In 2009, as a reaction against an increasingly corporate-ized and fractured media landscape, I decided to start an independent film screening series. My friend and colleague Georgi Goldman was also enthusiastic about the idea, and together we began running a monthly film series in Los Angeles: Cinema Speakeasy.

The purpose of Cinema Speakeasy was to be the filmic equivalent of the slow food movement  (but a heck of a lot less boring). We aimed to process films rather than quickly consume them. Positioning CS a not-for-profit organization, I was quite set on divorcing ourselves from the intervention of brands and sponsorship in the belief that – in this particular case – other people’s marketing strategies would corrupt our intention. Thus, we were to serve as advocates for the arts in a space that was separate from corporate commerce, all while showing people a good time.

With that said, we also hoped to create an alternative and non-inflated marketplace for independent film cause let’s get real for a second: We all have rent to pay. Willingly forgoing corporate support, and not keen on the virtual trumpeting that is crucial for successful IndieGoGo or Kickstarter campaigns, we needed to find alternate ways of creating this self-sufficient revenue stream for ourselves and our filmmakers. We hoped, simply, to survive – and to help filmmakers survive – without selling out. To do this, I believed that we needed a few things: A consistent audience, good programming, and a low overhead. Attaining those things, then, became the organization’s main goals.

We are now approaching Cinema Speakeasy’s second anniversary, with a recent expansion into San Francisco with the wildly popular CS:SF events. I wanted to share some of what we have learned in running this film series over the course of the last two years: The things that have allowed us to survive (and perhaps even modestly thrive?) in a very bad economic climate for the arts. Here, then, are my golden rules for running an independent film screening series.

Golden rule number one: Maintain a not-for-profit attitude, but make sure the organization can pay for its expenses.

When we started CS I plastered ‘we give all our revenue to the filmmakers and the venues’ all over the place. In retrospect, this was a mistake. Although we have maintained that policy thus far, we are going to change it for the simple reason that we need to pay for things like web hosting, promotional materials, advertising. If we don’t pay for those things, we limit our reach, which does a disservice to the filmmakers when no one shows up to their screening.

Having said that, it’s no secret that it’s devilishly hard to make a living while staying independent. So forget about making money, at least for the first 3 years, but don’t forget to apportion a part of whatever comes in to your organization’s survival, and to share the rest!

In practice: Don’t quit your day job, and NEVER get into personal debt for the sake of the organization. If you can’t afford to do the event, consider a different approach where it doesn’t cost so much. Keep overhead low, and be sure to split the revenue at the door between yourself, the venue, and the filmmaker – but always split the money that has come in AFTER deducting the expenses incurred in promoting the screening.

Golden rule number two: Plan for low audiences, and set realistic expansion goals.

Something I learned from my days at the Silver Lake Film Festival is that a too rapid expansion = a guaranteed disaster. It always pays to underestimate the amount of people who will show up. Slow but steady wins the race, when it comes to non-profits, and small is often more fun anyways: It’s better to have a packed-feeling small room than an empty-feeling big room.

In practice: For the first year of Cinema Speakeasy we stayed at a small venue (the amazing Echo Park Film Center) that seated about 60 people. Once we had created a consistent series of events, we dabbled with larger venues through special one-off high-profile screenings.  Now, almost two years in, the organization has expanded to San Francisco (with monthly events run there by a trio of uber-dames: Fhay Arceo, Allison Davis and Kate Sullivan Green), and we are starting to regularly expand to new larger venues in LA. Our larger events, which we typically do at a rate of one per quarter, are working because we have slowly built the audience to support this expansion, and because we are cautious and conservative about numbers and expenses.

Golden rule number three: Keep your eye on quality

It’s one thing to have a democratic approach, it’s quite another to show any old thing. That’s what YouTube is for.

Do not forget to maintain a level of quality. If you show ‘bad’ films, even your best friends will stop showing up, not to mention strangers. You won’t be able to grow an audience, and you will ultimately do a disservice to the filmmakers whose work you show.

However, if you gain a reputation for showing good content- as independent as you please but always to a certain standard (those standards are yours to decide) – you will gain a following and people will be honored to be included. It’s curation, and you can interpret it as you will, but do not forget to set standards – whatever they may be for you – and stick to them.

In practice: This is a golden rule I have had a hard time with, myself, and it’s only through my colleague Georgi’s prodding that I’ve begun to see the light on the value of saying no no no. It’s very hard to balance open access with good content, but it must be done.

