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Truly Understanding Your Film
Topic Started: Sep 2 2015, 02:34 PM (36 Views)
kingwand
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Truly Understanding Your Film
Top Tips to Film Distribution

This article was written by Mark Steven Bosko, an industry expert with over fifteen years of experience in producing, promoting, and distributing independent feature films. In addition to performing virtually every job on a film production, he has successfully produced and distributed several independent films. Mark is the author of The Complete Independent Movie Marketing Handbook, a comprehensive guide on how to promote, distribute, and sell your film or video.


Getting Started

No matter how you bring your film to market, the first step on the road to distribution is to truly understand what movie you made. The world may see something entirely different and exciting about your film. Understanding what strangers see when watching your film--and how to use this information to talk about your film in their terms--is a critical first distribution step.



Nerd was produced for less than $12,000 and returned double that in less than two weeks of sales.
A cheap, yet inventive publicity stunt brought out reporters and camera crews from all the broadcast affiliates, with footage picked up by CNN and Entertainment Tonight.
Following the movie's first-run sales success, Killer Nerd was purchased by Troms Films and was re-released as a "Nerd" limited edition double feature DVD.



As the director, producer, scriptwriter, or some other originator too close to your project, there is no way you can look at your film objectively and describe it concisely, and, more importantly, honestly. We all think what we've had a hand in creating is great stuff, otherwise why would we have gotten involved in the first place... correct? Believe me, as an independent filmmaker, I've fallen prey to this situation, as when I found myself describing my film Killer Nerd as a horror flick. That's what we thought we were making, and for a period of time after completing it, still thought we had made. But our view of our film didn't sell. Turns out, what others saw was really a cult movie, a spoof, and the words "horror-comedy" finally took hold as the best way to make audiences, buyers, and the media understand what we were offering.



Horror-comedy never found its way into a discussion during the scripting, production, or post processes, however that is the best way to concisely describe the movie to others in a way that helped them to quickly understand, get excited, and tell others about our film. Another personal example is my film Pig. Unlike Killer Nerd, Pig is being self-distributed directly via CreateSpace.



Again, in the creation stage of this feature film, we thought we going to make something akin to the television show COPS. Yet in the final cut, the movie is more like a documentary on one small town cop. We had to clear our personal perception of what we thought we made, instead looking at the final film through a stranger's eyes.



Understanding how others see and describe your film is, without a doubt, the most important step in independent film distribution process.



Why? Simple: if you cannot realistically describe your movie, you will not be able to find the correct audience. If you can't find an audience, you can't make sales. And no sales means no distribution.



Some producers have fooled an audience into believing their movie is something it is not. Who hasn't fallen for that can't-pass-up-DVD at Blockbuster, you know the one with the hot babes, terrifying gore, or hyper guns-a-blazing image on the package, only to find the movie seriously falls short of the promise delivered by the artwork? That can work with big-budget or pre-arranged distribution arrangements...where tens of thousands of copies are shipped via high-end deals between studios and mega-sized retail chains.



But as independent filmmakers, who haven't yet found that kind of audience channel to exploit, we must instead precisely define what we have, so our film can precisely target the most-promising audience of buyers and viewers. As independent filmmakers, we must identify our niche, understand that our film is a product, and exploit that product to those attracted to and interested in that niche. That's when the traditional and independent distribution process works, your film gets bought and seen, and, best of all, you get paid.



I can hear the cinema artists stomping their feet. Exploitation? Film is a product? Worry about audience needs when creating art? Yes, art is good, but you need to be able to identify the niche aspects of your project. You need to find those qualities that make it attractive to viewers, giving you something by which to sell it. Take a breath, dig past all the highbrow existentialistic meanings that you've attached to every frame of your project, and ask why anyone would want to represent or pay to spend their time to view what you've made.





