Workshop: Create A Customized Film Distribution Strategy
CREATE A CUSTOMIZED FILM DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
Thu, October 20, 2022 | 1:00 - 2:30pm PT
Virtual Workshop
Co-Presented by Filmmakers Collaborative SF and Re-Present Media
Are you unsure of what to prioritize in your film’s distribution?
Are you spending a lot of time on festival applications, but not getting much return for the effort?
Are you reaching your intended audience with success?
This is a hands-on distribution workshop to help emerging and mid-career filmmakers develop a customized and practical distribution strategy. Although we will focus on independent documentaries, many themes will be applicable to independent narrative film distribution as well. The workshop is designed to help filmmakers focus on creating attainable goals for their films, and to develop action items to attain those goals.
This is not a distribution survey class; rather, it is intended as a workshop for you to develop and leave with an actionable distribution strategy outline unique to your film. The workshop will be structured with a series of questions to help you dial in your strategy, and the answers to those questions will determine your top level distribution approach.
We will cover:
What is a distribution plan?
Determining achievable goals for your film.
Evaluating the relationship between reach, impact, and monetization.
Why a deep understanding of audience for your film is critical to distribution.
Sequencing your release on different platforms.
Pros and cons of DIY distribution.
How to work with distributors and help them realize the film’s potential.
Participants will be asked to review some reading materials in advance of the workshop.
Facilitated by Kevin White, with guest Arlin Golden from Video Project.
ABOUT KEVIN, Arlin, and Jennifer
Kevin White is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with a focus on environmental and social issues. He has more than a dozen films that are in distribution, including his most recent film, Wilder than Wild: Fire, Forests and the Future, which has had 450+ community screenings and more than 850 broadcasts on PBS, plus educational distribution with Video Project. Kevin is the Co-Founder and Executive Director for Filmmakers Collaborative SF, and frequently consults with filmmakers on story approach, fundraising, and distribution. He is also on the Board of several media nonprofits.
Arlin Golden is an all-around documentary professional living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area as a film director, producer, distributor, programmer, festival director, exhibitor, critic, and movie rental delivery guy. He is co-director of Video Project, an impact-oriented distributor of documentary films, as well as director and programmer of Drunken Film Fest Oakland, a free event bringing world-class films into the democratized social space of local bars. He also co-hosts Wiseman Podcast, chronicling the films of documentarian Frederick Wiseman. He received his BA in film studies from UC Santa Barbara, and has collaborated with filmmaker Brian Gersten as a producer on a number of documentary shorts. His first short documentary as director, Back Yard, screened in 2020-21 at such fests as Ann Arbor, Sheffield, and the inaugural Prismatic Ground.
Jennifer Crystal Chien is a documentary filmmaker with a focus on personal storytelling from immigrants and people of color. In 2017, she co-founded Re-Present Media, a grassroots nonprofit that advocates for personal storytelling in documentary film and nonfiction media. In addition to presenting films with community dialogues by established filmmakers, Re-Present Media also offers professional development for emerging filmmakers and coordinates field-wide advocacy campaigns to support and elevate voices from underrepresented communities. Jennifer is the Board President of Filmmakers Collaborative SF.