Happy New Year everyone! This is my first blog post of 2011 and first I want to apologize it’s taken me so long between the last post of 2010 and now – but with the holidays and a little vacation, I’ve been off the blogging grid for a bit.

But the good news is I’m back in action and ready to really fly in 2011! In terms of what I’ll be focusing on personally this year it’s quite simple….

ONE I’m going to be focusing on producing a couple of my own projects this year (yep, back to my roots!) and,

TWO I plan to take you on that ride with me via my teachings on Film Specific, working with clients individually, and at workshops.

Let’s face it, we’ve all heard by now the statement: ‘traditional distribution is dead’ and as I’ve said before I think that’s a bunch of hooey. It IS possible to make money in the film business and still go the ‘traditional’ route. BUT I do agree that the film business has changed (just like any other business or industry things change and shift year to year) and so as Producers and Filmmakers we just need to go with the flow and adapt a little right? Pretty simple which is why I firmly believe it’s not as dramatic as everyone paints it to be. Of course, that’s just my personal opinion – you  may have yours and I’d love to hear about it!(that’s the great thing about a blog we can all have different opinions, share, and learn from each other)

OK, so on to the subject line of this blog – Yes, I’m totally bored with the conversation on Distribution! That might sound strange coming from someone who has actually worked in Distribution for over 10 years, runs a website on it, and wrote a book about it, but here’s where I’m at — the conversation on Distribution is so played out and at times is presented by certain ‘experts’ (who have never actually worked in Distribution themselves) as a depressing endeavor. Of course they would disagree and say they are painting a ‘rosy’ picture for you, one where you control your own destiny, but come one let’s face it – who of you out there wants to make films for pennies and scrape by financially year after year, aiming for the bottom, not paying your cast and crew, all in the name of having more control over your art? What?

What I’m proposing is this – I’d like to take the conversation to another level. I’m going to take a more holistic approach to filmmaking in 2011 and instead of focusing just on the Distribution side of things, let’s change the discussion to how we can make films that are even worthy of distribution in first place. Let’s talk about how to leverage technology and the internet to finance, market, and sell our films and marry that with the traditional system so that we can stand apart from the crowd. Who’s with me on this?

This year I’m writing the 2nd edition of my book “Insiders Guide To Independent Film Distribution” and boy a lot has changed since I wrote the first edition in 2007. At that time, I was the only person talking about Distribution. I had just come from the trenches of actually working in distribution for many years (as a sales agent and before that in the agency world) and so it represents the cold hard truth of what was happening at that time. Interesting thing is that even though much has changed since then, much has stayed the same – which is why I still sell a lot of copies of that book to this day because of its no nonsense back to basics approach. BUT the publishers are eager for me to get a second edition out there and that’s one of the big projects I’ll be pushing through the first part of this year. And believe me, I’m going to spend a lot of time in this new edition talking about making films that naturally lend themselves to both traditional and non-traditional forms of distribution and what your options are on every level.

And this very same theme will guide all my teachings on Film Specific, my workshops, my newsletters, and blog posts.

So join me in leaving the boring, depressing, distribution-only-centric mindset of 2010 behind, and elevating to a more uplifting conversation of making films the right way – using every resource at our fingertips including ‘new’ and ‘old’ and creating a ‘third place’ and a ‘third way’ for filmmaking.

So with that, I’ll leave you to digest what I’ve said and then I’d love to hear what YOU think below in the comments section. If you have any suggestions of what you’d like me to delve more deeply into in this realm that I’m talking about, just shout it out and I’ll do my best to accommodate. Thanks!

Producer of Marketing & Distribution (PMD) Adam Daniel Mezei discusses the role of the Producer of Marketing & Distribution for independent films and why filmmakers need to consider having a PMD in this new era of independent film marketing and distribution.

Details of the interview include:

• What is a PMD?
• Why does a filmmaker need a PMD?
• How do you compensate your PMD?
• What specific tasks does a PMD handle and what is the filmmaker still responsible for?
• How and WHEN to hire a PMD for your project?
• What to look out for when working with a PMD & what the advantages and disadvantages are of having one

Click here to listen:

Check out the interview and let us know what you think and any questions you have by commenting below!

And for more information on PMD’s …. essential reading is Jon Reiss’s “Think Outside The Box Office” – one of the best filmmaking books out there right now!

Marketing and distribution expert Thomas Mai discusses one of the greatest tools in a filmmaker’s promotion arsenal: starting a movement for your film. In this interview, Thomas discusses why and how to start a movement as well as gives practical examples of filmmakers who have started movement for their films.

Click here to listen:

Additionally, to learn more about Thomas Mai visit this link Enter discount code: FILMSPECIFIC to save 25% on your first month consulting with Thomas. Must register by Dec. 1 at the latest to receive this discount.

Also, here’s my favorite example of a film that created a movement and one that we referenced in the video – “The Dark Knight” from Warner Brothers. I know it’s a studio movie, but open your mind a little and you will see many things you can co-opt for your indie. ENJOY!



And leave us any questions or comments you have on Starting A Movement for YOUR film. What are you doing that’s working… or not working?

