Disney unlocks a new form of digital distribution with its “Keychest” technology

Allowing you to buy the rights to a movie and watch it on any rights-controlled device (computer, VoD, cellphone), this upcoming piece of technology opens new doors to Digital Indie Distribution.  Keep a step ahead!

From YahooTech:

Disney’s “Keychest”: Your DVD library in the cloud?
Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:06AM EDT
Cloud computing may have gotten a bad rap in recent weeks thanks to the recent Sidekick fiasco, but Disney’s reportedly forging ahead with its plans for “Keychest,” a digital video locker in the sky that would let you watch your purchased movies and TV shows from your PC, mobile phone, or via on-demand cable.
The Wall Street Journal (registration required) has all the details, but here’s the gist: As its name implies, Disney’s “Keychest” service would let you buy a “key” to a piece of digital video content—say, a movie, or a TV episode. You’d then be able to log into your Keychest account on “participating” devices and services (such as an iPhone, PC, or cable provider) and your videos would be waiting for you.

We’re not just talking online video, either; according to the Journal, purchased DVDs and Blu-rays Continue reading →

Indieflix Comments on My Blog

In today’s changing Indie distribution markets, we must engage with strong marketing strategies from a project’s inception.  Find your audience.  Get to know them.  Understand their needs and how they will gain access to your art!

Check out this great article from IndieFlix!

Finding What Works in Film Marketing & Distribution
Submitted by lauren on Thursday, 15 October 2009

Filmmaker Jon Reiss has spent a lot of time working the indie film market and has accepted, if not embraced, the marriage of filmmaking and marketing. He has written a much-anticipated book on the subject, called “Think Outside The Box (Office): The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing in the Digital Era,” which chronicles the lessons he learned while promoting his film “Bomb It,” a documentary about graffiti on five continents. The book is, he describes, a “360 page nuts and bolts guide to distribution and marketing for filmmakers,” which basically goes over all the things filmmakers have to think about when all the hard work of creating their art is over.

He deals with these subjects at length on his blog. His latest post answers a lot of questions about the state of distribution and marketing indie films and the steps filmmakers must take Continue reading →

Jon Reiss joins BAFTA panel at this year’s AFM Conference

I’ll be sitting on the BAFTA panel at AFM discussing changes in Indie Distribution on Sunday, November 8th from 11:00am – 12:30pm.   Come on out to hear the most cutting-edge discussion of indie distribution and marketing!

Sunday November 8th

11:00am-12:30pm

No Direction Home – Changing Indie Distribution Strategies
Programmed by: British Academy of Film & Television Arts, Los Angeles
BAFTA
These are confusing times for indie filmmakers. Just as revolutionary production choices are opening up, traditional distribution models are collapsing. How cost-effective is U.S. theatrical release? Does it still impact foreign sales? What kind of income streams can be generated from such new sources as on-demand, internet download, and direct website DVD sales? Our panel of experts may not have all the answers, but will attempt to provide producers with a compass to navigate the rocky shoals of a challenging and still-evolving marketplace.

Location: Le Merigot Hotel (1740 Ocean Avenue)
Cost: $40 per person

Moderator:
John Alan Simon, Writer-Director, Radio Free Albemuth; Producer, The Getaway; Former Staff Writer, New Orleans Times Picayune; Member, BAFTA/LA Education and Outreach Committee

Panelists:
Chris Hyams, Founder and CEO, B-Side Entertainment
Ted Mundorff, CEO, Landmark Theatres
Jon Reiss, Director/Producer, Bomb It; Author, Think Outside the Box (Office) – The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era
David Shultz, Founder and President, Vitagraph Films
Leslie Urdang, President, Olympus Pictures; Producer, Adam, Rabbit Hole
2:00pm – 3:30pm
THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE IS BELOW:
Continue reading →

Range Life is putting on a Downtown series of amazing screenings and some great after-hours events!

Venture downtown for some premium independent filmmaking and fun parties!

RANGE LIFE ENTERTAINMENT

251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA – Website – Map

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Range Life Entertainment presents 10 energetic and irreverent independent comedies that have been turning heads and generating cult audiences at festivals across the country (Sundance, Slamdance, SXSW, and CineVegas to name a few). Following their strong festival runs, these filmmakers Continue reading →

Free-to-share documentary highlights alternative distribution methods for the digital age

British production company VODO utilizes an alternative distribution strategy using filesharing sites and free-to-share networks.  The strategy immediately engages a worldwide audience.

