Welcome to the first NewFilmmakers Online digital distribution newsletter.
Each edition we’ll be diving into different tools you can use to promote the sale of your film on http://www.newfilmmakersonline.com/. Besides sharing my own knowledge about self-distribution tools online, I’m hoping to use this blog as a forum for filmmakers to discuss and share THEIR OWN online promotion and distribution methods.
So, let me begin by first introducing myself, Bill Elberg.
I served as the Chief Technology Officer of CinemaNow for 6 years. At CinemaNow, I was responsible for the creation and integration of the first ever major studio digital film distribution site. As Chief Technology Officer, I helped CinemaNow land digital distribution deals with all the major studios prior to the launch of Movielink and iTunes. I also led the first ever studio-backed, DVD download and burn initiative at CinemaNow with participation from Universal, Disney, Lion’s Gate Pictures, Sony, and MGM. I introduced technology compatible with virtually all DVD burners, DVD recordable discs, and DVD players. The latest version of this technology is currently in use at http://www.newfilmmakersonline.com/.
Currently, I run a company called VLADIcast which handles digital distribution platforms for VLADIcast.com, NewFilmmakers Online, and American Cinema International. Additionally, my company handles digital distribution platforms for nugs.net Enterprises, LLC, responsible for Live Concert Audio download sites for artists such as Metallica (www.livemetallica.com), The Black Crowes (http://www.liveblackcrowes.com), Phish (http://www.livephish.com), Counting Crows (http://www.livecountingcrows.com), Bonnaroo Music Festival (http://www.livebonnaroo.com), Widespread Panic (http://www.livewidespreadpanic.com), the Grateful Dead, and Smashing Pumpkins (both at http://www.livedownloads.com).
Now, before I get into some of these tips and methods, I DO want to say that there is NO silver bullet to making money off of your film online by digitally distributing it. As a matter of fact, and I realize in many cases I am preaching to the choir, but making REAL money off of your film, is currently very hard and damn near impossible. So, consider this series of newsletters as the beginning of a path that we (the digital distributor and the filmmaker) will take together to try and overcome the current market condition.
Where we are today:
Today, there exist a large number of content creators and distributors who cannot obtain revenue for their content. Television and film distribution is dominated by a small set of companies distributing a small percentage of content. This leaves a larger set of content, with a potentially larger audience, virtually unknown.
This set of content has found its way onto several retail distribution channels including Netflix, Amazon as well as digital distribution channels such as iTunes and Amazon Unbox. However, the uptake on this content has been relatively low, since the publicity (and thus visibility) around this content is fairly limited compared to major distributor (major studio) or adult content found within the same channels. Many of these retailers refer to this set of content as “long tail” content. This describes a larger set of content for which purchases for any one piece of content are relatively low.
In order to gain exposure, many content creators have chosen to make their work available on web sites which allow others to watch their content for free. These include sites such as “YouTube” and “Funny or Die”. It has proven an advantage to a small set of content creators as some popular clips gain the attention of potential employers, and eventually lead to paid work for the content creator. Although these sites have gained massive popularity, once again, only a few filmmakers have greatly benefited financially from having their work available on these sites.
Our Goal:
To get you a paying audience for your film!
Here’s how we, the filmmaker and distributor, together, can do it.
NewFilmmakers Online provides the following platform to the filmmaker.
Accessibility:
We believe that content should not be locked down to a PC or an iPod. Although these are valid options and ones that we support the filmmaker in providing, we believe that your content is best experienced in the living room on a television set. Thus, we provide a one-click burn to DVD option for all of our films. The DVD’s which are burned can be DVD-R’s or DVD+R’s compatible with virtually any DVD burner and playable on virtually any DVD player.
Quality:
We have optimized our service to be able to stream, download, and burn to DVD in the HIGHEST VIDEO QUALITY possible. Our service is optimized for the consumption of FULL LENGTH FILMS online. This is one of the major differentiators between our site and a site such as YouTube.
Consumer Offering:
Each film is sold to OWN for the consumer in all 3 formats: streaming, download (iPod compatible), and burn to DVD. The downloaded and DVD burned files never expire and are never locked down to a consumers PC or MAC by company-proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM scheme).
Filmmaker Offering:
Filmmakers get paid DIRECTLY for the self-distribution of their work. Not weekly, not monthly, not yearly, not when they reach a certain minimum.. but IMMEDIATELY! Filmmakers set up their own PayPal accounts into which ALL PAYMENTS are made.
Here’s what, you, the filmmaker need to do:
1. Submit your film at http://www.newfilmmakersonline.com
2. Once you are approved for digital distribution, purchase the encoding package to begin selling your film online from your NewFilmmakersOnline film page.
3. SELF-PROMOTE the online sale of your film!! A LOT!
What most of you will find out, if you haven’t already, is that sticking your film up on iTunes or Amazon will not gain you many purchasing customers. There DEFFINITELY are exceptions to the rule, but, for the most part, those audiences are mostly downloading music or popular television show episodes, as these are the types of content that these services generally promote.
