DIY Film Releasing Call to Action: Save Cash, Lest You Run Out of Gas!

Posted by Jim on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in Author • Jeremy Juuso - Specialty Film Researcher and Consultant • Film Blogs • Film Business Planning • Film Revenue & ROI • (6) Comments • Permalink •

Roughly 1-in-4 specialty films from 2009 were DIY releases. And by that I mean they were cases in which the producers released the film into theaters themselves (“four-walling”) or did so through a distributor-for-hire (“service deal”).

Not surprisingly, there were some noticeable differences between DIY and non-DIY films, as the following table illustrates:


      
However, most striking to me is that DIY releases were able to generate nearly the same amount of interest as distributor-led releases in their opening weekend. The median per venue average favors distributors by a mere 2% on opening weekend. On the other hand, once the second weekend rolls around, this difference expands to roughly 29%. And finally, when theatrical is complete, the DIY median box office total stands at half its non-DIY counterpart.

There are two main reasons for this post-opening drop off: commercial appeal and cash. While changes are clearly afoot, I think it’s safe to say that most current DIY releases are DIY by necessity, and not by choice. Naturally, the films with greater commercial appeal will be the ones picked up for distribution, and examining a group of wide appeal product versus a group of low appeal product skews the results.

This brings me to cash.

Specifically, because most DIY releases are DIY by necessity, this leaves producers to expend every last resource, monetary and emotional, in doing the job of a distributor and firing up interest for opening weekend. In fact, as the numbers suggest, producers seem to be doing a fairly decent job of this. The killer, however, is in the following weekend.

As mentioned before, the public obviously has a limited appetite for less commercial films. However, an equally important reason for week-two DIY falloff is that without money to support that second weekend of release, it doesn’t really matter how well your film may have opened, you will be dead in the water.

Distributors have the luxury of spending money to chase a hot opening. At the very least, many have a line of credit they can tap into if no cash is immediately on hand. Most DIY releases do not. Everything is typically spent in pursuit of opening weekend glory, but the resulting revenues from opening weekend will not be physically returned to producers until well after the second weekend, and by that time the buzz is over.

So, what’s the remedy?

Raise enough money for your release from the start, even before you begin shooting – and don’t blow it all on opening weekend! When approaching investors you need to make plans for the worst and request sufficient funds for the very real possibility that no distributor will want your film on terms that are favorable to your investors. And most importantly, you must raise enough money to have leftover gas in the tank for chasing a hot opening.

Otherwise, you may be left in the back seat like Terry Malloy, lamenting what could have been…

Jeremy Juuso (www.jeremyjuuso.com) Author Getting the Money: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing Business Plans for Film Jeremy Juuso is author of ‘Getting the Money: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing Business Plans for Film’ (available nationwide) and ‘The AKA Report,’ the only ongoing survey of specialty films and their financing sources. He consults with filmmakers and movie investors through Jeremy Juuso Consulting and serves as financial advisor to Fly High Films. Jeremy graduated cum laude in economics from Harvard College.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  July 29, 2010 at 08:22 AM

This is an interesting piece. I would tend to agree with the raising of funds part, but in a world where most indie filmmakers don’t raise enough money to finish the film or they run out due to poor planning, the mere suggestion of raising MORE cash may fall on deaf ears. Most indie filmmakers don’t put enough into the development, let alone save little or any money for P&A and distro. I’ve been talking about this subject for years with very little acceptance to these theories. People want so much to cut their budgets to make something fit rather than simply doing more due diligence and possibly raising the budget to fit a more structured plan of attack. In the cases above, self-distro. Then the term “self distro” may be somewhat misleading. The filmmakers do not necessarily have to travel around and peddle the film out of the trunk of their cars. With enough distro capital, outside companies can be hired to do most or all of the work. So I put this question to every independent filmmaker: Why would you attempt to do it any differently than it has been done for 100 years?  -Russell Hess, Producer/Distributor

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  July 29, 2010 at 06:19 PM

is the budget their marketing budget or budget of the films?

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  July 29, 2010 at 08:52 PM

Interesting. I think this indicates a new trend toward DIY film successes, even though they may not be competing in the “second week”. I’d like to see the same numbers for 2008 or 2007. I’ll bet they were much lower and even effectively non-existent. If so, this would indicate that next year we’ll see these numbers increase, and the traditional measures of things like the “second week” may become irrelevant.

Now, check out my latest blog at http://outinthestreetfilms.com/wp/?p=175 - I propose that if all the many thousands of us indie filmmakers out there would support each other, go to indie screenings and buy indie films, instead of spending cash ion the cineplex; well then we’d see some real progress. Drop your premium cable tier and buy some indie films. Put your money where your mouth is.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  July 30, 2010 at 09:10 AM

I agree about the need for marketing funds as a lack of funds cripple many good indie films. However, there may be another issue at play besides just the lack of funds contributing to a 2nd weekend drop-off. For many films you may have already exhausted the audience for your film after one week in that market.

One example for the DIY film is to look at one day releases where you can create some urgency for the screening. Then return to those markets where you were successful. The DIY indie film is usually not a mainstream commercial film so copying the model that is used by mainstream commercial films might not be the right strategy. It may be that indie DIY films need to be as creative with their release strategies as they are with their films.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  July 30, 2010 at 03:51 PM

I think we need to get beyond the box office in terms of DIY releasing. While it’s great to see the impact of the initial release, one thing filmmakers often don’t talk about is the need for ongoing cash flow.

In my experience, it’s great to continually get paid from VOD and other outlets - my first title has been steadily selling for over 3 years. And while it’s not enough to retire on, over time it’s been a great addition to other titles in my ever building library.

The world of distribution is changing. An I think it’s a great time to make movies!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  August 22, 2010 at 05:30 PM

Due to the reclassification of a film, there’s been a slight change to the numbers posted in the table above. The result has actually pushed DIY on top opening weekend. The revised table can be found at:

http://jeremyjuuso.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!