Further Clarification of the PMD and Economics
Let me clarify some of my feelings about the PMD. I will add my universal caveat that every film and situation is different. But here are some important guidelines:
1. The best case scenario is that a PMD is on board as a full collaborator and worker from as close to inception of the film as possible. No later than beginning of prep. This allows for, what I feel, the optimum of the integration of audience connection and engagement (which is what distribution and marketing is at its essence). If you wait till you have finished your film – you are in a world of hurt (I’ve said that before, but I don’t think I can say it enough) because this connection building and engagement take time and effort and cannot be hurried.
2. The best marketing is as creative as traditional filmmaking now – and frankly the line is blurred between what is the “film” and what is marketing. This is a de facto state of things since the rise of transmedia. If anyone just wants to make a traditional feature these days – that is great,– I am not going to tell anyone what his or her creative output should or should not be, but I am only pointing out that there is a tremendous amount of creative potential that focusing only on feature films ignores. I feel as a film community we should embrace it – and many filmmakers are. It is tremendously exciting. Look at what Lance Weiler is doing. I was fortunate enough to be at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh yesterday – and many things struck me (more blog posts coming on this subject) – but he was one of the first transmedia artists – we can learn a lot from him about what it means to be a creative person AND what it means to connect with audience. (And Sheri Candler – yes he was an incredible leader of a tribe – another post on that coming too). I know for many of you this is old news – but I still feel there is a battle being waged about this – one that is a waste of time in my opinion.
3. As a result, the PMD is not just a social marketer, a dealmaker, a festival publicist, a line producer, a distributor, a publicist – he or she needs to understand all aspects of the marketing and distribution of a film and conceptualize, develop and oversee its execution over the full life of a film. To do all of the above is a tremendous amount of work – akin to being the sole producer of a film in a crew of 3 (and at times this will happen – just as micro budget films have been produced in this way). But I do advise that there be a distribution and marketing team (I took a whole chapter of TOTBO to outline this crew and even that should be supplemented now (another blog post later). The PMD is the one who oversees all of the pieces (but as in the case of all who work on indie films – they will be working full time and busting their butt in the trenches like everyone else – because there is never enough money to hire as many people as anyone would ever like).
4. Just as people cut their teeth in indie film by taking on smaller tasks and working their way up – so it will be with PMDs. Electrics become gaffers become DPs. Social media assistants become social media strategists become PMDs. (as an example) While people work up the ladder – if they want to be the top creative in the department – they will learn ALL aspects of that department on their way up. It is an intense learning curve – but people who want it – do it.
5. When people cut their teeth in indie film – they usually work for free or for little money to have a chance to prove themselves. Money, work, and credit are always negotiated in independent film. I don’t see that changing with the PMD. Film has always been an apprenticeship system. Even with film schools (and PMD training is on its way – more future blog posts) – most film students discover that they still need to apprentice out of school. This is not just true for film – but for all arts not only in the US now – but throughout the world and throughout time.
6. An alternative to this is a group of filmmakers who band together as a team – all chipping in resources and skills – to make a film. They usually divide up responsibilities and credits. But each member of the team has his or her own sweat equity skin in the game. This is where you have new producers, directors, DPs born who have not worked through the apprentice system. But they take the risk on a project and prove themselves.
7. The last alternative (which usually involves apprenticeship as well) is to get a lower level paid gig in an established, commercially based company (e.g. a publicity firm, social media establishment, transmedia commercial company etc) and get paid for doing lower level work on commercial projects. Often people do this and learn all the ropes, change jobs to learn a different skill (again paid for commercial work) until they have enough skills to strike out on their own.
8. All of the above goes to say that I feel that if you want to be a PMD in the indie world – it will be difficult to ask to be paid without a track record. Like all other people in the indie world – you need to pay your dues – work on films – build a reputation, resume, reel – to show what you are worth. Most people in indie film – especially when they are starting out – have multiple jobs and find multiple ways to make a living.
