The announcement of a new pay-TV/ VOD/ Web 2.0/ Super-futuristic-total-entertainment-experience service from Viacom, Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount is big news, but what’s giving industry analysts pause is the idea that the lifespan of a Hollywood movie is going to get a whole lot more compressed.  Channels like Showtime and HBO aren’t make the money they used to off TV premieres--they argue that new movies aren’t worth much anymore on TV, so they don’t want to pay the high licensing fees. So studios are taking back control over the twilight years of their films (before they become catalogue titles), as well as their delivery windows.  The fact is, nobody cares about the HBO premiere of a six month old movie.  Why not put the film on TV in two months?

So what does this mean for indies?  Well, for one thing, Showtime, HBO, STARZ, and their ilk are going to be looking for content.  That’s one opportunity. But another might be with the studios themselves.  If studios get the idea that the TV roll-out is part of their overall marketing campaign (the same way that a theatrical release becomes a loss leader), studios might become a lot more flexible in their ideas about how a film can reach an audience.  More stops on the studio tour mean more places for indies to get on.  Times are changing.

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

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.

"With anorexia you feel too fat. With this I feel too skinny." Extremely interesting glimpse into teenage boys obsessed by body building. In this candid clip we catch an unusual glimpse into the problem of body-image for teenage males, and learn how simple the decision can be to take steroids.

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

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.

Submarine Entertainment, found at the unassuming website submarine.com (home of a mysterious, lo fi, and little-bit-creepy splash page), are quickly becoming a Sundance mainstay, especially after previous successes as sales agents for Super-Size Me (2005) and Control Room (2004). Yet another New York producer’s rep company (though they also much more), twin brothers Josh and Dan Braun and former CAA agent Kevin Iwashina arrive at Sundance 2008 with an intriguing roster of documentaries and feature fiction including The Duplass Brothers comedy Baghead.

How are they doing so far?  Submarine Entertainments’ 2008 Sundance Scorecard:

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired Cinetic and Submarine Entertainment repped.  Sold to the Weinstein Company.

Kicking It Submarine repped for Worldwide Sales. Sold to ESPN.

The Black List Submarine brokered the deal (along with Arthouse Films). Sold to HBO.

Baghead - Josh Braun brokered a low six-figure deal with Sony Pictures Classics.

Cinetic Media is hardly an unknown around the Sundance Film Festival, but the majority of movie goers will be hard pressed to say they recognize the name or logo.  That’s because Cinetic Media occupies the nether realm of broker, a position they occupy so successfully that Defamer jokingly called them, three years ago, the Sundance Unseen Hand.

Now in 2008, things haven’t changed much, except perhaps Cinetic are much less ‘unseen’.  The Hollywood Reporter ranked legendary lawyer/producer/sales agent and Cinetic Founder John Sloss and his partner, former CAA top agent Bart Walker, number 21 in their list of the 50 most powerful indie related execs. At Sundance, Cinetic is well known for their annual party...and for having an uncanny knack for being close to all the best deals.

Cinetic Sundance 2008 Scorecard (so far):

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired Cinetic and Submarine Entertainment repped the deal.

UPDATE (23 Jan): 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.

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.

This ongoing series looks at film and video licensing industry trends.


For Distributors
PBS, that unfairly ridiculed U.S. bastion of public broadcasting and stodginess, has always been a cutting edge source for children’s entertainment. One such stunning experiment in multiplatform entertainment is PBS Kids Sprout. This 24 hour channel of bite-sized Kids entertainment (drawn from classic and time-tested properties) mixed with original segments that speak to toddlers about their day, is supplemented by a VOD service and a web portal inviting kiddie interaction with the linear channel and advice for Moms and other caregivers. Revolutionary place-shifting pedagogy or breeding ground for pint-sized TV and Internet addiction? Programming that follows and comments upon a toddler’s hectic schedule is meant to encourage making time to go out and play, read a book, quiet down, and cuddle up: in short, the channel wants Kids to have “Sprout-type experience even when the TV is turned off.” Now that’s good branding.

The channel has licensed many well known kids titles, as well as lesser known foreign faves like The Hoobs, a Channel 4 commissioned/Jim Henson Company Produced series.

For License Buyers
When web savvy toddlers get a bit too old for Barney, it's time for them to start thinking about their portfolios. Check out this superb 30’ HD Kids license distributed by John Mclean Media:





Biz Kids - Distributed by John Mclean Media


For Independent Producers
That buzzing you've been hearing is the sound of Juno, the winning teen-pregnancy comedy produced by Mandate Productions and distributed by Fox Searchlight, earning 16.2 million this weekend and now completely groomed for awards season glory. Zero surprise if blogger-screenwriter-stripper Diablo Cody wins a nomination for best original screenplay. Very well received on the festival circuit (it was the opening film recently at the Barbados International Film Festival), Juno has slowly and stealthily grossed over 50 million this month. There is a good podcast available on NPR which gives some insight into the production (Juno's not really that Indie).

Slate.com has some words about this year's unwanted pregnancy theme.

E-mail marketing is tough. A study by Forrester research shows that while 83% of companies attempt e-marketing less than 5% are successful.  What’s the secret?

