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The Way We Get By With DIY Distribution
Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly
It was 2 a.m. and snowing heavily the first time we met 87-year-old Bill Knight. Earlier that day, Bill found out that he had prostate cancer. Yet here he was at the Bangor International Airport in the middle of the night, a worn-out blue hat declaring “WWII Veteran” sitting crookedly atop his head.
What was this elderly man doing at a tiny, central Maine airport at such an ungodly hour? He was there to shake hands, give hugs and lend support to incoming young men and women on a day he most certainly needed some support himself.
Knight is a Maine Troop Greeter, and has dedicated the last six years of his life to greeting the nearly one million soldiers and Marines who have passed through Bangor on their way to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Knight is also one of the three subjects profiled in our first feature-length documentary, The Way We Get By.
It was this late-night encounter back in December of 2004 that convinced us to dedicate the next four years of our own lives to telling his story.
What we saw in Knight was a persistent man who was unwilling to give up on life. He simply would not quit—not six years earlier when his wife passed away and everything fell apart, not as he sank deeper and deeper into crippling debt and not now that he had cancer. Not while he could still do his part to help others. We knew that if we were going to make this film, we would need to adopt the same “no quit” attitude Knight lived by every day. But we’d still need a little luck.
GETTING BY WITH NO DEBT
The first rule we implemented was “no debt.” We would be willing to take calculated gambles, but at no point would we go into debt making our film. We’d read and heard far too many stories of moviemakers maxing out credit cards and then spending the next 10 years paying off their debts when their films failed to score a big deal.
Instead, we worked full-time jobs for the first three years of production, paying our bills, growing our savings and pouring every extra penny into our movie.
We were creatively cost-effective with everything we did. When we needed to hire an entertainment attorney to “get our house in order,” we knew we didn’t have the money for a good one… or even a bad one. What we did have was a story that really appealed to veterans who had come home to no greeting, who felt that what the Maine Troop Greeters provide to today’s soldiers is hugely important.
In our search for an affordable attorney, we stumbled upon a lawyer at one of the country’s top law firms who was dramatically out of our price range, but who happened to be a Vietnam veteran. After watching our trailer, he offered to take us on as clients, pro bono. The first time we visited his impressive office in the middle of Times Square, we knew we had more than just luck on our side.
By the time we moved into post-production, we had just enough money to take the ultimate risk of quitting our jobs and going to work on the film full-time. We knew we could only survive for one year on our savings, but decided that having that looming deadline would be a powerful incentive, because it would force us to stay on schedule and finish the film.
WE’RE FINISHED… NOW HOW DO WE GET STARTED?
Almost four years to the day after our first airport encounter with Knight, we completed The Way We Get By. With production and post-production behind us, our biggest challenges were still ahead: Marketing and distribution.
With no studio backing, we had to figure out how best to release the film on our own. One thing we realized we had in our favor early on was geography.
Mainers possess a tremendous sense of pride in homegrown products, be it a piece of furniture, a boat or a movie. We hoped we could find a way to tap into this “Made in Maine” support early on, especially considering that there aren’t a lot of movies coming out of the state.
While still in production, we had begun talking with some people at Bangor Savings Bank with the hope that they could help us with post-production funding. They ultimately decided against helping to finance the film, but bank reps asked if, upon the film’s completion, we would offer them right of first refusal as exclusive sponsor for any distribution in Maine.
At first, this seemed like just another “no” in a long series of rejections. We needed finishing funds and that was our priority. Without the money to complete the film, there was nothing for them to help distribute. What we didn’t know at the time was that we had just laid the groundwork for a tremendous opportunity down the road.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Nicole/MadlabPost on 7/15/09 at 9:19 pm
What an encouraging story. I didn’t expect to read this, as I was looking for a Traildance writeup that the programmer mentioned. I’m glad I found this article and am going to have to go and pick up this issue.
Locations have been and continue to be a major hurdle in my own filmmaking journey.
- Comment by Tajudeen on 7/17/09 at 5:49 pm
Truly inspiring. I am an emerging filmmaker based in Lagos, Nigeria. I thought a lot of the challenges I face in the course of filmmaking were majorly restricted to my country as a developing nation. But now I know better. I feel encouraged to push more and never give up.
- Comment by jack2012 on 7/01/10 at 6:20 am
Things are going well for us distribution wise so far. We have a month long run in Chico, we’re going to Livermore next, and we’re already talking to Santa Barbara, Salt Lake City, Larkspur, and several other cities right now, booking theatres as we go. Lots of work, but since folks like the film so much, it’s starting to get easier with each phone call.
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rattan garden furniture- Comment by how to write a thesis statement on 4/15/11 at 11:59 am
I could not agree more! You have an impressive writing skills my friend..
- Comment by la electrician on 6/08/11 at 4:26 pm
diy is the really the way to go. for everything really. great stuff
- Comment by Crazy Vision on 9/10/11 at 12:07 pm
thanx for shring this ..
please feel free to visit my blog asalah
This story was published in the Future of Moviemaking 2009 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
More Than Getting By/Grassroots marketing, DIY distribution and a “no quit” attitude add up to success for the duo behind The Way We Get By
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