Marketplace
The independent film marketplace is on an upward swing – thanks to 3 key factors:
-
High-Quality, Inexpensive Digital Filmmaking Equipment has dramatically lowered production costs
-
Digital Film Distribution has revolutionized the industry by expanding audiences exponentially.
-
Social Networking allows for inexpensive, invaluable, word-of-mouth marketing (locally and globally).
As mentioned in the previous section, independent films are typically acquired for distribution at film festivals – such as Sundance, South-bySouthwest, Tribeca, Cannes and Toronto. The film festival circuit has served as a launching pad for several low-budget stories detailing socially driven pieces such as, Dear White People, Dope, Fruitvale and etc. More recent, Moonlight, took home several nominations and awards, also a film whose growth stemmed from its successful response from film festivals.
Our plan is to premiere “#WATCh” at a major film festival to court potential distributors.
High-quality independent films are more in demand than they have ever been. This is because digital distribution has unlocked several huge – extremely lucrative – markets outside of traditional theatrical distribution. These distributors need quality content to keep their audiences happy – providing independent filmmakers with a great opportunity.
Here are some of the main player in the “VOD” space:
Cable Video-on-Demand (VOD): Time Warner Cable, Comcast, DirecTV, Verizon FIOS, ATT U-Verse, etc.
Internet Video-on-Demand (I-VOD): iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Zune
Subscription Video-on-Demand (S-VOD): Netflix, Hulu, Hulu Plus
No film is a sure bet, but our project contains the elements most commonly found in successful independent films:
-
Relatable: the film is timely and mirrors the current social climate with dated references that keeps is relatable to the older audience as well.
-
Proven genre: Stories that engage an audience through devices such as: love, hope, race and class, are profitable, time-tested genres.
-
Recognizable cast: this is our Ace of spades. We currently have a list of actors whose resume is supported by a list of genres in both television and film that supports a healthy box office return.