New directions for documentary - RIDM
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This document discusses new paradigms for documentary production and distribution. It outlines some of the challenges with the traditional model, which involves playing festivals, selling to distributors for an advance and percentage of revenues. However, this model provides little money up front and filmmakers see little return. The document discusses how new technologies and platforms allow for more direct engagement with audiences and new funding models like crowdfunding. It advocates for embracing multiple platforms and business models to better reach audiences and monetize projects.
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New directions for documentary - RIDM
- 1. New Paradigms for Documentary Production & Distribution Brian Newman springboardmedia.blogspot.com @bnewman01
- 2. 2
- 3. Old World $
- 4. Old World $ • Play festival
- 5. Old World $ • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster (s)
- 6. Old World $ • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster (s) • Advance • Percentage of revenues
- 7. Old World $ • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster (s) • Advance • Percentage of revenues • They sell to audience
- 8. Old World $ • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster (s) • Advance • Percentage of revenues • They sell to audience • Who pays for the film
- 9. Old World $ • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster • Advance • Percentage of revenues • They sell to audience • Who pays for the film • $ to distributor • $ to filmmakers • $ to investors
- 10. Old World $ M YTH • Play festival • Sell to distributor/broadcaster • Advance • Percentage of revenues • They sell to audience • Who pays for the film • $ to distributor • $ to filmmakers • $ to investors • Everyone is happy....
- 11. Old World $ Play festival Maybe
- 12. Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere
- 13. Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere Advance $0 - $15,000 avg Percentage of revenues 30% - 60% after expenses
- 14. Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere Advance $0 - $15,000 avg Percentage of revenues 30% - 60% after expenses They sell to audience Hopefully
- 15. Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere Advance $0 - $15,000 avg Percentage of revenues 30% - 60% after expenses They sell to audience Hopefully Who pays for the film If theaters book it or buyers buy
- 16. 16 Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere Advance $0 - $15,000 avg Percentage of revenues 30% - 60% after expenses They sell to audience Hopefully Who pays for the film If theaters book it or buyers buy $ to distributor But, marketing, P&A, staffing, cross-collateralization, fees, delivery
- 17. 17 Old World $ Play festival Maybe Sell to distributor/broadcaster(s) Maybe – forever, everywhere Advance $0 - $15,000 avg Percentage of revenues 30% - 60% after expenses They sell to audience Hopefully Who pays for the film If theaters book it or buyers buy $ to distributor But, marketing, P&A, staffing, cross- collateralization, fees, delivery $0 to filmakers $0 to investors No one is happy...and you don’t even own your film anymore
- 18. 18 Disruptive Innovation Disruptive technology and disruptive innovation are terms used in business and technology literature to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced or designed for a different set of consumers. Clayton Christensen via Wikipedia
- 19. It’s not until the tide goes out until you see who’s wearing the swim trunks - Warren Buffett
- 24. 24 Old World Value: Scarcity New World Value: Overabundance
- 26. 26 Engagement
- 28. Langworthy & Henein Vanishing of the Bees
- 29. Twitter Stats (via Twitter) •105,779,710 registered users •1,500% growth over the last three years •300,000 new sign-ups per day •60% of new accounts were from outside the U.S. •600 million search queries per day •A NY Times story gets tweeted every 4 seconds
- 30. Usage by Age Group US Growth Twitter
- 31. Zoe Keating @ZoeCello 1.38 million followers on Twitter
- 32. 32 Building Community Friends & Fans
- 33. www.ironsky.net
- 34. www.ironsky.net
- 35. www.ironsky.net
- 36. crowdcontrols.cc
- 37. CrowdSourcing Turning Community into Funders
- 39. • $10 - Unpolished Rock (but with potential) Level: A free digital download of the album, when it's released. • $25 - Polished Rock Level: An advance copy of the CD. Weeks before the masses. • $2,500 - Emerald Level: Mentioned as an executive producer of the album -- whoop- di-doo! • $5,000 - Diamond Level: I will come and do a house concert for you. Invite your friends, serve some drinks, bring me out and I sing. Actually, this level is a smart choice economically. I've played many house concerts where the host has charged his guests and made his money back. I'd go for this if I were you. • $10,000 - Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level: You get to come and sing on my CD. Don't worry if you can't sing - we can fix that on our end. Also, you can always play the cowbell. Details from Jill’s Next Record website
- 40. thecosmonaut.org
- 41. thecosmonaut.org
- 44. Multi-Platform Agnostic, Viral & Mobile
- 47. Sally Potter’s Rage First Movie Premiering Day/Date at a Festival and on Mobile
- 51. Transmedia What it is: Types/examples: Develop the story across multiple entry points Events Multi-platform Games/ARG Audience can become immersed in experience Interactive components Deep audience engagement Graphic Novels Encourages participatory audiences Online & viral content Each element a distinctive experience Mobile Story flows & builds rev streams Think Outside the norms - experiences
- 52. Transmedia Quick thoughts: Some Experts: Keep a mind towards audience dev. components from the beginning Christy Dena Think beyond marketing Stephen Dinehart (coined) It’s not all about the film - extend the experience Jeff Gomez Think about impact & social change Henry Jenkins Not just games.... events, gallery shows, etc. Mike Monello Some projects may not need to be a film John Threat ...or can become one if successful Lance Weiler Transmedia can be simple Many more...
