Truth About Non-Fiction : New Venues for Documentary

I’ve always found it funny that my current job (blogging ) isn’t one that existed when I was growing up.   I never could have said to my teachers, when I grow up I want to spend my day writing stories on the internet, kind of like a journalist, but kind of not.   Likewise, filmmakers could probably never have predicted the intense change that has occurred in the past few years, not only concerning how films are made but also how they’re distributed.

Today dreams of a movie theater premiere are not only unrealistic but are also often a bad idea - as being in a theater often doesn’t benefit most filmmakers (outside the arena of ego and a somewhat false measure of success).   The last panel I saw at Independent Film Week addressed this very issue and aimed to look at how technology is changing the ways films are distributed and the new venues that exist for them.

The folks on the panel were quite diverse, starting with Submarine Entertainment’s Josh Braun (sales agent), MSNBC’s Michael Rubin (I’m not sure his title, but he was a trip and clearly an executive of some sort), Carnivalesque’s David Redmond and Ashley Sabin (ind. distributors) and my panel favorite New Day Film’s Alice Elliott.

New Day Films is an awesome organization that is actually a co-operative, meaning that all the member-owners have a stake or a share in the company and that one person’s success is every person’s success - which is so amazing!   They specialize in documentary that stands on it’s own as a film but also can work in educational environments as part of a curriculum.  

They’ve also just launched a new digital component to New Day where folks can find streaming video of the films in their catalogue.   This way teachers don’t have to spend classtime screening films and students can actually buy a film for a semester and watch it whenever they please.

Other interesting tid-bits that came up in the discussion surrounded the idea of figuring out what is best for “your film.”  Josh Braun made perhaps the point of the day when he told the audience full of filmmakers to really “know your film” and to be honest about it - really think if a theater or a festival is the best venue for it.   Chances are there is a better way  for folks to see your film (and that more will if you choose a different venue.)

I also loved hearing from the Carnivalesque folks.   They, upon frustration with the typical route of distribution (festival, sales agents, venue), decided to do it on their own and take out the middleman.   I think this little graph from their website says it all:

Carnivalesque Films approaches distribution one day at a time, focusing on the ethics of commitment, hard work, and small moments of intimacy combined with skill and heart so films can live full and deliberate lives. As filmmakers, we understand the joys and pains of making films and therefore our empathetic approach is by filmmakers for filmmakers.

takepart to learn more about Carnivalesque Films

takepart to learn more about New Day FIlms

and Read on:

The Subjectivity of Working With Documentary Subjects

Know Your Digital Rights, A New Distribution Model

A Conversation With Josh Sapan