As some of you may know, I was recently *locked out* of Facebook for 7 days due to my account being compromised. What really ticked me off about this were a few things:

1. After being locked out, Facebook gave me no indication whatsoever of when or how the issue would be resolved. I tried emailing their support (ha!) and tweeting them (@Facebook) on a daily basis and got no response whatsoever.

2. I couldn’t contact my Facebook audience and had no way of letting them know I had been locked out – so for all they knew, I just dropped off the face of the earth! After posting links and resources for them daily, it made me look bad and I had no way to communicate to them.

Despite being ticked off there were some valuable lessons:

1. First and foremost, do not rely on Facebook as your end-all-be-all ground zero for your film or business. You’re dead in the water if for any reason they decide to shut you down or change their policies for whatever reason. You cannot afford to tie up everything you have in Facebook. Please please please – build a website or blog for your film and capture email addresses so you can continue business as usual no matter what Facebook decides to do.

2. During my 7 day FB lockout period I told my friends that it felt oddly liberating – and to tell you the truth I got a heck of a lot of more work done! Just goes to show you how distracting social media can be if you don’t manage your time properly.

So what can you do to prevent from being caught in this vulnerable situation?

Like I said above, number one is to have your own website or blog for your film hosted with your own URL.

People always ask me which resources I recommend to host my websites, blogs, and email databases, so I’ve come up with a short list of the services I use (and who I’m an affiliate for), so you can see all in one place who I recommend:

Website Hosting & Blogs

I host all my blogs (including this one) on Blue Host which has a super convenient one-click Word Press installation. Blogs are a simple way to create a quick and cheap website for your film or production company because you can easily embed your trailer, handle all the admin and changes yourself, and interact with your audience easily through the comments section. Blue Host is basically a one-stop, quick and cheap resource for getting a great looking film website up fast. Heres the link to check them out for yourself.

Email Capture & Database

I tell you I swear by Aweber! I’ve hosted all of my email lists there since the beginning and have never once had even one problem. If you’re wondering why as a filmmaker you even need an email list in the first place, let me put it to you like this – if you want to be able to connect directly with your audience and your customers you need an email database. Why? Because if you rely solely on a third party site like Facebook to interact with your audience, you’re playing with fire since you have no control over their platform and they can shut down your film page at any time and you will have no recourse and no way to stay connected to your fans (unless you are capturing their email addresses in Aweber of course!). Here’s the link to get started with them.

So what happened after the 168-hour lockout?

When I finally got let back into Facebook it was pretty uneventful – just a random email from them saying that I could now go in and reset my password. WTF? Anyway, I’m happy be back in on the ‘inside’ but grateful that I haven’t put all my eggs in one basket with only one platform to connect and communicate with my audience.

If you have a similar Facebook Lockout story I’d love to hear it! And if you’re proudly diversified over multiple platforms, I’d like to hear about that too!

Ever since my last blog post FIVE FACEBOOK TIPS FOR FILMMAKERS I’ve been getting a lot of questions from filmmakers on the best way to actually aggregate fans on Facebook (and on their individual websites) for the purposes of staying in contact with their audience and future customers. Remember, it’s not enough to just slap up a Facebook page for your film, you must also continually keep your fans engaged throughout the entire process of making your film. The purpose of this? Well it’s twofold…..

1. So you have sufficiently ‘primed’ your audience for the release of your film by the time it’s ready

2. So that you have actual potential customers for your film – an audience of people ready & willing to consume your film in the theater, on DVD, VOD, or however you are releasing it

What are the consequences if you don’t aggregate an audience properly?

Well imagine having a completed film and having to start from scratch trying to build a fan base… it could take months, if not years to accomplish that – all the while your film sits there collecting dust because there’s no audience to launch it to!

OK, so here’s my biggest recommendation for aggregating your audience PROPERLY….

YOU NEED TO CAPTURE EMAIL ADDRESSES

Why? Because Facebook Film Pages do not allow you to send a message directly to your fans, so you are entirely dependent on them seeing your communications on their ever-cluttered wall when they log onto Facebook. This is not a good strategy! Instead you should be providing a sign-in box where your fans can give you their email addresses (if they want) so you can message them directly with updates on your film, AND you can market to them directly once your film is ready for release and/or for sale. Want to see an example of what I’m talking about? Here’s a screenshot from the DELIVERED Facebook page that Linda Nelson referenced in the previous Case Study:



I also use an email capture on my own Facebook page:



Now you may be wondering where these email addresses go once you capture them right? I’m glad you asked! What you need is an EMAIL DATABASE that can handle this function for you (otherwise known as an Autoresponder or Email Marketing service). If you receive my Film Specific newsletters, then you are a part of my email database which allows me to communicate with 10,000 plus subscribers at once by pressing a single button. People ask me all the time which Email service I use – it’s called Aweber and I’ve been using them for over 3 years and can highly recommend them.

The next question I always get asked is how to install this Email Sign-Up box on a Facebook page or website. It’s actually pretty simple because once you register with a service like Aweber you will get a bit of code to use on your page or site and POOF – the sign up boxes magically appear! Then when someone signs up to receive your updates, their email address automatically gets added to your Aweber database where you can log in and start communicating directly with your fan base. You know those stories you hear about people selling tons of DVD’s off their websites? Well they accomplish that through doing an email campaign and utilizing a service like Aweber.

