Awesome interview on IndyMogul's REEL GOOD SHOW!

Matt and I did a really fun interview with IndyMogul last week and they've posted it online. One of the things we love about IndyMogul is they empower filmmakers around the world to execute their vision on realistic budgets. Awesome people, awesome show. Check it out!

Hysterical movie:

Technology is leveling the playing field. Watch the hysterical, award-winning movie The Graduates right here, for free, forever:

New music video, directed by my bro...

Singer-songwriter Sonia Montez's first music video from her new EP Of Tears and Honey. Performed by Sonia Montez and Kiernan McMullan.




Directed by Matthew Gielen. Starring Nick Vergara, Cassandra Starr, Katy Wright-Mead, Ross Chestnut, Lacey Jo Anderson and of course Sonia Montez and Kiernan McMullan.

Support this artist! Buy her music from iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/little-jealousy/id319297233?i=319297247&uo=6

New Music Video!

New music video from Sonia Montez! You heard her first on The Graduates Soundtrack, now check out her incredible music video "Little Jealousy"



Support Sonia on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/little-jealousy/id319297233?i=319297247&uo=6

Hulu hearts The Graduates...

@hulu thanks for the continued love...3rd or 4th time The Graduates featured on Movies front page...we heart Hulu... http://tiny.cc/BckzW

Hulu Front Page AGAIN!

@hulu thanks for the continued love...3rd or 4th time The Graduates featured on Movies front page...we heart Hulu... http://tiny.cc/BckzW

Response to Filmmaker Magazine article...

This is a response to filmmaker magazine article and discussion going on at The Workbook Project on VOD deals for indie films... It always irks me when these deals and predictions of a brighter future through certain extremely exclusive outlets are discussed, as if they're something every indie can take advantage of... the bottom line is an IFC deal or CableVOD deal is not a reality for most indies... so much more productive to discuss how to exploit available models Anyways, here's the post:

We do NOT have a cable VOD deal, our VOD is all online, and the percentages are much better than what you outlined. On the other side, a cable VOD deal looks better especially with IFC’s name attached. That’s the trade-off for indies- you (currently) have to take shitty deals for exposure.

IFC’s 15K “digitization fee” is brilliantly titled. Assuming the filmmaker sends IFC the requested deliverables, you’re just paying for the privilege of having cable VOD and using IFC’s name (ie: not for “digitization” of anything). But there’s not an alternative (that we’ve found).

Filmmakers, if they’re smart, can use that to their advantage though, and treat the cable release as advertising for DVD sales, theatrical runs, etc. It’s a model a lot of people are talking about now, using release avenues with weak percentages to promote more traditional release avenues.

Just one example- our Hulu release, where anyone can watch for free, is helping DVD sales and ticket sales on our ongoing theatrical run, though the actual streaming does not return a huge percentage per viewer.

This is just my take, but the IFC model isn’t really a helpful discussion because the vast majority of indies will never have to decide if that’s a good deal or not. The average indie doesn’t get into Sundance, doesn’t get attention form IFC, etc… and focusing on these models can distract from preparing a competent or hopefully sophisticated strategy for release, using all the available tools.

We go through IndieFlix, who takes 30% flat. For that we have good real estate on AmazonVOD, Hulu, and iTunes, and soon in some brick and mortar stores and RedBox. Because of their relationship with these companies (and because the companies often look for seasonal or themed promotions), we’ve been featured on the front page of these outlets at different times, driving very good traffic. For us it’s been worth the 30% fee. After the digital outlets take their cut, we walk with 20%-30%. I’ll take that over 6% any day. I wouldn’t mind IFC-level exposure, but I’m a lot more inspired by 25%.

iTunes and cableVOD outlets are still more exclusive: iTunes charges $700-$1000 to place a film on its site. Depending who you go through (we use Tunecore) this includes encoding to their specs. It’s complicated, but for 700-1000 you can be on iTunes in two-three months. So, still huge barriers to entry: money and time. Clearly it’s worse with cable.

If the cost of delivering digital content drops by 50% every year (which is what we’ve heard over and over again), then the cost to filmmakers should drop as well. However, outlets and aggregators have a strong, strong hand because they control so much traffic, that they will be able to squeeze indies for many years to come. iTunes should drop their fees and bring on a lot more content, but it seems like they’ve deemed that bad business for them, for some reason.