Tom Emma, President of Reliant Digital Media, Inc. and former executive for the American Film Market and several large distributors, reflects this attitude:

"Distributors are not art critics or festival promoters. We sell product. No distributor wants a great film that can't be sold. That being said we are not immune to the artistic qualities and effort that go into creating a picture. But we take our cue from our buyers. They know their markets and our job is to match their needs with great product from our producer partners."


How to answer the "What have I really made?" question

It sure sounds simple enough, but many filmmakers cannot answer this simple question simply. You should be able to define your film in one concise sentence, identifying its genre (western, sci-fi, comedy, documentary) while at the same time conveying the basic storyline to the potential viewer. This is important because it will also allow you to identify your audience (those folks who are gonna buy, watch, and tell their friends about your film).



Remember, your movie or video project cannot be all things to all people. So even if you think you've created a flick that will appeal to everyone on the planet, chances are, it won't. To better figure out just what it is you have really made, start by asking yourself the following questions:



What is the basic structure of your project? Consider length when deciding if it's a feature-length film (70+ minutes), documentary, instructional or informational video, short, or something else.
What is your project's prevailing genre: science fiction, horror, western, drama, action, kids and family, reality-based, comedy, cult, anime, erotic?
Will the viewer simply be entertained, or is the purpose, or effect, of the project to enlighten, educate, inform, sadden, madden, scare, or elicit pity? Can the viewer relate to the information or material in some personal manner?
Is the viewer prompted to buy something, change his way of thinking, or alter his lifestyle or daily habits?
Are the principal characters fictional or actual beings? Are they historical, present-day, or future beings? Are they human, animal, or otherworldly creations?
Is the viewer presented with a hero's journey, a tale of forbidden love, search and conquest, or reversal of fortune?
Does the project deal with a current event, fad, or popular culture phenomenon? Is this subject popular with specific audience segments? Will it limit the sales period of the film?
Are you showing off new technology by painstakingly recreating a time or place through the magic of visual effects?
What are the physical and time settings? Is the setting past, present, or future?
Who is the hero, the protagonist? Who drives the action of the story? Is there a love interest? Is it believable? Are they typical for the story? Is their gender important? Will the audience relate to, or like, these characters?
Are you a member of the target audience?



Finally, get some strangers to watch the film. Listen or get their reactions and find out what they thought were the most memorable elements of your film.


Finding Your Hook

Once you can talk about your film in one concise sentence, the next step is to find an element "a hook" that immediately communicates that message.



Whether you are trying to attract consumers, distributors, or the media, you need to find an element that allows for an immediate connection with them in some familiar manner. And once that is accomplished, you will basically promote the heck out of that one element.



Understanding precisely how others view your film makes finding that one promotable niche element--the element you will use as your hook to market your film--that much easier. In the case of Killer Nerd, the star of the film was truly a nerd in real life, and promotion involved telling the same story over and over to anyone who would listen. That is the essence of distributing an independent film: identifying and exploiting its niche.


Niche Film Rules

In the world of independent film distribution, niche products rule. If you can identify your product as something very specific (e.g., an instructional video on fresh water lake sail boarding, an urban-set lesbian comedy, or a documentary on a red tailed hawk that lives in New York's Central Park--which inspired the film Pale Male), then your efforts in locating and selling to a specific (or niche) audience will be much more successful.

Hollywood churns out product that is advertised to the masses. Distributing an independent film is the other side of that coin. You are promoting a very specifically targeted film to a very specifically identified audience.



Pale Male is an excellent example of how to find and reach a niche audience. Partnering with the National Audubon Society, Pale Male has gone on to be one of the best selling titles being distributed by CreateSpace and is now also being broadcast and distributed by PBS.

Summary

Understanding how others see your film is without a doubt, the most important step in the independent film distribution process.
If you cannot describe your movie well, you can't find an audience.
Finding your audience means sales and that means distribution.
You should be able to define your film in one concise sentence.
Find your hook: the one element you'll use to promote your film.
Niche film rules. Creating films for a targeted audience streamlines distribution.



-- Mark Steven Bosko





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