Adventures in Self-Releasing: Switching Your Title from “Moviemaker” to “Entrepreneur”

by Jeffrey Goodman | Published February 20, 2009

Growing up I definitely never thought of myself as an entrepreneur. Yet, if you’re an independent moviemaker, chances are that at some point (if you haven’t already) you will need to shift from looking at yourself as a pure artist to a businessman of some sort. I’m not talking about becoming some stiff in a suit. I never went to business school and trust me that’s not what I’m advocating at all. (I mean, this is coming from someone who got into movies because of Jean-Luc Godard.)

I’m just saying that being an independent moviemaker suggests that you have a certain amount of freedom and unless you are honest about how much movies cost and the importance of recouping what you spend, at a certain point you probably won’t be making movies anymore. Or you will, but in a way that’s much more dependent. This is a large and at times really nasty pill to swallow. (I’m taking more than my share of big doses of it right now.) Self-releasing is all about being an entrepreneur. It’s a monumental risk. And even some of the certainties don’t seem so certain.

Just like every director should probably do some acting to become more sensitive to the entire craft, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea if every moviemaker distributed a movie at some point during his or her career—if for no other reason than to make one empathize with the challenging job every distributor faces.

Let me tell you what I mean exactly: We are opening the movie theatrically in the Shreveport area. The money came from this area, and we shot the entire movie here. However, what does that really mean for us? In other words, how many people in the area can I count on to pay money to see the film in the theater? I honestly don’t know. And this is where things get complicated. In order to open the movie properly in Shreveport, there are upfront costs. These costs can only be recouped if enough people pay to come and see the movie. (And remember, this is my safest market. In fact, I don’t think it ever really gets any safer than this.)

So those costs I was mentioning: First off, I have to hire a local PR film. Without them, it’s unlikely that I would be able to build the necessary awareness for our theatrical opening. Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, I have already had to pay the MPAA to rate the movie. Otherwise, two of the three main theaters in the area would not have even considered playing it. Lastly, depending on what theater(s) ends up showing the movie, I might also have to pay them an up-front rental fee if it is a four-wall situation. This is scary. What if only 500 people come and see the movie? That is a lot of capital that I have fronted and can no longer expect to recoup.

I never thought of myself much as a risk-taker. In fact, I really don’t like risk very much at all. And if you told me 10 years ago that as an independent moviemaker, I would have to be part artist/part entrepreneur, I wouldn’t even have known what that meant. But now I don’t think there is any way around it: You want to be an independent moviemaker, you better learn how to run a business. You might want to be an artist that people can’t wait to throw money at to create something, but, when you wake up, you will have to decide if you can roll up your sleeves and become an entrepreneur or forever talk about this pipe dream of making movies.

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 Libby on 2/20/09 at 1:08 pm

Jeffrey,

I am particulary moved by and appreciate this part of your blog: “ Just like every director should probably do some acting to become more sensitive to the entire craft, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea if every moviemaker distributed a movie at some point during his or her career—if for no other reason than to make one empathize with the challenging job every distributor faces.” Very insightful. My feeling is: Of course in the ways of “the industry” your wisdom will be prophetic and everyone will want to have a connect to your genius. In this, your current endeavor of distribution, I wish you God Speed.

Libby

Comment by Bjoern Hoegh on 2/21/09 at 5:17 am

Hello Jeffrey:

I’ve been following THE LAST LULLABY very closely for a long time and I can’t wait to see it - I know it’ll be an amazing experience.

Receiving your regular e-mails with updates and reading your blog is a huge pleasure and I feel extremely passionate about your movie.

Futhermore I’m also very excited about your next project PERIL. I wish you all the best hoping everything will work out just the way you want it to.

Kind regards

Bjoern Hoegh, Denmark

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 2/21/09 at 9:28 am

Hi Libby,

Thank you so much for your comments.  I really appreciate your interest and support and just hope that some of what I discover will be helpful to others. 

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 2/21/09 at 9:33 am

Hi Bjoern,

Wow, thank you for your support on all fronts.  I can’t wait for you to see LULLABY.  And really hope one day to bring it to Europe and find a forum to discuss it there.

I appreciate your support, very, very much.

Jeffrey

Comment by Digital Film School on 2/24/09 at 5:43 pm

This is great advice!

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 2/24/09 at 5:52 pm

Hi Digital Film School,

Thank you so much for your comment.  I hope that you will continue reading along.  A new entry will publish every Friday.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Tom Kendrick on 3/01/09 at 1:40 pm

Jeffrey,

Congratulations on a tremendous accomplishment - I have no doubt your project will be successful! Is your budget confidential, or are you sharing it?

I’m in early development, seeking my “angel” to continue on to the next phase. It’s hard work.

Best,
Tom

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 3/01/09 at 5:23 pm

Hi Tom,

Thank you so much for your kind words.  I don’t disclose our exact budget for a number of reasons.  But it was a union shoot on 35mm. 

It is hard work finding money.  Sometimes, perhaps, even impossible.  But I guess my advice is to keep trying.  And also maybe look for several “angels” rather than for one person to come along and make it happen. 

Let me know if you have any specific questions.  And also I hope you’ll find benefits in continuing to read along.

Jeffrey

Comment by Tony Comstock on 3/09/09 at 9:20 pm

I think building your audience geographically is shrewd. Too many people make movies for festival programers and/or festival audiences and/or distributors. Then after a year of playing on the festival circuit (and getting no money) they can’t figure out why no one is left to buy the DVD. Make films for paying audiences is step one in getting paid to make films!

Speaking of DVD, my to cents take or leave it. Make a short run of DVDs. 2500 is a better cost per, but if you’re cutting corners, 1000 will do. Have these on hand at the local screenings. The theatrical opening is the best PR your film is ever going, and if people liked the film, or even just liked the fact that you made a local film, they’ll want the DVD as a memento at least, and maybe even because they want to watch the film again.