IFC knows it’s name and access is worth quite a bit. If filmmakers want to circumvent weak deals like that (and often a deal like that isn’t even on the table), the solution is sort of simple. You have to get really good at driving your own audience to your film. The actual cost of delivering your film to an audience is cheap, and it does drop every year, especially if you: release digitally; prepare for audience building with lots of free content; and devote time and energy to a long release window. I think this would be a much, much better focal point for the average indie.

I could go on and on, but I wanted to jump in and hopefully steer the average indie away from worrying about IFC and cableVOD, when the reality is going to be AmazonVOD, Hulu, iTunes, Joost, etc. for soooo many filmmakers.

More Good News for Indies

More Good News for Indies
The sniping rages on between bloggers and print critics. The biggest winner: indie filmmakers.

Eugene Hernandez wrote a post this week for IndieWire titled Critcs (Still) Matter, breaking down the sniping between bloggers and traditional print critics.

The Basics
It's identical to the sniping between politcal bloggers and traditional print reporters. In fact, every subset of Media is having this exact same argument:

The traditional media (inaccurately) label the online guys 'amateurs' and accuse them of lacking intelligent criticism. The bloggers (accurately) label the traditional media 'dinosaurs,' and point to their diminishing audience as proof of their outdated approach to gatekeeping.

Where should Indies stand on this?
Traditional media- just like traditional distribution models- has been a giant iron roadblock to anything indie reaching an audience.

Every single indie filmmaker in the world should rejoice at the crumbling of traditional media. Period.

This explosion of online criticism is FANTASTIC for independent artists. The more divided the gatekeepers are, the more your film can pass through the gates. Think about it: Would you rather rely on one major review, or dozens of small reviews read and passed around by loyal readers?

Or, another version: Why would you, as an indie filmmaker, hand over the success of your film to a small handful of reviewers who have been entrenched in the studio releasing system for decades?

Everybody still wants a NY Times review, and it looks great on your poster or in your media book, but there is no correlation for a true indie film between a major review and generating an audience. This myopic view is similar to how indies view major festivals. But as powerful as those festivals are, why should they make or break your film?

And think about how many indies have found success without those fests, without the NY Times reviews, without "traditional" exposure? To go after traditional reviews exclusively, or to continue to treat them as the gatekeeper, is to give them too much power and to ignore your own.

Bottom Line
The game has changed. Indies can and must build their own audience. And the the explosion of online critics and film bloggers is a huge advantage to indies in this pursuit.
Like I wrote last week, the internet is the single greatest tool indies have ever had, and the more bloggers build their own audience, the more you can, too.

How can YOU take advantage of this?

1. Read film blogs: become a part of the audience. Bloggers are the future of film criticism. If you want to participate in the future of film, you need to know your contemporaries

2. Watch the films: bloggers' power will increase in proportion to the audience they can drive to a film, so go see the films they champion, and let people know why you went.

3. Reach out: ask if you can send your links, trailers and press releases. Every blog wants to receive material in different ways, so ask them how/if they want to receive your stuff. They may not always be interested, but I guarantee they will write you back sooner then the dinosaur at the NY Times ;)

More Good News for Indies

More Good News for Indies
The sniping rages on between bloggers and print critics. The biggest winner: indie filmmakers.

Eugene Hernandez wrote a post this week for IndieWire titled Critcs (Still) Matter, breaking down the sniping between bloggers and traditional print critics.

The Basics
It's identical to the sniping between politcal bloggers and traditional print reporters. In fact, every subset of Media is having this exact same argument:

The traditional media (inaccurately) label the online guys 'amateurs' and accuse them of lacking intelligent criticism. The bloggers (accurately) label the traditional media 'dinosaurs,' and point to their diminishing audience as proof of their outdated approach to gatekeeping.

Where should Indies stand on this?
Traditional media- just like traditional distribution models- has been a giant iron roadblock to anything indie reaching an audience.

Every single indie filmmaker in the world should rejoice at the crumbling of traditional media. Period.

This explosion of online criticism is FANTASTIC for independent artists. The more divided the gatekeepers are, the more your film can pass through the gates. Think about it: Would you rather rely on one major review, or dozens of small reviews read and passed around by loyal readers?

Or, another version: Why would you, as an indie filmmaker, hand over the success of your film to a small handful of reviewers who have been entrenched in the studio releasing system for decades?

