Fools by Martin Walker

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Thoughts re Distribution and Marketing

I just spent the weekend at Film Independent's filmmaker forum. It was quite interesting, especially hearing about the various distribution avenues available to the indie filmmaker nowadays. In one forum, Rich Raddon, who is the head of LA Film Fest, asked the entire audience to stand up (there were about 500 of us). Then he had everyone sit down except for the 16 people standing along the first row. He said that of the 500 of us in the room, only 16 of us will ever get into Sundance. Then he had another 8-9 people sit down. He said that the people left standing (i.e., 7 out of the 500) represented the number of people who will actually get distribution. Basically, the odds are overwhelmingly against the indie filmmaker of getting distribution via the traditional channels.

At another panel, Peter Broderick spoke about "hybrid distribution". This is when the filmmaker may try to sell his/her film through the traditional channels while also trying to self distribute via their website. He was encouraging the indie filmmaker to find alternative means of distribution, because that just means that you will be able to make another movie, and so on. His presentation was one of the more positive ones at the conference in favor of the indie filmmaker.

Anyway, this seems a bit premature to talk about distribution even before we've made our film, but we've actually been quite conscious about marketing and distribution ever since we started talking about making this film. Making a movie is art, but it's also an extremely competitive business. In crude business terms, filmmakers are project managers of a manufactured product. And like serial entrepreneurs, filmmakers take huge risks every time they undertake to make a film. If a filmmaker is too much of a "creative" to worry about business details, then they better partner with a business-savvy producer. Lucy and I have brainstormed on various marketing ideas once we get the film in the "can". We have some crazy ideas which we would love to implement as soon as we finish with production.

Christine

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About The Three Shorts

Christine Le wrote and directed the 1st story Love 10 to 1.
The first story explores the life of a 29-year-old virgin, Jenny, who desperately wants to lose her virginity before her 30th birthday. As she encounters one loser after another on dates, Jenny pines after her boss, Dustin. While at her grandmother’s retirement home, Jenny learns a powerful lesson from her grandmother about sex and the meaning of life.


Christine Le (right) directs Shireen Nomura Mui (Jenny) & Justin Klosky (Jim).

Lucy Rodriguez wrote and directed Love Song.
The second story revolves around Shane, the lead singer of the L.A. rock band, Dirty Virgin. Shane has her pick of admirers but it’s her roommate Dustin she wants to be with. Shane confesses her feelings on Jackie and Jared’s show but when Dustin meets Cali, Shane’s shot at love starts to dwindle. With Dirty Virgin about to embark on a world tour, will Dustin realize that he’s the object of Shane’s affections? Will they risk their friendship to give this Love Song a chance?


Lucy Rodriguez & David Villar (Dustin)

Laura Somers wrote and directed Diving Lessons.
The final story picks up where Love 10 to 1 left off, but from the perspective of Jim, the guitarist of Dirty Virgin. Jim sees Jenny at a swimming pool, trying desperately to overcome her fear of diving. In fact, he finds out that she’s making a list of everything that she’s afraid of and trying to overcome them, one by one. He is instantly smitten and tries to convince her that he’s not just a rock star who ‘loves ‘em and leaves ‘em’. Can a rock star find love with a virgin?


Shireen Nomura-Mui, Laura Somers & Justin Klosky




Leah Anova is the Director of Photography for Love 10 to 1 & Diving Lessons.

Additional Cinematography on Diving Lessons by Erik Forsell

Matthew Boyd is the Director of Photography for Love Song.