Filmmaker Bryan Hall’s take on AFM 2009

Here's my take on AFM this year. I went with a finished film in hand, Paper Boys, a hip, irreverent teenage boy's coming-of-age film with a serious main story and a series comic ensemble relief. Forty-five screeners were distributed about a month before the market and a little bit of validation of the film's merit from a few festivals and awards. Our film had no known actors and was for the most part, a drama, but could be marketed for its comic relief much like Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Dead Poets Society.

Firstly, pre-distributing screeners within less than 3 months prior to the market means they will not be seen until after the market; they will just go into the stack no matter how meritorious because they have already selected the films they will market, thus my film was considered a mid year or next year's acquisition.

Next, having not actually seen the film, the distributors ask for a standard pitch, despite having a finished product which speaks for itself. Frankly, a pitch is moot, if the execution of the script and concept were bad. But, one must humor the distributor, and one hears the same immediate excuses from distributors you would if it were simply an unproduced script.

Here are the initial objections from the distributors:

1) It doesn't have star-power. As if there are no profitable films with unknown actors.

2) We assume it is about three men talking in a room for two hours on that small budget.

3) All the films you reference are anachronisms. Yours couldn't possibly be such a standout as those.

4) It doesn't have pre-validation from either having been a famous book, play or event.

5) We are in a depression. Nobody wants to see a serious independent film. The word "drama" was a deal killer across the board.

6) This is the third day of the market; come back later.

7) This is the fifth day of the market; we didn't sell well and won't have much room for new acquisitions. We are going home to kill ourselves (and you should too).

8) Of course, all of this will change after we see your film and it entertains us.

9) Then, let's see if we could make a trailer that will get audiences to give it a chance. Oh, and if you has no stars, forget theatrical distribution!

So much for Slumdog Millionaire ...

Seriously, if you are not one of the films that they believe will pack the house, just from seeing your poster or from its shocking high-concept, good luck. Festivals think the same way, because no one wants to actually spend any money to market a project. It should sell itself.

The truth is, thousands of low budget films have made handsome returns for investors and distributors with or without big names attached. Of course, budgets are lower now as we take advantage of digital production, post and marketing methods. Actors are even working for less these days too, even name-brands! It is possible to make a good film for a million dollars, or far less if your production was partially or fully deferred due to cooperation and revenue participation.

All the distributor has to do is identify the theaters that have digital projection, and the budget for prints disappears. This is very possible for independents, who don't need 3,000 screens. Of course, estimates are there are well over a 1,000 screens fully prepared for digital distribution and exhibition.

We suggest platforming. Put it in ten0 theaters at a time. Spend a little money airing some trailers in a few markets until you find what works; then expand distribution when you have a successful approach. But platforming is work, and most distributors simply want to place something on their website and list it in their catalog.

Next step, do it yourself (DIY)? Perhaps, or you may actually pay someone to distribute it for you, but make sure they work for the money you pay. Yes, many distributors are willing to take your film if you pay them $10-20-thousand dollars, which would have been unheard of or at least insulting last year. But, if you plan to do-it-yourself, you will need to spend some money on a good publicist to get some buzz and take a chance with reviewers. Ignore the bad ones and cherish the good ones. Add blurbs and laurels for the posters and ads.

Then, go to Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster and work your own deal. Any way you can get seen will build value for long term revenue streams perhaps from TV, cable and PayTV. Pay-per-view for indies is technically up and running, but you must do it with auditable sources. Selling physical DVDs is almost impossible until you already have some acclaim and buzz.

Meanwhile, consider the terrifying task of DIY and wait for the distributors to get through the stack and hope one of them is creative, hard-working and hasn't run out of money. The stats are not great as we see only 180 film starts projected for the next year compared to 400-500 in previous ones. Worse, the budgets are much lower on average, unless you are a studio and they are just in the business of building roller coasters and video games and calling them movies.

Finally, let's say you have found an avenue for proper exhibition and your revenue projections look good on paper. According to a Producer's Guild Panel at the AFM this year, billions of dollars a year are now pouring out through online and DVD piracy. Imagine, even $1-billion would fund the production of 1,000 $1-million budgets. Yes, we need the big budget films to make money so their profits can be used to make indies!

The biggest film out right now, is 2012, an end of the world thrill-ride. The truth is for this business, there may be few films made in response to the films that were bought this year and this could be apocalyptic for years to come, leaving us with ... reality?

(Bryan E Hall is the writer/producer/director of Paper Boys. He is a master’s graduate of USC Film and Head of Aware Productions in Atlanta. His website is: awareproductions.blogspot.com. He can be reached at: bryanehall@hotmail.com)