Excellent podcast from Morrie Warshawski on the hard work of funding and distributing your film. He points out that making the film is about 20% of the work - with fundraising and distribution taking up the other 80% of your time. It is a sobering thought, and one that should inform your decision on whether or not to take on a project. He suggests that you really need to choose projects based on your personal mission in life if you want to survive the long slog with anything to show for it.
Another interesting idea is to not think so much about your film's audience, but rather the film's community. Consider your film's community from the beginning - they are the people who will help you raise money, inform the production, and get it out to the world.
"The Panama Deception"'s success in distribution stemmed from a community distribution model that was built up with the previous film, "Cover-up". We had sponsored like the Quakers, American Friends, and other crunchy granola types. They got the film out to a community, and we raised a lot more money via fundraising than tickets. And this was way before social networking sites.
When you conceive of a film in the context of its community, you also get out of your own head, and are part of a greater purpose. All of this will sustain you through the dark days of computer freezes, legal clearances, and festival rejection.
Another interesting idea is to not think so much about your film's audience, but rather the film's community. Consider your film's community from the beginning - they are the people who will help you raise money, inform the production, and get it out to the world.
"The Panama Deception"'s success in distribution stemmed from a community distribution model that was built up with the previous film, "Cover-up". We had sponsored like the Quakers, American Friends, and other crunchy granola types. They got the film out to a community, and we raised a lot more money via fundraising than tickets. And this was way before social networking sites.
When you conceive of a film in the context of its community, you also get out of your own head, and are part of a greater purpose. All of this will sustain you through the dark days of computer freezes, legal clearances, and festival rejection.
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