Bring the film to the audience (warning: a rant)

[11visions]

WARNING: this is a bit of a disorganized rant (aren't they all!).

I want to share a short story about planning a non-traditional release. The goal is to get your film to the audience, right? This involves getting a distributor interested in your film--except it doesn't because that only works for a small percentage of the [insert large number here] films that are produced each year (many of which don't make it much past a few festivals). But let's not talk about the negative--what's the solution?

So the future of indie film marketing is in the internet? Social networking, maybe--it's a start. The theater may be dying, but watching movies alone at your computer screen hardly seems like the answer. So fast forward ahead, you've finished your movie and want to bring it to a live audience. How do you go about doing that? There always seems like there is more questions than answers...

Then someone like Jon Reiss decides that the world is changing and writes a book about the new way. It's theory--good theory perhaps, but each film is different. Each film is like starting a business from scratch: new locations, new employees, new partners, and a new marketing strategy. But let me get back to the first question. What is the solution to getting your finished movie to a live audience--an audience that will connect with your story and will pay money to buy it the DVD.

So how about renting out theaters? That's what Hunter Weeks did. Problem is that they tend to require a large upfront payment or they might risk a split of ticket sales if they think you can attract an paying audience (can you?). I very nearly followed this strategy myself wanting to do anything to get my film in front of an audience. Why not bring the the theater to the audience?

Here's my idea: purchase a large outdoor projection screen, a high-output projector, and a sound system and start book outdoor showings at cities where your audience already exists. This could be locations where the movie was filmed, or perhaps locations that relate to your storyline. Get the venues at no charge by offering the movie as a free community event and sell DVDs to help cover expenses. You'll probably still not make your money back, but it'd be great promotion to get some buzz going about the movie. And it'd be a fun event for the communities that participate. Every one loves movies-in-the-park.

Summary:

• Locate your audience where they already are
• Bring your film to them
• Offer the event for free to the community
• Sell DVDs at the event

Isn't this what indie bands do? Why aren't filmmakers on board yet? Is someone doing this already? This isn't just theory--I'm personally doing it myself. I'm booking 45 cities this fall and bringing my own movie event to the people. Venues have been receptive--they are offering use of their locations at no charge. Will it work? Will it be profitable? I don't know...yet...

What do you think?

 

[directorik]

This isn't just theory--I'm personally doing it myself. I'm booking 45 cities this fall and bringing my own movie event to the people. Venues have been receptive--they are offering use of their locations at no charge. Will it work? Will it be profitable? I don't know...yet...

What do you think?

I think it’s a great idea. I worked with a company that tried it
three years ago.

It was really expensive. The initial costs (the screen, projector
and sound system) are quite high. Though rental is an option.
Transportation and set up costs need to be taken into
consideration. Many cities require event insurance when doing
anything that will attract a large number of people. Many cities
require permits. Most cities require the event coordinator to
cover the costs of clean up. Those people who love a move in the
park leave one hell of a mess. And then there’s advertising. Gotta
let people know when this free movie is screening and where and
when.

What they discovered was doing this would cost from a low of
$2,000/$3,000 to as much as $4,500/$5,000 per night depending on
the requirements of specific cities.

But you already know this. You’ve already contacted venues and
they’ve been receptive. No charge at all is an amazing deal.
You’ve been a great salesman.

How much did you purchase the equipment for?
What are some of the 45 cities you’re booking?
Are you personally covering the travel costs from city to city?
What advertising will you do in each city?
How many DVDs to you need to sell at each showing to break even?

 

[11visions]

I haven't purchased any equipment yet. I started booking venues first--I had no idea if city parks and amphitheaters would even be receptive to such an idea. At first, not all of them were, but over a few months I refined my pitch and now already I have 14 confirmed sites (out of the 45 anticipated) with dozens more currently in talks.

The cities I'm booking are all along the Mississippi River because that is the subject of the film. Some of the cities: Quad-Cities (Iowa), Hannibal Missouri, Alton Illinois (St Louis), Memphis Tennessee, Vicksburg Mississippi. A lot of smaller towns are on board too and given the liability insurance restrictions (see below), I'm not sure that the big city shows could have a significantly larger turnout than the smaller ones.

