't planned this way, so casting Stana for the role was not because of her fandom - she wanted to work with the Polish brothers since she had seen Northfork.)

4.) Last, but not least: it doesn't harm if the audience can love the movie and it is entertaining/enjoyable not only to your fans, but to the friends of the friends of your fans too :). Otherwise they can tweet and facebook until their fingers wear away, there will be no real effect.
 
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