LinkedIn Answers: Can indie films compete?
Our featured question this week is from Seth Caplan, a young Hollywood producer, who asks his network, “Do you want to see more independent films in theaters?”
It’s a timely question to ask, as Seth has a film opening at limited theaters this weekend. “How do we now cut through the clutter of Hollywood blockbusters,” Seth asks, “to reach a bigger share of the American audience?” While major motion pictures might open at 4,000 screens nationwide, this indie film has only 25 screens to make a good impression. That’s a tiny opportunity to generate a bonafide buzz. But Seth’s feature has already garnered thoughtful reviews in the New Yorker and the New York Times, a good signal that this indie flick is being taken seriously.
“In Search of a Midnight Kiss”, written and directed by Alex Holdridge, is a story about finding some kind of meaningful companionship, if even just for New Year’s Eve. If the crowd at LA’s Downtown Film Festival is any judge, the film has found something meaningful. Attendees reveled in an obvious rapport with Craigslist and MySpace romance when the film had its hometown premiere last week at the Orpheum Theatre. Clearly they knew a thing or two about where love meets Web 2.0.
But where Holdridge’s film brings the mores of social networking to the big screen, Seth is using LinkedIn as a tool to build his film business behind the scenes.
“It’s a way I can manage my contacts from all the positions I’ve had,” Seth told us. “I feel like I have access to my business contacts—and their contacts—at my fingertips to pull in resources when I need them.”
Which aptly describes the needs of producer. Perhaps a telling sign of business acumen, one of Seth’s first ventures was adapting the mathematical novella “Flatland” for the small screen. This film has done well selling to an educational audience, offering a unique diversity to his young portfolio of indie film. “In Search of a Midnight Kiss,” meanwhile, has a very different business plan.
“US box office is a tiny piece of the pie compared to international rights and home video,” said Seth, who has an MFA from the American Film Institute. “The way that we’re going to turn a profit is through international showings. We’ve already grossed half a million [dollars] in the UK box office. Our opening week in Greece we were the number 7 film in the nation. We sold every ticket for every screening for a week. We sold the theatrical rights in Spain, Scandinavia, Poland, Turkey, Israel.” Not bad for a $25,000 film.
Still, Seth and the small cast and crew of “Midnight Kiss” are hoping for good traction in US theaters. They’ll have at least until November to catch the hearts of American movie watchers. Until then, Seth is seeking qualified answers about finding a sporting chance against the studios.
And perhaps he’s taking solace in that $500,000 UK gross.
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Gerald Inman August 20th, 2008
Many of the indie films I have seen are wonderful and I do believe that they can compete in the U.S. Getting distribution for independent films is difficult because most of the large studios have locked up distribution contracts specifying minimum screen numbers from theater chains for their films. This leaves very little screen availability for small films.
What I am finding out is that many indie films have started circumventing the large studios by showcasing their films at film festivals, showing snippets of the film on video websites to entice movie goers, using direct distribution over cable, and direct distribution through pay per view services over the Internet.
In fact, the last 10 independent films I saw were not in the theater but on pay per view services through my Internet and Cable providers. The cost was a little more than $5 dollars but it was great because I got a chance to see these great films without having to leave my home.
I provided some links regarding this topic below. I am sure that more and more Independent producers will see that as broadband blossoms in the U.S., it will provide a wonderful opportunity for Independent films.
http://www.filmfestivals.com/database/film/filmus_article3.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Broadband-Boosts-The-Independent-Film-Industry&id=344621
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-distribution.htm
J. Fracaro August 26th, 2008
It’s interesting that I came across this post. I first saw “In Search of a Midnight Kiss” at a small film festival in Hawaii (Aloha!) I checked this blog out to see if I could better maximize my networking capabilities now that I’m a starving artist in Los Angeles. (Hawaii didn’t have the action I was looking for.)
rob getzschman August 29th, 2008
@Gerald – another ideal way for indie filmmakers to distribute their product is through Netflix, which is probably the most reliable resource for finding those hard-to-find indie docs, old classics and foreign films that no brick-and-mortar rental place will bother with. Now that they have streaming video for immediate rentals too, I think Netflix has the best solution for home video. And filmmakers can use one of their links on LinkedIn to send people right to Netflix to put their movie in the queue.
@J.Fracaro – great story! It’s a small indie world.
For another review of the film, a profile of the director, and a couple more beautiful photos, check out these links on Indiewire:
http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2008/07/review_soft_sho.html
http://www.indiewire.com/people/2008/07/indiewire_profi_1.html