February 2020
THE DISTRIBUTION BULLETIN ISSUE #39
11/Feb/2020
URGENT: A SINGULAR OPPORTUNITY
Next month you will have a singular opportunity to raise money to:
Kickstarter has been a key source of financing for many short films. During the past 10 years, 7,332 successful shorts raised more than $41 million. Kickstarter-funded Hair Love just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 4,981 backers pledged $284,058 to make the film. The previous year Period. End of Sentence won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. 358 backers pledged $45,076.
THE NEW WORLD OF SHORT FILM DISTRIBUTION
Kickstarter’s exciting initiative reflects the vibrant New World of Short Film Distribution. The channels of short film distribution have multiplied and now include the New York Times Op Docs, Guardian Docs, POV Docs, and the release of Academy Award shorts in theaters nationwide. In the Old World, the concern was that shorts weren’t long enough to get widespread distribution. In the New World, shorts are being seen in many places inaccessible to longer films and are capable of going viral.
In the Old World, many shorts were conceived as calling cards to boost careers. Today more and more shorts are designed to change the world. The Impact Field Guide and Toolkit, published by Doc Society, is an invaluable resource for change-makers. When it was first published in 2013, it was focused on feature-length docs. Since then so much has happened with shorts, that the latest edition of The Impact Field Guide includes a major new section on “Making and Moving Shorts”.
The importance of shorts is growing and crowdfunding can play an essential part in their financing and distribution. Crowdfunding campaigns have helped filmmakers in three main ways:
Now there is a fourth important benefit:
During the past year, Keith Ochwat and I have frequently recommended that clients who are making a feature doc also edit a 15-minute version. These short versions can be powerful tools to promote the longer film, to build partnerships, and to show at conferences.
We suggested that director Frances Causey and her team make a shorter version of her feature documentary Is Your Story Making You Sick?, which shows the impact trauma has on our physical and mental well-being. They created a 15-minute version which greatly increased awareness of their feature, facilitated key partnerships, and took on a life of its own.
THE CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITY
Your goal at conferences is to reach everyone, ideally with a keynote. To achieve this, you must have a presentation that conference organizers see as valuable and easy to fit in their schedule.
Conference schedules are typically organized in 60-minute blocks of time. A shortened version of your film coupled with a presentation highlighting your unique insights as the storyteller, gives you a valuable keynote presentation to offer.
The 15-minute version of Is Your Story Making You Sick? helped the film team book more than 10 keynote presentations, including one that came with a speaking fee of $11,000 plus expenses. Their keynote presentation included a ‘double feature’: a screening of their short followed by a 45-minute lecture on the topic of the film. These presentations led to a direct connection with their audience, meaningful partnerships, and revenue. See our prior Bulletin on conference strategy for more information on how to make the most of conferences.
THE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY
You can create additional value for your partners with your short. A short version of your film gives partners more flexibility to use your film to accomplish their goals, while giving you an opportunity to expand your reach and generate revenue.
Whether it’s training their staff, inspiring their members, or creatively branding with their customers, a short can fit into creative partnerships where a feature-length film cannot.
The Is Your Story Making You Sick? team has partnered with mental health organizations across the country, using either their short or feature-length film, or both. One partner with a large online network of potential community screening hosts emailed a free online preview of their short, then followed up by offering for sale the full film with a discussion guide. This free screening benefited their partner, while generating sales of the film, requests for live screening events, and additional partnerships. See our prior Bulletin on partnership strategy for more tips on building effective partnerships.
ACT NOW
Time is of the essence if you decide to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the next few weeks.
We recommend that you find an experienced crowdfunding consultant with an impressive Kickstarter track record to help you get up and running as quickly as possible. Here is a link to a list of vetted Kickstarter consultants that can be sorted for Film/Video expertise: https://www.kickstarter.com/experts
We also recommend that you contact the Kickstarter film team at film@kickstarter.com to alert them to your project and ask questions.
Finally, please email us at peter@peterbroderick.com or ko@keithochwat.com to let us know you are moving forward. If we learn any more useful information, we will gladly share it with you.
Good luck!
