The educational market is an often overlooked source of revenue for independent filmmakers, and has a lot of models that may be used by more “commercial” vendors in the future. Rachel Gordon has a background as a director, producer, ad writer. Her consulting business, Energized Films, helps filmmakers access the educational market.

[I]nfinicine: How are streaming/digital downloads changing educational distribution?

[R]achel Gordon: The process of change in education is pretty slow, but what is happening is that some colleges and universities have been able to experiment. They’ve
started licenses to stream on servers they’ve created and maintained. Or, though less frequently, they are assigning films that are available for streaming online to students, especially in social service departments.

Unfortunately, however, technology is inconsistent and I can’t say that even these two options are the only ones taking place, but people are definitely experimenting more thanks to these new options. Some still buy VHS, believe it or not. Since there is not a singular form of technology that people use with their media so, while it’s important to keep track of the delivery
systems out there, it’s also important to be flexible about how end users receive content.

Secondarily, the new modes of delivery also alleviate storage issues as a server can be better than 100s of units. Perhaps the best impact so far is that downloading and streaming are useful for opening up more class time. Professors and students can be setup to take distance learning classes, or not use up lecture space, or do web conferences that play media where you
check in and view the same material, and that’s a pretty exciting leap.

[I]: What kinds of revenues can an independent filmmaker get in the educational market in general, for a title with a strong educational angle?

[R}: This really depends on how much they are willing to invest in it, in many
cases. I can't give you figures because people don't come looking for a film unless information is put out there, constantly and repeatedly. What an independent filmmaker should be on the lookout for, however, are advocacy groups - such as not-for-profits who have similar goals - as acknowledgement from them helps with other groups and with conference income. There are
conferences that filmmakers can be paid to go and present at with their films. They also can do re-selling at a discount to thematically related catalogs. By getting reviewed in educational publications, they can use quotes and pass their information to readily available contacts on the web.

It's time consuming and you might send out 100 emails to get 5 sales, but you also learn about your audience and how to reach them and build on them.

It's important to stress that income from sales alone may not be enough to live on for a full-time basis, but it could certainly help generate interest in your work and even provide you with people who might invest in your next project.

[I]: How can filmmakers access the educational market? Do they need a distributor?

[R]: You do not need a distributor to access the educational market, but distributors are good if you do not have the time, patience, and commitment you need to do it yourself. It can take from 6 months to a year to get reviewed by publications and really start getting through to educational libraries.

[I]: What do you think will be the evolution in educational sales from DVD to other technologies?

[R]: I don’t think DVDs are dead by a long shot. Laserdisc didn’t last, but DVD
will be sticking around for a while. I am seeing more cable and local network channels that are either connected to a school district, or college/university. I am also seeing more consortiums arise to do bulk purchasing. I do think downloading is becoming much more popular, though
most independent filmmakers are afraid to go that route.

[I]: Is it still worth it for filmmakers to make their own DVDs and sell them online? Do you see online downloads and streaming as displacing DVDs as a delivery mechanism for independent filmmakers?

[R]: I think it can still be worth it to make DVDs and sell them online, though it depends on what your priorities are. There are plenty of DVD on Demand platforms out there that will make your product for you and bill/ship it, but they also tend to take a large percentage of any sale you might make.

At the same time, if you make a 1000 DVDs for $5000, you may not want to store them and it will probably take you several years to get rid of thembut you’d technically be making more per unit on every sale.

• DISCUSS THIS Post in discussion

• BROWSE / IN TIMELINE
• « INTERVIEW- Online Markets- Caachi.com
• » Welcome!

• BROWSE / IN digital distribution documentary educational sales independent filmmakers interview
• « INTERVIEW- Online Markets- Caachi.com
• » Welcome!