Keeping Up with the Digital Distribution Joneses

Tags: digital distribution, distro, IndiesLab, internet, Nielsen, startegy

Lessons from the Lab: Digital DIY and Distribution U.

Last month Indies Lab Director Davin Hutchins went back to school to learn about “do-it-yourself” (DIY) distribution and filed this report for BTB.

If you haven’t heard of the phrase “do-it-yourself” or “DIY distribution” then perhaps you have been too busy fundraising, shooting, or editing your latest documentary to notice. Or perhaps you live under a rock.

With traditional theatrical, broadcast and DVD distribution channels for independent docs in serious decline, everyone is talking about “DIY distribution,” also known as “hybrid distribution.”

Independent filmmakers in New York City debate the prospects of digital distribution of cinema at Distribution U.

The concept, coined most famously by Paradigm Consulting’s Peter Broderick, suggests that there is no cookie-cutter approach to the successful distribution of a film. Each approach should be tailored. Custom strategies like these were the main focal points at the east coast installment of Distribution U., a one-day crash course held by Broderick and journalist and CinemaTech blogger Scott Kirsner.

We here at the IndiesLab are sort of obsessed with the digital aspect of DIY distribution — that nexus where fan-building, advertising, and promotion intersect with online platforms like iTunes, Netflix, Amazon VOD, etc. We’ve been monitoring filmmaker conversations online and at events like Distribution U. to see if people are thinking seriously about digital DIY approaches.
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Tags: distribution, DIY, Hulu, independent producers, IndiesLab, iTunes, netflix, New York

Lessons From The Lab: Art & Copy in Review

As more and more Independent Lens films become available on iTunes we wanted to share with viewers how those projects are performing online. Indies Lab Director Davin Hutchins, pulls back the curtain on the successes behind the documentary Art & Copy.

One of the more notable documentaries in our stable of IndiesLab films is Art & Copy, which recently aired on Independent Lens on October 26. In case you haven’t seen it, the film pays homage to the groundbreaking advertising campaigns of the 60’s and 70’s in an aesthetically-pleasing walk down memory lane — in this case, Madison Avenue.

Art & Copy emerged on the scene in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival to generally positive reviews from critics and strong word-of-mouth buzz. The film made its way online onto iTunes in May 2010. Since its launch, we’ve spotted a couple of interesting patterns in this film’s career on iTunes that you might want to consider when plotting out your online digital distribution strategy.

In an interview with IndiesLab and Beyond the Box, director Doug Pray said that he had no idea about the online possibilities for his film.  “My attitude [toward digital distribution] was much more conservative and wary. One year ago, I would have been cautious and said, ‘Oh know we’re going to cannibalize this other thing over here.’ Now, I’m just sitting back and going ‘wow.’ …The old school rules aren’t flying so much.”
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Tags: art & copy, doug pray, download, indie films, IndiesLab, iTunes, online video, PBS Indies, viral video

IndiesLab participates in The Conversation at Columbia University

The Independent Digital Distribution Lab –– IndiesLab for short –– is a joint initiative of ITVS and PBS designed to help filmmakers navigate the marketplace and to generate revenue streams while also having a social impact. Last weekend, IndiesLab’s Director Davin Hutchins, attended The Conversation, a one-day conference held at Columbia University to create a dialogue and an exchange of ideas around social media, digital distribution and the future of film.

IndiesLab Director Davin Hutchins

This past weekend in New York City, several hundred filmmakers descended upon Columbia University for The Conversation. Although years have passed since the first Conversation was held in Berkeley, California, this year’s pow-wow – organized by Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shlain and Cinematech blogger Scott Kirsner – featured many luminaries from the independent film world. The goal: to seed new ideas and pollinate older ideas to chart a course of online distribution.

Clear answers on the best direction forward were elusive. IndiesLab shared the stage on a panel with Matt Dentler of Cinetic Rights Management/FilmBuff, Scilla Andreen, CEO, IndieFlix and Ryan Werner, VP of Marketing, IFC Entertainment. When pressed by the moderator on what constitutes a successful online film title in monetary terms, our panel fumbled for encouraging data.

