Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2012-13
Independent Movie Marketing Chin Li Zhi School of Art, Design and Media
Asst Prof Ina Conradi Chavez School of Art, Design and Media
Abstract - Through the use of a non-traditional experimental animation, this project seeks to determine the viability of internet-based media publishing platforms as a means of self-publication for independent artists and filmmakers to gain exposure in the international market for an otherwise niche category of media.
The responses will then be collected and charted to determine whether the use of online publishing platforms is a viable workflow for effective and successful self publication based on the criteria of time involved, costs incurred, acceptability rates and ease of use.
3 LITERATURE REVIEW / BACKGROUND
Keywords - independent films, movie marketing, distribution, publication
The independent film community has historically faced many problems, ranging from financial problems to marketing and distribution problems. However, as filmmaker Ted Hope, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society states, the main problem that most independent filmmakers face is that of marketing. Instead of "reinventing the wheel" for each film and sourcing an entirely new target audience, independent filmmakers should seek to maintain an ongoing relationship with their communities [1]. Nevertheless, even if independent filmmakers manage to strike an ongoing conversation with their audience, they face another more pressing problem with their industry - that of finance.
1 INTRODUCTION Independent artists face an uphill task to market and promote their work, often facing problems regarding distribution channels and financial viability. However, the rise of the Internet has democratized the flow of information worldwide, with consumers now given the ability to become content creators themselves. With this change in the content publishing landscape, independent artists can now leverage the global reach of the Internet to effectively self publish their work, circumventing the institutions and systems that once restricted their practice.
In the independent film community, finance is almost synonymous with survival, and often ranked as the topmost priority, which inevitably causes the content and art to suffer [1].
This project will be focusing on a non-linear experimental animation, because it exists in a genre that traditionally does not perform well in the market and hence has historically only flourished in underground cinemas. Through the use of online media publishing platforms, we seek to determine whether the extended reach of the internet can increase the exposure and distribution of the experimental animation to the mainstream market, and hence establishing the viability of online platforms as a tool for independent artists to self publish and market their work.
However, even for independent filmmakers who are successful in the market, the issue of finance can be a surprisingly complex problem to navigate. A good case study of this would be that of This is That Corporation, arguably one of the most successful independent production companies in America. Their film The American was #1 in the American Box Office in 2010 and the first film to be sold at the Toronto International Film Festival. Yet, in the exact same year they were forced to close down. Independent filmmaking, as Hope says, is an unsustainable business model. [1] The costs of making a film, from the preproduction to the postproduction stages, not to mention the marketing, promotion and distribution costs, simply cannot be sustained without the multimillion dollar budgets that Hollywood has.
2 AIMS / OBJECTIVES Online media publishing platforms now give content creators powerful tools to maximize exposure and distribution of their content worldwide, circumventing traditional obstacles such as marketing budgets and distribution rights and channels. The goal of this project therefore will be to use a nonlinear experimental animation (traditionally considered fringe media without mass market appeal) and self publish it through three selected online media publishing platforms: Withoutabox (WAB), Shortfilmdepot (SFD) and Reelport (RP) to film festivals worldwide.
Adding to the already seemingly insurmountable problems that independent filmmakers face is the issue of content. Independent filmmakers, with their already stretched budgets and focus on survival, face the problem of not being able to generate content that is original, and even if they are able to come up with
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