Expenses can be controlled. After talking with a number of people who run outdoor movie events and similar projects (even a few "mobmov drivers"), I worked up an equipment list that totals around $13,000. Quotes from event insurance companies have ranged from $2500-$5000 to cover ALL 45 locations under the condition that no more than 500 people will attend a single show which is totally fine as a 20' screen wouldn't be suitable for a larger audience anyways. So insurance--while pricey--is not completely unaffordable.

Figuring a crew of just 4 to run the event over a period of three months brings the road expenses up an additional $11,000 (two of us would be unpaid due to personal commitment to the film). Total: $26,000. Yeah, it's a lot money for a no-budget movie, but might be just crazy enough at least not lose too much money. I'd need to sell close to 3000 DVDs to break even--not realistic, but the promotion itself could be invaluable. I'm not worried about breaking even at this point. If I spend 1000 hours editing a movie, I want to make sure at least several thousand people see it--profits be damned!

I have a fundraising campaign going right now trying to raise the equipment expenses so that could potentially offset some of the cost and make the chances of profitability a bit higher. I can't say for sure if that aspect will work out right now so I'll report back in a month and let you know...

Also, following the event, I would still have all the projection equipment which could be used for similar events in the future without re-purchasing it. Heck, if the whole thing is moderately successful, I would try and find other filmmakers who want to repeat a similar concept and provide them the gear to help them find THEIR audience (that's what it's all about, right?). I bet their is other people who would like to do something like this, but don't know how to go about getting the equipment and venues to do so. Am I right?

Is there anyone else who thinks this would be a good way to promote THEIR movie? What cities would you pick based on the subject? Would you do it if someone else could provide all the equipment and expertise at a reasonable cost? This might not work for *every* movie, but I'm beginning to believe it has significant potential.

 

[directorik]

Very cool.

That’s a lot of money to spend promoting a movie, but it’s about
what one would spend four walling for a week in LA and NY. I’m
fascinated by this idea. Three months on the road with your movie
sounds like a lot of fun.

What are your plans to attract an audience? We all know that
getting people to come out and see an independent film is really
tough - free or not. How will you advertise?

I wish I was in the area. I’d love to attend one of the
screenings. Hell, I’d love to be on the crew.

 

[sonnyboo]

The theater may be dying, but

Given the incredible profitability of theatrical releases right now, what are you basing this theory on?

 

[Buddy Greenfield]

Could you off-set some expense by taking someone else’s (maybe Short) film on the road with you, like as an opening act or traveling film fest? Or would that be time prohibitive, and spend the audience before they see your film?

I’m curious which genre your film is. (I mean, would it be an event geared toward a family audience?)

-Thanks-

 

[11visions]

It IS a lot of money to spend on promotion, but that is assuming all of the estimated $26,000 is suck costs. I think it would be possible to sell as much as $10,000 worth of product over the course of 45 shows + plus I'd still have all the equipment which could be used in the future for a similar project with another film. I really want to see if the whole concept can be successful and the only way to find out seems to be to do it myself. I would consider it a success if the net loss was less than say $4,000-$5,000 after subtracting equipment costs.

As for promotion, I'll describe to you want I am doing for this particular movie (but I believe the same principals could be applied to other films). Each city is of course different and given the fact a lot of the venues are in small towns, the strategy there is very different from a larger city. In smaller towns/cities (< 10,000 people), I'm relying primarily on radio and local calendars for promotion. Several radio stations are going to give away DVDs are part of a prize for calling in ("you're the 9th caller!") and will plug the live show at the same time. For venues that are already being used for concerts and other public events, I've tried to track down the local promotors and get them on board with flyering my movie along with other acts that they are promotors. Local promotors are generally REALLY good at their job. Some venues have an existing "movie-in-the-park" audience and will send out the movie details just as they would with any other film. Amphitheaters too all have their own mailing lists and so far all of them have agreed to help with the promotion of the event. With smaller towns too you're not competing against as many events so it's easier to stand out. It's the same booking principal as booking a band in Boise, Idaho versus New York City--you might actually get a bigger crowd in Boise because you're only competing with a couple other acts on any given night instead of the thousands of events going on in New York.