In practice, also, if you have a lot of filmmaker friends who you want to support through your organization, consider implementing a ‘friends and family’ sub-series- an open call facet to your screening event, where you provide an audience to people just starting out, or whose work is challenging. Keep it separate from the main curated event, and do these at small venues.

Golden rule number four: Be open to oblique approaches

Be open to other mediums as a way of bringing attention to film, and this sometimes may include non-indie film. We’ve found this to be an excellent way to bring new audiences to our programming. Although every effort should be made to engage fellow filmy types, do not focus entirely on the indie film community. It’s small, it’s self-referential, and it’ll limit you.

In practice: Cinema Speakeasy has partnered with art galleries, music venues and other such entities to create two-part programs around a film. For instance, we did a potato-type ransom note workshop at a local gallery in Los Angeles (Machine Project), and partnered with a local design community (Kernspiracy) to get people interested and thinking about typography. This was all in support of our screening of Kartemquin Film’s ‘Typeface’.

This, and other oddball events such as the Tranimal Makeup Workshop (that we produced, and was curated by artist Austin Young, as a part of our ‘Ultra Fabulous Beyond Drag’ screening event), have been incredibly successful at bringing new types of people to our events, and many of them have come back and proposed some awesome ideas of their own.

Golden rule number five: Get the F off the internet, already.

Marketing. The evil reality of doing anything that requires other people in this age of brands and buzz.

One thing’s for certain, and all the talk about ‘the power of social media’ notwithstanding, I’ve found there to be a fairly low correlation between Facebook or Twitter followers and butts in seats. It’s easy to hit ‘like’, but it’s a very different experience to get in the car, look for parking, feed the meter, walk a few blocks, and watch an unknown movie. Put simply: A lot of online participation is not a guarantee that people will show up.

What makes people do THAT is good programming, the potential to meet sexy new people, and (with some exceptions) traditional media support. Not sure why, but in our experience a write-up in the local weekly means a full house, 152 retweets does not. Maybe it has something to do with reaching new people rather than the same people you already communicate with online all the time. Or maybe it’s because people trust traditional media cause they’re better curators.

In practice: Instead of focusing all your efforts on creating buzz online, just BE awesome, focus on showing your audience a good time and on actual word of mouth, and consider traditional publicity for the larger events. Use social media as a complementary strategy, but not THE strategy.

We at CS also tend to engage in teenage-like ‘marketing’ such as sticking handwritten flyers in menus at hip diners, posting stickers everywhere we can get away with it, and generally trying to get attention in the real world. It seems to be working so far, is viral in a way more tangible way, and – mainly – it feels authentic to who we are.

Golden rule number six: Allow the organization to have a life beyond you, but set the rules early

If you succeed with your organization, people will come and want to be involved. You need these people for the organization to succeed. But never forget to make sure you maintain control of your organization’s overall trajectory and vision.

What this means is that you need to set the grand vision early (a mission statement and an organizational bible will help with this exponentially). But you also need to allow for expansion, changes of ownership, in short, whatever it takes for people to want to be involved, and are able to create and implement ideas. It’s basic good management skills, and it’s probably the one thing that will keep you up at night as you grapple with your own ego, sense of insecurity, etc.

One thing’s for sure: If you impose your vision in too draconian a manner, you will lose the very people who can help propel the organization to the next level. BUT, if you do not retain some leadership, you can lose control of the organization’s vision. Not an easy thing to balance.

In practice: When I had the idea to start a film series and call it Cinema Speakeasy, I had a certain vision in mind. When the organization’s current Executive Director Georgi Goldman officially came on board – right before the first screening event – she also had a vision. We were colleagues at work and used to confrontation and adaptation, so we simply confronted and adapted our ideas to one another. Together, we set a certain tone for the organization- and we set it early.

This is, and will, serve the organization well as it enters our current expansion phase. For instance, Cinema Speakeasy’s San Francisco edition was started and is run largely autonomously by its co-directors Fhay Arceo, Allison Davis and Kate Sullivan Green (FAK!) – who have final say in their programming, venues, marketing language, etc.

But, they still also use the visual ‘brand’, as it were (set by our brilliant creative-director-of-sorts Micah Hahn), and stick to the tone of the organization, as well as certain programming guidelines. Thus they maintain an approach that is in line with the larger CS organization- and in fact, take it to the next level of cool – but still act independently of the larger organization in many arenas. It’s a balancing act, and it works out very well if you pick your partners well. Which brings me to…

Golden rule number seven: Partner judiciously

Be picky. That’s all there is to this. There are a bazillion horror stories of what can go wrong if you pick the wrong partners- and I can categorically say that I’ve lived through just about all of the bad scenarios.

