Is There Still An Argument To Be Made For Theatrical Releases?
+ what to spend, what to expect, and weighing pro's and con's
One of the most common questions I got from my Profiting from Digital-First Distribution newsletter the other day was this:
What about theatrical releases - is there an argument for them in the independent film world?
☝️ I’m gonna cut right to the chase on this one….
You might be surprised to hear me say that YES, I do believe there is an argument to made. Under certain circumstances though….
• You have an impact film where doing a road show, or series of events, getting in front of your audiences with Q+A’s, discussions, etc. can make a big difference in the actual impact your film has. I can speak from experience on this one as I’ve Produced at least five impact films and each and every time, investing in a theatrical release tour made sense for our goals (which were strictly tied to impact, not profit).
• There’s certain windows like Premium TVOD that require a small theatrical release to get on select platforms at all, so oftentimes Distributors will fund or recommend you fund a small 5-10 theater release to make those platforms available for your film. It’s debatable whether the investment in even a 5-10 theatrical release is ‘worth it’ for any potential returns from this Premium window and I’ve had it both help, and not help releases depending on if the film catches legs with audiences.
• You want a chance at mainstream Press (like NYT, LA Times, New Yorker, etc.). The reason I say chance is because it’s not guaranteed that if you invest in a theatrical release that you’ll get that level of press, but it at least makes you eligible for it. This strategy can also backfire! What if the Press is actually bad? That can tank your release and has happened on many occasions even in the Studio world. By contrast, after our small 5 screen theatrical release on Pinball, the positive press we received off that far outweighed what we spent on hiring a PR team in the first place! It created a halo effect that we’re still benefiting from over a year later, but it’s definitely an outlier case.
Is There A Counter Argument?
Yes! Theatrical releases are not exactly cheap to execute. Maybe you can get away with a $50K budget for a few theaters to cover publicity, marketing, theater booking, and delivery but most of mine have run well into the six figures when all is said and done. Studio level releases (hundreds of screens) run into the multi-millions and are still mostly considered loss leaders or break evens at best.
Case in point, even the big Streamers are opting out of doing big theatrical releases like they have been over the last couple years to placate directors and stars. The most recent causality being Apple’s well publicized pivot on the George Clooney / Brat Pitt starrer Wolfs - from a wide theatrical release to a few token theaters before going straight to the Apple TV+ platform. Ouch.
Simply put, Theatrical economics don’t work once you take into account the cost of advertising and marketing these major releases (P&A). In the past, the Streamers were happy to just break even on the Theatrical window, but reports say they’re not even breaking even anymore so we’re going to see many more ‘straight to streaming’ releases even on the biggest titles 🤷🏻♀️
To Theatrical or Not?
In short, there’s Pro’s and Con’s to a Theatrical release depending on your goals.
I almost always advise clients not to bother with one unless they have deep pockets or a funding source to cover P&A expenditures, or unless their goals are aligned more with impact rather than breaking even or profitability.
What are your thoughts around doing a Theatrical release for an independent film?
Let me know in the comments below….
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Have a wonderful weekend ahead and speak to you again soon!
Stacey
PS: Due to popular demand, I may start offering Distribution Audits as a one-off service to help optimize your film’s release. If interested, email me at stacey@filmspecific.com a link to your completed trailer and what your goals are and I’ll see if I can help :)
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Hey Stacey. I like all you are doing here, but I have to say on this point, I beg to differ. I think it is rare for True Indies to successfully find a home on digital releases now, at least those on the major Global Streaming Platforms. They don't make money for niche movies and they should be avoided until the last step in their cycle. I wrote more about it here. https://tedhope.substack.com/p/it-is-time-for-doc-and-indie-filmmakers
I’ve had some sort of theatrical release for most of my films, and even though the economics don’t always work in our favor, it has helped with streamer deals by raising the profile of the film, and I even had a very lucrative foreign deal tied to a US theatrical commitment on a film. Even though every film and situation is different and the landscape is always changing, it’s my opinion that anything you can do to stand out in the vast sea of content is something very much worth considering.