This is the second and final part of a 2 part post on non-theatrical distribution by Rachel Gordon, a freelance marketing/distribution consultant specializing in the niche and educational usage of documentary films. Something to be aware of that many filmmakers don’t consciously think about when starting to get their work out is that it will take some time for your film to “hit” a place in the non-theatrical market – often up to a whole year.  You can’t count on…

This is the first part of a 2 part post on non-theatrical distribution by Rachel Gordon, a freelance marketing/distribution consultant specializing in the niche and educational usage of documentary films. Disclaimer – This article assumes that you are self-distributing and not working with a distributor.  The narrative below is solely from the perspective of educational, also known as “non-theatrical,” usage of film and does not refer to theatrical or home video distribution. Independent documentary filmmaking continues to rise after several…

Ted Hope’s new blog Truly Free Film is definitely one to add to your reader (if you haven’t started subscribing to blog feeds in a reader I highly recommend it – it saves time and allows you to keep track of loads of blogs and websites in one place. I use Google Reader but there are other options out there). I previously wrote about Hope’s Phoenix Rising speech here and his Truly Free Film blog follows on from this with…

I have been spending the last few days catching up on presentations and panels from the Power to the Pixel conference that took place in London last month – they are now online and free to wach. There’s some great info and ideas here, from Christy Dena on cross-media production, to Arin Crumley on collaborative filmmaking to Jamie King on distribution. If you are feeling worried about how the credit crunch is going to affect independent filmmaking (and let’s face…

Another great event from Own It – The Creators Guide to Going Mobile: a Digital Revolution Made Simple. If you can get to it, this looks like it will address a lot of the questions that we all have about mobile content and how it will pay… Are you thinking of joining the next revolution in digital media and distributing your work through mobile phones or inventing software applications? This seminar will give you an overview of the legal framework…

Hello all, Am still trying to process the information overload that was yesterday’s very entertaining as well as informative Power to the Pixel forum (continuing today). I will write up the reams of notes that I produced throughout the day, I promise. Liz did say that videos of both days’ sessions would be available shortly so keep an eye on the website. In the meantime, let me make it up to you with an exclusive Shooters’ 10% discount on the…

I’ve just been having a look at Reelisor, a new initiative by Discovery Campus who are known for their fantastic training/mentoring events for documentary filmmakers in Europe, along with a string of key partners including BRITDOC and EDN. Reelisor looks like a mixture of an online marketplace, resource and network for doc folk. Savvy filmmakers are getting increasingly strategic about international partnerships when it comes to financing and distributing their films and this is a good place to start as…

I wasn’t able to attend the Shooting People/BAFTA Short Sighted event in London earlier this month due to the very inconvenient fact that I was in New York! But all the feedback has been excellent and it sounds like filmmakers really benefited from the day’s panels and case studies. I particularly like this comment: “The event was motivating due to the knowledge of panel members as well as the clever filmmakers attending. Shooting People is ‘as yellow as the generosity…

Catch up on some of them on The Film Panel Notetaker blog. All the good stuff is here including some really useful and indepth coverage of the No Borders International Co-Production Market presentation of the Case Study on Single Picture Financing with John Hadity, President and CEO of Hadity & Associates, Inc., a consultancy firm that specializes in risk management and production finance for film and television.

I’m moderating this panel on Monday at 10am at the Conference during Independent Film Week. If you want to find out where the money is, and I know that you do!, please stop by. FILMMAKING 2.0 Show Me the New Money Where do you begin when navigating the wide variety of traditional and new media services, sites and opportunities being promoted to assist filmmakers in raising money? How do these tools and services differ from traditional private equity and film…