If you’re looking for a movie distribution company, I would like to ask you why. Most movies will end up with some sort of video on demand distribution. And with most VOD platforms, you don’t really need a middle man – unless you’re seeking validation.
As a feature filmmaker, it is important to maintain positive thinking and keep your fingers crossed for a great distribution deal. But the reality is – the movie industry is changing. New methods of distribution including Video On Demand On Demand and internet viewing continually erodes traditional sales channels.
Good news and bad news: The good news is, you now have one of the most amazing opportunities in movie making history to make a movie, reach your audience (globally) and collect cash.
And here is the not so good news.
In order to benefit as a modern moviemaker, you will have to become masterful at creating buzz, establishing and maintaining a sales funnel website, while simultaneously focusing on increasing your targeted web traffic and converting your visitors into a paying audience… Only then can you create a profit and possibly pay back your investors.
And despite this reality, many filmmakers will still waste time waiting for someone else to “discover” their project.
If you’re a modern moviemaker, you might appreciate these articles from our sister site, Filmmaking Stuff.
How to Sell Your Movie
As a feature filmmaker, one of the biggest problems YOU have is finding a traditional distribution deal (that actually makes sense) for your movie. With each passing day, we get closer and closer to a world where DVD sales channels are being replaced by video on demand. And while we are not there yet, after spending the greater part of last weekend watching streaming content on NetFlix and Hulu, I am now of the opinion that the days of DVD distribution are numbered.
As a result of this evolution, filmmakers need to quit relying on outside 3rd parties to source an audience and distribute independent movies. From now on, you need to start thinking about your movie business like any other small business. YOU will create a product, YOU will distribute your product, YOU will market your product and YOU will sell your product.
While this seems easy for some modern moviemakers, what I am suggesting represents a total paradigm shift for others. Not everyone reading this will agree with me.
That is OK.
But for those of you eager to embrace this brave new world of independent moviemaking, I have provided the same seven steps I use to promote my own movie business. When applied, it is my hope that the following steps will serve as a nice foundation for your own VOD marketing strategy:
Step 1 – Sharpen Your Hook
Step 2 – Target Your Target Audience
Step 3 – Get Into The VOD
Step 4 – Create Your Movie Sales Funnel
Step 5 – Refine Your Trailer (And Promote It)
Step 6 – Increase Targeted Web Traffic.
Step 7 – Leverage Your Following.
Like many first time filmmakers, our first feature was met with empty distribution promises and crappy deals. So by necessity, we started selling our title on the internet as both a physical DVD and a video on demand download.
At first, none of the producers liked that idea.
I mean, even if a traditional deal sucks, at least there is still validation in seeing your title on the shelves at the local video store. But then we made our first sale. We thought it was an anomaly.
How could we possibly make money with our movie? We had no movie stars, our production value left a lot to be desired and most people on earth had never heard of our title (including you.) But then we made another sale… And the a third. And then a dozen…
That was 2006 and since that time, my enthusiasm for video on demand distribution has only increased. These days filmmakers have a gazillion options for reaching their audience, creating community and building buzz.
As your own VOD distributor you can finally get your title seen and selling without waiting for some middle-man to give you permission. And assuming you have all the necessary legal documents, releases and (possibly) E&O insurance for your movie, the following seven secret steps will help you get started today!
Step 1 – Sharpen Your Hook
One of the first questions people ask is, what is your movie about? While this seems like a pretty easy question, if you find yourself rambling on about a complicated, character driven story, full of people reflecting on life’s moments of love and loss, STOP!
A long description is confusing. And a confused mind doesn’t buy your movie. So in order to sell your title, you must communicate your movie in a distinct and memorable way.
To do this, ask some trusted friends to watch your movie and describe it to you in one concise log-line. For example, let’s say your movie is described as “A boxer fights for the title.” Obviously this is succinct, but lacking detail. So your next job is to incorporate some flavorful elements into your log-line.
Here is the same example with added detail: “An impoverished boxer is given a once in a lifetime chance to fight for the world heavyweight title.” (Sound familiar?)
With this example you can see how the extra detail adds sizzle to the description. This will help you in two arenas. Firstly, with this description, your prospective audience will immediately understand how your movie differs from all the other boxer movies.