There’s no secret, per se, but film and video distributors targeting license buyers need to be informed about all the potential pitfalls.  A good e-mail marketing campaign demands research, strategy, patience, a smooth follow-up process, and a little high-tech. It’s hard to know where to begin, and it’s natural to be afraid of making a major mistake and alienating your potential buyers.

On the other hand, a good e-mail campaign has proven time and again to be the most cost-effective way to market, and in the film and video licensing industry, it’s becoming a standard and expected practice.  Take some time to analyze what needs to be done, let your creativity and passion for your material inform what you do, and you will reach the film/video license buyers who are searching for the kind of content you offer.

To help get you started, we’ve put together a list of five easy-to-make e-mail marketing mistakes.

Continue reading
"Five Common E-mail Marketing Mistakes That Film Distributors and Producers Need to Avoid"

When most people talk about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) they tend to talk about getting more traffic to their website.  Everyone wants more traffic.  Right?

If you are like most film and video distributors, you care less about volume of traffic and much more about quality of traffic.  The goal is to get the right people visiting your site.  Can SEO do that for you?

Search Engine Optimization is about helping people who want to find your site, find your site.  Optimize your site properly, target keywords intimately related to your business, and the high quality traffic will come.

By making a few technical improvements to your site right now, you can help search engines like Google and Yahoo understand and ‘respect’ what your site offers and then pass the good word on to the thousands of film and video license buyers who use search engines every business day. 

Maybe a buyer only remembers a few words about a title they saw on the back of one of your sell sheets.  Good SEO practice makes it possible for license buyers to find you using even the sketchiest keywords.

We’ve put together a checklist of nine very basic things you can do today to make sure your website is search engine friendly.  Give your site an SEO tune-up, work hard posting keyword rich content, and you will be amazed how fast you can ‘own’ a set of keywords related to a film/video content category or genre.  This means that whenever, or wherever, a buyer searches for content related to your business, they’ll find their way to your website.

This checklist is just as essential for film and video distributors as it is for indie producers and film festivals wanting to boost their exposure.  Everyone can benefit from these best practices.

Continue reading
"Film/Video Distributors and Producers: Make Sure You Know These Nine SEO Recommendations"

We covered a lot very quickly during our December 6th webinar on Search Engine Optimization. We talked about getting your old sell sheets online and the importance of catalogue titles, we talked about social bookmarking sites, web 2.0, and what it takes to use content fans to put pressure on license buyers.

For all those who asked, we’re happy to offer a PDF version of that presentation for download. It doesn’t have quite the same effect as hearing it straight from Mr. Jordi Duran, our SEO expert, but it’s a useful document nonetheless.  Stay tuned to this blog for many more hints and tips.

SEO for Film and Video Distributors PDF

And, of course, feel free to leave us comments.

The votes have been tabulated, and based on the results from our last webinar we’re happy to announce our second webinar.

Title: Search Engine Optimization for the Film and Video Licensing Industry
Date: Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Morning Session: 8:30 AM EST (UTC/GMT -5)
Afternoon session: 5:00 PM EST (UTC/GMT -5)
Duration: 30 minutes
Cost: Free

This webinar will explore the benefits and challenges of Search Engine Optimization: the art and science of drawing qualified traffic to your website. Search engine expert Jordi Duran i Batidor, will offers tips, tricks, and hints to help film and video property rights holders expand their web presence.

Click here to register

We’re very happy to be hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 15th, 2007.  Everyone is invited.

Title: E-marketing Strategies for the Film and Video Licensing Industry
Date: Thursday, November 15th, 2007
Time: 8:30am EST (UTC/GMT -5) and 1:30 PM EST (UTC/GMT -5)
Cost: Free

The first in a series of webinars examining the online opportunities available to the film and video licensing industry, this webinar explores the buzz around ‘holistic’ digital marketing and how it applies to a B2B industry like ours.

We’re hosting two sessions, one for Europe and one for North America.  The webinar will be in English, and we invite you to pick whichever session is most convenient for you.

Click here for more details and for instructions on how to register. 

Earlier today I posted a note on HD technology.  The fact is, that even as prices come down, it is ultimately content that will drive consumer adoption, and, naturally, license buyers are on the look out for HD in a big way. Vanguard buyers like Discovery Channel HD are setting the pace, and we are more than happy to help industry buyers like them discover what international content providers are offering. Watch this blog as we work to welcome the best HD content in the world to the web.

The website is only going to be up for two weeks, but that’s long enough for Akamai’s HDWEB to make a simple point.  The web can deliver HD content.  It’s still expensive and it still requires some powerful hardware, but HD over IP will be coming a lot sooner than many people in the industry expected.

The technology is finally just about right.  NBC Sports head David Neal, predicts NBC’s 2008 Summer Olympics HD broadcast “will be a signature moment for the adoption of high-definition as a mainstream delivery medium for consumers” (source: Broadcasting & Cable).  He goes on to predict that over 50% of U.S. households will have an HDTV set in 2008.  Even if this is wishful thinking, HD TV is clearly on the verge of a tipping point.  The technology is moving rapidly from luxury item, to cool toy, to “the only way to watch sports at home.”