TV Revenue the saving grace for studios

Studios are able to make up for the huge deficit from their film divisions by offsetting loss with tremendous gain from the TV divisions.  The Wrap disclosed a remarkable report showing the differences:

Viacom                $341M vs $3.85B

Disney                  $618M vs $6.15B

TimeWarner         $600M vs $5.05B

NewsCorp             $927M vs $3.67B

NBCU                        $27M vs $3.31B

http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/why-television-trouncing-film-major-media-companies-42751

One more reason to make sure that your film distribution gets a piece of the pie in foreign sales - TV market is big across the world and they are buying indie films for television broadcast!

The truth be told - are the studios making money?

The Kragen report recently posted a very disparaging report.  Deadline re-posted the article.

http://www.deadline.com/interstitial/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deadline.com%2F2012%2F06%2Fdomestic-movie-revenues-arent-keeping-up-with-release-costs-kagan%2F

I've been waiting for the truth to be told about the state of the industry and confirms my not very optimistic predictions.  This report shows that on average, the studios are recouping only 46% of their release costs.  In English, they are not making enough to cover their expenses, from distribution.  Albeit, the other divisions will hopefully pick up the slack (consumer products/merchandising, publishing, licensing, etc).  But to me this does not make a profitable business model overall.  Read the article:

"The mostly dreary new analysis from SNL Kagan reflects the continuing decline last year in domestic home video sales and rentals — and helps to explain why studios are so determined to expand overseas. The research firm says that the average film only recouped 46% of the release costs (negative costs plus domestic prints and advertising) from domestic box office sales and home video transactions. That’s down from 48% in 2010. Paramount’s 14 films delivered the best performance. Kagan figures the studio collected $895.5M from theaters and $242.9M in cash flow from video transactions, equal to 73% of its $1.55B in release costs. True Grit helped with domestic returns covering 134% of its $90.9M in release costs. The Weinstein Co followed with 11 films that generated $102.2M from theaters and $49.0M from home video, 70% of its $215.1M in release costs. Its top title was The King’s Speech, with a 216% return on $50.2M in release costs. Among other studios, Warner Bros also beat the industry average with a 67% return followed by DreamWorks Animation (61%) and Disney (58%). Low budget films dominate the top performing films. They include IFC Films’ Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (941% on $455,000 in release costs), Warner Bros’ Hubble 3D (754% on $2.8M), Fox Searchlight’s Another Earth (429% on $488,000), Producers Distribution’s Senna (258% on $557,000), and Rogue Pictures’ Catfish (258% on $1.6M). Top major releases included Universal’s Bridesmaids (243% on $73.9M) and Disney’s The Help (238% on $66.9M). Kagan says the annual study was based on an analysis of 450 films released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2011."


My mantra is still 'produce as inexpensively as possible, produce a product that can be distributed worldwide and carve out self-distribute rights from any contract'. In this digital age of online sales, self distribution is easily accomplished.  Perhaps the studios should consider this as well.

Social Media 101

Keeping up with your social media can be overwhelming.  It takes dedication and constant attention, yes, but there are shortcuts. And once you learn them, keeping up with your social media will be like brushing your teeth, you can check on it once in the morning and once at night and and every once in awhile you will do a thorough flossing.

I recently attended a seminar on social media put on by Josh Ochs of MediaLeaders.com.  He made it look so easy.  Well, I have been putting his notes to a test with my clients sites that I maintain, and it all is very logical.  By the way, I am only now getting to my own social media revamping, and its been two months, so don't be too hard on yourself.  At least you are now thinking about what you have to do by reading this blog :)

Here's some tips I learned:

1) At the bottom of your emails add in your URL's to your FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blog. For example:  "Find me on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/tracybalsz".  Always use the "http://" in the description as this will add an automatic hyperlink.

2) Messaging:  Pre-plan your messaging for a week or a month in advance.  Always ask yourself what does your customer Love/Hate/Fear/Annoy/Worst Enemy/Best Friend/Positive Force or Belief/Negative Force or Belief/Hero and what social networks are they on?  Create five answers to each question above and this will provide content for your messaging.

3) Best to form your messaging in 140 characters or less so that it will work on Twitter and Facebook alike.  Include an image, question, call to action or link on every post.  Keep messaging "light, bright, and polite".  Best to post galleries of pics, not just one.  They tend to be viewed more often.

4) How often should you post?  Facebook once per day.  Check back 30 minutes after a post to see if you need to answer any comments.  Twitter you should post several times a day.

Sample:

                                               i.     830A – Quote

                                              ii.     930A – Ask general questions for engagement (no promotion)

                                            iii.     1030A - Retweet answer include @sign

                                            iv.     1230P – Retweet something light, bright and polite from other users

                                              v.     130P – Ask a specific question about something new and link to your site

                                            vi.     330P – repeat the morning quote for afternoon followers

                                           vii.     530P – repeat general question for afternoon followers

5) Need more education:

http://www.medialeaders.com has a fantastic training program that you can do at your own pace, for a monthly fee.  And it is always being updated with new, trending info.

Sign up for emails from Hubspot.com.  A great blog for some fantastic information on social media.  http://blog.hubspot.com/blog

I handle the social media on numerous client accounts routinely.  You can do this yourself, I promise!