9. If you are in film – especially indie film – to make money – I suggest finding another career. There are many other ways to make money more simply. Chances are you’ll make more money per hour at McDonalds than from working on any indie film. The world of film and media are for people who love film and media and cannot live without it. It is a tough life except for a very few. (Again from Warhol: “Life is very hard”).
10. The people whom I have met who want to be PMDs around the world – have a love of film – but feel that they have a set of skills more geared toward marketing than actual production – and are excited by having a way to work in the field they love (film and media) and use their special talents. They are not doing it primarily for money. They are doing it because everything else besides film is unsatisfying – and while they do need to find a way to make a living – they need to be involved with film.
11. The hope is of course – with everyone in independent film – is to find a way to do what you love and sustain yourself. There are many, many ways that people find to do this. It is of course tougher than ever now – especially as we are in this transitional period. I don’t feel I have all the answers – but I am excited by what the future holds, by having discussions with passionate people who care about our world and I feel together we will all find a way to make this work. I don’t feel that we as filmmakers are alone in this. All media content creators and artists are facing the same conundrum – musicians, journalists, authors, artists, photo journalists, graphic artists, game designers (massive layoffs in Australia in the months prior to my visit). We are all facing the same challenges and I feel that we can all learn from each other.
Let me know your thoughts.
Bomb It 2 on Babelgum To Watch List for Fast Company Magazine
Babelgum Actually — gasps — Pays for Users to Create Videos
By PATRICK J. SAUER
So far as I know, Babelgum is the only company paying Web-video creators money up front,” says chief revenue officer Douglas Dicconson. And not for low-brow stuff, but ambitious professional works such as British documentarian Daniel Edelstyn’s Vodka Empire, the unlikely 25-part saga of his discovery that he’s heir to a Ukrainian vodka factory, and his attempt to bring Zorokovich 1917 to the modern spirits world. [...]
Dicconson says that he closed more revenue in the first quarter of 2010 than in the past three years combined. And momentum continued this past spring as Babelgum’s traffic spiked to 5.7 million visitors a month, when Vamped Out and Vodka Empire first aired. Na zdorovye!
3 to Watch
Dirty Oil
Babelgum’s first fully financed feature film, helmed by Academy Award-nominee Leslie Iwerks, will get its U.S. debut as an episodic series. Dirty Oil examines the economic and ecological impact of the oil sands in Alberta.
Vamped Out
When we last saw our vampiric out-of-work-actor hero Alowisus Hewson (Jason Antoon) in season one, he was sucking a young Hollywood starlet’s blood while formerly skeptical documentary filmmaker Elliot Finke (series writer and director Kevin Pollak) wigged out. Will the 172-year-old thespian find work in a Twilight world?
Bomb It 2
Babelgum produced the original street art/graffiti documentary, and the sequel will profile artists from locations such as Singapore (third offense is a caning!) and the Middle East. “In Israel, there’s a blossoming street-art culture with percolations of ideas,” says director Jon Reiss, “but in the Palestinian refugee camps, everything is political.”
Read more here or on the September issue of Fast Company magazine.
Jon Reiss to Speak at UFVA Conference August 11th, 12th
This month I will be appearing at the University Film and Video Conference which is being held at Champlain College in Burlington VT. Both presentations will center around the core Think Outside the Box Office (TOTBO) principles with an emphasis on how and why to teach this material to film students. I have a solo presentation on Wednesday afternoon and am on a panel with Linda Brown Dave Grotell and Andy Opel on Wednesday. I will focus on how the distribution and marketing landscape has shifted and that film schools must teach their students how to connect to audience: Teaching only how to make films is no longer enough. In addition I will focus on how filmmakers need to become more entrepeneurial, focus on career as opposed to project development and finally – of course – the creation of a new crew position – the Producer of Marketing and Distribution – and that we need to teach how to be a PMD in film school (and business schools) and what that curriculum might look like. If you are coming to UFVA – I hope to see you there!
Screen Hub’s Lyn Norfor on Jon Reiss and Thinking Outside of the Box Office!
