Three self-distribution lessons today from L.A. filmmaker Noam Kroll.
Two have no cost, so I’m keenly interested.
Noam shares the distribution strategy for his latest feature Shadows on the Road: TVOD for two months, then SVOD and finally AVOD.
For the Transactional Video on Demand (TVOD) window, Noam chose Distribber ($1,500) to place his film on iTunes. He promoted it hard and was in the black within months because the budget was so low ($12,000.) Later he added it to Vimeo On Demand for international audiences.
For the Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) window, Noam used Prime Video Direct ($0) to place the film on Amazon Prime.
For the Ad-based Video on Demand (AVOD) window, Noam used FilmHub ($0) to place the film elsewhere — they have ~75 other platforms. You may or may not have heard of many of these: TubiTV, Fandor, Filmocracy, etc.
His goal with this strategy was to break even and then maximize his exposure.
My take: thank you, Noam, for being so transparent here. The key to this successful strategy is to set the financial bar low enough that you can recoup your budget within a few months and then build as many fans as possible.
Thank you for sharing this, Michael. I was told by the Producer/Director of 3X nominated Canadian web series NarcoLeap that she uses the Vimeo on Demand. The web series is in their 2nd season and that the production is only now very gradually making money. Question to you: Are their any other means to distribute a web series? Would Filmhub be viable?
Sorry for all the typos. I have not had my morning coffee. “There. They’re. Their.” Ugh!