The DIY cognoscenti flocked to Los Angeles this past weekend for a double-barreled dose of wisdom, proffered first on Saturday by distribution and new media gurus Peter Broderick and Scott Kirsner at the day-long Distribution U seminar at USC (Documentary's own Tamara Krinsky will deliver a report in the future). The next day, and across town in Santa Monica at the American Film Market, IDA sponsored a panel, "The DIY Distribution Playbook: What's Working Now, and What's Coming Next," that filled the room for what was one of the few docu-centric offerings at the Market. Moderated by IDA Board member and Distribber CEO Adam Chapnick, the panel included filmmakers Sacha Gervasi (Anvil!: The Story of Anvil), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden) and Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor), all of whom seem to have been clocking as much time on the fall panel appearance circuit as on the festival circuit. Lisa Smithline, a guru in her own right in terms of marketing strategy, rounded out the panel.
While the economic collapse has fueled the drive to DIY over the past two years, for Gervasi and Tyrnauer, the strategy to go it alone was equally informed by the paltry offers they received--those seven-figure days are long gone--as it was by the need to control the process and get the film out there in the smartest, best way possible.
And both filmmakers had strokes of luck in the strangest ways. For Tyrnauer, filmmaker Ivan Reitman had seen the film, then screened it for his neighbor, the great and powerful Oprah-whose people insisted to Tyrnauer that she was not interested. But she was: "I want to tell the world about your movie," she exclaimed to the filmmaker at a party, to which he replied, "Please do." And thus he was "Ophrah'd." The film ran for six months in the theaters, and made $1.7 million.
Garvasi's happy accident occurred in the basement of a pub in Prague that was hosting a heavy metal film festival. Of all the gin joints in the world, two executives from VH1 happened to stumble on this one--and loved Anvil., enough to showcase the trailer, promote the Anvil Experience tour, and air the film. Then more manna: New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane praised the film in his million-circulation publication, AC-DC invited Anvil to open for them; Chris Martin of Coldplay tweeted about the film to his followers; and Pearl Jam and Madonna circulated the film among their respective posses.
Scorr Kennedy didn't have those kind of high-wire experiences with The Garden--his audience of "radicals, lefties and greenies" doesn't have that kind of clout--but he still books three non-theatrical screenings per week, some eight months after the theatrical premiere. Lisa Smithline stressed that "outreach must begin the day you begin making the film." And all panelists agreed with Smithline that despite the less-than-promising state of the theatrical market, "We need theaters for reviews and a profile, as a platform to move forward."
And all panelists stressed to keep as many of your rights as possible--DVD, website, non-theatrical screenings, educational markets--and create a sound website strategy using all the social networking tools at your disposal to generate repeat visitors. "Show up at all your premieres, and meet your audience," Tyrnauer said. He never knew that national sewing groups even existed, but they came to see Valentino in droves.
A vital part of DIY is publicity and marketing, and a good publicist can cost up to $15,000 per month. Tyrnauer suggested that a combination of publicists for three months and interns for the duration of the run might be more cost-effective. Smithline advised to raise an equal amount of money for publicity, distribution and marketing as you would for the production and post-production costs. Know the lead times of major publications and hold off on pitching for a major article until around your release date. "You don't want to fire your gun too soon," Garvasi advised.
DIY is at once empowering and exhausting. But it's the once and future reality--one that takes a lot of chutzpah and a little luck. "Don't give away your power," Garvasi advised. "And don't take no for an answer."