Digital Distribution & Marketing for Filmmakers

Slide 1: Digital Distribution & Marketing Film Arts Foundation October 11, 2007 Scott Kirsner http://cinematech.blogspot.com kirsner@pobox.com

Slide 2: Digital Distribution: The Opportunity • A direct pipeline to the viewer • Fewer middlemen • Niche content can reach its rightful audience, efficiently • More profit in pockets of filmmakers and their financiers

Slide 3: Workshop Overview • Discussion of digital distribution strategies • Exercise: Sample distribution contracts • Guest speaker: Filmmaker Jim Kerns • Exercise: Building audience for your project • Discussion of digital marketing strategies • Guest speaker: Distributor Alex Afterman

Slide 4: Digital Distribution, Defined • There are two kinds of digital distribution: – Digital distribution over the Internet – Digital distribution to a network of digital cinemas (Christie/AIX, Technicolor, Emerging Pictures)

Slide 5: Who’s Watching Video on the Web? • 75 percent of US Internet users watched an average of three hours of online video in July 2007, according to comScore Video Metrix • Apple’s iTunes store has sold over 50 million TV episodes ($1.99 each) and 1.3 million feature films ($9.99 to $14.99 each), as of January 2007 • On YouTube, the most popular video, “Evolution of Dance,” has been seen 60 million times, and the average viewer spends 26 minutes per month on the site, according to Nielsen/NetRatings

Slide 6: What are They Watching? “Evolution of Dance” - 60 million views, $0 on YouTube

Slide 7: What are They Watching? “Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments” 7.5 million views, $35,000 on Revver

Slide 8: What are They Watching? “Matrix - For Real” by Joe Eigo 5.5 million views, $27,000 on Metacafe

Slide 9: What are They Watching? “405” on iFilm 5.3 million views, $??

Slide 10: What are They Watching? “Ask a Ninja” $20,000 on Revver in 2006

Slide 11: What are They Watching? “Back Massage Techniques” 1.4 million views, $7277 on Metacafe

Slide 12: Commonalities • Videos making money on the Net so far are: – Short (typically 10 mins or less, 2.7 mins on average) – Entertaining or instructive – Not reliant on dialogue

Slide 13: Consumption Habits A September 2006 AP/AO L survey of 1,347 online video users reported on the types of videos they were consuming News: 72 percent Television or movie clips: 59 percent Music videos: 48 percent Sports highlights: 44 percent Amateur videos: 43 percent Concert highlights: 23 percent Full-length movies or TV shows: 22 percent Live sporting events: 17 percent Video podcasts: 17 percent Live concerts: 9 percent

Slide 14: Where Consumption Happens Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Videos Viewed July 2007 (Source: comScore Video Metrix) Videos Share (%) of Property (MM) Videos Total Internet 9,077 100.0 % Google Sites 2,454 27.0 % Yahoo! Sites 390 4.3 % Fox Interactive Media 298 3.3 % Viacom Digital 281 3.1 % Disney Online 182 2.0 % Time Warner Network 181 2.0 % Microsoft Sites 149 1.6 % ESPN 75 0.8 % Veoh.com 53 0.6 % Comcast Corporation 51 0.6 %

Slide 15: Filmmaker Experiences $7 million budget….Digital download on AOL in October 2006: $2.49 for 5-day rental, $7.99 to own…AOL committed millions to promotion…Later released by Sony Home Entertainment on DVD

Slide 16: Filmmaker Experiences Budget under $1 million…Director turned down $125K distrib offer… Debuted on Google video in Jan. 2006, with 70/30 revenue split at $3.99 per download…300 downloads, not 3000…About $1000 in revenue, but 22,000 DVDs shipped (MTI Home Video)

Slide 17: Filmmaker Experiences Budget under $10 million…Distributed on Net two weeks after theatrical release, in December 2006 … $9.99 for rental, $19.99 for download to own…Released on DVD in February by First Look.

Slide 18: Filmmaker Experiences Doc made by two first-time filmmakers…Self-distributed to theaters and on DVD…Filmmakers have sold 4000 DVDs, 700 downloads through their own site (powered by E-Junkie) and Amazon Unbox, as of September 2007.

Slide 19: Economic Models • Paid download or rental (Brightcove, Amazon/CreateSpace, Jaman, eventually iTunes?) • Ad-supported (Revver, Metacafe, YouTube) • DVD purchase (Amazon/CreateSpace, IndieFlix, IndiePix, FilmBaby)

Slide 20: Challenges • iTunes not open to indie content • Aside from iTunes, no obvious second-tier player for paid rentals or downloads • No widely-used connection yet between Internet and TV (Apple TV, TiVo/Unbox, MSFT Xbox all candidates) • “Snacking” behavior; preference for short videos • Windowing issues • Deal terms (varying splits…some traditional homevid distributors want to lock up digital rights) • Marketing in a noisy environment with near- infinite choice

Slide 21: *A Note on Aggregators • iTunes, CinemaNow, and some other sites won’t buy from lone filmmakers • FilmBaby, IODA, MediaStyle angling • How much will they take?

Slide 22: Challenges of D-Cinema Distribution • More than 10 percent of all screens in US can now play digital content • Most of these are operated by Christie/AIX (aka AccessIT), though Technicolor, Dolby, and DCIP plan to be players, too • Cost of encoding your movie in the DCI-approved format is still high… do you want to both create a digital version and also a film print? • Today’s digital screens tend to play mostly studio content, not self-distributed movies • Exceptions: Landmark Theatres, Emerging Pictures

Slide 23: Reinventing Distribution: “Four Eyed Monsters” 1. Played SXSW 2. Didn’t get picked up 3. Video podcasts 4. The importance of e-mail addresses and ZIP codes 5. Demand-based theatrical showings

Slide 24: Reinventing Distribution: “Iraq for Sale” 1. Made to influence the 2006 mid-term elections 2. Online financing 3. House parties/DVD sales

Slide 25: Reinventing Distribution: House Parties

Slide 26: Distribution Deals: Exercise • Fine print matters

Slide 27: Marketing Exercise • Marketing (let’s call it “audience-building”) begins the moment you decide to make your movie

Slide 28: Marketing • What is your movie about? • Who is the audience for your movie? • Where do they hang out online? • What can you give them / how can they help you?

Slide 29: Where Film Fans Hang Out

Slide 30: Where Film Fans Hang Out

Slide 31: Where Film Fans Hang Out

Slide 32: Marketing: Pre-Release

Slide 33: Marketing: Pre-Release

Slide 34: Marketing: Pre-Release ﾪ QuickTime and a MPEG-4 Video decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Slide 35: Marketing: Pre-Release Documentary: “Half a Soulja”

Slide 36: Marketing: Pre-Release

Slide 37: Marketing: Pre-Release

Slide 38: Marketing: Release Time

Slide 39: Marketing: Release Time

Slide 40: Marketing: Release Time Feature: “Head Trauma”

Slide 41: Marketing: DVD & Post-Theatrical

Slide 42: Marketing: DVD & Post-Theatrical

Slide 43: Marketing: “Embed and Spread”

Slide 44: How Can You Get the Audience Involved? • Auditions/casting • Music submissions • Research • Scouting locations • What else?

Slide 45: Video: M dot Strange QuickTimeﾪ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.

Slide 46: Q&A • Thank you for being here! • Scott Kirsner / kirsner@pobox.com / http://cinematech.blogspot.com