Indie Filmmakers – Creating Business Plans
by Jason Brubaker
Over the past decade, everything has changed for the indie
filmmaker. These days, there is no excuse not to make a
feature film. But just as importantly, there is no excuse not
to view your filmmaking as a business. That means, you not
only have to focus on making the movie – but you really need
to have a strategy for making money from your movie.
Many filmmakers spend years making their first feature, only
to have their hopes of prosperity evaporate at the first sign
of rejection and disappointment. The festival circuit can be
hard enough. Add thoughts of a non-existent traditional
distribution deal, and you might find yourself becoming very
cynical.
To avoid some heartache, before you start rolling the camera,
I recommend creating two idealized plans for how your movie
will make money:
PLAN A: You get everything you want. Your distribution is
solid. You have a great audience. You’re now financially free
and you have money in the bank for at least two more motion
pictures.
PLAN B: You did the festivals. You got the meetings (or maybe
you didn’t) but nothing happened. You got a lot of hot air,
but no action. If this happens, what is your strategy for
making money with your movie?
Loosely, here are some steps you can take to start selling
your movie:
1. Set up an account at CreateSpace. Feature your movie as a
digital download, rental and physical sale. Unless you want to
spend all your time shipping stuff around, consider letting
those folks deal with the shipping and order fulfillment. Yes,
they will take a huge cut. But at the same time, all you gotta
do is cash checks. Also, pick a price that ends in a 7. For
some reason people like this number. $14.97 – maybe.
2. Rework your website. Up until this point, you’ve had a
website that features a bunch of production photos and extra
cute stuff from the movie. Get rid of all the extra stuff.
Include a high resolution trailer, a low resolution trailer
and a “BUY NOW” button. Also include one of those social
networking buttons that allows you to tell your friends.
3. You’ll know if your trailer is no good. If people aren’t
buying your movie, consider refining your trailer. The trailer
should reflect the best aspects of your movie, without giving
away everything. It should target your intended audience. If
you’re missing the mark, re-cut. Also, make sure you include a
trailer on YouTube with a back link to your website.
4. There are two ways people get traffic. Organic and paid
advertising. When possible, go organic – but don’t spam. Do a
Google Search for SEO. Read everything you can about this. It
will help you. If you decide to pay for traffic, you can do it
online and offline. Offline would be in things like magazines,
etc. Online – well, here, online. Again, make sure you’re
targeting your intended audience.
5. Test, test and retest. Install Google Analytics into your
website. This will tell you where your visitors are coming
from, how long they stay on the site and how many people are
converting to sales.
Finally, if you like this sort of stuff – that’s great. If you
don’t, you’re in luck. There are plenty of
marketing-producer-consultants who are willing to work with
you and help you achieve your movie making goals!”
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Jason Brubaker is a Hollywood based Independent Motion Picture
Producer and an expert in Video On Demand distribution. He is
focused on helping YOU make, market and sell movies more
easily by growing your fan base, building buzz and creating
community around your title.
Check out more at: http://www.FilmmakingStuff.com
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Copyright (c) 2011 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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