FEATURE: "HEART OF NOW" – a film by SABI
- Thread starter Zak Forsman
- Start date
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Interesting. Thanks for sharing this. I know you guys have been noodling on it for a while. Would you care to share any more of the thought processes that led to this particular combination?
Billy Pilgrim
Stye in my eye
I'm curious of this as well, but I'm curious of the cost, particularly the DVD release and theatrical tour. How much are these steps are going to cost? I can't wait to see this film by the way.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
So it's basically a Direct-to-DVD roll-out in a sense.
Thanks for the info. Will be watching
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
So it's basically a Direct-to-DVD roll-out in a sense.
Thanks for the info. Will be watching
well, sort of. we're collapsing some windows to day and date with other platforms and pursuing all forms of home entertainment known and emerging, coupled with a funded and supported theatrical release. talking with GMX about international sales too. and we've consulted with a filmmaker who nets $10,000 per theatrical screening of an indie drama with no names in the cast at regional theaters so we consider it a viable part of the release. not just a loss leader for dvd, etc.
but we'll see. the fun part will be discovering what works and what doesn't.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
I hope we can be on the journey with you to discover what you find works...
As movies like Avatar (as much as I enjoyed it) make billions of dollars, it seems to me that smaller indie pictures will have a much harder time finding an audience and money...
As movies like Avatar (as much as I enjoyed it) make billions of dollars, it seems to me that smaller indie pictures will have a much harder time finding an audience and money...
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
Two things: which platforms offered the greatest revenue potential. These have the greatest profit margins per sale:
DVD: $10-$18
iTunes EST: $7 and would we have enough audience in place to support
and Cable VOD has the potential for tremendous reach but will generate only $.90 to $1.50 per sale for us. I won't lose any sleep if the deal we're seeking for this falls through and we bump up iTunes to the first release window. but it would be nice and we're fighting for one. but for now, iTunes is in that second window because I can negotiate a higher split in our favor with Cable VOD if I hold iTunes back for 60 days.
WINDOW THREE is comprised of:
iTunes rentals (we get 70% of $3 to $4)
Netflix DVD sales (one time buy-out at $7 to $12 per disc, no revenue share on rentals)
YouTube ($4 rental price, don't know the split with YouTube yet)
Amazon VOD (not a great platform, might skip it. would get us into TiVo VOD I believe however)
and of course the last window has the least potential for revenue, but will build value in expanding our audience. This includes Hulu who pays about 2¢ per view, and some free. This last window won't open until AT LEAST nine months after the first window.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
you definitely will be. I just made a deal to be one of the first to use a brand new "Demand It" service to help track our audience regionally so we know exactly where a theatrical screening can be supported. We will launch that mid-march either right before or right after SXSW.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Brilliant. This is the kind of thing limited release pictures need to be successful.
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Very exciting. Will definitely be tracking your strategy. The YouTube rentals thing also has my interest. I wonder if it'll be a game changer.
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
A couple of months ago I kicked in $100 to help back a new discovery and distribution site called Open Indie. It sounded promising in their pitch video but today (with their beta launch) I can see that this could prove to be a great solution for indies to...
A) get their film discovered by audiences, and...
B) monetize public and private screenings of their films hosted by fans of the community.
here's what i like...
I like that it's scalable – that it could foster a screening for 300 people in a theater, 30 in a coffee shop, or 5 people in a fan's living room. either way, the filmmaker gets a cut of the revenue made. and potential screening hosts can see what the demand for the film is like in their home town.
I like that it's based on people requesting to see the film to form a core audience. the site seems designed to expose other members who follow those core people so they can see they want to see your film, potentially expanding the demand for your film via concentric circles of "friends and followers".
I dig the simplicity of the user interface. there's a new site that wants to be a big online VOD service for indies and the user interface is a tragedy. I'm sure most people are turned off just by the look of it.
I run a screening series here in Los Angeles called CINEFIST and I love knowing that one day, as the site grows, I'll be able to pick and choose films that have a proven demand here.
Not anyone can sign up. there is a semi-effective filter in that you have to pay to have your film listed
here's what needs work....
I think the site could use more "discovery" tools. like perhaps keywords, tags or recommend features. offering a service that organically grows an audience would be hugely beneficial.
Running time info is missing. Since the site is open to features AND shorts, it would make sense to know what you're booking exactly. the potential is there to book a slate of shorts, or to match a short with a feature. but this crucial bit of info is missing.
i'll use my account as an example, there is a great map function there that plots where the demand for your film is. but it would be great if i could pull that in on my own site as a widget, instead of having to direct them to Open Indie. seeing all those dots on a global map on my official web site would be a pretty cool motivator for potential fans to take that step toward requesting it themselves.
anyway, I wouldn't even present it to our community here if I honestly didn't think it could work for fellow dvxuser filmmakers. there has been a lot of talk about how hard it is for indies like us to make money on their films unless they have michael madson waving a gun around on their poster. and that's true. but it's also unrealistic for a good number of skilled storytellers here who don't have access to money, but make up for that in talent, skill and innovative filmmaking. and there are so many fly-by-night so-called "solutions" that don't offer a comprehensive plan for building an audience AND distributing it to them... especially for short filmmakers. so when I see something like this, please know I figure it's worthy of your attention.
__________________
A) get their film discovered by audiences, and...
B) monetize public and private screenings of their films hosted by fans of the community.
here's what i like...
