FILM DISTRIBUTION CHECKLIST. Make Your Movie Now! Jason Brubaker

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1 FILM DISTRIBUTION CHECKLIST Make Your Movie Now! Jason Brubaker

2 2018 Brubaker Unlimited LLC - All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Disclaimer This ebook is designed to provide information on modern film distribution. It is sold with the understanding that the author or publisher is not providing tax, accounting, legal, investment, business or other professional advice. Filmmaking is risky. While the process of making movies can be fun, filmmaking can be detrimental to your life, well-being and your savings account. The information in this ebook is meant to supplement, not replace, proper filmmaking training. Like any business involving money, employees, personal and professional liability and emotions, Filmmaking poses inherent risks. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the information contained herein is limited. This book is meant to provide a viewpoint on filmmaking and serve as a supplement to other texts and information on the subject. The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain. The author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Affiliate Disclosure Many companies, products and services mentioned in this ebook are affiliates of Brubaker Unlimited LLC. This means that the publisher gets paid to recommend various products and services.some recommendations may not be the correct fit for your life or business. So please conduct your own due-diligence prior to making ANY purchases both here and everywhere. Before making any business, financial or life decisions, you are advised to speak with qualified tax, legal and business professionals.

3 Modern Film Distribution My name is Jason Brubaker. I am a Los Angeles based film distribution executive. And before I got into the business of film distribution, I was out on the festival circuit trying to sell our first feature film Just like you, I honestly hoped our film would get a great distribution deal and a big fat check. But that did not happen. We got some offers. But the offers were not good. Because a good deal pays money. Back in those days (which weren t too long ago), the only alternative to this distribution model was self-distribution. And if you remember, the term itself was synonymous with loser. If you couldn t land a REAL distribution deal, then you were not a real filmmaker. Like many filmmakers, I was tempted to sign away our rights in exchange forno money and the validation that comes when you tell other filmmakers we got a deal! But taking a crappy deal would have been a terrible business decision. So instead of giving away our film to some second-rate distribution company, we decided to try selling our film ourselves. Keep in mind this was a few years ago when popular stores like itunes, Amazon, Hulu, Google Play, Netflix and others were just starting out I didn t realize it then, but the idea of leveraging some simple internet marketing strategies (so you could traffic to video on demand platforms) was the start of something huge. Since then, I ve not only shared my experience with hundreds of indie filmmakers, but I ve gone on to actually work for several traditional film distribution companies. And this experience has served to further reinforced my worldview You Do Not Need A Distributor To Get Distribution Advances in VOD distribution means you no longer need a distributor to get distribution. While these opportunities are exciting, nobody knows (not even major Hollywood studios) how a film will perform in the marketplace. With this in mind, you can still increase the probability for success with proper planning. Take time to answer the following questions: 1. What is my financial goal for this motion picture product? 2. How many units do I need to sell to reach this goal? 3. What is my promotional plan for selling my film? Let me put this another way. There is opportunity if you re willing to do the work. But most filmmakers are NOT willing to do the work. Most filmmakers would rather sign their movie over to a distributor and hope the distributor can make success happen. But you and I both know this rarely happens. You owe it to yourself and your investors to explore all options and come up with a solid marketing and distribution plan A film distribution plan that YOU control. I created the following film distribution checklist to help you navigate the modern film distribution landscape. In full transparency, some of the companies, products and services mentioned below are affiliates. And while I don t recommend anything I haven t personally researched, I may get some sort of compensation in exchange for the mention. You are not obligated to purchase any product or service recommended here. Now with the introduction out of the way, the following checklist breaks the film distribution process into twenty-five easy to follow steps.so if you gain at least ONE useful film distribution strategy, then we can both be happy. FILM DISTRIBUTION