- Peter Broderick and Keith Ochwat
© 2020 Peter Broderick
Next month you will have a singular opportunity to raise money to:
- make a short film
- cash flow the distribution of an existing short film
- enhance the distribution of an existing full-length documentary by making a short version
Kickstarter has been a key source of financing for many short films. During the past 10 years, 7,332 successful shorts raised more than $41 million. Kickstarter-funded Hair Love just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 4,981 backers pledged $284,058 to make the film. The previous year Period. End of Sentence won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. 358 backers pledged $45,076.
THE NEW WORLD OF SHORT FILM DISTRIBUTION
Kickstarter’s exciting initiative reflects the vibrant New World of Short Film Distribution. The channels of short film distribution have multiplied and now include the New York Times Op Docs, Guardian Docs, POV Docs, and the release of Academy Award shorts in theaters nationwide. In the Old World, the concern was that shorts weren’t long enough to get widespread distribution. In the New World, shorts are being seen in many places inaccessible to longer films and are capable of going viral.
In the Old World, many shorts were conceived as calling cards to boost careers. Today more and more shorts are designed to change the world. The Impact Field Guide and Toolkit, published by Doc Society, is an invaluable resource for change-makers. When it was first published in 2013, it was focused on feature-length docs. Since then so much has happened with shorts, that the latest edition of The Impact Field Guide includes a major new section on “Making and Moving Shorts”.
The importance of shorts is growing and crowdfunding can play an essential part in their financing and distribution. Crowdfunding campaigns have helped filmmakers in three main ways:
- to increase awareness, which is essential to maximizing distribution
- to build a network of support, including partner organizations
- to raise money for production and distribution
Now there is a fourth important benefit:
- to enhance the distribution of a full-length film by enabling the creation of a shorter version
During the past year, Keith Ochwat and I have frequently recommended that clients who are making a feature doc also edit a 15-minute version. These short versions can be powerful tools to promote the longer film, to build partnerships, and to show at conferences.
We suggested that director Frances Causey and her team make a shorter version of her feature documentary Is Your Story Making You Sick?, which shows the impact trauma has on our physical and mental well-being. They created a 15-minute version which greatly increased awareness of their feature, facilitated key partnerships, and took on a life of its own.
THE CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITY
Your goal at conferences is to reach everyone, ideally with a keynote. To achieve this, you must have a presentation that conference organizers see as valuable and easy to fit in their schedule.
Conference schedules are typically organized in 60-minute blocks of time. A shortened version of your film coupled with a presentation highlighting your unique insights as the storyteller, gives you a valuable keynote presentation to offer.
The 15-minute version of Is Your Story Making You Sick? helped the film team book more than 10 keynote presentations, including one that came with a speaking fee of $11,000 plus expenses. Their keynote presentation included a ‘double feature’: a screening of their short followed by a 45-minute lecture on the topic of the film. These presentations led to a direct connection with their audience, meaningful partnerships, and revenue. See our prior Bulletin on conference strategy for more information on how to make the most of conferences.
THE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY
You can create additional value for your partners with your short. A short version of your film gives partners more flexibility to use your film to accomplish their goals, while giving you an opportunity to expand your reach and generate revenue.
Whether it’s training their staff, inspiring their members, or creatively branding with their customers, a short can fit into creative partnerships where a feature-length film cannot.
The Is Your Story Making You Sick? team has partnered with mental health organizations across the country, using either their short or feature-length film, or both. One partner with a large online network of potential community screening hosts emailed a free online preview of their short, then followed up by offering for sale the full film with a discussion guide. This free screening benefited their partner, while generating sales of the film, requests for live screening events, and additional partnerships. See our prior Bulletin on partnership strategy for more tips on building effective partnerships.
ACT NOW
Time is of the essence if you decide to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the next few weeks.
We recommend that you find an experienced crowdfunding consultant with an impressive Kickstarter track record to help you get up and running as quickly as possible. Here is a link to a list of vetted Kickstarter consultants that can be sorted for Film/Video expertise: https://www.kickstarter.com/experts
We also recommend that you contact the Kickstarter film team at film@kickstarter.com to alert them to your project and ask questions.
Finally, please email us at peter@peterbroderick.com or ko@keithochwat.com to let us know you are moving forward. If we learn any more useful information, we will gladly share it with you.
Good luck!
- Peter Broderick and Keith Ochwat
© 2020 Peter Broderick