As a general rule, when approaching partnerships, it helps to think of what this person/organization can bring you right now, rather than what they could potentially bring you down the road. Keep it real, and keep a focus on your current needs.

In practice: Cinema Speakeasy partners creatively with like-minded folk – not too corporate, arts-centric, and who also have their shit together. We try to find oblique approaches, as well, by teaming up with oddball venues, creating cross-promotional partnerships with groups that wouldn’t usually be so excited about indie film, etc etc etc.

I could write five pages on this, so will leave it at this: Be judicious, work with people who are like-minded, and always write out (and agree to) the terms of the partnership early on.

Golden rule number eight: Expect defeat, and then expect success

If your role is to advocate for film by finding new audiences for the indies, then your goal is quite simple: Get people in seats. Simple, right?

The truth is, there’s no science or method to what will bring people in, all these golden rules notwithstanding. A front page write-up in the local paper will definitely help, but chances are that won’t happen for awhile, especially if you’re in a big city with tons of other competing things going on. A celebrity helps too, but that also gets really cheesy really fast, and can turn into a sort of Faustian deal with the devil, right quick.

In practice: If you want to maintain and grow your audience but don’t have access to tons of press, pay really strict attention to how you present your organization both online and offline, program with an eye towards quality (see rule #3), partner with awesome people and organizations (see rule #7), make every event fun, sociable (and a little raucous), and KNOW that you will occasionally have a occasionally super empty theatre. It’s no biggie. We’ve all been there. Just smile and take amazing photos of the three people who showed up.

Golden rule number nine: Just keep going

When I was in graduate school for fine art, one of the tutors told me that in a class of 20, at graduation all 20 are practicing artists. In five years, about 10 are still practicing artists. In 10 years, 5 are still making their work. But in 20 years only one will be making his work, and that one person will probably be well-known.

Consistency pays off, especially in a field where so many people give up early. Make sure you are in a position where you can maintain your organization in the lean years (see rules 1 and 2), and keep the faith.

As they say in Havana: SUERTE, chicos!

More info about Cinema Speakeasy can be found at cinemaspeakeasy.com. A list of other amazing film programs that are thriving and surviving here in the US and abroad can be found here.

Recently, Ted Hope posted a list entitled 38 More Ways The Film Industry Is Failing Today the first point on the list focuses on building richer theatrical experiences.

1. We cannot logically justify any ticket price whatsoever for a non-event film. There are too many better options at too low a price. Simply getting out of the house or watching something somewhere because that is the only place it is currently available does not justify a ticket price enough. We still think of movies as things people will buy. We have to change our thinking about movies to something that enhances other experiences, and it is that which has monetary value. Film’s power as a community organizing tool extends far beyond its power to sell popcorn (and the whole exhibition industry is based on that old popcorn idea).

This and the other 37 points are definitely worth reading. They raise numerous questions while hinting at possible solutions. In relation to the first point that Ted raises I was struck by the fact that “Hosted Screenings” present an interesting option for those looking to roll something out in today’s theatrical market.

We had a chance to catch up with filmmaker Sol Tryon from Mangusta Productions to hear about his recent experimentation in the hybrid distribution world and how he and his team are working around a “Hosted Screenings” model for their theatrical releases.

What lead to your hybrid distribution efforts around your slate of films?

Over the past few years we have seen the independent film industry flip on it’s head. With the number of films getting big advances for all rights deals dropping drastically, it became apparent that in order to be independent filmmakers with sustainable careers we were going to have to know how to market and distribute our films ourselves. We began exploring and comparing the different options for self, hybrid and traditional distribution. Fortunately, there have been a few other filmmakers blazing these trails already giving us some points of reference to work from. For the most part though, these strategies are only being implemented as a one off sort of thing for specific films. Seeing this as a developing trend, we decided to try to shape our company around eventually being prepared to release all of our films ourselves theatrically. With that as the strategy, we have begun including a modest P&A (prints and advertising) budget into our production budget in order to finance a theatrical release. This puts us, the filmmakers, as well as the initial investors in a greater position of power when it comes to managing the distribution options. If one of the precious few large all rights deals comes our way, we can take it and just distribute the remaining funds back to our investors. If there aren’t any offers we are jumping up and down about, we have the ability to distribute the film ourselves in a way we feel it deserves. The ideal situation being that we develop this strategy for distributing our films to a point where other filmmakers and distributors want to work with us because they see the value we are able to add to a project.