And from a marketing perspective, the words “boxer,” “fights,” and “heavyweight title” will help you to target your core audience and later, these targeted keywords will help you jump-start your internet search engine optimization campaign.
Step 2 – Target Your Target Audience
Once you have refined your movie concept, you can use this as a springboard to further locate blogs, websites and publications already targeting your target audience. For example, when you Google “boxing” you will get over forty-nine million results. This is not surprising.
Interests such as boxing, horror movies, martial arts and race car driving have prominence in our culture. But if your movie focuses on more obscure subjects, you will have to dig deeper.
Thankfully, even if your core audience is esoteric and comprised of a small population spread all over the globe, the internet provides a great tool for reaching them. Assuming you find websites and traditional publications targeting your audience, your next step is to reach out and request their demographic statistics. These stats will tell you how many people subscribe to the publication and will often provide details on age and gender.
Once you have a good understanding of your target audience, all future advertising, marketing language and your trailer should be created with your target audience in mind. Then later, when your movie enters the marketplace, this initial research will provide you a contact list full of organizations that may help you promote your movie.
Given all the changes in distribution, as a filmmaker, getting your movie seen and selling is no longer solely the responsibly of a 3rd party distributor. Once you have sharpened your hook and targeted your target audience, your next step is to set up shop in some of the many popular internet based marketplaces.
Step 3 – Get into the VOD Marketplace
Your next step is to determine the appropriate video on demand marketplace for your movie. There are many options for this, including setting up your own internet storefront, joining other filmmakers in a shared storefront or setting up shop in popular Video On Demand marketplaces.
Since most VOD outlets do not require an exclusive deal, I recommend getting your movie selling in multiple markets, including iTunes and Amazon.
To do this quickly, research a company called www.MovieSalesTool.com. I first found the service when I was looking for an easy way to get my movies seen and selling.
I liked the service so much that we have worked out an affiliate deal (so do your own due diligence prior to purchasing any services.) The reason I like the service is, for a one-time upfront fee,
www.MovieSalesTool.com offers filmmakers the ability to get their movies into iTunes, Amazon and quite a few other popular video on demand marketplaces.
Then once your title goes live, you will be able to monitor your sales across all platforms in one place.
Aside from the initial fee, www.MovieSalesTool.com will not take any of your future earnings. And unlike the creative accounting found in traditional deals, you will be able view and withdraw your funds at any time.
In the event your title is not selected for iTunes, www.MovieSalesTool.com will refund your investment, minus $39 dollars. Additionally www.MovieSalesTool.com stays current with emerging VOD marketplaces.
For example, if some new iTunes competitor emerges, you can rest assured that the www.MovieSalesTool.com folks are already out there, working to make the pipeline available to filmmakers.
Step 4 – Create Your Movie Sales Funnel
To set up an internet movie sales funnel, you will have to modify your website to funnel all traffic towards a sale. This can be achieved easily by removing all the potentially distracting content from your site including production photos, press kits and actor bios.
Once removed, further emphasis should be placed on your trailer, your about page, and most importantly, your “buy now” buttons.
Most of your visitors will exit your website and never return. So to increase your odds of converting these visitors into paying customers, you will want to create ways to capture visitor contact information.
One easy way is by creating a Facebook page for your movie and then placing a Facebook link on your site. This way, once your visitor joins your movie’s Facebook community, the added social proof of like-minded fans touting the joys of your movie may increase your sales. This goes for Twitter and other social networking communities too.
But because many social networking sites run the risk of going out of vogue, you will want to migrate your fans off the social networks and get them into your own mailing list. For this, I recommend using a third-party email marketing service such as www.AudienceList.com.
www.AudienceList.com provides ease of service. As soon as you sign up for one of their inexpensive accounts, you can easily create a way for your fans to connect with you. For example, if you would like over $100 dollars in useful filmmaking tools, FREE simply enter your info into my Awber opt in box at this site:
If you just signed up, you probably got an email asking you to click a link. Assuming you clicked the link, you were redirected to a “Thank You Page.” And on that page you were able to download all sorts of premium filmmaking tools, for free.
While I am obviously utilizing list-building to create a more meaningful relationship with filmmakers (and YOU), this model can be (and should be) applied to your own movie business. But instead of giving away filmmaking books and audio courses, you might consider allowing your prospective movie audience to download a free movie soundtrack.
