Distribution

Congratulations on THE FILM/TV EXTRA placing as a Semi-Finalist, Ricardo Santiago Soto! Have you thought about posting your film on YouTube or Vimeo?

Hi Maurice, thank you! Yes, it's currently on YouTube placed on private mode for film festivals to view for now. I will probably open it up on YouTube for the public to watch thereafter.

You're welcome, Ricardo Santiago Soto. Hope you get distribution for your documentary! I'm looking forward to watching it!

The ever dilemma strikes again! I compiled a list of distributors over 3 years, all with names and contacts and their approach. I think I'll turn it into a public database for all - no reason to sit on it and I'm not a shark looking to sell it. Give me a week ;)

Hi Randall, wow, that is very noble of you to provide this valuable database. I purchased a list of nationwide theaters, as well as, colleges and universities, but the data is old, so I have to clean it up by adding fresh information to it. It will surely take me a while to work these lists of mine. I am curious how your public database will look. IDA has a public database of grants, while FilmDaily.tv charges a monthly to annual fee. I think either model would work well for you. I hope you are rewarded in some way!

Paul Norman Rich I have dealt with Chinese partners in various transactions. They are highly skilled in manufacturing and production, but intellectual property (IP) rights violations remain a significant concern. This issue isn’t unique to China—once you operate outside most Western markets, your risk of IP infringement increases substantially, and enforcement can be extremely challenging. Often, you may need to sue an infringer in their own jurisdiction, which can be complicated, time-consuming, and costly.

After reading this article, any enterprise with content appealing to teens with little tiny screens, might win big.

With so much content available for audiences today, it’s no surprise to hear COL Group mention in the article: “That gives us the insight and agility to help partners move quickly in a space where audience attention is won or lost in seconds.” The power in this new kind of media is this: it combines the depth and intrigue of a show that has aired for multiple seasons with the low commitment of scrolling on short-form content platforms such as TikTok. No longer do audiences have to sacrifice quantity of content for quality.

As to the questions, I do think that the industry will begin to see more short-form serialized content in the West as audiences continue to crave more emotional attachment to stories in an increasingly shorter amount of time. With the popularity of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, the market seems prime for the adoption of serialized short-form content. If these prove to be audiences’ true preferences, then I believe AI-generated content could absolutely be a tool that promotes the growth of this short-form serialized content, especially if content creators begin to train LLMs on this new content.

Ashley Renee Smith Short form serialized content is a massive win. See TikTok and YouTube. The eyeballs it will get will prove it. People love short content and currently, platforms like TikTok help creators create huge followings. Some will post in both TT and YouTube. Comedians are killing it in this genre. https://www.tiktok.com/@steveioe/video/7542615534584515871

There are also so many crime story, Appalachian Mountain stories, and other series that has people coming back for more. I think this is a natural progression for the film market.

Having a teenager, I get about 3 micro-dramas a day.

What is not clear is she does say she has a backer. Maybe an investor? If an investor wants to fund the shooting of a speculative pilot, I am not sure the creator would say no but its extremely risky and a huge gamble by the investor.

Hi Kenneth George, Geoff Harris and Stephen Folker, thanks so much for all your comments they're all so helpful. I have an institution through a third party willing to back this, and I've been in a meeting with a fellow producer here in SA who says to stay clear of it. It's like you mentioned "really risky" as it would seem the money I would receive would be minus a huge chunk but written into the contract so cleverly that you'd think it was legit. I would actually end up with a small amount to shoot with. It's basically fraud and set up so well you'd think you it was all above board. It's really quite scary what some people will do to make money.

I'm not shooting a POC either, I'm going the route that Geoff Harris suggested and am putting together a deck as well. At least I can sleep at night now!

Again, thanks to all of you for being so helpful....I really appreciate your thoughts and thanks to Stage 32 as well.

Janice Foster It's obvious to be cautious.

Jon Shallit While it might be tempting to label something we don’t fully understand as a scam, it isn’t necessarily one in the usual sense. Some forms of capital come at a very high cost, often involving a significant loss of control or commercial interest in the project. It’s possible to find someone willing to finance a project, but they may require enough control to limit their own risk. She still needs to be cautious and carefully weigh her options before proceeding.

Jon Shallit of course.

Did they give an advance? A minimum guarantee?

no sir-- they did not....

Hi! I'm so happy to share the news that I've finished editing my latest short! All that's left is the coloring and the sound mix!!

Do you have any favorite fantasy or horror festivals?

To find out more about the film (French only): https://www.macrotoute.ca/shortfilm/10-jours-plus-tard/

Congratulations on finishing editing your short, Luis Dion-Dussault!

Maurice Vaughan thanks a lot!!!

You're welcome, Luis Dion-Dussault.

Ashley Renee Smith I'm looking forward to seeing some of these come into my Crave/HBO listings soon.

Ashley Renee Smith That makes total sense. Global internet usage is around 72%. Northern Europe has about 97% penetration, and Western Europe around 90%, both slightly higher than North America at approximately 89%. This makes Europe a very attractive market to enter.

Hi Don Zorbas - I highly recommend this Stage 32 webinar taught by Kate Reed Davies on how to monetize and get distribution for your short film - Kate's guidance on this is top notch! https://www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-monetize-and-get-distr...

Hey Don Zorbas Would love to connect on your experience and pain points with trying to do this? I'm currently trying to build out a way to make short film distribution more common.

Wonder how that will impact the ad model and payouts for filmmakers?

The smart money's on it will be more ads and less money for filmmakers. Disney is not a generous company

ESPN and NAT GEO are tiles on Disney+ with their own libraries and such... I wonder if Hulu will end up it's own tile like that. And I get the strange bedfellows, Pat Alexander, but it wasn't long ago that eOne - the company of Peppa Pig - bought Death Row Records. It was all a funky marraige but they sold for $4B so ultimately content remains king.

Branding and rebranding are nothing new, especially with tech companies. Through focus groups and stats on users, businesses are always trying to leverage which words resonate most with the public. Microsoft and Google especially often rename their services.

The HBO Max saga is rather eye-roll inducing, because it’s never a good look to go back to something you abandoned. But people were still calling it HBO Max anyway, and ultimately the public has a short memory. The “Max” phase will soon be forgotten.

Many don’t remember all the names Prime Video went through. Here’s an article I wrote on the subject a few years ago.

https://maddogmovies.com/2018/03/12/branding-amazon-video/

I don’t find the Disney / Hulu relationship confusing at all. Disney owns Hulu. You can bundle your Hulu subscription with Disney+ and get the Hulu tab in the Disney app.

Oh, I just saw the other post about the Disney Hulu changes. If they merge the apps I bet they keep the Hulu branding for a while, then maybe have an FX tab instead.

Debbie - I always get a kick out of the Variety Illuminate newsletters that list the moving executives, it’s like the Dead Sea scroll

LMAO! Amanda Toney

Right? Ultimately, its HBO and Disney. As fresh as they want to be, its easier to leverage brand awareness than it is to build new brand awareness. New Coke anyone?? Put all the energy into fresh shows and movies and discovering new talent, not new streaming platform names IMHO.

Great tips, Debbie Elicksen! I used to just write scripts and figure out a pitch plan later, but I come up with a plan when I outline a script now. And sometimes the plan changes.

You have most definitely given me inspiration. I will definitely check out the video tomorrow. It is just a biit late here in Germany now.

Always great to see the fabulous advice and ideas that you bring, Debbie Elicksen. We live in the most exciting times ever to make your projects and get them out to yoru audience. Very cool.