What's a plausible mix of the various platforms in the marketing plan for a low-budget (sub-$1MM) feature?
Of the four rough distribution categories:
- theatrical
- licensed streaming
- ad-supported revenue share
- self distribution
… I assume a good marketing plan would arrange these sequentially rather than in parallel. But what dollar allocations work best? Should marketing bucks, in a pitch to investors, be divided equally among them?
(Looks like theatrical has shriveled into a loss-leader for indies, so maybe it's a dispensable cost.)
Is it best to stagger the use of these 4 categories over time? I presume a licensed sale to Hulu, e.g., precludes a simultaneous exploitation on an ad-supported platform like Amazon, etc.
So: how to talk intelligently about this to investors?
Hi John, yeah most theatrical releases at this level are ones that you fund yourself to help market your VOD release and the VOD release is done through windowing - TVOD, SVOD, then AVOD. What investors normally care about is how/when they will paid back so walking them through the process and the timeline and the windowing strategy will at least show them you know what you're doing with your film and how to get it to market. If you can't talk intelligently about it, then you should have someone on your team who can to give them the confidence. Hope this helps!
OK, so, generally speaking: over what timespan would I release a sub-$1MM feature, in the order you suggest (TVOD, SVOD, then AVOD)? I mean a nominal or paradigmatic schedule—assuming it returns its minimum projected ROI—would that be over a year? Two or more years? Longer?
Hi Stacey. Always love your posts! I have a question. I'm producing an ULB feature film in Philly in late summer/ early fall and we're looking at distribution options. The director told me about Bingeable. Have you heard of it? Basically, Bingeable is a way for people to use social media to market and directly sell movies.
If we were to explore this, it brings up a question for me about cast, so I thought I'd ask you, since you're so up on all these things. In terms of budget allocation, if we went a Bingeable-type route, do you think it would be better to go with an influencer instead of a name actor? Clearly, the acting standard has to be high, but that doesn't always mean name cast, as you know. And also an influencer could have a supporting, not starring, role.
@nanou - looks like a handy tool! The question is, will it be around in 1-3-5 years? In other words, I wouldn't bank your entire distribution plan (and cast plan) on a platform that isn't necessarily proven or been around long. On the other hand, since it's a micro budget there isn't much to lose since it's non-exclusive and you can still put out on other free ad-supported platforms simultaneously if you wanted (or utilizing a clever windowing strategy). Personally I wouldn't put all your eggs in the influencer basket since how do you know they will still be around to help market the film and if they'll actually follow through. Maybe derrick by casting just one influencer and the rest actors so you can do a bit of diversification. Let me know if this is helpful or if it brings up other questions too - thanks!
Hi Stacey, I'm curious what stage would the pursuit of a consultation make sense? Script stage, financing/ casting stage, when movie is in production, post, etc?
Stacey—if you can generalize—
What's a plausible mix of the various platforms in the marketing plan for a low-budget (sub-$1MM) feature?
Of the four rough distribution categories:
- theatrical
- licensed streaming
- ad-supported revenue share
- self distribution
… I assume a good marketing plan would arrange these sequentially rather than in parallel. But what dollar allocations work best? Should marketing bucks, in a pitch to investors, be divided equally among them?
(Looks like theatrical has shriveled into a loss-leader for indies, so maybe it's a dispensable cost.)
Is it best to stagger the use of these 4 categories over time? I presume a licensed sale to Hulu, e.g., precludes a simultaneous exploitation on an ad-supported platform like Amazon, etc.
So: how to talk intelligently about this to investors?
Hi John, yeah most theatrical releases at this level are ones that you fund yourself to help market your VOD release and the VOD release is done through windowing - TVOD, SVOD, then AVOD. What investors normally care about is how/when they will paid back so walking them through the process and the timeline and the windowing strategy will at least show them you know what you're doing with your film and how to get it to market. If you can't talk intelligently about it, then you should have someone on your team who can to give them the confidence. Hope this helps!
OK, so, generally speaking: over what timespan would I release a sub-$1MM feature, in the order you suggest (TVOD, SVOD, then AVOD)? I mean a nominal or paradigmatic schedule—assuming it returns its minimum projected ROI—would that be over a year? Two or more years? Longer?
Hi Stacey. Always love your posts! I have a question. I'm producing an ULB feature film in Philly in late summer/ early fall and we're looking at distribution options. The director told me about Bingeable. Have you heard of it? Basically, Bingeable is a way for people to use social media to market and directly sell movies.
If we were to explore this, it brings up a question for me about cast, so I thought I'd ask you, since you're so up on all these things. In terms of budget allocation, if we went a Bingeable-type route, do you think it would be better to go with an influencer instead of a name actor? Clearly, the acting standard has to be high, but that doesn't always mean name cast, as you know. And also an influencer could have a supporting, not starring, role.
Thoughts?
Thank you!!
@nanou - looks like a handy tool! The question is, will it be around in 1-3-5 years? In other words, I wouldn't bank your entire distribution plan (and cast plan) on a platform that isn't necessarily proven or been around long. On the other hand, since it's a micro budget there isn't much to lose since it's non-exclusive and you can still put out on other free ad-supported platforms simultaneously if you wanted (or utilizing a clever windowing strategy). Personally I wouldn't put all your eggs in the influencer basket since how do you know they will still be around to help market the film and if they'll actually follow through. Maybe derrick by casting just one influencer and the rest actors so you can do a bit of diversification. Let me know if this is helpful or if it brings up other questions too - thanks!
Thank you, Stacey. Good points!
Hi Stacey, I'm curious what stage would the pursuit of a consultation make sense? Script stage, financing/ casting stage, when movie is in production, post, etc?
For distribution it would be once the film is completed...