Can you explain how you’re approaching theatrical and the results you’ve seen so far from your efforts?

Our first theatrical release was FIX (directed by Tao Ruspoli; starring Olivia Wilde and Shawn Andrews). We opened in New York and played for two weeks at the Village East. We generated a lot of press and saw a real tangible jump in awareness for the film. One of the most effective strategies we employed was setting up hosted screenings where we invited cast, crew, friends and influential personalities to take part in themed post-screening Q&A’s. For instance, we invited Daniel Pinchbeck, a proponent of hallucinogens, to participate in a discussion with Tao Ruspoli titled: “Drugs: Culture, Addiction and the Exploration of Altered States of Consciousness”. Pinchbeck promoted the screening on his Reality Sandwich blog which, combined with our promotional and marketing efforts, enabled us to sell out a Tuesday night screening.

With our two current films, The Living Wake and 2012: Time For Change we’ve continued in this direction. With 2012: Time For Change we partnered with Green Festivals (the largest green expo in the U.S.). They hold five events throughout the year (San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Washington D.C., and San Francisco again). We premiered the film April 9th at the San Francisco event where we organized panels on the green festival main stage featuring participants in the film and set up a booth to promote our screenings, build our mailing list, and sell merchandise. Outside of the festival, we booked a Landmark Theater for one screening a night for three nights. With the awareness we built up at the green festival and our grass roots marketing, we sold out all of our screenings and built a strong base of interest in the area for our film. Each night the film was followed by a Q&A featuring a different lineup of luminaries from the film. These events became great opportunities to bring together an eclectic mix of personalities into one space for unique discussions. The guests included Paul Stamets (Mycologist), Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation: Musician), Tiokasin Ghosthorse (First Voices Indigenous Radio), Richard Register (Ecological City Design), Barbara Marx Hubbard (Futurist, Writer), and many more.

We are continuing this approach next in Chicago and are expanding the idea in Seattle to incorporate a full one week theatrical run. The thinking is that Seattle is a great market for this film and with the green festival’s outreach, as well as the attention we received from our San Francisco event the time is right to explore taking things to the next level. We are also planning an event screening in NYC for early July with Sting, Paul Stamets, Ganga White, Daniel Pinchbeck and director Joao Amorim where we will be doing simultaneous screenings through several platforms and streaming the Q&A/panel discussion live after the film.

With our latest release, The Living Wake, we are collaborating with Dylan Marchetti of Variance Films on our theatrical bookings. We started by booking theaters in New York (May 14th) and LA (May 21st). From there we used those dates to build around with other cities. We currently are planning on releasing the film in Seattle (June 4th), Chicago (June 25th) and several other cities through June and July. We have also recently secured separate deals for the DVD and VOD rights, coordinating them both to be released on August 3rd.

Can you share how you design your self hosted screenings?

For our New York release of The Living Wake this week we have a total of twenty hosted screenings set up, and are planning to do the same in Los Angeles next week. Many of the screenings will be hosted by the Filmmakers and Cast members themselves (Sol Tryon, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike O’Connell, Jim Gaffigan), while others will be hosted by special guests such as Shirin Neshat (Women Without Men), Mark Webber (Explicit Ills), Cory McAbee (American Astronaut), Daniel Pinchbeck (2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl), Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness), and Jimmy Miller (Step Brothers). Several companies and film festivals we have screened at are also jumping in and hosting select screenings in support of the film.

Our goal is to create an event type of experience within the traditional theatrical format. The approach with each host is slightly different. Some hosts are trying to just promote us and our film by bringing people that they think would enjoy it to a specific screening. Others it works two fold for, where they are promoting us, but we are promoting them as well and it becomes a mutually beneficial experience. All of it though is targeted at creating a particular experience around each and every screening for the audience.

What tips would you offer for someone who is interested in booking their own event / hosted screenings?

Give people as many reasons as you can to go out and see your film. It’s hard to get people into the theater, it’s expensive, and you’re competing with a zillion other things so you have to work to make the experience unique and memorable. Form partnerships whenever and wherever possible with groups and individuals and help promote each other. Get as much advice from people who have done it before as you possibly can, but remember that Self and Hybrid Distribution is still very new, there are no set rules as to how it is done so be creative. Lastly, be prepared to work harder than you ever have. The only guarantee in going this route is that the fate of your film rests on you and how much work you are able to put into it.

What’s next and will you be releasing theatrically in more cities?