Being part of the crews seems like fun when looking on from the computer, but I'm thinking it's going to end up being loads of work. Weekends tend to be the most desirable dates when booking a show so there will be A LOT of 4-day weekends with back to back shows. That's loading in, setting up, tearing down, loading a trailer and driving a hundred miles or so to the next location. Rinse. Repeat. The rest of the week will likely end up doing promotion for upcoming dates. That being said, if you know some hardworking crew people who have a few months off this fall and want to work their asses off for minimal pay- have them send me a PM!

directorik, what can you tell me about the company you know who did a similar event? I'd like to know a bit more about what they did and if there are any lessons that can be learned (other than keep costs low!). I admit this is all theory right now, but I WILL be doing this in 2010 and I'll update the board with how well it all works out.

 

[11visions]

Given the incredible profitability of theatrical releases right now, what are you basing this theory on?

You are completely correct sonnyboo, and that is certainly true of the blockbuster Hollywood movies. But more specifically in the indie film market, the filmmakers I interact with seem to have given up on thinking they will see a real theatrical release of their movie--and if they do--they're worried they will even make their money back.

But I'm not here to say anything bad about theaters as I'd love to utilize them myself...I'm only proposing other methods of bringing a film to a live audience. Speaking of which: what other avenues are available besides the local arts theater? School gymnasiums with a projection system? Home showings where someone has a big room/television? I'm really curious what other creative marketers have done already...

 

[11visions]

Could you off-set some expense by taking someone else’s (maybe Short) film on the road with you, like as an opening act or traveling film fest? Or would that be time prohibitive, and spend the audience before they see your film?

I’m curious which genre your film is. (I mean, would it be an event geared toward a family audience?)

-Thanks-

I'm not opposed to running a short as an opener. Tell me about how that would help monetize a live event? I'm not very familiar with marketing strategies for short films (or features for that matter!).

The particular movie I'm running this fall is what I would describe as a adventure-documentary (kinda like a feature-length "Man vs Wild"). As I've already said the subject matter is the Mississippi River so it was an obvious choice to look for venues in close proximity to the river. The edit used for the tour will be completely family-friendly, but will probably appeal most to people in my own age bracket (over 25/male). The following festival run will likely use a different edit which will be closer to PG-13. I realize I am doing this backwards ("theatrical" run prior to festivals), but it seemed like the best way to do it when the timeline was being planned.

 

[Tinalera]

I used to think movie theatres were dying-I have since come to the conclusion it's not so much dying as changing-depending on what you want to see.

The films for the most part that are being successful at the Boxoffice (IMO) are mostly what I call "Summer Blockbuster" type films, that tend to be big on the "Visual" experience-the movies making these dollars are flims like "Iron Man" (comic book films) "Avatar" (A visual experience that has a story people identify with-though there's a whole debate on another thread about it), and "Shrek" (CGI animated films). These are the films that are really carrying the bulk of the load-it's not the "movies" its the "experience"-add in 3D (which seems to be working fairly successfully). Take these films away and theatres are in much deeper trouble IMO. Just for fun I took a look at Boxoffice mojo:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2010-05-26&p=.htm

Take a look at the big takers in money, and see what they have in common


If you are looking at making a film where the focus is on a story with little emphasis on animation, effects, or action, then I don't think that's the market for this genre of film if you don't have a big promotional budget-and your idea of bringing the film to the masses via other means seems like a good one, though it sounds like even that can be expensive.

 

[Tinalera]

I'm not opposed to running a short as an opener. Tell me about how that would help monetize a live event? I'm not very familiar with marketing strategies for short films (or features for that matter!).

The particular movie I'm running this fall is what I would describe as a adventure-documentary (kinda like a feature-length "Man vs Wild"). As I've already said the subject matter is the Mississippi River so it was an obvious choice to look for venues in close proximity to the river. The edit used for the tour will be completely family-friendly, but will probably appeal most to people in my own age bracket (over 25/male). The following festival run will likely use a different edit which will be closer to PG-13. I realize I am doing this backwards ("theatrical" run prior to festivals), but it seemed like the best way to do it when the timeline was being planned.

