Category Archives: Marketing

1,000 True Fans

Posted on by Ben Phelps

Now, this is an interesting. We only need 1,000 true fans to finance ourselves as artists:

I am suggesting there is a home for creatives in between poverty and stardom. Somewhere lower than stratospheric bestsellerdom, but higher than the obscurity of the long tail. I don’t know the actual true number, but I think a dedicated artist could cultivate 1,000 True Fans, and by their direct support using new technology, make an honest living. 

Actually, it might a few more True Fans to support filmmakers:

Lastly, the actual number may vary depending on the media. Maybe it is 500 True Fans for a painter and 5,000 True Fans for a videomaker. The numbers must surely vary around the world.

via The Technium: 1,000 True Fans.

How remarkable is your project?

Posted on by Ben Phelps

An inspirational video that Chris Jones drew my attention to:

Chris notes:

Youtube is filled with videos that routinely get millions of views, videos that are remarkable back flipping cats, remarkable idiots jumping off walls and breaking a leg or remarkable weddings with families dancing down the aisle. In of themselves, certainly not great art, but they are ‘remarkable’.

And to be clear, remarkable does not mean amazing or wonderful, it means, does it warrant ‘remark’.

via How remarkable is your project? | Make Film Teach Film.

For my short films and feature projects, like The Hitman’s Cookbook, it’s great advice.

Cannes Marché 2011 – How not to pitch

Posted on by Ben Phelps

Lesson 1 – I note that there were two Aussie films in the mix – Sam Worthington’s Drift and The 25th Reich. Good on them for trying to sell their films, either before or after production. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit we need to see more of in Australia.

Lesson 2 – Notice what the Americans do that others don’t? P.I.T.C.H. Except for the Aussie spruiking The 25th Reich.

Lesson 3 – Don’t leave Work Experience Girl at your booth. She won’t/can’t sell your film.

Crowd funding case study #1 – The Tunnel

Posted on by Ben Phelps

Luci Temple has insightfully dissected the financing strategy for an Australian crowd funded feature film, The Tunnel. There’s two parts to the article – Part 1 and Part 2. Read both. Notice the trend. Everyone seems to raise $10-15K from supportive family and friends. And then the money seems to dry up. I was a big fan of the concept of crowd funding. However, I’m increasingly thinking that the incredible amount of time that it takes (at the sacrifice of ‘creative time’) might be better spent convincing wealthier financiers (eg West Australian mining magnates ;) ) to invest in your project. Nonetheless I hope The Tunnel raises its entire budget and it’s creatively successful. After all, it’s a challenge in this current filmmaking climate. Good luck to them and congrats to Luci on her analysis.

Provocateurs

Posted on by Ben Phelps

“I’m always interested in movies that scar.” David Fincher

The Hitman’s Cookbook is provocative in the tradition of films by Chan-wook Park (Oldboy), Gaspar Noé (Irreversible), Lars von Trier (Antichrist), Michael Haneke (Funny Games), Todd Solondz (Happiness), Rolf de Heer (Bad Boy Bubby), Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher), Steven Soderbergh (Sex Lies and Videotape), Larry Clark (Kids), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores perros), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs) and Takeshi Kitano (Brother).

Obviously some of these filmmakers and their films are more risqué than others. Some of their films have been critically acclaimed. Some have not. Some of their films have been commercially successful. Some have not.

 

There’s no point in shocking audiences for the sake of it. However, the storylines of the above films are rarely gratuitous. Rather, these films are intended to challenge the status quo for a particular reason. Most of these filmmakers took a chance to explore violence and/or sexuality from an intelligent and cinematic perspective. Whatever the result, it’s difficult to disagree that these filmmakers were courageous. What do you think? Which provocateurs have I left off the shortlist?

The journey begins

Posted on by Ben Phelps

Over the last year I’ve been an avid fan of Ted Hope’s blog, Truly Free Film. Who’s Ted Hope? The guru of indie cinema in the US, of course.

UPDATE: You can now find Ted’s blog at Indiewire.

Ted has been preaching the benefits of social media as a possible strategy to save indie cinema. It’s a revolutionary concept. Social media is a fantastic avenue to share the filmmaking experience with fellow filmmakers, potential audiences, investors, fans, critics, friends and family – from screenplay to production, post-production to the film’s release. I’m a filmmaker who loves the ‘Making of’ featurettes on DVDs and Blu-ray. Alien Quadrilogy is a gem. I hope social filmmaking will be a similar experience before and after we produce The Hitman’s Cookbook.

In addition to this blog, you can follow my journey on Twitter and Facebook. I look forward to hearing from you!

UPDATE: You can also follow my antics on Google+. But not on MySpace. Does anyone use MySpace anymore?