A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

Wonderful trailer from a wonderful documentary taking a personable yet clear-eyed view of suburbia.


Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Radiant City' - Distributed by The National Film Board of Canada

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

The greatest minds in the world have thrown in their two cents on the topics, now it’s time for the kids to chime in.

In this remarkably funny and heartwarming clip from the NFB, we get to hear what children have to say about the great beyond.


Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Kids Talking About Death' - Distributed by The National Film Board of Canada

How do you look at the film industry and discover new needs and niches? How do you create innovative fare that will find an audience? And how do you turn your first indie feature into an online phenomenon? In this interview, Chris Elston of Three Blind Artists shares his expertise, experience, and insights into these and other questions.

3BA is dedicated to becoming the go-to company for family and commercial-friendly fare, but are doing it outside of the mainstream. Putting the indie ethos of tenacity, integrity, community, and vision to work, 3BA recently completed its first feature, Shelter. A character drama set in a bomb shelter on the eve of apocalypse, Shelter is already generating internet buzz with its intriguing trailer. With a sophomore effort already well under way, and almost a dozen equally buzz-worthy projects in the pipeline, things are looking bright for this family-run enterprise.

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'Shelter' - Produced by Three Blind Artists

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"Three Blind Artists: How The Indie Ethos Can Change Commercial Filmmaking for the Better"

Making an independent film is a huge project, and conventional wisdom has it that you: shoot your film, cut your film and then, after that’s all done, you try to sell your film. However, marketing your film should begin during the production phase. But who has the time? That’s just it— you don’t.

So...find some people who do. Marketing is a priority, but it should not be your priority. You need to beg, borrow and trade favors to find a few key people who can stay on top of your marketing needs while your film is in production. Ideally, you want to make the entire production process a marketing process too. Below are a list of five key things you do not want to forget to do, or better yet, that you do not want to forget to find someone else to do for you.

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"Indie Filmmakers Looking for Film Buyers: 5 Reasons Why It’s Never Too Early To Start Marketing"

As anyone who is involved with the entertainment industry knows, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands to make things happen. That is exactly what Tonisha Johnson did, starting her own company, TOMI Enterprises, in 2007. Not yet two years old, TOMI already has one successful film festival under its belt (there's a festival recap here), a second one in the works, and a wealth of resources set up to bring business knowledge to people in the entertainment industry. With a focus on minority and underground filmmaking, TOMI is setting the pace for showcasing and promoting emerging talents. Check out this inspiring and personal interview with Tonisha about the challenges and rewards of DIY business.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'She's Got It' - Produced by Fear No Man Productions
Winner of Best Feature at the 2008 TOMI Film Festival.


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"The ‘Other’ Movie Industry: How TOMI Brought Indie Urban Film to the NBA All Star Weekend"

So, you have an indie film and you want to find distribution.

Never have so many options for distribution been available; never has it been so confusing to decide what is right for you and your film. The industry is experiencing a transitional moment; everyone knows online downloads are the future, but nobody knows exactly how it will play out. As well, distribution has gone online too, offering a plethora of choices for the indie filmmaker and producer. What to do, what to do.

This article is the first of a 5-part series that looks at all of the avenues open to you as a filmmaker and distributor. We’ll offer some tips on how to find your film a home.

Regardless of your film’s ultimate destination, your goal is to find a license buyer for your film. Who are film buyers? We’re talking about broadcast TV (cable, satellite, and terrestrial), home DVD companies, VOD service providers, and mobile content providers.

Let’s start this series by examining the psychology of this rare and overworked professional. Here are five things you should know about Film Buyers and 5 tips for putting the best face of your film forward.