See, I would love to see a return to the idea of showing two or three film shorts, maybe an animated short before the main attraction-of course, that would mean selling the idea of people spending more time in the theatre-maybe 3 or more hours. Sadly I don't see that happening-interesting idea though

 

[Buddy Greenfield]

I don't mean monetize the event, I mean funds raised by someone paying you to tour their film on the road (They pay for exposure before a live audience/You do the road work) that might help off-set some of the operating expense, like gas. It might not be much, but if you could get SOME cash AND find a film (or films) that balances or rounds out the audience’s experience for the evening (between your film and something else), then it could possibly be a win win win.

-Thanks-

 

[directorik]

Being part of the crews seems like fun when looking on from the computer, but I'm thinking it's going to end up being loads of work.

I spent a good part of my early career as a stagehand . Five road
shows (big Broadway musicals), over 50 live events, four months
on tour with KISS, I think I have an excellent idea of what the
work would be like. That is my idea of fun.

directorik, what can you tell me about the company you know who did a similar event? I'd like to know a bit more about what they did and if there are any lessons that can be learned (other than keep costs low!). I admit this is all theory right now, but I WILL be doing this in 2010 and I'll update the board with how well it all works out.

Well, they never did it. Their plan was a mobile film festival; 90
minutes of award winning short films and 30 minutes of movies made
by locals in each city for a nice evening of movies-in-the-park.
They came up with a slightly higher number than yours for a two
month, 16 screenings (Friday/Saturday only) tour. They did a test
run of two weekends in two different cities - renting the
equipment. Even with a lot of work getting corporate sponsors and
heavy advertising, they never had more than 60 people show up.
Their last day, a beautiful Saturday evening in July with
giveaways from local businesses, the local Mayor in attendance, a
local “celebrity” to introduce the screening and free popcorn,
they had 18 people show up.

At that point they figured they would lose too much money. They
did try again a year later with an independent feature film - with
a name star - and local short films, but it, too didn’t bring in
an audience.

 

[PositiveFuture]

Could you off-set some expense by taking someone else’s (maybe Short) film on the road with you, like as an opening act or traveling film fest?

I haven't read the whole thread, but I had the idea of co-headlining with a band. That'd be a cool night, see a movie and a band in the same evening. If you keep thinking of ways to lower the cost I bet you'll have a blast. Good luck.

 

[Midnite]

We're gonna test a strategy out starting in September, so I can't vouch for its success, but here's the plan.

Colleges.

Most Universities have a room for showing movies, usually for a dollar or two for students. We'll be contacting the school's "Activity Group" that is film related. We'll offer the film for free(the Group keeps the profits). If the University is nearby, then someone related to the filming will drop by for a Q&A and with an armful of DVD's.

We'll try to hit several schools in specific areas that also have independent theaters, and will follow this up by doing a "4 wall" at a local indie theater, and use the, hopefully good, word of mouth spreading like wildfire through the college campus to help promote it.

It'll take some legwork, but won't cost much, and could be fun.

Best,

Midnite

 

[knightly]

St. Cloud State University would be the UPB Films (University Programs Board)... and we're located on the Mississippi in Minnesota

Not sure what they would charge, but if you could get the backing of the faculty in the film studies department, they may even cover expenses, but it would then be for exposure alone (with possible DVD sales).

I think University film programs would be a great outlet assuming your film is strong enough to play in front of an audience.

 

[Kate Loudhouse]

Cool idea! I might pass it along.

Good luck.

 

[rockerrockstar]

Midnight has a good idea. I have heard there are companies you can hire that put flyers out at colleges maybe you could find some to help you promote.

 

[11visions]

So here's how it worked out. The basics: 45 shows. Sold roughly 700 DVDs. Came very close to breaking even but I can't say that it was totally financially successful. Many shows had over a hundred people (to a totally unknown independent movie). A good experience and the very best audience I could hope for given the setup. Any questions?

 

[SinEater]

It sounds like a great experience. How did you come close to breaking even selling 700 DVDs? Earlier in the thread you estimated you'd need to sell around 3000 to break even.