Everybody still wants a NY Times review, and it looks great on your poster or in your media book, but there is no correlation for a true indie film between a major review and generating an audience. This myopic view is similar to how indies view major festivals. But as powerful as those festivals are, why should they make or break your film?

And think about how many indies have found success without those fests, without the NY Times reviews, without "traditional" exposure? To go after traditional reviews exclusively, or to continue to treat them as the gatekeeper, is to give them too much power and to ignore your own.

Bottom Line
The game has changed. Indies can and must build their own audience. And the the explosion of online critics and film bloggers is a huge advantage to indies in this pursuit.
Like I wrote last week, the internet is the single greatest tool indies have ever had, and the more bloggers build their own audience, the more you can, too.

How can YOU take advantage of this?

1. Read film blogs: become a part of the audience. Bloggers are the future of film criticism. If you want to participate in the future of film, you need to know your contemporaries

2. Watch the films: bloggers' power will increase in proportion to the audience they can drive to a film, so go see the films they champion, and let people know why you went.

3. Reach out: ask if you can send your links, trailers and press releases. Every blog wants to receive material in different ways, so ask them how/if they want to receive your stuff. They may not always be interested, but I guarantee they will write you back sooner then the dinosaur at the NY Times ;)

Indies and the Internet

The Variety headline reads:

Indie Filmmakers Still Looking for Internet Equation

In other words, indies can't seem to figure out how to leverage all the amazing free or cheap tools online to sell their movie, leaving them (still) at the mercy of festivals, distributors, sales reps, bookers and others.

I've done about 75 or 80 Q&A sessions and interviews following screenings of my movie, The Graduates over the last year, and every single conversation involves the following question in some form (also from the Variety article):

The power of the Internet was supposed to level the playing field on which independent filmmakers and studios compete for audiences. So what happened?

The implication is that "level playing field" really means, or was supposed to mean "equal returns" or "massive audience" or "guaranteed attention." In short: we indie filmmakers want the same things for our films that we see studio pictures receiving: money; audience; reviews and buzz...

When I do interviews or Q&A's, Indie filmmakers and even indie film fans ask me how we do it, and how they can do it. The problem is, their eyes usually glaze over, or the hope and optimism is drained out of them when I give my answer, which is similar to another line in the Variety article:

One thing the Internet has clearly changed, observes distribution consultant Adam Chapnick, is access to an audience. "But having easy access to the global audience doesn't get anyone to see your movie," he says. A solid marketing strategy, whether traditional or digital, is still essential.

He's right- though digital platforms can make your film available anywhere, they can't (or, more accurately, won't) drive the audience to your film.

I can't outline in this one blog post all the things we've done- and all the things other companies have done for us and with us- to build our audience, but I will outline many in upcoming blog and vlog posts.

But before you dive further into what we've done on The Graduates, there are three really important things to remember:

1. Like the article implied, nobody wants to see your movie. Yet.
It is up to you to build your audience from essentially zero. Your family and friends don't count. They're important, but they are not an audience, they're more like a birthday party. Sure they'll show up, and they'll be really supportive, but they're not going to bring tens of thousands of people.

2. Audience building starts in preproduction
Matt (my brother and producer on the film with me) and I started preparing for self distribution and audience building in preproduction. Though we had the usual hope of getting a distribution deal and having the hard work done for us, our success was not going to depend on any other person or company's help. You have all the resources you need to develop huge amounts of multimedia promotional content right now, so start immediately.

3. GREAT NEWS: The internet does, in fact, level the playing field
Digital platforms and free social media make it possible for you to drive a national audience to your film without spending serious money. To be clear, I'm not talking solely about digital release platforms like iTunes and AmazonVOD. 99% of the equation is the audience building that takes place online through free social media like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other sites. If you don't have an audience, your digital availability is worthless.

So what did we do for The Graduates? In short, we created tons of free additional content on set and following production, and we continue to do so today. I'll outline a lot of ideas, both good and bad, in upcoming blog posts, starting with ideas for audience building in preproduction.

Just know that there is hope for indies and DIY filmmakers, but there is no magic digital platform that will guarantee success, income, digital prominence... The internet is the single greatest, most powerful tool indie filmmakers have ever had. The trick is fully exploiting that tool to bring the widest audience possible to your digital release.

I'll probably update this a few times a week with blog and vlog posts, so sign up for the RSS Feed if you don't want to check back, or become a fan on Facebook or Twitter to get updates when we post something new!



The Graduates on iTunes