Dive into the archives.
- INTERVIEW- Danielle DiGiacomo - Indiepix Documentary Film Coordinator
I met Danielle DiGiacomo of IndiePix at Sundance a couple of years ago and since then have enjoyed working with her on a couple of different things- my company will be distributing a film she associate produced, and we both screened films for the Tribeca Gucci Documentary Fund with IndiePix Studio’s incoming head Ryan Harrington. She is an insightful and dedicated documentary lover with a unique perspective on digital distribution.
[I]nfinicine: What made you interested in working with an online video market like IndiePix? Was it just the films or were you a techie type?
Danielle DiGiacomo [DD]: Although I was… [more]
- INTERVIEW- D-Word Founder and Doc Director Doug Block
The D-Word is an essential resource for documentary film folks- an online community of filmmakers, writers, and broadcast/distribution types. Doug Block, the founder and co-host of the site, is an experienced filmmaker whose breakout film 51 BIRCH STREET, a personal documentary about family relationships, benefited from a grassroots marketing campaign that included utilizing the internet. Infinicine asked him about the transitioning state of distribution for documentarians.
[I]nfinicine: In your experience, are independent filmmakers making a transition to online forms of distribution? Are streaming and/or downloading viable revenue sources for a filmmaker who has essentially self-financed… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Online Markets - Indiepix.com
Indiepix has gone in a few directions over the last couple of years. The latest is a partnership with SnagFilms, Ted Leonsis’s widget-based monetized documentary player and a production end, Indiepix Studios. They are also staffed by very dedicated, delightful young people.
[I]nfinicine: What services are offered on your site?
[IP] Indiepix:
DVD Sale
Download to own
Download to disc[I]: What is the structure of the deal, i.e. flat fee, percentage of sale, ad revenue, etc. Provide terms if possible.
[IP]: We do not give advances, but we do all the design, production, manufacturing and marketing. The filmmaker receives a… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Educational Market- Rachel Gordon, Energized Films
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… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Online Markets- Caachi.com
As part of the ongoing series of online markets, Infinicine presents an interview with Charles Choi from Caachi.com, a streaming and download service that specializes in independent film and is friendly to independent filmmakers.[I]nfinicine: What services are offered on your site?[C]aachi: Streaming online - We provide high resolution (700Kbps) streams of the films we offer. This enables a high-quality viewing experience.Download to own - the films distributed in this fashion are “DRM free”, to provide the greatest user flexibility in viewing.Download to disc - Films downloaded… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Online Markets- Hungryflix.com
There are so many online streaming and downloading markets popping up that it is difficult to know which ones are legit- and which ones will be a good place to sell a film. Infinicine has sent out a series of questions to a number of sites and will have a resource page on the new Infinicine site so you can compare their answers.Here are the answers from HUNGRYFLIX. Hungryflix specializes in content for portable media, i.e. iPod and iPhone as well as computers and Apple TV.[I]nfinicine: What services are offered on your site?[H]ungryflix:
- INTERVIEW- DIY Filmmaker Sujewa on DIY digital approaches
DIY Filmmaker Sujewa is the the blog of DC-based low-budget filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake. His current project is a film about Indie Film Bloggers.[I]nfinicine: What do you think the biggest challenges have been for filmmakers in the past in distribution and getting their films out to the public and making money in the process? Sujewa: I think the challenges for indie (working outside of Hollywood) filmmakers, when it comes to distribution, have always been pretty much the same; it takes a lot of money and a lot of work to properly or widely distribute… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Shooting People’s Ingrid Kopp on new distribution
Shooting People is an international networking organization of over 37,000 filmmakers who share their skills and resources through email bulletins, calendars, and networking events in New York, London, and elsewhere. Ingrid Kopp is the Director in NYC and took a few moments to share her thoughts on the emerging state of distribution and Shooting People’s members.[I]nfinicine: What is the role of networking in distribution? Do you see that changing as online distribution methods emerge?Ingrid [IK]: Networking has always been key but as the networking tools that Web2.0 enables
- Hot & Steamy: INTERVIEW: Kyle Schickner, Director of STEAM
Festivals have been a hot topic in the blogosphere as of late for their role in the distribution landscape. Recently, Jonathan Marlow of Green Cine Daily caused a bit of a stir when he suggested that festivals, which have replaced traditional theatrical as a distribution mechanism for indies and docs, start ponying up part of their ticket sales to filmmakers. AJ Schnack, DIY Filmmaker Sujewa and several others got into the fray, arguing that festivals provide benefits to filmmakers that go beyond screening fees. (It’s my opinion that this all should work on a kind of… [more]
- INTERVIEW- Karin Chien- dGeneration
As digital distribution evolves, it seems likely that smaller operations will benefit from serving niche markets- both to concentrate sales efforts and to become more attractive to advertisers.dGenerate is a new distribution project set to launch this summer that partners American indie producers, Chinese filmmakers, and Tribeca Film Institute and TFI’s Amazon digital distribution partnership Reframe. dGenerate head Karin Chien was kind enough to share some information about this exciting new venture.(ICI): How did you come up with the idea for dGenerate?Karin: Honestly, the idea came… [more]