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"Looking for Film Buyers? 5 steps to secure distribution for your indie film"

On paper it sounds like the sort of viral marketing campaign that would take the genre to the next level, the sort of marketing campaign that would become an overnight superstar of the blog-o-sphere. Yet somehow, Be Kind Rewind’s invitation to 'swede' your own film, a la Jack Black, has met with a surprisingly tepid online response. Perhaps the campaign simply started too late to get its Inter-web legs in shape and find an online following; perhaps the fact that the contest segment of it (submit Sweded videos for prizes) is only open to the UK and Ireland has stalled the growth of a trend.

Apparently coined by Michel Gondry, the term 'sweding' is the practice of remaking a film with a whole lot of love and no resources (you can read about a Brief History of 'Sweding' here). Is the concept of 'sweding' meaningful enough to achieve any lasting cultural significance? It's been a while since we've seen a marketing campaign ambitious enough to try and cash in on coining a phrase. Does it pay off for Be Kind Rewind?

The film opens this Friday and both the film's website and its You Tube channel are still low on entries, although the last two weeks have picked up. The larger problem may simply be that with few exceptions the DIY swedes lack the humor and pizzazz or just the outright weirdness that would demand repeat views and sharing.

Overall, the campaign has seemed a bit fuzzy and out of focus. More of a damp drizzle than internet storm, one wonders about the audience being targeted here. Michel Gondry fans are too shy to seek exposure; and Jack Black fans are too lazy. In some respects, like the film itself, the marketing campaign is a brilliant idea executed with sagging spirit. If nothing else, swedsters may pick up on the potential fun of sweding and continue to build the You Tube channel in time to make a larger impact alongside the film’s DVD release.

It remains to be seen if independent filmmakers can swede this marketing campaign for their own purposes.

Swe·ding (swee'ding) 1. verb. To express your love for something by imitating it in a way that is obviously an imitation. Especially the act of a fan remaking a beloved film with no budget. 2. noun. A marketing campaign from New Line Cinema for the Michel Gondry directed film Be Kind Rewind.

Alison at IFC Blog was kind enough to help us get the word's origins straight:


Gondry's film is about a couple of hapless VHS Video Store clerks who have to swede the inventory of their store in order to keep product on the shelves after a massive tape demagnetization mishap. The film has taken sweding one step further by using the sweding practice in all aspects of the film’s viral marketing campaign: Gondry swedes the film's own trailers, Youtube users are invited to swede scenes of their film favs on Be Kind Rewind's YouTube channel, and the film’s website stages a breakdown of the Internet and quickly swedes a site.

Sweding is basically remaking with no dollars. With a lot of love, duct tape, and well, that's about it. The joy of sweding is the gap between the lack of resources available to the sweder and the sweder's tremendous love for what is being sweded. Anyone can pay tribute with a budget; sweding is paying tribute despite the fact you don’t have a budget. That's true love.

While Gondry might be the first to put a name to this phenomenon, the practice has been around for awhile, and, if the New Line Cinema marketing team has their way, it will reach critical mass in 2008. Who are some notable sweding pioneers? Keep reading...

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"Viral Film Marketing: A Brief History Of ‘Sweding’"

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

Animal Crackers is the show that features the kind of Animal and Human relationships that shouldn't work -- but do. In this clip we meet a Jack Russell terrier who, along with his owner, is really into extreme sports. He surfs, kayaks, cliff jumps...and that's just for starters.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Animal Crackers' - Distributed by Bullseye TV

Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is launching an indie film distribution and sales company called Oscilloscope Pictures.  He has brought in ThinkFilm VP David Fenkel to run things, and David Berger from ThinkFilm is also on board. Bergel and Fenkel know film and over the last few years Thinkfilm has been the company to watch in indie film. The group will be looking to pick up documentary and fiction films from the fest circuit, as well as provide finishing funding.

The down side is Yauch wants to make this happen without any outside financing; he is looking for deals where the filmmakers can “share” the risk. What this means is not exactly clear; but anyone who doesn’t mind a low MG and a DIY ethic should look out for these guys.

Link: The Hollywood Reporter

CAA? Creative Artists Agency?  The cabal of super-agents who changed the movie business in America in the 80s, introduced the ‘package deal’, drove up actor’s salaries, and have now, with their ceaseless expansion into sports and the far east, seem poised to take over the world?

