As I said in summation, driving Geoffrey around brought me a lot closer to Paul Cohen, an independent distributor1 who is the business side of show business in one man.
I guess I did a good job with Geoffrey because Paul really seemed to like me. Over the next few months (the Geoffrey chauffeuring was back in February), we met and had coffee a few times and finally had a ‘thank you’ dinner.
Paul moved to Tallahassee not to leave the business but to move to a less expensive town, so he’s starting up a new distribution company in conjunction with the school to serve as a learning environment for the business side of filmmaking.
He asked if I wanted to intern and work on distributing and marketing real movies. How about ‘yes.’
So to skip a bit, and because we’re under non-disclosure agreements so I can’t talk about it much, there’s about eight of us interning, working in a separate building virally marketing the Germs biopic What We Do Is Secret.
You can see some of my handy work if you search for the What We Do Is Secret group on Facebook (over 400 members) as well as some write-ups on music blogs.
HBO - Good ratings, reviews, press, buzz, recognition.
A&E - Docs are ratings challenged. We try to launch them theatrically to get the branding out there, make people aware of the film for television. Considered successful if financially we break even.
Magnolia - Bad Box Office for docs in 2007. Magnolia had three high profile releases - Crazy Love, My Kid Could Paint That, and In the Shadow of the Moon. Other outlets have proved successful. Cocaine Cowboy is one of the top selling films on X-Box. The new strategy is to marry content with distribution.
Starz - Starz makes docs for their film library. Create events to help branding. Lots of press is low cost.
Balcony - King Corn’s (doc about the farming industry) filmmakers sold the DVD through their site for $29.95 (cheaper now) and had community screenings for $300 and did very well. People want to see films with their community, not at a theater (I think this was meant more towards small towns). There’s a separate group of people that buy online than in the store.
Red Envelope - Their software can determine how many people want to watch since the films are on Netflix and determine the price. Since Red Envelope was formed, they have 125 titles. 40%-50% are docs.
Q: Do you think audiences are consuming films differently?
Balcony - Some like films in the theater, on TV, the web, community screenings. You get more coverage in the NY Times when you open on Wednesday.
A&E - If a film doesn’t get enough Box Office the theater can kick it out.
Magnolia - The state of specialized films is depressing. We’re all generally screwed. The theatrical experience is unmatched. To survive, we need to learn how to do it differently.
Red Envelope - In four months, Helvetica was seen 120,000 times. Half were streaming through Netflix.com.
Starz - Primary goal of documentaries is to pay off credit card debt and fund the next film. Theatrical release is an unhealthy obsession.
Balcony - Many films shouldn’t be in theaters. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. Not being in theaters feels like a failure, but that might be the right thing to do. Filmmakers always want it, that’s why they made the film.
Q: What do you see changing in the future?
A&E - Social networking growing. Bring people that have a common interest in films together (Facebook).
Magnolia - Theatrical experience is broken. We put a lot of Jesus Camp clips on YouTube, but that backfired, because then people didn’t need to see the movie.
Balcony - Make theatrical an event. One night only. You can make more money in one night than a week. We need to convert the theatrical system.
Audience Questions
Q - How can you get a deal in pre-production?
A - Generally depends on the subject, filmmaker, and if there’s that money shot (Antarctica for March of the Penguins). Typically docs are bought after they’re done.
Q - Thoughts on aesthetic quality. Concerned about viewing docs on iPod?
A - The ability iPods provide to watch during commute are great. One panelist saw 8 people watching content in the subway. Certain forms are better for iPod, while some are better on the big screen. More choices bring a larger audience, which is the end goal.
If a film works on a 3″ screen, you know it will work anywhere.
Q - Biggest mistake films make?
A - (Sort of a round robin of replies):
Not writing name and phone on DVD
Go for best quality you can afford. Sometimes stuff is turned down because quality doesn’t meet standards.
Picking subject that doesn’t sustain the length.
Not pushing hard enough. Push the subject.
