Distribution

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.

Janice Foster It's obvious to be cautious.

So many scams prey on creatives. I get so many emails, texts, each day. On here, watch for people with NO BIOS. They say they are producers, financing films, etc.

Someone once said:

"Behind every great fortune is a great crime".

Ever wonder why high budget films cost so much? I have asked that question many times.

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.

Just my personal experiences. Maybe yours are different.

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.

Traditional cable companies are struggling — worried about the streamers, I think. Not surprising about the possible sale of A+E. The real powerhouse is YouTube. Their viewership is as big as the major streamers combined.

Not surprised Ashley Renee Smith that Disney is trying to up their game. I don't know about the US content, but it sucks wind in Canada. Absolutely not worth the subscription. Hardly any new content.

A quote from that Deadline article captures my thoughts exactly:

“Cord cutting and a shift to streaming that accelerated during Covid have been steadily shrinking the audience for linear across the industry.”

The disappearance of linear television for "bingeable" streaming is continuing to persist even after the pandemic. As Maria Baltazzi mentions, Youtube TV has currently taken over the linear television space as an affordable and accessible way to watch live content. However, even streaming platforms like Netflix are beginning to step into the live sports space by streaming boxing events (Taylor V. Serrano, Paul V. Tyson) and WWE Raw. With streaming’s revenue model split between VOD content, live events, ads, and gaming content, these platforms force other players in the space to have an increasingly flexible and competitive distribution strategy that caters to this rapidly-shifting industry. Future filmmakers can no longer rely solely on the standard theatrical-release distribution model, especially if streaming continues to have as lasting an impact on the industry as currently projected.

Interesting prospect. Perhaps looking to take advantage of the value while it remains intact. I would think with their libraries these will hold as lucrative assets that will find a streaming home (Paramount?).