- 53. Thomas Allen Harris: Through a Lens Darkly
- 55. Market Conditions Established Practices/Incumbent Players + + = Fear Less Experimentation
- 57. NEW + OLD
- 58. Embrace Multi-modality In biz plan
- 59. Multi-Modal Practices Theatrical Events Nontheatrical (incl. fests) Games Educational ARG Broadcast Interactive DVD Experiences VOD/EST Apps Online + Viral Content Marketing Piracy/Peer to Peer PR Territories Print Mobile/Portable Devices Merchandise Windows Other.... Platforms
- 60. Multi-Modal Practices Theatrical Events Nontheatrical (incl. fests) Games Educational ARG Broadcast Interactive DVD Experiences VOD/EST Apps Online + Viral Content Marketing Piracy/Peer to Peer PR Territories Print Mobile/Portable Devices Merchandise Windows Other.... Platforms A U D I E N C E
- 61. Multi-Modal Practices Foundations Co-Op Marketing Government Licensing Nonprofit/NGO Partnerships Gap Corporate/Brands Debt Individual Donors Free Investment Subscription Tax Incentives/Rebates/Credits Advertising Sales Affiliate Models Sales Agents Lease Related Sales (merchandise, stock footage....) Co-Production Post Other.... Business/Finance Models
- 62. Each platform will probably have multiple business models
- 64. The biggest problem with most projects, and with the industry generally, is a total disconnect from the audience. We need to put as much creativity and work into <thinking about, learning about/from, developing> our audience as we put into creating our stories.
- 65. The Rules...Today Keep Budgets Low Raise Enough to Distribute & Market Your Project
- 69. The best way to predict the future is to invent it Alan Kay
Editor's Notes
- For lack of a better title... Thanks to Liz and Tishna and sponsors
- First things first, we have to realize that the model is broken - pretty much all the business models for film have changed dramatically if they haven’t broken all together
- the usual model is completely broken
- yet still, films were made. Well, the first thing you have to realize is that digital has been a disruptive innovation on the field. it completely transforms everything we do. music biz example, trouble embracing the new so lose out
- It has rolled back the tide on many bad business models and changed them fundamentally. We can now speak to one another more easily and see just how poorly a gallery is paying or a distributor, etc. Also, these behaviors (online) aren’t new - these aren’t new behaviors but what people wanted to do all along
- we can’t operate in an analogue world anymore - the single biggest problem facing the arts is that so many people want to think that his is a cycle that will pass, that things will go back to normal, that digital is the same as analogue and we can adapt it to our existing models
- but it’s a fundamental shift and we’re ill-fitted to the task if we try to cram digital economies into our old way of thinking
- we’re in a whole new paradigm and business models are changing overnight in every industry.think about it, newspaper advertising and classifieds were a multi billion dollar industry and craigslist came along and tidied that up into one profitable 100 million company. the changes here will be just as profound
- But we need to step back and look at a 50,000 ft level at what has changed Indeed the very notion of value has changed.