Yes, CAA is so big, so ubiquitous, that, paradoxically, sometimes we don’t even bother to pay attention.

CAA’s Sundance Scorecard:

Hamlet 2 - CAA sold this one to Focus Entertainment for around $10 Million.  The big sale of the festival.

Choke - CAA managed to convince Fox Searchlight to put up $5 million for this adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel.

Henry Poole is Here - CAA brokered this 3.5 million deal. Overture Films now owns the U.S. distribution rights.

American Teen - this documentary on a high school in Indiana was sold to Paramount Vantage after a long negotiation session.  Cinetic and CAA repped.  Deal is worth 1 million and includes all world rights excluding the UK.

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

"There was no sound. It was like it was in slow motion." Against All Odds is an astonishing television series profiling the lives of individuals with the courage and willpower to overcome tremendous physical and psychological crises. In this clip we meet thrill seeker Dana Bowman whose life was changed forever when he collided mid-air with his friend and fellow skydiver.

Some viewers may find these images disturbing.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
'Against All Odds' - Distributed by Bullseye TV

Just passed the half way point in the festival, and sales at Sundance 2008 have been a bit disappointing.  Though commentators last week were predicting loose purse-strings in Park City in response to the threat of a prolonged writers’ strike (fears mitigated last Thursday by the DGA’s deal-making), the perceived over-spending of last year has so far resulted in a more conservative buyer’s marketplace.

What’s the deal so far? Kudos to considerate and writerly spout.com blogger Karina Longworth for providing this Sundance 2008 Scorecard.  The 2008 list of sold films is notable, so far, for the preponderance of documentaries.

Here’s the link: Sundance 2008 Deals

HBO, Weinstein, United Artists, ESPN(!) – the usual suspects.  But what about the others?  Throughout the rest of the week, we’ll be profiling some of the lesser known Sundance deal makers.  Stay tuned.

A 'sell sheet' (also called a 'one sheet') is a film/video licensing industry term for summary publicity. 'Sell Sheet Sampler' is a continuing feature on our blog where we showcase fascinating clips, which, while part of a digital sell sheet, are of interest to a large audience.

"We estimate that there are more than a million deaths from malaria each year. That's like 7 jumbo jets going down every day. And 90% of those deaths are in children."

We've heard about organizations like nothingbutnets.net attempting to control malaria spreading mosquitoes through the use of simple mosquito nets. But this highly practical solution, while urgently needed, distracts from another question: why is it that 30 years ago malaria in Africa was no more serious than the flu? This clip from the documentary Malaria Parasites (produced and distributed by Journeyman Productions) examines the impact of deadly imitation drugs sold illegally and how they have contributed to the rapidity with which the malaria parasite has developed resistance to previously successful drugs. Now there are signs that the one remaining effective drug against malaria is also weakening. This is a story about humanitarian organizations and government bodies failing to address all levels of a problem, and a situation reaching a crisis point.

Required viewing for all policy makers, politicians, and potential candidates.

Click here for the Sell Sheet for
Malaria Parasites - Distributed by Journeyman Productions

Esteemed and often peeved Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has done the heavy lifting, and here are the numbers he’s crunched from Film Comment‘s Annual List of films played theatrically in the United States:

Major studios released 119 films

Specialty divisions of major studios released 49 more

Independent distributors were behind nearly 500

Films playing at Festivals accounted for the remaining 1,600-plus titles

Total: 2,400 titles

With that many films, of course, it’s impossible to see them all.  That makes the anointed best of the year either really impressive, or not impressive at all.

[Source Jonathan Rosenbaum’s Year End Piece from the Chicago Reader.  Yes, Mr. Rosenbaum plans to retire from film reviewing at the end of February 2008 and we wish him well. A truly great critic and a tireless prospector for the rarest of cinematic gems.]