My venture into the film industry reminds me of a video game in which every level is completely different and keeps getting harder. The catch is that you're often down to just one life. It's all or nothing in this world. This is very different from the technology world from which I came, where you get to keep perfecting your software and your marketing and sales strategies until you have them right.
In past columns, I wrote about how I got involved producing a film called
My Bollywood Bride in Bollywood, India's film capital (see BW Online 10/1/04,
"When the Cameras Stop, the Work Begins"). We had to develop a script that would appeal to both Western and Eastern audiences, recruit a good cast and crew, and deal with the hurdles that all filmmakers face. Having shot what I thought was a great film, the next challenge was to market and distribute it. As I gradually learned, in this industry, that's the hardest part.
GLOBAL VISTAS. The big film studios have well-established distribution channels in place worldwide. Independent filmmakers, however, have to persuade individual theater owners or the big chains to screen their films, through complex deals. Then you have to market to TV stations, video-distribution companies, and (if you have music or a soundtrack) record labels. The sales and marketing usually happen at festivals and markets, where films are screened and where buyers look for the next big hit.
With our film nearing completion, it was time for us to start selling it. We set our sights on the American Film Market (AFM), which is held in Santa Monica, Calif., every November and considered the world's largest motion-picture trade event, with more than $500 million worth of deals typically transacted. With more than 7,000 attendees from all over the world, it was clearly the place for us to be.
To help sell the film to a worldwide market, we engaged a sales agent, IAC Film. Getting good sales agents is hard, but Michael Ryan, the AFM's honorary chairman and head of IAC Film, happened to be a close friend of our executive producer, Duncan Clark. Michael was very excited about our project. He felt that with Jason Lewis, the "hunk" from
Sex and the City, as our star, a love comedy set in the exotic world of Bollywood would get a good reception.
SLOW TO MARKET. All we had to do, it seemed, was prepare a film preview to be shown at the AFM and have some posters and brochures ready. But the producers in the U.S. couldn't get a final cut from our Bollywood team that they were comfortable with. The first ones were great by Bollywood standards, but not quite right for Hollywood audiences. Indian films typically last three hours and are rich in melodrama, while Hollywood films are usually half as long and more straightforward. Think of it as the difference between hot curry and a McDonald's cheeseburger -- and what we needed to be offering was a spicy cheeseburger.
After much delay, the difficult decision was made to have Hollywood technicians edit our film. We recruited Michael Trent, who had worked under Hollywood legend Michael Kahn on a number of Steven Spielberg films, including
Saving Private Ryan and
The Terminal. With an extraordinary effort by our teams in India and Los Angeles, we finally put together an excellent film preview. The problem was that this was only a day before the AFM was to start. And to make things worse, all this had delayed our marketing efforts.
I knew we were in trouble when I arrived at the AFM and saw no listing of our film anywhere. I couldn't even figure out where to go. This was nothing like a conference -- more the equivalent of a celluloid fish market. Almost all of the rooms in the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica had been converted into private sales suites, with large film posters and projection equipment. Sales agents would solicit potential buyers to watch a preview of the films they were marketing, then wheel and deal.
If you were a film producer or another sales agent, you would be politely ignored. In the hotel's public meeting areas, posses of producers, actors, and marketing reps would encourage visitors to stop by a particular suite, or invite prospects to film screenings at a nearby cinema. I was amazed by the sheer number of movies on display -- more than a thousand from around the world.
A FILM WITH LEGS. After making some phone calls, I was finally able to locate our suite. But by the end of Day One, there was almost no interest in our film. Michael, our sales agent, explained that the goal for the week was to generate some basic interest so that his team could later follow up, show more of the film, and then negotiate a "sale." A "sale" in this context meant having a distributor in a given territory sign up for a minimum-revenue guarantee to the producer.
For Day Two, Duncan was able to arrange for us to get a spectacular two-page ad in
Variety magazine, and we decided that some guerrilla marketing was in order. We had an emergency meeting with our marketing partner, Frequency Entertainment, and decided to hire three beautiful models to dress like our film's heroine, Reena, in elegant black saris with matching jewelry and makeup, and have them mingle with the crowds. And we made sure that our leaflets and ads were placed strategically in all the meeting areas.
The plan came together like the plot of a Bollywood film. The crowds started streaming into our suite, and for much of the next few days, it was standing room only. The IAC team was screening our film preview almost nonstop in one room, and having sales discussions in the next. By the end, we'd already "sold" a number of territories from as far away as Indonesia and the Middle East. And dozens of other distributors had asked for follow-up meetings. Some, from major territories like France, had even made substantial offers.
It's amazing the difference a few well-positioned models can make. And now, on to the next level.
Printer-Friendly Version
