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 of a pineapple’.” (Tontxi Vazquez, Writer/Producer)

I think Shooting People is as yellow as the generosity of a pineapple should be our new tagline!

Whether you attended or not make sure you download the book of useful contacts (sales agents, festivals, websites etc.) and some tips from yours truly on filmmaking in a web 2.0 world. There’s lots of good stuff in there for all filmmakers although the focus is on short films.

If you think we have left out any ueful contacts or websites please leave a comment here so we can build our database and continue to provide useful information to y’all. Plus if you agree/disagree with any of my tips please leave comments too. It’s always good to hear from filmmakers who are actually going through it because I know it’s much easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk.

Another piece from Anne Thompson at Variety about the changing distribution strategies indie producers/distributors are pursuing:

[F]ilmmakers with an easily defined niche and some marketing flair can still assemble a distribution plan. After doc “Beautiful Losers” debuted at SXSW in March, the filmmakers considered traditional offers from distribs but decided to release the doc on their own. Sidetrack Films partnered with Nike Sportswear to sponsor art workshops, and a shoe and apparel company helped pay for its Aug. 8 launch at New York’s IFC Center and subsequent rollout to four more markets.

Longtime fest film seller John Sloss‘ Cinetic Media also entered the fray this year with the Digital Rights Management group, led by former SXSW film fest director Matt Dentler, who is taking on some of the thousands of titles that are undervalued and haven’t sold after playing the fest circuit. Cinetic will take rights exclusively as a distributor does, and share all revenues 50/50, with no advance.

Filmmakers don’t have to give away the store with DVD deals anymore, but can pursue online distribution via Amazon and a host of rival online indie distribs, from iArthouse and iTunes to IndiePix, Jaman, Hulu, Vudu, Cinequest, Spout and GreenCine.

Laure Parsons at Infinicine points out that holding on to digital rights is not necessarily the path to riches when most people are still watching DVDs:

It may seem like a coup to retain digital rights if you do a DVD deal but you may be shooting yourself in the foot.  A good distributor will manage your digital rights in concert with the DVD to make sure you see the maximum revenue on the balance sheet.

The film business has always been a high-risk venture, but now at the onset of a deal, the willingness to give is at an all-time low. Filmmakers want to hold on to whatever they can, in hopes they can parcel off rights for some benefit in case one or another distribution partner fails.  Distributors want every right, so that they can consolidate their campaigns and also have different avenues to fall back on if one strategy fails.  The only protection you have as a filmmaker ultimately is to know who you’re getting in bed with and their track record- or to do it yourself, but armed with a lot of knowledge and some good consultants.

The excellent and knowledgeable Laure Parsons has recently started a new blog on distribution in the digital age called Infinicine. It’s pretty new and shiny right now but subscribe to it to get future updates on things happening in the big wide world of digital distribution. This stuff changes so quickly – blogs like this help you stay on top of things so you can make smart distribution decisions and not glaze over when people start talking about VOD and digital rights etc.