In the interest of furthering the discussion on distributing short films, I wanted to share our latest short film and a bit about how we monetized it. While we only managed to recoup costs, it allowed me to go back and pay everyone and put aside money for festivals, etc. rather than it coming out of our pockets.
I was approached by a board game company who were interested in seeing my latest "tale of the strange" short based on the poster and social media postings. We sent it along and they offered me a deal for non-exclusive distribution on their website. They have been pumping the short up on social media, via their newsletters, etc. and we've gotten a lot of great responses.
The nature of the deal allows me to continue to use the film in other spaces.
The two things that I have taken away from this are:
1. Always have a poster (I am hit and miss on this, but won't be anymore), and
2. Perhaps there are other opportunities out there for short films, if we can think outside the box. This was such an interesting, and fun, partnership.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and if you've had any experiences distributing short films in unexpected places.
You can watch the film at: https://www.huntakiller.com/soto/
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Hi @Danya - it's good to see you here on Stage 32!! Thank you for sharing this extremely innovative way to generate alternative funds! What an original and suspenseful story!!
Congratulations!!
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Thanks for the kind words and the watch! :)
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That's a unique route to go, Dayna Noffke. A board game company. I don't make films, but I agree with #1 ("Always have a poster"). I make posters for my scripts because they can catch the eyes of producers, production companies, directors, etc. Did you take the picture of the box for your poster, or is it a stock photo?
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Dayna Noffke - This is awesome! How exactly was Hunt a Killer involved? I know a lot of people in an industry tracking board subscribe to Hunt a Killer. THis would also make a tremendous blog post. It would be awesome if you wrote one - shoot Emily our blog editor an email: emily@stage32.com.
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Thank you for sharing this. Good insights on a nontraditional way of getting distribution.
SOTO is thrilling and suspenseful, Dayna! I think it's really unique how you incorporated the puzzle into the film. Great job and congratulations to you and everyone involved!
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Maurice Vaughan , the picture is mine. I took several pics of a prop I made for the film against a plain table and then cropped the table out to drop it into the poster. :) And thank you so much for the watch! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it.
You're welcome, Dayna Noffke. Great job on the poster. Did you have fun beating up the box? :D
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Well done, Dayna. One of the great things about your film is it leaves you wanting more. Thank you for your takeaways. Good to know.