I like that it's scalable – that it could foster a screening for 300 people in a theater, 30 in a coffee shop, or 5 people in a fan's living room. either way, the filmmaker gets a cut of the revenue made. and potential screening hosts can see what the demand for the film is like in their home town.
I like that it's based on people requesting to see the film to form a core audience. the site seems designed to expose other members who follow those core people so they can see they want to see your film, potentially expanding the demand for your film via concentric circles of "friends and followers".
I dig the simplicity of the user interface. there's a new site that wants to be a big online VOD service for indies and the user interface is a tragedy. I'm sure most people are turned off just by the look of it.
I run a screening series here in Los Angeles called CINEFIST and I love knowing that one day, as the site grows, I'll be able to pick and choose films that have a proven demand here.
Not anyone can sign up. there is a semi-effective filter in that you have to pay to have your film listed
here's what needs work....
I think the site could use more "discovery" tools. like perhaps keywords, tags or recommend features. offering a service that organically grows an audience would be hugely beneficial.
Running time info is missing. Since the site is open to features AND shorts, it would make sense to know what you're booking exactly. the potential is there to book a slate of shorts, or to match a short with a feature. but this crucial bit of info is missing.
i'll use my account as an example, there is a great map function there that plots where the demand for your film is. but it would be great if i could pull that in on my own site as a widget, instead of having to direct them to Open Indie. seeing all those dots on a global map on my official web site would be a pretty cool motivator for potential fans to take that step toward requesting it themselves.
anyway, I wouldn't even present it to our community here if I honestly didn't think it could work for fellow dvxuser filmmakers. there has been a lot of talk about how hard it is for indies like us to make money on their films unless they have michael madson waving a gun around on their poster. and that's true. but it's also unrealistic for a good number of skilled storytellers here who don't have access to money, but make up for that in talent, skill and innovative filmmaking. and there are so many fly-by-night so-called "solutions" that don't offer a comprehensive plan for building an audience AND distributing it to them... especially for short filmmakers. so when I see something like this, please know I figure it's worthy of your attention.
__________________
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
As of today, we are the most requested film on Open Indie.
I wanted to add some info about Crowd Controls. Crowd Controls is similar to open indie in that its a way for audiences to "demand" or "request" your film to play in their city/town. The difference being you have access to the data for those people - email address, locations, etc. Open Indie doesn't let you have contact info for people who request your film, they simply get an email informing them when a screening of a film is taking place near them. Another advantage of Crowd Controls is that you can host it on your own site with some javascript. It looks like this...
It works globally, asking for a postal code if the user is outside the USA. It also adheres to european privacy laws which are much more strict than they are in the states. which is why sign-up requires a double opt-in... meaning, users must also click a link sent to their email address.
We haven't gone public with it yet because i was curious to see how it performed with traffic coming straight to the site for other reasons. so in addition to being able to add yourself to the audience map here http://sabipictures.com/request you can do it on the main page of the site.
so far 50 people have signed up without any real promotional effort, but more interesting is that 11 people across the country have contacted me saying they want to set up a screening of our films. I made a list of them called "Superfans & Advocates" that you can see on the request page as a way to acknowledge them. I'm pretty impressed with the results in the short term. The next big question for me is: how many will join up when we promote the thing for real?
I wanted to add some info about Crowd Controls. Crowd Controls is similar to open indie in that its a way for audiences to "demand" or "request" your film to play in their city/town. The difference being you have access to the data for those people - email address, locations, etc. Open Indie doesn't let you have contact info for people who request your film, they simply get an email informing them when a screening of a film is taking place near them. Another advantage of Crowd Controls is that you can host it on your own site with some javascript. It looks like this...
It works globally, asking for a postal code if the user is outside the USA. It also adheres to european privacy laws which are much more strict than they are in the states. which is why sign-up requires a double opt-in... meaning, users must also click a link sent to their email address.
We haven't gone public with it yet because i was curious to see how it performed with traffic coming straight to the site for other reasons. so in addition to being able to add yourself to the audience map here http://sabipictures.com/request you can do it on the main page of the site.
so far 50 people have signed up without any real promotional effort, but more interesting is that 11 people across the country have contacted me saying they want to set up a screening of our films. I made a list of them called "Superfans & Advocates" that you can see on the request page as a way to acknowledge them. I'm pretty impressed with the results in the short term. The next big question for me is: how many will join up when we promote the thing for real?
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
just received an offer for worldwide rights to Heart of Now. Including digital rights and traditional. have my trusted advisors looking it over now.
HerzogisGod
Well-known member
Congrats on number one slot....
I have a film that desperately needs to find its "core audience". How do I sign up on Open Indie?
I have a film that desperately needs to find its "core audience". How do I sign up on Open Indie?
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
Simon Höfer
Veteran
Congrats Zak, hope it turns out good!
mentatDUKE
Veteran
Congrats! Looks like slow and steady wins the race.
Martay
Veteran
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
here's a quick lesson on the importance of not just "name" actors, but actors who are heavily engaged with their fan base via social media. one of our actors has a following on twitter of just over 34,000. today she tweeted about the film and posted this link.
http://sabipictures.com/request
that was half an hour ago and people have been signing up like mad. about two per minute are adding themselves to our mailing list, which down the line should convert to DVD sales.
http://sabipictures.com/request
that was half an hour ago and people have been signing up like mad. about two per minute are adding themselves to our mailing list, which down the line should convert to DVD sales.