The Living Wake and 2012: Time For Change will be rolling out to more cities throughout the summer and fall. The next film on our slate for distribution is Being In The World, a documentary directed by Tao Ruspoli (Fix). This project we have been with from the beginning and are devising a strategy for a theatrical tour building on the experiences gained from Fix, 2012: Time For Change and The Living Wake, but gearing everything specifically for this film. We have also decided to work on supporting other indie films that we think deserve a theatrical release, but have not had the opportunity for what ever reason to make it happen yet. In that vein, we are providing the P&A financing for Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench to be released by Variance Films. We have a few projects in development and plan on continuing to do theatrical releases on our own films as well as others. Our goal is to work with filmmakers on establishing a sustainable environment for us all to continue creating the projects that inspire us.

What does it take to get your film noticed when you don’t have the money to spend on advertising? PRESS! Let’s face it, if people don’t know about your film, how will you make money on it?

Getting press for my projects has always been one of the key factors in the success of my films. I have never hired a PR person, but I have created an alias that does my press for me. Everyone in my office knows, if someone calls for James Charles or Garret Marks it’s press related. I don’t have a secret formula it’s as simple as: know who you are targeting, write a kick ass press release, make sure you are sending the release to the correct person, send it, follow up, ask, wait for it to hit, then thanking the person for writing about it.

Know who you are targeting. This is one of the key elements in creating a good press campaign. Think about all of the different things around your project. What is the story about? Think about ancillary articles that could be written about it. For InSearchOf we created stories about the subjects that our film hit upon. When we went to the Kinsey Institute to ask for support they told us that the film was too controversial for them to support. Too controversial for the Kinsey Institute?! Bingo, we have a story. Know what the publication likes to write about. If it is a business publication send off a release how you are making money selling t-shirts in stores with hang tags that with a free download of your movie, hmmm… If it’s a local publication, filmmaker does good. Catching my drift? For every film I think you should be able to create at least 5 different story ideas, if you can’t, don’t make it.

A kick ass press release should be a good read, to the point and invoke questions by the reporter. In today’s hyper information world,  writers want their jobs to be easy. Write a catchy headline, include contact information (you should have a PDF of your press kit online to direct them to), and try not to be over a page long.

Make sure you know who you are sending it to, get real names just not the features desk. Do your research and know what the reporter likes to write about. When calling about their contact info know a good article that they have written lately, mention it and prep them for your story. People love to be complimented!

Send it. I still fax press releases as well as e-mail them to the reporter and yes still mail press kits. Maybe I’m old fashioned but I have found that people like to have tangible assets in their possession. Make sure if you are sending off a press kit, that it is well designed.

Follow up and ask. Make sure you follow up with the reported the next day and ask them if they would be willing to write an article. Be personable, ask them if they need any more information. If it isn’t for them, thank them and hit them again in 2 months with another story idea based on your film. Perservernce is generally rewarded.

After the article comes out, follow up with a hand written thank you card. Who does that anymore? People will always do a little more for people who are thoughtful and mannerly. You hopefully will have a long film career and press people will help you achieve that.

ps.

The art of the spin. In my career I have had some really tough things happen to me, not just a couple, but a lot. I have always tried to figure out a way to make something negative turn out to be a positive. This is the art of the spin. Do not be discouraged if shit happens, let it fertilize your future.

ZZ

Ordinarily, I don’t like speculative posts. At times I find them even counter-productive, because they can often wind people up with pie-in-the-sky “what-ifs,” but provide no real actionable items. So that’s not my intent here. Here I just wanted to throw out some ideas for viewing/releasing a film, and see what others think about them. What are the issues with them, could they even work, is anyone else doing them, etc. I’ve been reading a lot about “event” screenings and frankly so many of the ideas I see are just plain mundane. Bands, sponsors, gimmicks, none of this would ever make me go out to see someone’s film. None of these things strike me as particularly “event” worthy, except in a checklist kind of way.

Event Screenings

This week, I went to the TransmediaNYC Meetup.

I’m really glad I did. I wound up meeting some great people and hashing on some interesting ideas.

One of the things we talked about there was alternate viewing solutions. Typically, someone makes a film, you go to a theater, or you rent it, you sit and watch the movie happen. Then when you’re done, you talk about it with your friends maybe. But you are under no circumstances to talk about it during the movie.