You’ll also get the most honest audience feedback you can ever get. If people are putting their elbows into each other’s ribs to give you a $20 bill, you know you’ve got a hit, and you can invest more money in expanding your audience with confidence!

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 3/10/09 at 6:54 am

Hi Tony,

I completely agree with you here on all fronts.  In fact, Peter Broderick says a filmmaker should now have DVDs on hand to sell, beginning at their festival premiere.  And should continue to sell them throughout their festival run.  I think you and Peter are totally right.

Thanks for continuing to share your thoughts.  I truly appreciate it.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Tony Comstock on 3/10/09 at 7:34 am

Yeah, Peter’s hip to the DVD thing. Poor guy still hasn’t figured out skipping the festival run. Well not skip. Go if invited and if they pay you. But don’t any energy or money into it. He’ll get there. Then he’ll write a new edition of his book.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 3/10/09 at 8:32 pm

Hi Tony,

I personally still think festivals serve an important function and are worth attending even if moviemakers have to put up some of their own money.  But I also think it’s important to use them as launches to begin selling the DVD.

Jeffrey

Comment by Tony Comstock on 3/11/09 at 9:34 am

I don’t think film festivals are completely worthless.  But I am more and more convinced that they don’t drive DVD sales. My own opinion is your local interest angle is going to end up putting more money in your pocket and create a stronger fan base for less effort/money than the fest circuit.

Case in point, our fourth film MATT & KHYM just had it’s “world premiere” – two years after the DVD release. In the mean time, we’ve already had it reprinted 4 times, and the film’s “box office gross” (DVD MSRP x units) is well into mid six figures. (This will be the point that half the people reading this post will say “Yeah, but you’re films are different, Tony")

On the other hand, ASHLEY & KIHSA, our most lauded title (in terms of festival recognition, was rejected from several festivals because it was “already out on DVD.” Knowingly or not, festivals’ fetish for the largely meaningless prestige of premiere status hurts independent filmmakers. And truth, I think festivals can cannibalize audience, and can even suck up PR oxygen. (Premiere status is not the only place where filmmakers’ interests and festivals’ interests are not well aligned.)

One thing I will say. If you’re going to go the fest + DVD route, it’s not enough to have a stack of DVDs to sell at the festival. For one, and at the risk of repeating myself, festival audience are not an especially good DVD market. Too many people go to festivals for the same reason that too many filmmakers go to festivals—they love the scene. The movies? Not so much. They’ll spend that $20 you want them to spend on your DVD going out afterwards to drink and talk about
“the gatekeepers” and “the guilds” and how industry needs a “new distribution model.”

So what do you do to take advantage of whatever festival buzz your film gets? You have to have your film available online; Amazon, B&N;, Netflix, your own website, etc. When people aren’t able to attend read about how great your film is, they have to be able to go and get it right there and then. Six months, six weeks, even six day is too long.

Of course that invites the “we really loved your film, but since it’s already out on DVD...” Like I said, as much as film festivals like to bray about being all about the filmmakers, actual festival interests and independent filmmaker interests are not especially well aligned. I know, that sounds like sour grapes, but think it through. Think about who puts up the money and where the money goes.

And isn’t that what an entrepreneur does? Think about how the money moves around, and how to get their fair share?

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 3/12/09 at 5:32 am

Hi Tony,

I think you make some very important points above.  I’m particularly struck by the following three:

1.  “If you’re going to go the fest + DVD route, it’s not enough to have a stack of DVDs to sell at the festival...You have to have your film available online; Amazon, B&N;, Netflix, your own website, etc. When people aren’t able to attend read about how great your film is, they have to be able to go and get it right there and then. Six months, six weeks, even six day is too long.”

2.  “Of course that invites the ‘we really loved your film, but since it’s already out on DVD...”

This is an area where I’m hoping festivals and filmmakers will come together soon.

3.  “And isn’t that what an entrepreneur does? Think about how the money moves around, and how to get their fair share?”

I never thought about an entrepeneur in exactly that way.  But I think it’s an apt description of where I’m at right now with LULLABY and one of the main reasons I decided to self-release.

Thanks, as always, for your great comments.

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeff Bach on 3/26/09 at 9:29 am

Too bad nice words and fans of your work so rarely translate into dollars isn’t it?  We just finished our largest marketing event of the year.  People loved our DVDs, we got all sorts of enthusiastic positive feedback AND.....we left with less money and sales than last year....It’s very gratifying to know that people like your stuff, but yet frustrating to know that all many of them do is leech pleasure out of the newsletter and email you create and send, then ask for more of the same, and rarely if ever contribute anything to make ongoing production easier.  I wonder if your fan in Denmark has done anything to make your life easier, other than shower you with compliments?  Very few of the people that gave me such nice feedback, bought any of my products......

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 3/26/09 at 1:55 pm

Hi Jeff,

Thank you so much for your e-mail and for sharing some of your experiences.  I definitely agree in all of your comments:  it’s difficult to qualify effort/marketing into result/money.  But isn’t that true for most businesses?  I’m not sure, in that respect, that we’re that different than a company that is trying to make a name for itself, selling cars, paper, or medical supplies.

All the best,

Jeffrey

Comment by Jeff Bach on 3/27/09 at 4:00 pm

You are right about that! ...makes the title you wrote for this article all the more true :)

Comment by retreat at carmel on 4/20/09 at 4:36 pm

I have not seen this movie yet, but it certainly sounds worthwhile.

Comment by Jeffrey Goodman on 4/20/09 at 8:40 pm

Hi Retreat at Carmel,

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

All the best,

Jeffrey

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