Adventures In Self-Releasing: Starting in Shreveport

by Jeffrey Goodman | Published January 30, 2009

I’m a little torn. I really want to start describing the feelings and all that come with the announcement of self-releasing. However, I guess if you’re going to follow along for the next few months, I better first tell you how I plan on doing this whole thing. And how I came up with the particular model I’m using.

My plan is to do a three- to 10-city theatrical run with the film. I’m not sure if this run will be financially successful or not. But it is my goal for it to be self-sustaining, at the very least.

I only want to go into cities where I feel like The Last Lullaby has an edge over most other movies. This edge will come from one of two places: Either we’ll go into a city because someone involved in the film is from there, or we’ll return to a city where we already had a successful festival. What I want to avoid is having to spend loads of money in any particular city to build awareness for the film. I want to go into places that are already media-friendly to us; where the media will simply offer to run stories to support us.

I’ve also decided to start the run in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. We financed and shot the entire film in and around Shreveport. And I believe our best shot at a strong launch is to start in Shreveport. In fact, my goal for our opening weekend is to be the independent film with the highest per-screen average in the country. I think if we can make that happen, it will drive some real attention to the film and help as we begin to move outside of our home base.

So that’s the game plan in a nutshell. Nothing really complicated about it. Very grassroots. Very contained. Start small. With hopes of sustaining and a long shot play of a bigger, wider expansion.

Now how did I come up with all of this?

As I mentioned in the last blog, I’ve been thinking about possibly going this route for almost a year now. Not because I wanted to, but because I honestly couldn’t find a more convincing option.

A few things got me thinking about this particular model, but probably the most important was speaking several months back to a producer friend of mine. I told him I was considering going the self-release route. He said, “Look, Jeffrey, as long as you’re not following the model of the majors or mini-majors, I think it’s a good model.” And that really got me thinking. At first I was like, ‘Well, what the hell does that mean?’ But then the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I needed to come up with a model that was appropriate for my film. Although I’d love to start in Los Angeles and New York, at this point, that doesn’t really make sense for us. We’ve yet to screen in either city and have nothing that gives us an edge in either market.

So, if nothing else, I came up with this model just really out of sheer logic. It made the most sense and seemed to be the one where we maybe, possibly, could succeed.

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 The 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 Stephen Walker on 1/31/09 at 4:52 pm

Just read your other blog first. It’s like you jumped inside my head. Seriously, everything you are going through, you’re not alone.  Good luck man. Hopefully you can get a deal that I never did, which is Foreign and TV.  Keep on blogging.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 2/01/09 at 11:07 am

Thanks so much, Stephen!  I just hope to be helpful and generate a dialogue here.  And get some information out there that isn’t always easiest the find.  We’ll keep at it.  I look forward to more back and forth.

Jeffrey

Comment by Lee Shepard on 2/05/09 at 6:08 pm

This is a great blog post! Jeff’s perspective is genuine with an authentic tone to his words. I’m ready to read more and hear how the self-releasing track goes.
I agree with Jeffery in that The Last Lullaby is a very worthy film, deserving of a much larger audience!

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 2/21/09 at 9:43 am

Hi Lee,

Thanks so much for your comments.  Your support means a ton, and I hope that you’ll continue to follow along.  I really appreciate all of your kind words and interest.

Jeffrey

Comment by casininio on 3/28/09 at 5:46 pm

hey jeff good too see you around

Comment by Real Estate Software on 4/19/09 at 3:31 am

This is excellent post, thanks alot

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 4/20/09 at 7:47 am

Hi Real Estate Software,

Thank you so much for your comment.  I hope that you will continue to read along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by tiffanyjewellery on 5/19/09 at 5:00 am

Just read your other blog first. haha

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 5/19/09 at 6:00 pm

Hi Tiffanyjewellery,

Thank you so much for your comment.  I hope that you’ll continue to follow along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 6/23/09 at 6:23 am

Hi joe Woo,

Thank you so much for your comments.  I hope that you’ll continue to follow along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by watermelon on 6/25/09 at 4:38 am

hello,your blog is interesting.
welcome to my page!

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 6/25/09 at 6:36 am

Hi watermelon,

Thank you so much for your kind words.  I hope that you’ll continue to read along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 7/03/09 at 6:10 am

Hi Point of Sale,

Thank you so much for your comments.  I hope that you’ll continue to read along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Winston on 9/08/09 at 7:23 am

Thanks for the info. Big help in the future.

Comment by cheep cigarettes on 9/08/09 at 7:24 am

Very informative…

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 9/08/09 at 7:39 am

Hi Winston,

Thanks so much for your comments.  I hope that you’ll continue to follow along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 9/08/09 at 7:40 am

Hi cheep cigarettes,

Thanks so much for your comments.  I hope that you’ll continue to follow along.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by wholesale jordans on 9/23/09 at 7:03 am

Very informative… thanks

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 9/23/09 at 8:39 am

Hi wholesale jordans,

Thanks so much for your comments.  I hope that you’ll continue to follow along (I post a new entry every Friday.)

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by street lighting on 9/24/09 at 12:14 am

thanks your comments!!!

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