That’s where I think we can have an interesting change. For instance, my fiance is an artist. And one of the things she does is video art. So I’ve been to see some of that with her. But one thing I’ve always thought would be interesting would be for the video art to have a real narrative. And I don’t mean each piece have a narrative of its own, but for all of the pieces to make up a narrative. I’m sure something like this exists in the art world already. Nikki, and other art-types, feel free to step in and tell me how far behind I am…

But I was thinking about it in regards to the “film” world. I think it would be insanely cool to have an entire film played out in a gallery, one screen per scene, say. Like maybe you have a bunch of HD TVs, each playing a scene from the film. Then, the audience walks about from scene to scene, taking in the story as they go. But they can also stop and chat about the scene they just saw in between, grab a drink, have a smoke. I like this social aspect. It’s almost like episodic TV, but the season is all in one room.

An alternate version of this would be to have the scenes placed randomly about the room. So that you don’t know what order to go in, and you have to put the story together as you go. Maybe by going back to previously viewed scenes to look for clues, or by keeping a little note-pad with you to keep track of what’s going on.

If you want to run wild with it, you can deliver specific scenes only to say, only mobile phones. So maybe a crucial piece of information that makes it all make sense only comes to you the next day at work.

What I love about this is the audience is an active participant. They have to work to put the story together. Which is fun, isn’t it? I mean, how much more fun was LOST when we first saw the numbers and everyone was trying to work out what it was all about? But it’s one of the things that also attracts me to Transmedia; this idea that the audience has to combine their imagination with the artist’s in order to tell the story.

What I also like about this stuff is it’s event-based. Which is something the DIY Usual Suspects talk about a lot. But this isn’t an event where you come, watch the movie, watch a band, maybe have a cocktail or two after, look at some sponsor’s crap, then leave. This is an event where you have to come with your brain turned on. You might stay here for hours, in this part-story-part-party. More than just a way to promote your film, this event becomes an alternate form of entertainment in its own right, something you really do have to show up for. I like this idea.

I also love the idea of filling in story details with live performances. Maybe there is a play incorporated into the evening. Or a dance, or some actors playing out a scene at one of the tables in the room. And you will only get that information if you are there. I guess this would be called another form of Transmedia. But then maybe you would tweet about that information and others would hear about it only second hand…so their experience of it is unique to them and yours to you. But again, this is something far more compelling to me, because it’s integrated with the story, and it’s genuinely a unique experience. And I guess that’s what I want to get to: creating events that people have to go to because those events sound amazing.

The Steps (a good-looking webseries, BTW) did a pretty cool release event-party. Quoted from Jawbone:

“At first, the thing that caught my eye was the promotion they were running around their release party … what they billed as a first of its kind ‘device party’ that featured live streaming of the first four episodes of the show via Ustream. Invited guests were to bring laptops and streaming video-capable phones to have the show delivered into the palms of their hands.  An ad-covered bus parked outside also allowed partygoers to hop onboard and view the world premiere from a passenger seat.”

This is similar to what I talked about above, but with people bringing their own viewing platforms instead of the venue providing them. This makes good sense, though for my money, I probably wouldn’t want to watch on my own computer. It’s like when I go to DIYDays and there are people just staring at their laptops and twittering the whole time. I think for the release party idea, I would probably try to push it to more group-oriented viewing, even though you do have the freedom to step away. But I like the idea.

Integrating Your Release

I guess the thing I’m struggling with is the fact that although so many people are trying to find new forms of distribution, it seems that the forms of entertainment remain largely fixed in their heads. It’s a feature film. It’s a web series. Etc.  And I wonder if, instead of questioning the “old” forms of distribution, maybe some of our answers lie more in questioning the “old” forms of filmed entertainment themselves. As I said above, I have absolutely no reason to go out and see a film “event” when the things at the event are bands, gimmicks and stuff.

So I was wondering if anyone had ever tried releasing a feature film both as a feature film and as a web series? Or perhaps as a web series first, and then a feature film. I know that there are aesthetic reasons why people wouldn’t want to do this. It might break up the continuity of their film. The film might not be parsable into webisode-sized chunks. Maybe it’s just because I like the idea of a series, that I somehow like this idea.

But what if you crafted a movie specifically to be this? I guess now we’re getting into questions of form. Many people have a pretty set idea of what comprises the form of a feature. But so many great TV shows that have overall arcs are watchable all in one sitting. Hell, I got the second season of THE WIRE at about 11PM one night, and could not stop until like 5 the next morning. So why not make a two hour web-series, then put it together as a feature film? Would this just kill the notion of being able to sell tickets to the latter? Or could you just make events out of the “feature” screenings, like I talk about above?

I am thinking about starting a screening series like this in NYC. Maybe do one and see how it goes. If interested in participating and experimenting with something like this, drop me a line.