The reason why I stress Audience List Building so much in my Filmmaking model is because no matter what happens in distribution, the size of your targeted audience list (a community of people who know you and your work) – this will determine your rate of success over your long-term career. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Three Tips for building your Audience List:
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From now on, as soon as you have a website, start building your list.
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Put your website on your business card.
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Collect names and email addresses at film festivals.
Companies like www.AudienceList.com allow you to manage your email communication with thousands of fans. And since reputable email companies have good relationships with internet service providers, the odds of your movie newsletter ending up in spam folders is decreased.
Step 6 – Increase Targeted Web Traffic
To increase your website traffic, you might decide to work out Search Engine Optimization tactics with your web marketer, pay for online or off-line advertising, or incorporate a bit of everything.
Unpaid traffic is called organic. Organic traffic is the best kind because whenever you pay for a customer, you diminish your profit margin from the outset. So obviously, the goal for all movie marketers is to acquire a customer for the very lowest price possible.
One secret I utilize is frequent press release submissions. Years ago, it was advised that you only wrote and submitted press releases when you had something newsworthy to say.
But these days, in addition to targeting traditional news outlets, most press releases are included in search engine results. Without getting overly technical, this means for a very small amount of money, submitting one press release complete with links to your website can increase your web footprint.
Over time these releases are picked up by blogs and other websites hungry for related content. And the resulting benefit is more awareness of your movie, for a minimal cost.
If both your traffic and your budget are low, search out other filmmakers who have successfully sold their movies to a similar market and find out if they would be interested in promoting your movie to their mailing list.
Assuming your movie is congruent with what their audience enjoys, these other filmmakers may gladly help you out for a cut of the profits. I have found that giving affiliates a good return for effective marketing creates long term win-win business relationships. These other filmmakers are able to create a stream of revenue between their movie projects. And you benefit by expanding your movie’s reach quickly.
This is also a good time to revisit those sites from your initial research. Compile a list of one-hundred target websites, then reach out to site owners and kindly ask if they would be interested in reviewing your movie.
Regardless of whether or not these folks like your movie, what is secondarily valuable to you are links back to your website. Over time, these back-links, combined with your trailer and social networking profiles will serve to funnel more and more prospective viewers back to your website. And the cycle continues…
One of the most important filmmaking strategies you must adopt in this era of modern moviemaking is a long term perspective. In years past, filmmakers focused on making one movie, selling it and then moving on to the next movie.
While the idea of creating multiple titles over the course of your filmmaking career has not changed, it is now vitally important that you plan a series of movies from day one. The reason for this is simple. You are now solely responsible for the success of your movie business. And to stay in business, you will need to create a profitable library of titles that continually pay you.
To use a real estate business analogy, in years past you built a house and sold it for maximum profit. But these days, given the changes in the real estate market, it makes sense to hold onto the house, rent it out and collect rent checks every month.
This is the difference between capital gains and cashflow. And as an independent filmmaker, the growing demise in DVD sales outlets means that filmmakers must now focus on creating multiple titles – and increasing cashflow, over time.
Step 7 – Leverage Your Following
As I mentioned previously, creating a highly targeted mailing list is now essential for your success.
Thinking long term, the most important component of your movie making success is establishing a loyal following.
From a business perspective, the size of your mailing list will provide a solid metric on which to base forward looking revenue projections. In other words, you can take look at your list and say “two percent of our followers bought this movie. I wonder how many fans will be interested in my next movie?” But instead of guess work, you can send your followers an email and ask them.
As you grow your community your fans will begin to know you, know your company and celebrate your work. And as long as you continue to provide good entertainment, you may eventually reach mass great enough to fund your future movie projects. Imagine how much prospective investors will appreciate your pitch when you already have one-hundred-thousand fans eager to buy your next movie?
In the end, the heart and soul of all forms of distribution is finding an audience willing to pay you for your work. Video on demand simply removes the middle-man from the process and allows you to connect directly with the people who matter the most – your audience.
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Jason Brubaker is a Hollywood based Independent Motion Picture Producer and an expert in Video On Demand distribution. He is focused on helping YOU make, market and sell movies more easily by growing your fan base, building buzz and creating community around your title. For more information, goto: www.HowToSellYourMovie.com
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