Marc Schiller of BOND/360 has just released ‘An Analysis of Internet Trends in 2014 for Independent Films’ on Medium.

Main chapters comprise Commerce and Marketing while headings include:

• Digital Revenue For Individual Films In Traditional Marketplaces Is Falling Rapidly
• Niche Content Is The New “Mainstream”
• Methods Currently Used By International Sales Agents Are Creating A Steep Decline In Revenue and A Steep Increase In Piracy
• The Days Of “Free” Marketing On Facebook For Independent Films Are Over
• Today, The Best Social Media Marketers Are Designers, Not Curators
• Smart Filmmakers Are Realizing That The Key Value Of Crowdfunding Sites Is To Build Community, Not Raise Money
• Publicity Alone No Longer Sells Movie Tickets

The insights are many, including:

“Today, the reality is that most independent films, even highly successful ones in the United States, have very little to no distribution in the majority of countries around the world…. Up to 40% of the audience that is following an independent film on Facebook is most likely living in a country where the film will never be released…. This has led to an increase in piracy that is not based on a desire to steal the film and watch it for free, but rather based on a the lack of availability when the global word-of-mouth is at its peak.”

And:

“More than any other platform that have preceded them (including behemoths like Facebook and Twitter), Kickstarter and Indiegogo create the most important and impactful communities for creators on the internet…. Those that have skin in the game (i.e. are “invested”) are the most important and loyal fans a filmmaker will ever have in their career.”

My take: this makes fascinating reading. Required reading. More by Marc to come.