Remember
person to person sharing sites like Napster? It is clear now that
this concept of free media going mainstream was ahead of its time. This is the age of celebrities hosting free podcasts, and advertising
based free TV and movie streaming services such as Pluto TV, Tubi and Crackle. With piracy looking like an insurmountable problem, movie
studios, film producers and music recording artists have adapted to
stay alive.
This
is the United States of free, and yes it has cut into profit margins,
but it does give power to the consumer, which in turn will bring
people to these platforms in droves. How does a filmmaker continue
in this new climate? Glad you ask, the following is case studies
that should help you find the answers.
- Give
for free then you’ll get back, you’ll see.
There
are many cases of artists giving away free content in order to earn a
living from related work. Filmmakers Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen)
and Joe Lynch (Everly, Mayhem) host one of the most popular podcasts
on filmmaking called The Movie Crypt. This podcast started as a
temporary way to promote their TV series Holliston, but it was such a
hit they kept doing it for two years now. They make money off of the
podcast by having a Patreon where loyal fans subscribe to get secret
episodes and perks like getting to ask questions of their guests on
the show. They sell the bundle of their first 200 episodes since
those are no longer on I-Tunes. This podcast of course, also
promotes the career of these two indie filmmakers, so it is a win-win
for everybody.
Filmmaker
Ashley Scott Meyers has his weekly podcast, Selling Your Screenplay to
drive traffic to his website to promote services he offers such as
script consulting or an email blast to over 1,000 producers on his
mail list. Full disclosure: I was a guest on Selling Your Screenplay
and worked with Ashley Scott Meyers doing some Visual Effects for his
movie The Pinch.
Alex
Ferrari produces a mountain of free material under his Indie Film Hustle brand, including two weekly podcasts, a YouTube channel and a
blog. All this to promote his own script coverage service and Indie
Film Hustle TV “The first streaming service designed to help Indie
Filmmakers”. Alex also makes money by having sponsors that he
promotes during his podcasts and the two features he made, This is Meg and On the Corner of Ego and Desire occasionally becomes part of
the curriculum he gives his large filmmaker audience.
Many
artists and creators have found ways to make their free content
profitable. For example, The guys at Red Letter Media have a popular
youtube channel where they drink beer and give entertaining movie
reviews. Yes, they make money from Youtube advertisements but they
also sell pint glasses, bottle openers and shirts with their logo on
them through their website.
Famous
podcasters and youtubers sell tickets to live performances of their
shows or even fan events. The sponsors of the show also pay to be
promoted at these events. I Heart Radio, the largest radio/music streaming App put on one of the largest live music events each year, the I Heart Music Festival. If you build the audience, they will come.
- Making
the promise of free.
This
one is unusual, but no doubt has worked for some artists. When
filmmakers Jeremy Gardner, Adam Cronheim and Christian Stella
finished their ultra low budget, survival comedy Tex Montana Will Survive, the first thing they did was not let people see it! What!? You see, they had been disappointed with the results of traditional
distribution with their first movie The Battery. So they launched a
kickstarter showing clips of the new movie and said it will be
released everywhere for free once they reach their goal. It was a
huge success, they raised $53,889 from 759 backers. Within days, Tex
Montana Will Survive was up on YouTube, websites and even uploaded to
torrent sites by the Filmmakers themselves! They knew if they
reached their kickstarter goal it would mean a good profit from the
movie right away. Being an indie filmmaker myself, I can say it can
take a while collecting royalties each quarter, chipping away at what
was invested in the movie. There is something poetic about getting
one big lump sum from your audience and then releasing it out into
the world like a baby bird.
- The
Proof of Concept
For
Paul Solet, strapping a doll made up like a demon into a baby Bjorn
and wearing him on was the smartest thing he ever did. He did this
when he attended major film festivals where his short film Grace
premiered. That visual ploy and the quality of the short film got a
lot of buzz going. Filmmaker Adam Green eventually saw the Grace
short and then Produced the feature. Paul Solet had the feature
script all ready to go and made the short to create an opportunity
just like this. Making a short film or trailer for a feature not yet
made is a common thing. They call it proof of concept. If you have
a script you feel is the one, and you haven’t tried this method
yet..... you really should. It worked for Evil Dead, Office Space,
Boogie Nights, Saw, Bottle Rocket, Hatchet and Napoleon Dynamite.... just
to name a few.
The
proof of concept can take many forms. For example, the hit novel
Warm Bodies and the movie based on the novel all started from a blog. Author Isaac Marion published the short story I am a Zombie filled
with love, the story went viral and the rest is history.
- The future of free
The
path is clear, it has no sign of stopping. It is a buzz word that
makes your ears perk up.... say it with me.... FREE. That word gets
almost as much attention as sex, and the industry knows it. So what
does the future hold for movies and television? Television will
eventually go a-la-carte. I know Sling TV is getting close, but I
mean you will not only be able to buy packages of channels, but each
channel will have it's own price if that is all you want. As the
bottom line shrinks enough, the major networks and cable providers
will have to adapt to the demands of the consumer. Obviously, they
will delay this happening as much as possible. With Disney launching
their own screaming service, ESPN and their other channels can be an
exception to this and always bundled together.
All
of this means more power to you the consumer. This sea change is a
good thing, we should embrace it. There will be a proliferation of
these different streaming platforms, some will die off, many will
thrive. The reason these platforms will last is because they fill a
nitch in the market, like Shudder is all things Horror or how
Crunchyroll draws people in by being a one stop shop for Anime. Other companies will flourish because they offer a huge library of
movies or TV shows. This means it will be harder for small indie
films to stand out, but it also means more viable options will be
there for filmmakers to distribute their movies. Self distribution
through aggregators like Distribber will grow stronger and
never go away.
Once
the devices we use to watch all these platforms can search them all
within one second and show us what our options are, that will be a
game changer. Apple TV and the Amazon Fire TV are very close to
this, it will be no time at all. I see most of these channels also
existing two ways, one that is free with ads, and one that consumers
pay for in exchange for not having to see ads. A growing number of
content will only be available exclusively on certain platforms,
because these companies will pay a premium for it. One thing is for
sure, the future of this United States of Free looks bright, so sit
back and enjoy.
What
are your thoughts on this? Please comment below.
Curt
Wiser is the writer/director of the suspense movie Cam-Girl. He is
also an author and writes movie reviews for OCmoviereviews.com