Jon Reiss: Thinking Outside the Box Office
by: Lyn Norfor
Screen Hub
Thursday 15 July, 2010
Jon Reiss, independent filmmaker and proselyte, wrote Thinking Outside the Box Office, and is running a series of events around Australia, including MIFF. Lyn Norfor was reminded of the 50% rule – “50% of the time and resources to make the film and 50% to connect the film to your audience..”
In 2007, Jon Reiss screened his documentary, Bomb It, about the global explosion of graffiti art and culture, at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival. He did all the right things and, with five sold-out screenings and people lined up round the block for each screening, he expected a good distribution deal plus sales. But – nothing, no deals. A week later, Bomb It was available for sale on Canal Street – as a bootleg.
This is a story that Reiss relates regularly – in his book and his workshops, as an example of how radically the film distribution market has changed and how essential it is now for filmmakers to rethink the way their films are marketed and distributed. Reiss is a big fan of Do It Yourself (DIY) as a philosophy and attitude for marketing and distributing your film and which, he says, does not mean doing it all on your own. Rather, it means not leaving the distribution of your film to others and to build a team to reach as wide an audience as possible for your film.
Reiss is a working filmmaker who walks his talk. After his experience at Tribeca, Reiss went about distributing Bomb It through a hybrid distribution model, a term coined by distribution strategist and SPAA fringe regular, Peter Broderick. Reiss organised his own theatrical release and did a no-advance deal with New Video who handled the DVD release and download-to-own digital rights.
Based on his experiences, Reiss then wrote his book “Think Outside the Box – The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Age” which he self published. He has also built a website, created a two-day workshop and is planning updates for his book. In addition, he is currently filming material, as he travels round the world delivering his workshops, for a Bomb It web series – two to three minute webisodes, for which he received an advance against an ad revenue share from Bablegum (a free-to-view internet television platform supported by advertising).
An important step for filmmakers, according to Reiss, is to know what you want from your film and who the audience is for your film. Once you know that, you can then begin designing a marketing and distribution plan specifically for your film. And ideally, before you begin making your film – or at least during production. Now, some filmmakers may shudder at this but, Reiss says, they need to remember the 50/50 rule – 50% of the time and resources to make the film and 50% to connect the film to your audience.
Reiss is also very quick to point out that, although the filmmaker needs to understand the whole process, they also need to work with other people who have skills in those areas the filmmaker does not.
He has created a new film position, the Producer of Marketing and Distribution (PMD) and Reiss reckons it is a huge growth area in our industry. With less funds available and less films being picked up by traditional broadcasters and distributors, more filmmakers are left to their own devices to distribute their films. So build your team, find people with the marketing and distribution skills and bring them into the film industry to work with you. Reiss’ enthusiasm and excitement at the opportunities being created as old structures and ways of doing things break down is tempered by the realities of being a working creative entrepreneur – which he says all artists need to be.
Karen Pearlman (Head of Screen Studies, AFTRS) first heard of his workshops last year and encouraged AFTRS to bring Reiss out to Australia. So this July AFTRS and Screen Australia, in conjunction with MIFF 37 Degrees South in Melbourne, present the workshop Think Outside the Box Office.
Reiss has designed the two-day workshops to be practical as well as providing a place for filmmakers to share and discuss their projects. The first day is about content and information, using Reiss’ own films plus those of the participants as illustrations and discussion points.
The second day is focussed on selecting a number of participant projects for which market and distribution strategies are created. Reiss asks three key questions of each project – what is the goal of the film and the filmmakers? Who is their audience? What are their resources? The question that typically takes the most time to figure out is the audience question. Opening this question up to the group can be extremely helpful to the filmmakers, Reiss reports, and one of the favourite parts of the workshop for many participants. Reiss believes the workshops can appeal to a wide range of people –to anyone who is interested in marketing and distribution but may not necessarily want to make films.
Audience development is the new buzz word and one that will be music to the ears of our funding agencies. Reiss emphasises the importance of beginning to develop an audience for your film before the film is broadcast or screened. In the US independent distribution market, Reiss says, broadcasters and distribution entities are looking for partnerships with filmmakers who are interested in sharing the work of audience development. The marketplace is changing and so are release strategies. Reiss cites as examples the shorter windows between theatrical and DVD release for films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland and how that helps influence independent distributors.
