On September 20, 2009, WinGateFilms attended the 2009 IFP Independent Filmmaker Conference series of programs entitled: “Making Your First Feature” in New York City at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
The first panel, “Show & Sell: Positioning Your Film for Festivals and Buyers” was co-moderated by Heather Winters and Peter Kujawski with panelists Jeff Hill (public relations), Alex Orlovsky (producer), Tom Quinn (producer/distributor), and Cynthia Schwartz (public relations).
Orlovsky emphasized that independent filmmakers need to think about how your film is going to be sold. Today, you need to be prepared to self-distribute, as your ultimate goal is to be able to make another movie. Schwartz suggested trying to collect interns to help with your self-distribution strategy. Schwartz and Quinn both agreed that it is extremely hard now to sell American indie films without any stars. Even getting press is not enough to sell a film in this market.
Hill recommended starting a film website and film marketing plan from Day One. You need to identify: what is the selling point of your film? Hill advised not to put a lot of downloadable content on your website, because a potential distributor may not like it. An exit plan following a festival run is a must; think that you are soliciting an audience of buyers.
To give a sense of the bleakness from a film sellers’ perspective, Quinn indicated that out of the 140 or so available films at the Toronto Int’l Film Festival this year, for example, Magnolia Pictures might only consider maybe 10%, and might only acquire 1%. He suggested that rather than being a small fish at Sundance, that it might be preferable to be a big fish at South by South West or Seattle Int’l Film Festival.
Orlovsky added that not many films are selling these days for 6 figures and only a tiny number are selling for 7 figures. He indicated that $100-220k fully delivered is probably the reasonable target ceiling for an American indie film sale.
According to Quinn, Magnolia likes to see projects as early as possible, and makes more pre-festival film acquisitions than during the festival bustle. In considering optimal release strategy, independent filmmakers need to learn to draw the distinction between films that need a theatrical audience to be appreciated, and those that play fine on dvd at home.
Quinn recommended that the “best way to spend $50k in P&A money” would be to hire a good film publicist. Hill estimated a $5-10k per month cost, with sliding scale rates. Rates for hiring a publicist for Sundance were estimated between $10-15k. Schwartz indicated that public relations firms like to see films before festival acceptance, noting the importance of the screening slot. When shopping for a public relations firm, Winters advised the importance of finding out how many films the firm is taking to particular festivals.
Video-On-Demand (VOD) is an emerging outlet as a national audience portal. Quinn identified a “damn good title” as the most important pitch element, noting that the title is the way the film is going to appear on a VOD menu. One strategy to consider is to pitch your idea on twitter, and see how people react.
Michael
WinGateFilms
www.wingatefilms.com
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