That's right – I am doing something different this year, self-distributing my production company's indie feature film, In Corpore. It's not my decision alone, my partner and co-director is jumping on this rollercoaster ride with me and we plan to market our self-funded, no stars attached, microfeature in all four countries we shot it in – Germany, Malta, Australia and America. Not only that, as part of our self-distribution plan we are looking to use four wall distribution where possible, and even tour smaller states in America should the interest be there.
You are probably wondering why. You are probably screaming it at the screen. Please stop yelling, it will be ok.
Well, with all those distributors, aggregators, online platforms and sales agents who seem supportive and constantly hungry for fresh content it's a fair call to ask why we would go at it alone. For us, the first reason is that we have lost faith in handing our hard work and money to someone who does not have the film’s or our own best interests as the main priority.
Secondly, at this stage of our careers, this is a test, a ride or die situation, and also a way to push ourselves as business people. Self-love and bettering yourself is a bitch.
If you have been reading the blogs on our website about indie filmmaking and our journey and experiences with selling and distributing our films you will find this article titled One Year Later: Traditional Distribution or Self-Distribution for a Micro-Budget Feature. My business partner Ivan Malekin wrote that one, and he clearly states our highs, lows and also our frustrations when it comes to putting our 'film baby' in the trust and care of strangers.
The way we see it, no one gives a damn about your work (or your film baby) more than yourself. You conceived it from the first concept right through to post, so why trust someone to put it out into the world and watch it grow? I mean, with a bit of niche research (preferably before you think of producing the film), a bit of business cap-wearing, sleepless nights, some good contacts and a computer with links to the world there is no reason why you can't attempt to place your work out there.
On location in Chelsea Piers, New York filming In Corpore.
But I am still scared of putting my film out there, scared of self-distributing my film, and thinking about it is enough to quicken my breath. What if the audience I think my film is incorrect? This happened with our last feature film Friends, Foes & Fireworks. We aimed it at filmmakers, focusing on the improvised methods and promoting the process and the shot in the one-night aspect. This led to the heavily dramatic storyline and interesting characters viewers still rave about in reviews being overlooked, the media interest for it dried up and the cinema screenings we had only attracted a select few actors and filmmakers.
But if we start to build enough interest in In Corpore’s themes and storyline before starting the promotion and then move into four-walling, touring and selling merch, I need to know that there is interest in the film. This is done by audience research and narrowing down your niche. So this is another aspect that scares me. What if we have chosen a niche market that does not accept the film – from our research, we have found its a poly+mono community we should aim at, new alternative couples and thirty-somethings who what to watch a deep relationship drama and discuss the dynamics of polygamy vs traditional marriage, as well as the grey areas of relationships.
I am no expert on developing niche research, I have just started to learn about how to niche down though the work and online teachings of my peers, predominantly Rob Hardy from Filmmaker Freedom, as well as Alex Ferrari from Indie Film Hustle. Get onto the podcast, newsletters and websites from these two. You, like me, will learn a lot. There are also a lot of other resources out there for filmmakers, but Rob and Alex really have the tough love approach, the genuine passion and experience behind them.
To not feel like a hypocrite I am going to let you know that we had already called picture lock for In Corpore, back in early 2019, before we really knuckled down on the niche research. This is due to the fact that we started to wise up to the reality that was stated above and that the traditional film distribution model is broken after we made the film. Last year Ivan and I started to get educated, we joined online film communities and started to get an education after this film was in the can.
So maybe this is part of the reason why deciding to self distribute my indie feature film, and the idea of doing so, scares the hell out of me. It is an uncertain world out there for film distribution. And because we have already put so much effort (we travelled to four countries and hired four different crews and four separate casts for this film), money, and time into this film, it would be heartbreaking for In Corpore to fail. We are passionate about the topic of the film and we have invested ourselves on a personal level too.
Over the years, more so recently while I was wising up to the fact that indie film distribution is shifting towards self-distribution I found inspirational examples from my peers who have started to pave out the road less travelled for filmmakers like myself and my company.
One of these inspiring and ballsy cases of self-distribution I came across last year was The Joyful Vampire Tour Of America, which was part of the self-distribution for indie vampire rom-com Bite Me, directed by Meredith Edwards and written by Naomi McDougall Jones. I won't go too much into the ins and outs about their strategy and marketing plan, but you can listen to Naomi’s 2019 chat with Alex Ferrari about the subject on the Filmtrepreneur podcast and learn about their distribution plan. You may learn something. I know I did.
Since the distribution model, most of us indie filmmakers have followed in the past is broken and growing more outdated each day, building a self-distribution or some kind of hybrid distribution plan for our indie feature just seems to make the most sense. With the decision made, the way I look at self-distribution is that as a business person, I am choosing to take control of my film and learn along the way.
Even if thinking of doing so scares the hell out of me, I have to try, and I know I have much to gain but embracing the change, as for years handing the rights over to others has felt like hitting my head on the same closed door. And it hurts not just my head but my bank account.
Article by Sarah Jayne