Over the past decade, everything has changed for the independent filmmaker. These days, there’s no excuse not to make a feature film. But just as important, there is no excuse for not seeing your film production as a business. That means not only do you have to focus on making the movie, but you really need to have a strategy to make money from your movie.
Many filmmakers spend years making their first feature, only to have their hopes of prosperity dashed at the first sign of rejection and disappointment. The festival circuit can be quite difficult. Throw in thoughts of a non-existent traditional distribution deal, and you might just get very cynical.
To avoid some headaches, before you start rolling the camera, I recommend creating two idealized plans for how your film will make money:
PLAN A: You get everything you want. Its distribution is solid. You have a great audience. You are now financially free and have money in the bank for at least two more movies.
PLAN B: You did the festivals. You got the meetings (or maybe not) but nothing happened. You have a lot of hot air, but no action. If this happens, what is your strategy to make money from your film?
Generally speaking, here are some steps you can take to start selling your movie:
1. Set up an account on CreateSpace. Present your film as a digital download, rental and physical sale. Unless you want to spend all your time shipping things, consider letting those people handle shipping and order fulfillment. Yes, they will take a big part. But at the same time, all you have to do is cash checks. Also, choose a price that ends in 7. For some reason, people like this number. $14.97 – maybe.
2. Redesign your website. Up until this point, he’s had a website that features a ton of production photos and extra cute stuff from the movie. Get rid of all the extra stuff. Includes a high-res trailer, a low-res trailer, and a “BUY IT NOW” button. It also includes one of those social media buttons that lets you tell your friends.
3. You’ll know if your trailer isn’t good. If people don’t buy your movie, consider upgrading your trailer. The trailer should reflect the best aspects of your movie, without giving it all away. You need to target your target audience. If you’re missing the mark, cut back. Also, be sure to include a trailer on YouTube with a 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. This 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. Once again, make sure you are targeting your target audience.
5. Test, test, and test again. Install Google Analytics on 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 kind of thing, great. If you don’t, you’re in luck. There are many Marketing Producer Consultants who are willing to work with you and help you achieve your movie making goals!
