[Frameworks] digital-era distro

[Ken Paul Rosenthal]

I'm grateful for this discussion, having just posted a similar inquiry on the Doculink listserv several weeks ago. My takeaway from Doculink was to sell dvds which include a downloadable file, or if one prefers, a streaming license with is live within a given window. Having toured for three and a half years with Crooked Beauty and my Mad Dance Mental Health Film Trilogy, selling dvds after my screening discussions was a guaranteed--and relatively substantial--source of revenue. Between touring, online sales to individuals, non-profits, and academic institutions, I sold over 4000 dvds. However, now that I'm several months away from completing my current project, Whisper Rapture, I'm not looking forward to lugging around 200 dvds at at time, especially as I'm imagining more lengthy tours than before. On the other hand, David's point about having merch as a point of purchase sale at your show cannot be underestimated.


As our lives and attendant tools and toys become increasingly virtual, there's been a parallel resurgence come reclamation of 'slow culture' from food to LP's. At the risk of sounding sentimental, I believe there will always be something in the human animal that wants to touch something beautiful. I've been carefully monitoring the merchandise for both musicians and fine artists over the last couple of years and there appears to be a rise in beautiful containers for the work with lots of extras--some material, some digital. For my current project, I'm considering a balance of both. One year ago, I gave my new, 33 year old housemate a dvd of my trilogy and to this day, she claims she has not watched it because she doesn't have access to a player. (She also admitted to me last month that she doesn't like watching films because it's hard for her to sit still, but perhaps that's besides the point...) So why make dvds if no one can (or is willing to) watch them? Fortunately, there is still a substantial academic market for dvds, even as they're increasing purchasing streaming licenses. But you need a lot of bandwith for a high quality steam which is where working with a company helps. Here in San Francisco, the Australian spawned academic streaming company, Kanopy has been streaming my trilogy for the past two years. They are a top notch organization, although their standard 50% cut of each sale still stings given that I received 100% of my direct academic sales prior to working with them. Still, it's nice to receive a quarterly paycheck as my dvds sales have trickled down to nothing over the past two years, save the occasional screening.


Regarding Whisper Rapture, my current plan is to produce a limited amount of blue rays for direct distribution to academic libraries or the odd consumer or non-profit that prefers a disc. And the disc will include information for an online download and/or streaming option. The specific platform for the latter is to be determined. I'll certainly look into Penny Lane's platforms. As for touring merch, I intend to sell some sort of beautiful paper based 'container' for my film's streaming/download info. However, this container wil be a work of art that the viewer of my film can physically take with them. Maybe they will tack it up on their wall, maybe it will sit on a shelf, maybe it will be given to someone as a gift. It will contain 'extra's' related to the film, perhaps a study guide, or a booklet of 20 beautiful frame stills, etc. Liberated from schleping dvds or shipping hundreds of units ahead to the next location on my tour, I'll be able to carry much more merch in my baggage.


Ultimately, the key to determining the form and scope of your distro is knowing who and where your audience is. As a mental health advocate, I'm deeply committed to meeting my audience live at the grassroots level so point of purchase sales are really really important. I'm striving towards a balance of maintaining my integrity as a cinema artist who obsesses over every single frame, and giving my audience access to 'content'. Watching Crooked Beauty for free on Vimeo is hardly a cinematic experience, but most of the folks who watch it are too hungry for it's message to concern themselves with stray pixels. Having presented Crooked Beauty in person at well over 350 venues, I've witnessed every conceivable kind of screening condition and not once has someone complained about it being out of focus, grainy, oddly colored, or having the wrong aspect ratio. Despite our best intentions, it's impossible to cover every sort of viewer experience. I'm not suggesting that we completely surrender to our increasing fragmented media landscape. But to try and offer a range of distro possibilities and options and hold lightly to any of them working perfectly--all this coming from a first class control freak!


In closing, I went to the cinema with a new friend a couple nights ago, who confessed he prefers watching movies at home on his iPhone to his much larger laptop screen because the former "looks better."  Oy, what are you gonna do? Who knows...is it a stretch to consider that within ten years, we will be distributing our work on paper thin, flexible screens that we can fit into a wallet?


Cheers, Ken

<http://www.kenpaulrosenthal.com>www.kenpaulrosenthal.com<http://www.kenpaulrosenthal.com>
www.whisperrapture.com<http://www.whisperrapture.com>
www.maddancementalhealthfilmtrilogy.com<http://www.maddancementalhealthfilmtrilogy.com>
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