4 CHECKLIST 1 Define your target audience. Who are you trying to attract? For example, a mid-western soccer mom who loves faith based romantic comedies will probably not be interested in watching a zombie slasher movie. And the vegan who loves eating a plant-based diet will probably not enjoy a paleo documentary. Who is your ideal viewer? And where do your ideal viewers congregate online? 2 Branding is the marketing equivalent of matching your belt with your shoes. Don t make your marketing complicated. Make sure your colors, logos, posters and fonts look professional. And make sure you hire a graphic designer to do this stuff. 8 Get your movie selling as a digital rental and purchase via a flat fee for service aggregator. A flat fee for service aggregator can get your film into hard-toreach marketplaces without the need for a traditional distribution deal. 3 Got a movie website? If not, create a website for your film. When you reserve your hosting, a domain name is usually included. When it comes to hosting, I used Bluehost successfully for many sites. Here s my affiliate link for Bluehost. 9 When it comes to video-on-demand distribution, a common release strategy involves launching in this order: Transactional VOD (TVOD) and then Subscription VOD (SVOD). This is called windowing. Releasing in this order helps you maximize revenue. 4 5 Keep your movie website simple. Don t include anything more than a logo, some testimonials, a trailer, a buy now button (that redirect to your visitors to your film listing on itunes, Amazon, and Google Play) andan opt-in form Maybe an about page and some social media icons. But that is it. Anything additional will cut down on sales. Speaking of your opt-in form Getting people to subscribe to your list is essential. An optin form allows you to do this. To set up an optin form, use a professional service. I used Aweber for years and it is simple and powerful. Here s my affiliate link to register for Aweber Your trailer is the most important promotional tool. Upload your trailer to YouTube as well as other, popular social sites. Make sure your trailer mentions your website. Write press releases for your film. Include back links to your site. Send the release out via one of the reputable online press release submission sites. In addition to this, make sure to pitch dozens of magazine editors and journalists. Join online forums related to your market. Create a profile, complete with a signature link to your website. Whenever you join a conversation, you ll automatically share links. 6 7 You need a marketable hook for your movie. In an overly saturated market full of similar films competing for attention, what makes your film unique? Do you have any name actor? Does your film fit into a popular genre? Is your story controversial? Answer these questions ASAP: What is your financial goal for the film? How many units do you need to sell to reach your goal? And how will you make this happen? 13 Just because you re in a forum doesn t mean people care aboutyou. Only join where you canadd value. Otherwise, you run the risk of being branded as a spammer. If the idea of contributing to forum conversations annoys you, then just pay for advertising on the 14 site. The point is to increase awareness of your film and get prospective audience members to click over to your site, and join your mailing list.

5 15 Create a Facebook page, a Twitter profile and an Instagram account. Optimize social sites to drive visitors back to your website (so you can get more subscribers.) 21 Compare your movie website visitors to the amount of sales. This will help you find your website conversion rate. Example: If you drive 100 visitors to a buy now button and get 3 sales, then your conversion rate is 3%. 16 Engagement is all about joining the conversation and asking questions. Ask fill in the blank questions for engagement. One example: Film distribution is. Have your webmaster put icons on your site so people can share your film on social 17 networking sites. 18 If you have a marketing budget, purchase some offline advertising in publications related to your movie. These could be magazine and newspaper ads. Reinvest money into advertising. Hire someone who 22 has a proven track record in Pay Per Click advertising. Many of these professionals will work for a percentage of sales. Sales will level off after time. When this happens, 23 find other filmmakers with a movie aimed at the same audience. Ask these filmmakers to promote your movie. You may find that many are willing to promote, for acommission. 19 The purpose of your film website is to get targeted visitors to watch your movie trailer and click the BUY NOW button. Any pages that distract from this goal must be deleted. Find reasons to get featured in the local news. 24 For example, if some scenes in your movie were produced in certain towns Reach out to news outlets in those towns. If it s a slow week, you could get a lot of coverage. 20 Maximize exposure in TVOD platforms like itunes, Amazon, Google Play by getting as many sales as possible in the first two days. This helps you rise in the sales rankings. 25 Continually increase your education. Film distribution changes rapidly. You ll want to talk to successful filmmakers, get new ideas and continually improve your skills. ATTENTION!!! This checklist is just the beginning. Want some more info on film distribution? Access my Sell Your Movie System!

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INNOVATIVE MARKETING IDEAS THAT WORK Legal Disclaimer: While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, neither the Author nor the Publisher assumes any responsibility