
Audience members from Seize the Power: A Marketing (DIY)stribution Symposium
Attending last month’s (DIY)stribution Symposium at the L.A. Film Festival was energizing and inspirational. Talks ranged from funding strategies, to digital fulfillment solutions, to the new trend in advocacy-driven distribution, given by Caitlin Boyle, founder of Film Sprout. Be sure to visit the Seize the Power website for a full list of speakers and topics.
After two days of so much innovation and revolution, my belief in the artist as entrepreneur was firmly implanted in my consciousness, but has there ever really been another option for artists? Some of us may bemoan the fact that traditional distribution methods are getting harder to come by, but I think the change is only for the better. A documentary filmmaker I recently met told me that a name distributor was selling her film to the academic market for a mere 80% of the profit! Finding your buyer and sending them a targeted email is not rocket science, people. Distributors may act like they’re doing you a favor by distributing your film and taking most of the profit, but thankfully I think that’s changing.