So, I will start by offering a couple introductory tips. Now, some of these may be obvious, but please read these tips in their entirety and look at these with a fresh approach. Remember, we are offering many features that other services did and still do not offer (Burn to DVD, etc..). So, if you have tried these methods with other services, try them again with NewFilmmakers Online and your film page!
Tip #1: Digital Sale Mailing List
The first step is to identify and contact your audience. Many of you have growing e-mail lists. Some people have seen your movie, some have not. Regardless, just as a Major Studio DVD Release is promoted after its theater run, you have the ability to promote the digital sale (Download+Burn to DVD, etc..) of your film each time after it screens. You, by choice, are not necessarily bound to the same windowing limitations as major studio films. Use that to your advantage!
If you aren’t doing so already, get people to give you their e-mail addresses after each screening. The day after the screening, e-mail them with a direct link to your film’s page on NewFilmmakers Online so they can purchase and own the film. Prioritize screening audience members who may come up to you during the screening and tell you how much they enjoyed your film. Follow up with these people and provide them an opportunity to own the film.
If you already have amassed a large e-mail list, send an e-mail to everyone and let them know that your film is available for public purchase.
Make sure to clearly explain what each viewer will receive upon purchase. Having worked in both the digital music and video distribution business, I can tell you that whereas the process of music downloading (and iPod syncing) has become commonplace, the process of download and watching video from the Internet has not.
Explain to your audience that they will be receiving a file that they can stream online (like YouTube but with a MUCH higher picture quality), a file that they can download to watch on their PC or MAC and optionally put on their iPod or iPhone, and a file which they can burn to a DVD and watch on their television. Also, it is important to tell your customers that once they download or burn the film to DVD, they OWN that copy of your film. Many consumers have become wary of digital distributors that make it difficult to move a file from an old PC or MAC to a new one, download the file from home and the office, or burn a file to DVD playable on any DVD player. NewFilmmakers Online makes this process easy by NOT placing these types of limitations on purchased digital copies.
Let your audience know that YOU are the DIRECT BENEFICIARY of their monetary transaction. At the end of the day, this is YOUR audience supporting YOUR films and YOUR career of filmmaking. The money that is transacted via the customer DOES NOT go top-line to a large corporation such as Apple or Amazon. It goes directly, immediately, to you and your PayPal account! There is no wait until you meet a minimum. This is your customer DIRECTLY supporting your independent film.
Tip #2: Widgetize
If you scroll down to the bottom of your film page, you will see a link to “Share It”. Here are two ways you can use the NewFilmmakers Online Film widget to promote the digital sale of your film.
1. Facebook
If you have a FaceBook page, great! If not, get one. Facebook has become the fastest growing Social Networking Site and is on its way to dethroning MySpace. Once you get a FaceBook page, add as many friends as possible to your profile.
Once you have your FaceBook page and enough friends added, click on the “Facebook” link under the “Share It” section of your film page. A new window will come up with the text “Redirecting..Please Wait”. Let the screen finish loading.
Click on all the FaceBook friends who you wish to promote your film to, then click the “Send ‘My Stuff’ widget invitation” link at the bottom of the page.
A pop-up will come up prompting you to “add a personal message”. Go ahead and do so. Explain to the recipients that this is information and a link to download and own the movie off your film page on NewFilmmakers Online. Ask your friends to help your cause by passing the widget on and sharing it with THEIR friends via Facebook.
2. Friends’ and Acquainces’ web sites
E-mail friends and acquaintances that have web sites and blogs. Get them to help promote your film by embedding your film’s widget code into their web sites or blogs.
To do this, e-mail the appropriate parties and tell them to:
- Go to your film page. Make sure that you provide the FULL URL to your film’s page
- Scroll down to “Share it”
- Copy the HTML in the “Embed Code” and paste it into the HTML of their website or blog wherever they deem appropriate. Of course, you should ask for the best promotion possible and for the most visible space.
- Ask that the website or blog owner further explain the digital offering by where the widget is placed on the site.
Once again, make sure that you explain to the website or blog owner EXACTLY what is being sold (i.e. stream, download, and Burn to DVD), as this product is fairly new to many.
Below is a sample widget:
| Preview the first 10 minutes of: Too Much Sleep |  A sleepy, uninspired 24-year-old security guard loses his gun and discovers some meaning to life while navigating the bizarre underworld of suburban New Jersey. “THREE STARS. Cherish it as a treasure!" - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times Click Here to watch the complete film. Stream, Download, and Burn a DVD |
So, that’s all for newsletter #1. I ENCOURAGE everyone reading this to try some of these methods and give us feedback on the results by clicking to “comment” below. At NewFilmmakers Online, we have the ability to further optimize the distribution toolset that we offer to filmmakers. We do this by taking feedback from you and turning that feedback into web-based software for you to use in order to monetize your content.
If you have other self-distribution tips you want to offer, feel free to “Comment” below as well.
Until next time..happy promotion and distribution!
-Bill
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