Adventures in Self-Releasing: If I Wanted to Go on Tour, I Would Have Been a Rock Star

by Jeffrey Goodman | Published June 19, 2009

Good news: This weekend, Ben Lovett took home the award for Best Original Score at the 2009 Brooklyn International Film Festival for his work on The Last Lullaby. In a few weeks, his score will be available for purchase from Neoflix.

Good news #2 and #3: San Jose has decided to give us a second week of screenings. We will go across the street from the Camera 3 to the Camera 12 Cinemas. Also, this Friday and Sunday, The Last Lullaby will be screening in Sacramento as part of the series “Movies on a Big Screen.”

Okay, onto the blog…

Almost wrapped up week six of our release. In many ways, that, in and of itself, is a victory. In this climate, many movies are in and out of theaters in two to three weeks. To say that we’ve been showing for the last 42 days and that there will be at least one more week makes me pretty damn proud.

But, man am I worn out. I think I’ve done 55 Q&As in the last six weeks. You know, I almost named this blog, “If I wanted to go on tour, I would have been a rock star.” And, in many ways, a self-release is just that, a tour of sorts.

So what have I learned so far:

1. Expect 20-30 people a screening (if you’re lucky)
I’ve ended up “in the black” after every week except for one, but the kind of numbers I expected to do in certain places is not realistic. I thought we’d get an
average of 500 people a week in the cities we were visiting. Some weeks we’ve been lucky to have 200 people see the movie.

2. Bring a book and/or endless things to keep you inspired
I don’t watch the movie anymore. I introduce it and then have to fill the next 90 minutes with something. I’m still trying to master this part of the process. Some places have wireless, and I can hop on my computer. Sometimes, I’ll grab a meal. Or sometimes, I’ll decide to catch another movie playing in the theater. But make sure to bring things to fill the time. Otherwise, you’ll just see the days passing and yourself getting older.

3. Improvise
Like so much of this process, self-releasing is NOT a science. Always be willing to say that one plan isn’t working and that it’s time to go in another direction. I’m about to do this myself. I have now fully explored all of the cities that fit into my original plan: a) Go somewhere because someone from the movie is from there or b) because we’ve been to the city for a festival, had a successful festival and are returning. Now, if we want to keep the tour going, we need to take a different stab at things. From here, I will either try to get the movie into a theater in San Francisco or into a theater in a city we have yet to visit (Minneapolis, Omaha or Kansas City).

The tour continues, The Last Lullaby is still alive, and more than anything, that’s what keeps me going.

After living in Los Angeles for seven years, Jeffrey Goodman returned to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct The Last Lullaby. Co-written by the creator of Road to Perdition, and starring Tom Sizemore and Sasha Alexander, The Last Lullaby was filmed entirely in and around Shreveport and financed by 48 local investors.

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by Russ Skains on 6/19/09 at 6:05 pm

Congrats to Ben Lovett! Lovett and Bill Smitrovich deserve more love!

I have enjoyed the soundtrack of Lullaby and it helped when I watched Lullaby the last time @ the Robinson Film Center....to watch the movie and know the names of the songs and attach some meaning as I listen to the score. Thank you for that score Jeffrey!

Will the fact that you have recently been in San Jose and going into Sacramento help you get into the San Francisco market?  Surely this could help you a little?

If you could break one major market then that could lead to other major markets.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 6/20/09 at 4:46 pm

Hi Russ,

You’re absolutely welcome for the score!  That’s the least I could do, right?

I do think that San Jose will be helpful towards trying to get a week run in San Francisco.  However, I’m still not sure yet whether or not we will be able to make it happen. 

I also completely agree with you, if we are able to do a week in San Francisco, it will help us towards breaking into other major markets.

Thanks for all the support!

Jeffrey

Comment by new western movies on 6/30/09 at 10:57 am

I think that it would be a great idea to move the film to San Francisco. San Jose seems to be a more quiet area in the bay.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 6/30/09 at 5:19 pm

Hi new western movies,

Thank you so much for your e-mail.  I think San Francisco would be a great fit, too.  I really hope we can make it happen.

I hope that you’ll continue to read along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Kauai Vacation Rentals on 11/10/09 at 5:20 am

Which place did u prefer to go for tour in spring…
Kauai Vacation Rentals

Comment by sniper2 on 9/27/11 at 5:14 pm

موقع زفات
موقع زفات

Comment by Free cigarettes on 10/20/11 at 3:49 am

People now are continuing to support those independent movie makers.  Maybe their idea of creating real life stories and the way they actually present the movie are two factors which can be used by movie growers in choosing an independent film than famous ones.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 10/20/11 at 6:52 am

Hi Free cigarettes,

Well said.  I think that’s definitely true. 

All the best,

Jeffrey

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