Film Independent Nominates Eight Films Without Distribution

One of the sad but true facts to emerge from Tuesday's Film Independent Spirit Award nominations is this: eight of the 41 films that were recognized as among the year's best have no distribution. Many of them have been shown and well-reviewed at such festivals as Sundance, Telluride and the LAIFF to no avail, which is a sign of the tough times out there for indie filmmakers. Theatrical distribution is too expensive for films likely to reach a tiny audience; Google Video and Netflix have yet to conquer the marketing gap for direct-to-video or online releases. MySpace is a limited marketing tool. I still harbor fantasies that Netflix or Amazon could use smart recommendation software to sell indie pictures to their customers, but so far creating reasonable awareness of an unreviewed film is still an issue. Any ideas out there? What is a workable distribution solution for high-quality low-budget indie movies like the Spirit nominees below?

Among the movies with no distributor are:
Chalk, which was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award
Director: Mike Akel
Producers: Mike Akel, Angie Alvarez, Graham Davidson, Chris Mass
Writers: Mike Akel & Chris Mass

Day Night Day Night ** Best First Feature (Film Comment Magazine is seeking a distributor)
Writer/Director: Julia Loktev
Producers: Melanie Judd, Jessica Levin, Julia Loktev

Four Eyed Monsters ** John Cassavetes Award
** Best Cinematography – Arin Crumley
Writer/Director/Producers: Arin Crumley & Susan Buice

A Lion in the House ** Best Documentary
Director/Producers: Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert

Steel City ** Best Supporting Male – Raymond J. Barry
Writer/Director: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray (aka Russell Schmidt), Brian Jun

Sweet Land ** Best First Feature (the filmmakers have been self-releasing this)
** Best Female Lead – Elizabeth Reaser
Writer/Director: Ali Selim
Producers: Alan Cumming, James Bigham, Ali Selim

Wristcutters: A Love Story ** Best First Feature ** Best First Screenplay
Writer/Director: Goran Dukic
Producers: Adam Sherman, Chris Coen, Tatiana Kelly, Mikal P. Lazarev

You’re Gonna Miss Me ** Best Documentary
Director: Keven McAlester
Producers: Adrienne Gruben, Keven McAlester

Comments

[Justin]

Writer/Director Ali Selim has been self distributing SWEET LAND, which is now playing in more than 20 major and regional markets: http://www.sweetlandmovie.com/theatres.htm

Richard Wong's COLMA: THE MUSICAL -- an undistributed Spirit Awards nominee for the IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award -- has picked up a sales agent (who successfully worked a distribution deal for Ham Tran's JOURNEY FROM THE FALL -- another of this year's outstanding indies) and will hopefully find a buyer and see some theatrical exposure in the new year.

[Christian Johnson]

This is one of those times when you really see the value in Awards ceremonies. As someone who doesn't attend a lot of film festivals, there are a lot of independent films I miss. Awards banquets can point out some films I should take a second look at.

As for marketing techniques...one of the most powerful marketing tools is a devoted audience. Otaku, and their illegal dubs/subs, of anime helped create a marketplace for more anime. (I do think the pirate Otaku thesis is mildly overstated, Astroboy, Starblazers, Captain Harlock, and Speed Racer also helped create a marketplace). But like MySpace, etc., it is difficult to leverage an audience via word of mouth. Look at any of my hobbies and you find that there are several internal conflicts which prevent them from becoming more mainstream.

A more robust Netflix algorithm might help, but then again, so might critical focus. Seems to me that the best role for the critic is in pointing out what might be overlooked and not reviewing the "critic immune" blockbuster. Does it really matter what Rolling Stone thinks about Star Wars or Harry Potter?

[Kim Voynar]

Chalk was just picked up by Morgan Spurlock Presents.

[alfre chubb]

Arts Alliance (with Spurlock) is delivering Chalk and we're working with Four Eyed Monsters to deliver that.

I badly want to release several other similar films in the same vein.

We're the company to do it here (Europe) and we're happy to listen to any bloggers, technocrats, internet indie music vets with an eye on film, that have new ways of building the audience in a grass roots movement in order to generate distribution.

I think that the Four Eyed Monsters guys are really the ones breaking into this sphere and now others are following - the fans ought to get behind them. Anyone interested in suggesting anything else - I'm all ears.

In my dream world the otaku of the internet unite to demand that specific directors/writers/cast make features for them for distribution (theatrical-DVD-online) - and their willingness to pony up some cash in advance finances the film and distribution process in a more efficient manner than the incumbent model.

Alfred Chubb