SELF-DISTRIBUTION IS FUN SORT OF

Of course one of the easiest ways to distribute your film is on the film festival circuit. Though this is the least profitable, as most films do not make money on screening at festivals (save for niche films like those with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered content where screening fees are the norm—but still, you’re not going to make twenty grand), they really are all about introduc- ing yourself and your work to the world. As I explained earlier, you will probably not make your money back from a short film unless you were extremely limited in your budget. However, the benefit of getting a lot of play on the festival circuit is that it increases your visibility as a filmmaker (more on this in the film festival chapter). You can then turn this visibility into wealth-making opportunities down the road.

Filmmaker and Internet trailblazer Tiffany Shlain (www .tiffanyshlain .com) has self -distributed one of the top-selling

short films on iTunes, The Tribe. She echoes Orly’s advice as well as outlines what she did for her award-winning film, The Tribe:

“Most filmmakers spend all their money, all their energy on the film. And by the time they’re done, they’re exhausted, they’re broke, and they’re depleted of energy. With all the tools available today, filmmakers need to recalibrate how they look at it. Finishing the film is just step one. Step two is just as crucial, and takes just as much creativity, takes just as much money: They need to outreach. What I did with The Tribe is I raised funding for both processes. I raised funding for mak- ing the film, as well as money for outreach. So as we were cutting the film we also made a discussion kit, we made our DVDs, we created a robust Web site, we planned a premier— regardless of whether we got into a top-tier festival like Sundance or not—to kick off the film. Anything that wasn’t in our control, like getting into a big film festival, we didn’t count on when planning distribution and marketing.”

Leah Meyerhoff (www.leahmeyerhoff.com) shares how she entered the film festival circuit with Twitch:

“I sent a rough cut into Sundance, which was probably a mistake. Then I sent less of a rough cut into Slamdance. It got in, and I flew out to Slamdance and had a great time.

Twitch won one of the grand jury awards. That was a good

starting point, because from there, I started getting tons of e-mails from other festivals requesting the short. And I started realizing that it’s worthwhile to send your film out there. I made DVDs and postcards, and made a huge data- base of all the film festivals that looked good. I have this Word document that’s like 100 pages long of festival con- tacts in chronological order. So I sent all these e-mails, and some of them said ‘Yes, we’ll waive the [submission] fee,’ and

those are the ones I ended up submitting my film into. My film has played at 200 film festivals, and it was all through that early work I did. I started going to the festivals that would pay for me to come there.”

TELEVISION & DVD DISTRIBUTION

If your film gets picked up by a distributor or garners enough prestige on the fest circuit, you can make some money licens- ing it around the world. Distributors of short films license for broadcast and digital (downloadable or online streaming) dis- tribution deals worldwide. Sometimes they’ll even license for DVD (home entertainment) compilations, which are usually limited to niche markets (such as gay and lesbian, or African American, or Sundance Shorts, or Academy Award shorts col- lection) or thematically selected shorts. Leah Meyerhoff notes:

“I had an offer from IFC [Independent Film Channel] right off the bat from being on the show but it was only for $500, so I said no. Instead I did the festival route, though at the end of the day, I ended up giving it to them anyway, but not exclusively. And then Realport, which is European televi- sion, bought it for a couple thousand dollars, and then Scan- dinavia TV also bought it. The music videos I sold [Team

Queen and Eternal Flame] to Logo and MTV Europe. So tele-

vision is where I feel short filmmakers can make the most money. While you’re submitting to all the festivals you can, I feel you should try as many distribution platforms as pos- sible, as long as it’s not exclusive. I also started doing all kinds of DVD compilations but I have yet to make much money from any of these. And then there’s the Internet. I think short filmmakers are able to find more of a home on the Internet now than ever before.”

DVD short film compilations are not the most profitable things on the planet, but they can augment a filmmaker’s pro- file, and make you a few thousand bucks. And of course, every now and again there is a short that, due to media attention, de- mands to be released as a stand-alone film, such as Blair Princess

Project directed by and starring Paula Goldberg (which, inciden-

tally, was released by Orly Ravid while she was still at Picture This). Blair Princess Project was released in 1999 on VHS and sold over 10,000 units.