So what do you guys think? How many of you are already using email capture on your Facebook page or Website and what has your experience been?

Ok, so while we’re on the subject of launching your DVD online, there’s something else you should be concerned with other than what type of campaign you are going to run, and that is whether your film’s website is actually optimized for eCommerce.

What that means in plain talk is this: after you drive all that traffic to your website either via partners or screenings or whatever, is your website set up to actually take orders for your DVD?

For example…..

1. Can the buyer actually EASILY find where to buy the DVD (you’d be surprised….many people don’t make the BUY NOW button front and center)
2. Is buying a one or two click process? (ie: you don’t want to make it too complicated to complete a transaction)
3. Is your site secure giving buyers confidence that their credit card details are safe?
4. Do you accept credit cards either through Pay Pal or a Merchant Account system? (sending in checks is no longer very efficient)
5. How are you going to fulfill your orders? Do you have inventory on hand ready to ship? Or are you using a manufacture on demand service like Create Space?

These are just a few of the very BASIC things you need to have in place to make sure your site is optimized for eCommerce. You also want to make sure you have a place where potential customers can sign-in to get on your email list, so that if they don’t buy on the first visit to your site (most won’t), that you are able to convert them to buyers down the line by forming a ‘relationship’ with them through regular communications, offers, and free content that makes them happy

One of the best film sites I’ve seen out there for optimizing eCommerce (and I use this example all the time) is Hunter Weeks’ www.10mph.com. Clearly shows you how and where to buy, guides you through the process absolutely clear and pain-free. Every filmmaker is marketing their film online should build a site like Hunter’s!

Incidentally, I go into further dissecting of the 10 MPH website and other optimized film websites in my SELLING MORE ONLINE course which is free this week for Film Specific Members. You can read more about it here:

http://www.filmspecific.com/public/776.cfm
(past participants to this live course paid $300, but I’m making the on-demand course free for FS members)

And as always, I’d love to hear from you — show me your website and how you’ve optimized it for sales? What has worked best for you? What tweaks have you made along the way to improve sales?

Well as we’re talking about engaging potential marketing partners from the earliest stages of Production, it inevitably raises the question: What if the film is already completed?

I’ve been following several self-distribution DVD launches over the last year or so and I can tell you this – the best ways to make a splash with your DVD and to sell a REAL amount of units (1000 or more), is done one of two ways:

1. Either by doing a heavy amount of internet marketing including using some of those partner relationships you developed early on, or

2. By taking your film on the road for an extensive screening tour

If you’re going the internet route, prepare to spend 3-4 months in prep before you pull the trigger with the launch. And if you prepare to go the screening route, it can take anywhere from 4-12 months on the road to gain enough traction to sell enough DVD’s to make a real difference to your bottom line. Then you need to have the back-end infrastructure online to actually sell the DVD’s, so you’ll need prep time for that. But from what I’m hearing so far, the results using this higher cost approach can be well worth the effort….

And what about money? I recommend having some kind of budget in place to launch your DVD online. Some people include enough in the budget to hire help both with coordinating the launch and executing it. If you are doing screenings, you might want to consider hiring a company to book the theaters for you….and then there is the marketing. So your budget can be anywhere from nothing to a couple hundred thousand dollars depending on what you intend to hire out, and what you can do yourself.

I have a couple of resources on Film Specific that talk about budgeting for Self-Distribution. You can find them here:

http://www.filmspecific.com/members/925.cfm

http://www.filmspecific.com/members/808.cfm

I’m in the process of putting together extensive case studies on filmmakers using both of these approaches so stay tuned for those. But in the mean time, I’d love to hear from you – anyone out there have experience successfully launching their DVD and selling units directly to consumers from their website? Which approach worked best – internet only, or screenings, or both?

One of the things you hear about so much these days is the necessity of lining up Marketing/Promotional partners for your film. The main reason for this is so that you can leverage the might of some of these partners to be able to spread buzz about your film – sell DVD’s, get people to your screenings, etc.

Somehow though actually ‘engaging’ marketing partners is easier said than done….

For example, once you make a list of potential partners, how and when do you contact them? And what do you offer them in exchange for promoting your film?

The answer to the first question is that you should be getting in touch them as early in the filmmaking process as possible. Ideally during pre-production.

As to what you can offer them to entice them to help you? The most obvious thing you can offer them is money – for example an affiliate commission on every DVD they sell to their audience. But what if the film isn’t made yet and you don’t have DVD’s to offer? How do you really get them excited at this stage in the game?

This is one question that several of my clients are grappling with right now. And we’re working together on ways to approach marketing partners and what we entice them with – what we can say or do to get them to join our ’cause’ right now and help us start spreading the word on the film, get a buzz going, get some fans and followers, and in general start engaging the target audience for the film early on.

I’d love to hear from you any ideas you have….anything you’ve done that’s worked, or not worked, or anything you’re in the process of doing with regards to engaging your marketing partners in the early stages….