Independent Marketing -- Kevin Smith

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Brian_Rice

Brian_Rice

Carbonite Member
We were talking about Red State, and it got me searching for the story behind the distribution issues. Landed on this awesome speech by Smith.

To me *this* is the future of indie filmmaking (indie filmmaking defined as someone looking to make creator-owned works, not someone who is making/working on a film in order to be hired by a studio)


 
Your definition of indie filmmaking is incredibly narrow. I would assume MOST people making films aren't making them to try and demonstrate their skills so a studio will hire them. Personally I don't know a single person who's made a film and fits that definition. The rash of FX-heavy demo videos would indeed meet it, however.

Red State had a $4M budget, and I'd guess he funded a good chunk (if not all of it) himself. Apparently he didn't find the distribution deal he was looking for so he's rolling his own solution. We'll see if it pays off for him or not.

Kevin Smith is Kevin Smith. For anyone else, good luck raising $4M for a feature that you can't prove will sell.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Your definition of indie filmmaking is incredibly narrow. I would assume MOST people making films aren't making them to try and demonstrate their skills so a studio will hire them. Personally I don't know a single person who's made a film and fits that definition. The rash of FX-heavy demo videos would indeed meet it, however.

Red State had a $4M budget, and I'd guess he funded a good chunk (if not all of it) himself. Apparently he didn't find the distribution deal he was looking for so he's rolling his own solution. We'll see if it pays off for him or not.

Kevin Smith is Kevin Smith. For anyone else, good luck raising $4M for a feature that you can't prove will sell.
Click to expand...

I'm confused. You said my definition was narrow and then you agreed with my definition. Maybe you just misread.

And the more research I've done on this, it looks like he never actually tried to obtain distribution. I think he felt exactly what he said here which is, "We might get paid 6 million for it, tops. Then the studio spends 20 million on marketing, and then we'll probably never see another dime." I think the idea of keeping the film in his own pocket *forever*, is extremely disciplined and inspiring.

Imagine if the folks at Paranormal Activity had put together that same crappy "audience viewpoint" trailer via some screening at a local theatre and posted the preview online. Sure PA wouldn't have made as much, but the guys who made the movie certainly would have made a boat load more.

But like Kevin Smith was saying -- it's about having the knowledge and skillset involved in business, finance and marketing, which a lot of artists have trouble with, especially if they're young.
 
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