- in the old world, the business was built on scarcity, but today we have ubiquity - true obviously in film and music, but also in all other arts - you are now competing with a worldwide artist base, and the entire history of the arts. And audiences who want cultural entertainment (or enlightenment, or....) can get it from many new places.
- what matters is my attention
- and engaging me, and keeping me engaged, is ever more valuable
- becoming more participatory, a conversation
- here’s an example of a filmmaker using it to their advantage - building community. note how they make it easy for people to take the content to other websites and blogs through widgets, etc. Notice how Vanishing of the Bees has a blog, a petition, twitter, facebook, etc. and a widget to take the content elsewhere.
- the latest twitter stats
- Importance of twitter (today) Fastest growing 1382% increase in one year, 42% over 35.
- Zoe Keating has used it to amass an audience of over 1 million followers, and she now has a self-sustaining career. Notice here she is replying/thanking a fan who cued her in on how to watch some media. She’s not just working a one way street, she’s communicating with her audience.
- zoe has built a fan base, that’s in constant dialogue with her. Because this should be your ultimate goal - not to think of building an audience for just one project, but for you, your career - people who will continue to follow you, be in dialogue with you and support your career.
- Filmmakers are doing it on their own. Iron Sky example
- Join community in multiple places, now have 28K fans, and the movie isn’t even shot yet
- also have people requesting the film through a Google Map mashup, and have over 19K requests before the movie is shot.
- and now you can too with crowdcontrols
- We’re also seeing people turning the audiences into their funders
- Patronage – radiohead model, give it away but can donate to get more. Jill Sobule got her fans to donate to make her album - 95K
- Here’s a blow-up of what you got for your donation
- here’s a recent example of filmmakers doing this - cosmonaut example - one of the more clever uses of crowd-funding
- cosmonaut example - here’s some of their merchandise, gives a broad range for support
- Age of Stupid did this as well to much success and made a guide to it that anyone can download
- it has to be convenient, immediate, because when I have things competing for my attention, I will move on. This means, people expect multi-platform
- They want it when they want it, from whatever portal they like and on whatever device they like, and they want it yesterday They want to share it virally with their friends
- and they may even still buy the film on a DVD or other method - but they want access to all of these platforms. Here’s one filmmaker who is using that to his advantage - Cory McAbee with Stingray Sam - offering easy ways to get it in multiple formats and with value added.
- They’ll pay for limited editions, from the artist, with cool add-ons
- and get it on mobile- one of the biggest trends recently and in coming years, which I’m not devoting enough time to today.
- multiple access points, transmedia -
- Cross media allows them to become active participants in multiple parts of the story. It allows them to delve deeper into the experience if they so choose, or access it from their preferred medium. The idea is to expand the story line into multiple media. The Matrix is the most famous recent example
- and their fans are legion, and very involved with every aspect of the story
- Definitions of transmedia and examples/things to think about
- More to think about and experts.
- Thomas Allen Harris and Through a Lens Darkly
- unfortunately, we live in reality, in a hybrid space
- unfortunately, we live in reality, in a hybrid space
- How do we avoid sudden death?
- mix old and new models
- what does that mean? i call it multi-modal business practices, multi modal optimization
- Different platforms
- Different platforms
- Business models, and each has subsets
- way of thinking about it
- we know less about audience than any other industry; we ignore what they tell us (not pay per use); we spend less time thinking about them; few people focus on it in plans and it is the only thing that matters
- Keep budgets low 250-500K max; raise enough to distribute and market
- There’s an old marketing theory that says people don’t go to store to buy a ¼” drill, but because they want a ¼” hole. don’t go to the store to buy a hammer. They go there because they want to hang a picture, to get something done, and the hammer just helps them do it.
- I love seeing a movie in a theater, but let’s face it – that was a tool for Hollywood to pack as many people into one space and make money off their desire to escape. It was a tool to have a fun night out, but it was only one tool.
- these aren’t new behaviors but what people wanted to do all along We now have new tools, and we can’t fight it, but need to embrace them to our benefit. The audience wants to build something – they can get your hammer for free, or you can give them a reason to buy it. They also want to interact with you in new ways, so use these tools to your advantage. People can collect around your film, watch it and interact with it in new ways now. And we have new ways of reaching them and engaging them.
- what’s next?
- how to contact me