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 years of growth, alongside increasing use of the internet for both advertising information about how great your project is, and providing media delivery options.   Where do, or should, or can, filmmakers go to get their projects out to viewers?

Get an idea of who your target audience is:  Figure this out by looking at the film from such perspectives as – are you following families, advocates or cultural figures? What culture? What age groups? Any gender-based or sexual issues explored?  Do you see people helping other people, and if so, how and to what end?  What is it you think you are showing people that they were not shown before?  Why are the subjects involved with your film, and who do they wish to communicate with?

Being able to answer these questions is crucial to getting your media used in any classroom setting, be it grade school or college.  Teachers and professors alike are media-savvy professionals so they don’t need to hear you say how great your film is. They do need to hear you say how it should be used, what a student learns from it.  The more work you do for them in providing such information (i.e. the ever-useful study guide), the easier you make it on them to use your work in their curriculum.

Study guides are normally established through the grassroots question and answer sessions that you might have with a film.  If participants or a public screening effect a useful dialogue, this is something to take note of and flush out on paper.  Study guides usually come free, as a bonus material, and it is preferable if someone in the field you are trying to reach is actually collaborating with you on it.

This then begs the question of how to deliver said media itself to the classroom.  Unfortunately, though we’d like to think you just make a DVD and start shipping them, the choices you provide the end user can dramatically affect your ability to sell product.  It is very useful if you are providing the option to stream, either through your own means or by allowing the institution to do so with a license.  But streaming and DVD are still only 2 options of the many that are cropping up with new technology on a daily basis and it’s worthwhile to be flexible about content usage.  If your content isn’t available the way that someone can use it, they won’t necessarily make-do with what you give them, as it is easier to pass you by and not spend the money at all.

A uniquely useful new option for filmmakers, which I should explain I have been assisting recently with outreach to colleges and universities, is submitting your work to the Reframe Collection.  I have recently done this myself so I can now say I take my own advice.  I bring this initiative up, not just because I work with them, but because of the usefulness of being a part of something larger while still retaining your own identity as a filmmaker.  They have several technical options you can sign up for in terms of delivery, and your film is placed alongside films of similar themes, which makes it easier for educational librarians to find you when they are looking to program a semester. Using one website instead of visiting 10 filmmakers’ websites makes their jobs easier.

Links/Resources:

Reframe Collection – www.reframecollection.org

Educational publications to get work reviewed – Take a look at the American Library Association website – www.ala.org.  The ALA has caucuses and groups that discuss research on certain themes.

Email/mailing list – Richard Dill – rjdill *at* gmail.com – looks at your website and helps you define the librarians who look at and purchase your genre of film.  Charges affordable flat rate per 1000 contacts that includes the ability to re-use the list you are given.

Rachel Gordon is a filmmaker and freelance marketing/distribution consultant specializing in the niche and educational usage of documentary films.  Her short film, Loose Ends, is currently at festivals while she finishes writing the feature version of the story about feminine fear of commitment.  She is also in production on a documentary series about alternative medicines.  She can be reached through her website at www.energizedfilms.com

Part 2 will be published tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 4:31 pm and is filed under distribution, resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.