In a nifty bit of synergy, Scott Kirsner over at CinemaTech has taken on the question “How to get your indie film on iTunes?” (a somewhat similar query to the very first post in the Infinicine discussion forum). Getting your film on iTunes does seem like a bit of an apex at this stage in the digital distribution evolution, not only because iTunes sales are so commanding relative to other download services so far but also because they charge a relatively high price and share it with the rightsholder. (As with any customer, terms will vary).

The challenge, as Scott pointed out, is that iTunes, much like oldmedia sellers Barnes & Noble or Borders, does not buy directly from individual filmmakers. This means that there are a number of ‘aggregators’ vying to become the wholesalers of the digital realm, and one must deal with them in order to place films on iTunes.

In contrast, Amazon, which has made its name on having just about everything available to customers looking for obscure items, has had a system in place long before streaming to work with independent vendors. As long as filmmakers adhere to terms of service, they can put their product on Amazon, albeit on the terms established for this type of product.

There are different ways to look at this situation as an independent filmmaker. First of all you need to evaluate whether iTunes would be a significant market for your film. Some might think that ANY market with the higher sales of iTunes would be a great place to put ANY film. But realistically, placing your film on ITunes will mean working with an aggregator, who in some cases will want to represent all digital rights and take as much as 50% of your net revenues. You might also think of doing a service deal with a distributor, who could deal with an aggregator on your behalf- increasing your layers of percentage-takers, but perhaps getting a better deal or being able to leverage some kind of promotion on the iTunes site.

As for iTunes, it is somewhat mysterious why they are being so cautious. They wouldn’t seem to lack for bandwidth or the technical know-how to implement such a system. On the other hand, the money to be made from indies is low, the risks are far more than with music- as Scott puts it:

By open, what I’d like to see is an aggregator accepting any finished film where the filmmaker can guarantee that there are no rights issues that will result in lawsuits… or at the very least any finished film that has played at least one festival.

In my experience, the former is a much smaller field than the latter, and a Venn diagram of the two would narrow things down significantly. Trying to sort out legals is something that probably does require more than just a ‘guarantee’- especially when you are in a much more highly trafficked space like iTunes.

That said, it would be great if iTunes would make the system more transparent and open so that filmmakers aren’t at the mercy of “aggregators” to offer them whatever marked-up deal they desire. And it would be great if iTunes made more of an effort to promote indie product on the site and build the market a bit, since it seems like their demographic is ideal for new indies.

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