Okay, this’ll be the last email about distribution for a while. (i was actually going to write about the crazy deal between Paramount and Technorati—ie. how Paramount is channeling third-party blog posts and comments into movie marketing campaigns—but i realized The Reeler already covered that HERE. i was prepared to make an obtuse NSA joke, but that’ll have to keep.)
But let me bring up an important venue where independent filmmakers should be represented and often aren’t—public libraries. Of course this isn’t the best venue for optimizing cash flow, but let’s be realistic. This seems especially important for social issues films. If a fat distribution deal has eluded your social issues film, why not try to place it in libraries? At least it might be seen that way, and perhaps some costs could be recouped.
So how do libraries acquire films? Um, this remains a bit of a mystery. If any librarians are reading this, feel free to email us with clues.
So far, the record for library acquisitions has been, um, uneven. No single method is in place. In a 30-sec. search in our huge public library, I found the Media That Matters has one of its five DVDs in the stacks, while a search for Focus on the Family yields a couple dozen. The Media That Matters collections of short, social issues works are ideal for libraries. I think libraries will come around. Just like the JSF is trying to bring short film to audiences, public libraries will eventually figure out it should bring independent film to the public.
In the meantime, try to have your film reviewed in the press and apply for an ISBN from the Library of Congress. Perhaps we’ll have more clues, later.
[cough—JSF ISSN 1558-9846; LC PN1993; Dewey 791.430; OCLC Accession 62315470—cough]
Posts