Plan ahead for DVD submission to Blockbuster

Strategic planning is essential for any distribution plan.  Plan your Order Date/Street Date (official launch date of DVD) to incorporate the buying windows of the retailers.  Did you know that submissions for Blockbuster (brick and mortar stores, not online) have a lead time of 3-4 months?  Today I got a notice from Blockbuster's buyer stating that the submission TFS forms are due June 11th for Sept and October:

Period 09-2010 Dates: 08/30/2010 - 10/03/2010

Period 10-2010 Dates: 10/04/2010 - 10/31/2010

And remember, if you have set a street date prior to these windows and your product is in the marketplace, you CANNOT be considered for Blockbuster New Release.

So, when you sign with your distributing partner, be sure to ask when the windows are for Blockbuster and WalMart - these two retailers have the longest lead time for submissions.  Then agree upon a start date!

January Update - Home Video biz

Here's some interesting tidbits regarding the world of home entertainment (pulled from January issue of Home Media Magazine - always an interesting read!)

• Warner Bros negotiating a 28 day window for new releases before going to Redbox and Netflix.  Will provide a discount rate to these vendors for doing so.  Allows for the sell-through business to take off again, as stats show that 75% of just released DVDs sell in the first four weeks from street date.    Others studios to follow suit.

• However, mom-and-pop video stores will still be able to rent at street date per a First Sale Doctrine clause (no 28 day wait period).

• Hollywood Video (Movie Gallery) is filing Chapter 11 again closing (40%) of its 2,700 store chain. 200 Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video stores and 680 Game Crazy locations

• Blockbuster kiosks will number 9,000 in 2010 with the addition of 1,000 locations.

• Analysts downgrading Netflix stock and recommend selling shares!
• Blockbuster performing better with a 9% surge in stock purchases.

• Wii  and DSi to carry Netflix’s “watch instantly” streams to join Xbox and Playstation

I have a question - does anyone reading my blog ever use Redbox?  Do you like it?  Personally, I don't think it is convenient, having to go to the 7/11 two days in a row.  I stopped by today to take a look and there was nothing that I wanted to see -- even for a dollar, that was worth me driving in the rain to return the next day.  Please respond with your opinions...

Tracy

Create a free website for your film with Movieset.com. And if you have an official site, creating a free site will only help spread awareness of your film.

I met up with this very nice woman, Coleen Nystedt, at AFM who is the originator of MovieSet.com -  a very user-friendly production tool that allows you to build your audience (online) while you are in production.  Smart.  And, the great thing is that it is absolutely free.  So, even if you have an official site already and you are past post production even, using this free resource can only help you gain additional awareness.


Please follow the link below to create a new movie site on MovieSet.com.
You will be asked to sign up for a LOT PASS, or to LOGIN if you are already registered.

Click here to proceed.   http://corporate.movieset.com/tour

Once you are logged in, look for the PRODUCTION TOOLS button located in the LOT PASS. Click on this will take you to the DASHBOARD, a control panel where you can manage your new site. Begin by entering your basic information under MOVIE SETUP and the TARGET AUDIENCE questionnaire. As your production moves forward, return to the DASHBOARD to manage:

• SCHEDULE - Set your PHASE CALENDAR and SHOOTING SCHEDULE
• LISTS - Fill out A-T-L, CAST and CREW lists, create CUSTOM JOB TITLES and add LOCATIONS
• SETTINGS - Set ASSET APPROVALS for Stills and Video content, and set CALL SHEET MANAGEMENT permissions for Call Sheet Administration, Approvals and Locations.
• ASSETS - Upload and manage STILLS, VIDEOS and LIVE EVENTS.
• PUBLICITY - Write BLOGS, manage NEWS and create LINKS to your fan site.

MovieSet is designed to integrate Production with Marketing to build core audience from the beginning and throughout the entire movie lifecycle.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact them directly: info@movieset.com

Don't wait for distributors to market your film, take control of your own project

As an independent filmmaker, you may ask yourself - "why do I have to market my film myself -- isn't that what the distributor will do for me?" The short answer is no. Distributors idea of marketing a film today is vastly different than marketing a film in the past. It takes a lot of dedicated work, and an individualized strategic plan specific to your film. Marketing a film has grown beyond a typical print and TV ad campaign and most distributors do not have the manpower to launch the grassroots campaign that is needed to grow your audience.

The plan begins by identifying a niche audience to target. Researching this audience and discovering how to reach them virally is key. Look for organizations, associations, blogs, website portals to partner with that have interest in your subject matter. Tell them about your film and form a following. Social networking is relatively free and as direct as you can get. Plaster your trailer, publicity stills, clips, across all online platforms. Optimize your website with keywords to attract an organic search audience. Announce your film (targeted publicity), lead them back to your website or blog, use this audience for community screenings to act as your test audience, use affiliate marketing to have these groups help spread the word about your film. Ask them to blog. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.

Now you may ask, "what do I do with the target group once I identify them?" The research data gathered is ammunition to help sell your film to a distributor, by identifying and quantifying the built-in audence. This in turn helps the distributor sell the product to the buyers (exhibitors, wholesalers, catalogs) - the trade. If you don't get picked up by the trade, the consumer will not be able to see your film. Very important.

Then, when you have secured distribution you can go back to this identified group and let then know that the film is released - theatrically, non-theatrically, on DVD, on VOD, iTunes, etc. Seed the website portals with good reviews on the film, get the attention of critics and film reviewers - a good review on Rotten Tomatoes or a similar portal will increase your exposure.

It seems like a lot of work -- but if you have passion for your project, then it will be easy to spread the word.

Press here to visit the blog of a fellow filmmaker who is building his audience. http://trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com/2009/11/twenty-new-rules-what-we-all-must-try.html