From ScreenDaily.com:

100,000 downloads for first VODO release

19 October, 2009 | By Sarah Cooper

Ivo Gormley’s documentary Us Now has achieved 100,000 downloads in its first five days of operation, through its release via free-to-share online distributor VODO.

Us Now tells the stories of online networks – such as a football club owned and run by its fan and a bank in which everyone is the manager – whose self organising structures promise to change the fabric of government.

Founded by Jamie King, who made file-sharing documentary Steal This Film, VODO distributes films Continue reading →

Venture Capitalists, VGame Designers, Tech Execs are eyeing the profit turnaround of small, indepedent, self-distributed films

Angel Group Likes Lights, Camera And Action Of Indie Films

By Tomio Geron

As an experienced tech entrepreneur and angel investor, Rizwan Virk was happy to see a solid return on one of his recent investments after just one year.

But the exit didn’t come from a software start-up or social media company finding a corporate acquirer. Instead, Virk’s quick payoff came from an independent film.

Virk is a member of FilmAngels, a Silicon Valley group whose members back film productions – mostly small, independent projects. Founded in 2005, Film Angels is made up mostly of tech executives and investors who apply their business and venture capital experience to the filmmaking world.

FilmAngels meets regularly, seeing about five pitches per month. Members are free to invest in whichever projects they choose. The group pre-screens the films, but does not endorse any particular films. About 12 films have been funded Continue reading →

Guerrilla filmmaking crosses into both sides of the political spectrum!

Here’s something scary from the right – they can use grassroots marketing too!

From the Washington Times:

Indie filmmakers tap grass roots

By Sonny Bunch

Hoping to tap the rising tide of populist anger and activism on the right, husband-and-wife filmmaking duo Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney are bringing their new film, “Not Evil Just Wrong” — an answer to Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth” — to as many people as possible through grass-roots screenings they’re calling “cinematic tea parties.”

These coordinated house-party screenings, scheduled for Oct. 18, are just one element in a unique marketing campaign that sidesteps traditional distribution avenues.

Mr. McAleer and Ms. McElhinney are part of a new breed of guerrilla filmmakers across the political spectrum Continue reading →

Ted Hope Speaks at BFI London Film Festival

Seasoned Indie producer Ted Hope (21 Grams, The Hawk is Dying, TrulyFreeFilm) speaks in London on the future of Independent filmmaking.  How will digital technology make films more accessible?

From Screendaily.com:

Film industry should be more accessible, says Hope

14 October, 2009 | By Sarah Cooper

Veteran independent film producer Ted Hope called for new film business models built on “access and transparency” in his keynote speech at the Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Forum, held in London today (October 14).

The New York based producer told the audience at the event, which is part of the 53rd Times BFI London Film Festival, that the current business models for creation, financing and distributions were based on “exclusionary practice of isolated control” and that they were “running on fumes these days.”

“How long can the controlling studio model survive Continue reading →

Jeremy Thomas Speaks of Creative Pre-Sales Strategies at FIND

Financing production with US pre-sales is becoming more and more rare, if not non-existent.  As US indie distribution faces a crisis, filmmakers must look to other sources of investment.  International pre-sales are a good start.

From ScreenDaily.com:

Don’t waste time looking for a US pre-buy, Jeremy Thomas tells film-makers

11 October, 2009 | By Jeremy Kay

Independent international film-makers who come to the US in search of financing are making “a wasted trip”, the Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas said over the weekend.

Speaking at the launch of the FIND Filmmaker Forum in Los Angeles, Thomas told an audience that the stricken economy and the demise of numerous US distributors had left the US independent sector “screwed up”, although he fully expected the market to bounce back. Continue reading →

Coppola predicts cinema “as we know it” will become more “interactive”.

If, as Coppola predicts, the cinema “as we know it” is falling apart, how can we reclaim the public’s interest?  Tell compelling stories and get them to your audience.  Engage them directly.  Interact with them.

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) — “The cinema as we know it is falling apart,” says Francis Ford Coppola.

“It’s a period of incredible change,” says the director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” “We used to think of six, seven big film companies. Every one of them is under great stress now. Probably two or three will go out of business and the others will just make certain kind of films like ‘Harry Potter’ — basically trying to make ‘Star Wars’ over and over again, because it’s a business.”

Coppola, 70, sporting a dark suit, is being interviewed in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where his latest movie “Tetro” opened the Beirut Film Festival after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

“Cinema is losing the public’s interest,” says Coppola, “because there is so much it has to compete with to get people’s time.”

The profusion of leisure activities; Continue reading →