Bianca under the spell in THE JUJU GUM CONSPIRACY
Let’s be honest. I don’t think I will change the world with our ghetto yet funny and action packed independent film but is it possible that the new revolution of distribution for content creators might get a kick start from my madness?
Imagine if you could present your film without Charlie and Harvey fondling your ass? Could there be a new opportunity for filmmakers laying ahead?
I’ve been a director for TV and web now for 12 years but a content creator for as long as I can remember.
When you have a film to promote, present or release let’s talk about your options.
Ivano and Slava face off in THE JUJU GUM CONSPIRACY
FILM FESTIVALS
Film festivals seem like the only way to promote your film when you have one ready to go. A lot of new projects have been discovered from film festival screenings. They can be an amazing opportunity, but some festivals are scams. Let’s say that you are a true champion and somehow you manage to produce a film with a cast of 80 actors with no money and a crew of only 2 people? You want to apply to a film festival and present your masterpiece to the world. I will give you 3 case studies based on my research:
Festival 1: They invite you to submit your film, it costs you 100$ to submit it to the festival for consideration. They receive 4000 applications so they just made 400 000$. So how many of those films have been selected for the festival? About none. That’s right. You can pay for us to watch your film but 100% of our selections go toward the directors that we provided a coupon code prior. For many festivals the majority of their selections come from a pre-invited list of directors. (I know it sounds insane but it's true)
Festival 2: Costs you 100$ to submit it to the festival for consideration. They reject your film saying thanks but no thanks, not interested. Cool enough, I understand you probably had lots of great submissions ….. OH wait a minute. What’s that? Google analytics tells me that you took my money then rejected the film WITHOUT WATCHING THE FILM screener using the private link I sent you??? Unethical? Criminal? Both?
Festival 3: Fictional scenario here but realistic. Ok this festival is smaller but really cool. They love it. They want to present your film. Alright good news right? Do you have a DCP (digital copy print of your film to play in theaters). No? Ok add a little surround sound mix in studio and that costs around 5000$. Plane for 2 people +1000$. Hotel for 2 people+ 1000$. Ok cool, now the premiere. It’s a theater that can seat 150 people but it’s half capacity and the movie is starting. You count 70 people. So you paid an average of 100$ per person to watch your film?? You probably have a bunch of weird people in your hood that would watch it for 10$ a piece. Genius. Yes but those people at the film festival are people from the film industry. They can open a lot of doors... Are they? Can they? After the festival is done they may mention the film on their blog and perhaps a local newspaper will talk about it. What if you drop that 7000$ on promotion for the film? Would that make more impact? Good questions right?
ONLINE DISTRIBUTION
You made a film and you want people to see it? So you want your movie on NETFLIX, HULU, AMAZON DIRECT and all that jazz. Pay us so we can submit to them. You can’t submit directly to them are you insane? You have to pay 1500 for each platform. We will submit your film for you but NO GUARANTEES they would want your film anyways. But... online distribution is the future of the film industry? Yes, but we are the gatekeepers and your chances of success are thin because you are not the new HBO series. You are just a dude that made a kickass movie with your girlfriend with no money.
And YOUTUBE? Well the way to make money on youtube is through advertising. You know those videos you don’t watch and you just have to wait the 5 seconds so you can furiously press the SKIP AD button. Well those videos you skip, this is my corporate job during the week. That’s what I do in part as a director. So in order to make money with my art (the film) I will have to layer it with some of my commercial work on it? Gross. Not that I think our film would be advertiser friendly anyways…
AGENT / DISTRIBUTION DEAL
Give away most of your rights on what you created and we will do our best.
NOW A CRAZY AND NEW IDEA
What if I just present the film directly to you on Steemit?
Starting THE 8TH OF JANUARY 2018 we will post one episode a day (around 8pm EST timezone) for 2 weeks straight. We will keep the video links active until the 8th of february 2018.
Am I the first ever director to release a feature film as a WORLD PREMIERE ON STEEMIT??????
I think so. Am I crazy or a true visionary pioneer or both?
WORLD PREMIERE ON STEEMIT JANUARY 8TH 2018