One of the most sobering thoughts came from Ira Deutchman, head of Columbia University’s Producing Program. He asserted that because inexpensive production technology and free distribution is available to everyone now, the democratization of filmmaking is in full-force. But that’s a double-edged sword. Hundreds more auteurs in the marketplace does not necessarily mean hundreds more Michael Moores. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; it takes that much more talent to rise above the noise. Deutchman suggested that the independent filmmaker’s future career may more closely resemble that of musicians or painters, where tens of thousands eek out a subsistence living while only a few dozen secure critical acclaim and lucrative returns. Richard Lorber, CEO, Kino Lorber, summed up online distribution this way: “Everything is possible and nothing is working.”

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Tags: Columbia University, digital distribution, IndiesLab, Social Media, The Conversation

Top Five Predictions for Films and Digital Distribution

The Independent Digital Distribution Lab –– IndiesLab for short –– is a joint initiative of ITVS and PBS designed to help filmmakers navigate the marketplace and to generate revenue streams while also having a social impact. Indie Labs Director Davin Hutchins shares his first of five predictions about the future of films and digital distribution. Be sure to visit Beyond the Box over the next several months to hear more predictions.

IndiesLab Director Davin Hutchins

As independent filmmakers proceed with their projects for 2010, I thought I’d take a crack at making some predictions for the New Year.

PREDICTION 1: Creative Destruction Will Continue… And That’s a Good Thing

Video site Veoh Networks imploded this month. Not Chapter 11, mind you; it was a Chapter 7 liquidation. Veoh was an ad-supported, user-generated video site aspiring to be another YouTube. Even though it wasn’t a player in the indie film game, its demise is significant in that the company had burned through $70 million dollars of venture capital and was co-founded by former Disney chair Michael Eisner. This begs the question: if a guy like Michael Eisner with $70 million can’t make a video site work, what can one expect from smaller niche sites that have raised considerably less funding?

Traditionally, there have been two ways for film startups to make money off independent films –– charge a rental fee to view an entire film or run ads against films that are offered for free. The real challenge going forward is this: data suggests few consumers seem willing to pay a rental fee for an independent film when there is so much free content available on the Internet or TV. And with the glut of video on the Internet –– from professional films to semi-professional shorts to user-generated video –– ad rates are driven lower and lower by an endless supply of video (and much of it mediocre). Both major film platforms and startups will face these same challenges. In the past ten years, many indie film startups have imploded, were acquired, or radically changed their focus in order to survive: Atom Films (re-branded as Atom.com), iFilm (re-branded as Spike), Jaman, and GreenCine. All promised more or less the same thing –– filmmaker and film lover nirvana –– but significant dollars haven’t really materialized.

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Tags: digital distribution, Hulu, independent film, IndiesLab, iTunes, SnagFilms, tips, Veoh

IndiesLab: Supporting Independent Filmmakers in the Digital Marketplace

IndiesLab Director Davin Hutchins

Happy New Year and greetings from IndiesLab! My name is Davin Hutchins and I am the new director of this exciting joint initiative of ITVS and PBS now entering its second year –– the Independent Digital Distribution Lab –– or IndiesLab for short.

What is IndiesLab? It’s an ITVS-PBS initiative designed to help filmmakers navigate this marketplace and to generate revenue streams while also having a social impact. Many independent documentary filmmakers are unfamiliar with the lab, but we think that’s about to change. We’ve had some great achievements in our first year in raising the online profile of independent documentary films. Today, we are looking forward to implementing some ambitious digital initiatives in 2010 –– all in the spirit of advancing the mission of social issue, public interest documentaries, and the independent producers who create them.

PBS Indies section on iTunes.

A few first-year achievements include:

• A dedicated “PBS Indies” section on iTunes where member filmmakers of IndiesLab offer their films for download-to-own or download-to-rent.
• Dedicated Independent Lens and Global Voices sections on Hulu –– a major ad-supported streaming platform.
• A dedicated ITVS channel on popular documentary platform SnagFilms.
• Competitive package for filmmakers.

The digital marketplace is complex and constantly evolving. We are taking these challenges head on. We have already opened the door for indie filmmakers on all major online platforms — iTunes, Amazon, NetFlix, Hulu, PBS Video, and SnagFilms — and we will constantly look out for new partnerships to generate audiences and revenue.

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Tags: Hulu, independent film, IndiesLab, iTunes, SnagFilms, tips