One of the things that's clear to me as I've been in the sales/acquisition world over the past few years is that series have many more possible outlets and buyers than just a single one-off film.
As I am calling around to get international distribution for Quality of Life, I often get asked how many other programs I'll be producing this year. They ask: is this the only film I have? (It is...for now.)
Most distributors want to know you have a library of films or projects headed their way. Often, it's just too much of a pain for them to do all the administrative paperwork (and marketing groundwork) for one film.
Also, if you're doing the vendor-by-vendor legwork yourself, it's far better to make a larger sale with a larger number of titles. Wouldn't you rather sell ten copies each of five or ten DVDs rather than just ten copies of one?
Our friend Bob Bryan, of Graffiti Verite does that. He's got a whole series of six semi-related films he's produced over the past ten years. He puts them under the same title, to help him sell. Of course, these are documentary films, not narratives. But still, he's able to sell the six-pack instead of just one.
The best solution under these circumstances: create a TV series -- or think like you are. An ongoing series of episodes that can be sold as multiple DVDs or as a TV package of seasons -- that would really interest buyers if it's done right (i.e. strong target audience appeal).
It's also a great way to think of your one-shot film: can it be expanded into multiple titles or a TV series, in case it takes off? And so you don't have to recreate the wheel when it's time to build an audience.
This is exactly why Hollywood does so many damn sequels. They're on to something here and us indie folks can do it too.
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