Being too long
Subject covered a lot of times before
Unrealistic expectations with music licensing.
Not enough stills for Press Kit
High Quality (True HD) if possible
Follow the delivery schedule companies have. Missing a few elements can make a film unreleasable.
Q - Thoughts on short docs outside festivals.
A - Other options include iTunes, attachment to Op-Eds on NY Times site. Many documentarians with similar subjects/themes can ban together and offer one package with a bunch of shorts, perhaps on DVD.
This is part four of a five part adventure that involves driving Geoffrey Gilmore (the Director of the Sundance Film Festival) around Tallahassee, Diet Cokes, private jets, The Visitor, tea, a 4 am flight, and of course, coffee. Part one and Part two, and Part three.
Friday felt a lot like Thursday. Geoffrey was going to screen the mystery film again, but this time for all the film students.
The original financiers were going to fund the film as long as the lead was someone more famous than Jenkins. McCarthy was adamant that it had to be him, and he lost the investors. Eventually it was funded by one of the founders of eBay.
Like the casting in The Station Agent, Jenkins was great and perfect for the roll, and it touched on a lot of good issues (immigration, cultures, mid-life change). Afterward, questions were brought up about how to market this film. From the issues I mentioned, it covers a lot of topics and isn’t a straight ‘life changing story’ or ‘love story’ or ‘culture clash story.’
I feel like the trailer does a pretty good job of summing the film up, incorporating all the topics instead of just covering one and marketing it to different groups.
Later that night, I drove Geoffrey and his entourage to the University President’s House for dinner. I went and got a Joey Bag of Donuts at Moe’s (I think I got the better deal, because the following day the Dean was sick with food poisoning).
It would have been neat to go inside the house, but apparently I didn’t miss much after it was noted that the interior design was kind of lacking1.
This night there was no after party, and I was successfully able to drop Geoffrey off at his hotel for the evening.
Imagine this - you stop by a big studio, maybe to try to get a few minutes with an exec to pitch your next idea. As you get back on the elevator to leave (with the no scheduled meeting), the door opens to reveal the Head of the Studio already riding down. “Great Zeus, this is it, this is where my career starts.”
So you get on, and before the doors can even close you go into your well rehearsed 30-second elevator pitch.
The Studio Head grins and nods to be polite, tells you to talk to his secretary (whom you just did), and leaves. No six figure deal, no let’s have lunch. Why? Because you were the same as every other schmuck that pitches to him 20 times a day.
We’re required to have an elevator pitch at Director’s Prep. We’re also supposed to have a 5-minute pitch, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. 5 minutes for a 7 minute film? You can see the teachers glaze over as they sit through it.
The elevator pitch is a little more reasonable, but I’m glad to finally see someone take a stand against it, namely Stephanie Palmer, a former Studio Exec and author of Good in a Room. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with her on tompeters.com:
Tom Peters has espoused the elevator pitch as one of the supporting columns of Wow Projects. The goal of the elevator pitch being, if you get into an elevator on the first floor with your boss and you’re trying to sell an idea, you want to sell it by the time you get to the 35th floor. You say the elevator pitch is a myth. Why is that?
SP: I think the term “elevator pitch” incorrectly implies that it’s appropriate to pitch in an elevator. Communicating quickly and concisely is important, but you should never pitch when you don’t have time to continue the conversation. A moment’s access with someone who doesn’t know you is not an opportunity. Your first interaction with someone sets the stage for the relationship to come. You shouldn’t start pitching your idea to someone before they know who you are enough to care about what you’re saying in the first place.
High-level buyers are pitched all the time. They know when they are hearing something that’s been repeated to dozens of other people. If you haven’t taken the time to build rapport and customize your pitch to that person’s specific needs, it’s a sign that you’re an amateur. Every buyer is unique, and your pitch should reflect that.
I think there’s three things to take here:
Communicate quickly and concisely. I’m a fan of one sentence synopses. I think anything after that and you lose the person. Read Made to Stick (here’s a
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