DIY Filmmaking Sucks

Gaming Netflix: how to get Netflix to buy more DVDs from you (revealed by Netflix executives)

Increasingly, Netflix is the most important DVD distribution channel for ultra-low budget filmmakers (excluding -- if you put in the hard work -- your own website, a merch table at your screenings and perhaps, Amazon.com).

In the DVD rental world, Netflix is increasingly seen as the dominant force, at least until DVDs are dead. And Netflix is already positioning to rule that brave new "Watch Now" world as well.

So when your DVD is finally released, you'll be anxiously waiting to see the Netflix order come to you or your distributor. But what's more depressing than hearing that Netflix has purchased only a hundred copies of your DVD, or even just a dozen? Sadly, this is all too common for small indie and DIY films.

Understandably, you'll demand they buy more DVDs. It's a natural human reaction. Who do they think they are? Everyone feels that way. I'm sure James Cameron thought Netflix should have bought more Avatar DVDs.

Now we know how to make it happen.

At a recent Sundance Institute guru-fest, Netflix execs revealed how to get Netflix to order more DVDs. It's pretty simple: have all your friends and fans put the film in their Netflix queue.

As more people save the film in their Netflix queue, the more DVDs Netflix will order to keep up with demand. And this helps Netflix recommend the film to others, thus providing you with free advertising on Netflix:

When enough people save a title, Netflix buys and puts into circulation an appropriate number of copies, and as more people watch the film it gains traction on the “You Might Also Like” sections.

That's all well and good, but even pure-hearted, ethical DIY filmmakers might wonder (purely academically, of course): can you game Netflix?

Can you orchestrate a campaign to get Netflix to order more DVDs from you?

The answer might be yes.

Here's a mind game for you -- pure speculation based on what the Netflix execs revealed to the Indiewood greybeards at the Sundance summit.

What happens if you get people (a lot of them) to put your film in their queue and always keep it in their top ten next DVDs? Of course, this would be after each getting the DVD from Netflix and watching it once or thrice -- and rating it at five stars too, just for good measure.

If this was done as a sustained campaign by an army of dedicated zealot fans (I'm talking to you Iron Sky and Arin Crumley and yes, you too Cory McAbee...and if we're lucky In-World War someday soon), I'm willing to bet it would move the needle and result in more DVDs ordered.

The downside: Netflix may not look too kindly on such hacking -- excuse me -- creative marketing efforts. They might see through the manufactured demand and not place the order at all. Or, they might take punitive action and remove your film from Netflix entirely as punishment. And as an example to others to discourage similar behavior.

Naw, they'd never do that. Right? Right?

Who's got the chutzpah to test the theory?

Let us know how it goes in the comments.

Read the whole press release about the Sundance event, direct from the source: Sundance Institute: A new world order

DIY film distribution stealing ideas from DIY music labels

The New York Times has a fantastic article that discusses how small indie music labels and others are leveraging DIY music distribution methods for DIY film distribution.

It makes a lot of sense -- the DIY music "industry" has been finding innovative ways to reach their audience for decades.

In fact, the self-distribution plan for the theatrical run of our film Quality of Life was a hybrid combination of indie band outreach and political grassroots organizing. We hired a political organizer and got an ongoing team of volunteers (both friends and interns) to hand out tens of thousands of postcard flyers in cafes, bars, clubs, bookstores, and more (literally over 50,000 of these little bastards printed up cheaply from Overnight Prints -- with times/locations of screenings in each city).

Taking another page from the indie music playbook, we aggressively targeted MySpace (this was before Facebook) and grew a huge group of friends. In NYC, it resulted in 2/3 of our sold-out audience first hearing about the film through MySpace. Go Internet!

In other words: us DIY filmmakers have a lot to learn from the indie/DIY music world.

Take-aways from the article itself:

- A few small indie music labels are using their channels and methods to distribute indie films that might match their audiences, including setting up screenings at bars where they would normally book a band.

- One label is experimenting with bundling the DVD with a special edition vinyl, to make the DVD package more attractive (in the the age of free downloads of anything via the evil Bit Torrent).

- Filmmakers are jumping in old vans and touring around the country showing the film like an indie band on a DIY tour.

This is great stuff and serious inspiration for DIY filmmakers trying to get to in front of an audience.

Read the article:

The New York Times: D.I.Y. Music Labels Embrace D.I.Y. Film

Lenses for indie filmmaking

Choosing a lens (or multiple lenses) to use on your independent film or video project is essential to nailing the "look" of your project.

I'm not a professional DP (Director of Photography) and I don't come out of the camera department, so I'm fairly ignorant (and in awe) of lens technical specs. But as a director, I'm drawn to the narrow focus and zoomability of a long lens (turns out, size does matter -- with a lens). The long ones just look so much more cinematic than a stout wide lens to me.

But really, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when it comes to lenses. All I know is that it's "all about the glass" -- lenses make a huge difference in the visual look of the film.

In fact, lenses are far more important than the camera itself. All things being equal, most HD cameras perform well enough for the most likely viewing experiences for our projects: Internet video and DVD, plus any 1080 or 720 HD exhibition. On the other hand, the lens will make a huge difference; it's the difference between looking cinematic and like community TV.

So when I came across a basic primer on lenses by Matthew Galvin of Active Matrix Networks on the SF Indieclub Yahoo group, I learned some basics and wanted to share it.

Read on to learn the fundamentals of lenses for filmmaking.