Reiss is very strong on split rights, where the rights to each of the various revenue streams (theatrical, DVD, VOD etc) are split apart so they can be sold individually. A split rights scenario is at the heart of a hybrid strategy to release your film and, in general Reiss claims, the filmmaker can make more money than with an overall deal (where a distributor buys all the rights for your film for a long time).
He divides rights into three groups: (i) live event/theatrical – and includes all types of theatrical, non-theatrical, alternative theatrical and grassroots screenings; (ii) consumer products/merchandise – a tactile product such as DVD (individual DVDs, boxed sets, signed sets, special editions etc), educational sales, t-shirts, CDs, books etc; (iii) digital – television and cable (including FTA and subscription TV), Pay-per-view/Video on demand; (iv) digital rights and mobile – internet channels such as download to own, download to rent and various forms of streaming. Reiss’s book, “Think Outside the Box Office”, provides loads of information on this subject.
Again, Reiss reiterates that the distribution market is changing rapidly and many independent distributors are being forced by necessity to become more flexible.
Reiss finds this a ‘super exciting time’ and says it should inspire us to think about film more expansively, with longer storytelling structures – all of which helps create a long term career in film. When filmmakers have control over their distribution contracts, over a longer period of time and across multiple outlets, then a career arc can be developed with more predictable income streams and a ‘sustainable business’ built. With filmmakers holding onto more rights, there are also more opportunities to develop cross media extensions from the film. Knowing your audience is the key to deciding which products and packages to create for your film. Reiss tells how he is currently developing an iPhone app for street and graffiti art.
Although Reiss recognises that the amount of work is increasing as the money decreases, he says this is true not just for filmmakers but for all artists and content creators. His next version of “Think Outside the Box Office” is targeted at musicians, visual artists and all media content creators. He encourages us all to embrace the new opportunities and be inspired to re-conceptualise ourselves as filmmakers!
Reiss’ workshop dates:
Sydney: Sat 24 – Sun 25 July AFTRS Melbourne : Monday 26 – Tuesday 27 July AFTRS
Lyn Norfor
Lyn Norfor is a producer with factual and drama television projects in development.
TOTBO Tip of the Day 30 Request to Keep Assets that Others Create for Your Film
Make sure you get all of the elements for each stage of the delivery process, whether it is the files for your authored DVD or if it is a subtitled version of you film that a foreign film festival created or if it the files for the closed captioning of your film. I had a cc version of Bomb It created for Canadian television. I received the master HD of this version, however not the closed captioning file. Because of this I will need to pay for the cc process again. I was however smart enough to request copies of any subtitled version made for foreign film fest screenings or broadcast. I just screened Bomb It in Tel Aviv. The venue wants to screen it again, but with Hebrew subtitles. I just completed a deal for Israeli television which requires them to provide me with the subtitles and a Hebrew subtitled DVD. So now I have a DVD to use for the next screening of Bomb It – this time with Hebrew subtitles.
My workshops are coming to NYC on June 5 & 6th organized through IFP – and Vancouver on June 12 & 13th. One of the perks of attending is a digital pack of articles and documents including a delivery schedule and blank boilerplate budget in Excel. I hope to see you there! Check out the book and workshops here.
Truly Free Film Feed- James Fair On The 72-Hour Movie Project – Production (Pt. 4 of 5) September 9, 2010By James Fair Unsurprisingly, most of the fascination around the 72 Hour Movie project ‘The Ballad of Des & Mo’ surrounds the process of filming and editing it so quickly, especially in relation to the projects that can take months. In this post, I’m going to focus on how we turned it around in such a short time. I wrote[…] […]tedhope
- James Fair On The 72-Hour Movie Project – Production (Pt. 4 of 5) September 9, 2010
- TOTBO Tip of the Day
- Tip of the Week: How to Cope With Symposium Brain FryI heard a number of comments after this weekend’s LAFF Seize the Power Symposium that people where overwhelmed – that their brain’s had been fried by so many ideas and so much information. To me that’s a sign that we succeeded. When Film Independent and the Los ... […]
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