The question often asked by filmmakers is, Will my film make money? It's an understandable question. Much money and angst went into making the film. Now the filmmaker wants to know,
Will it make enough to pay my investors and put some change in my pocket?
I hear these questions every day, and each time I give the same answer: In the film business, there are no guarantees, only opportunities. Your job as a filmmaker is to seize these opportunities.
Even the big Hollywood studios, with their high-salaried marketing executives and million-dollar budgets, can't predict the market performance of their films. Just note such debacles as Logan Lucky, Dunkirk, and Baby Driver.
One strategy is to consider our CINEMAflix DISTRIBUTION Program. It's a program that offers opportunities: an opportunity to give your film a one-week theatrical run in a highly regarded art house theater in New York and/or Los Angeles; an opportunity to have a professional publicist promote your film; an opportunity to have your film encoded and submitted to the major digital platforms; and an opportunity to market DVDs of your film to the major DVD wholesalers.
With our program, you get to cover all the important bases. We can't offer you a 100% guarantee, but we can offer you a better shot to achieve success.
NEWS BRIEFS:
The three digital giants, Apple, Facebook, and Google, have signaled to Hollywood that they are serious about entering a television landscape that Netflix and Amazon shook up just a few years ago. Their arrival will make an already hypercompetitive industry even more ferocious. This year, there are expected to be more than 500 scripted TV shows, more than double the number six years ago. -John Koblin, The New York Times
Comcast, Amazon, and Apple are developing a delivery system for a premium VOD service that could launch in 2018. Consumers would pay $30 for a film that has been in theaters for only 30 to 45 days. -Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter
MOVIE ETIQUETTE:
These 10 rules apply in any cinema around the world:
1. Have your money or credit card ready before you reach the cashier.
2. After buying your ticket and counting your change, quickly move to the side and allow the person behind you to purchase a ticket.
3. A baseball cap is a hat. Don't wear it in the theater.
4. If the theater is not full, don't take the seat directly in front of the patron seated behind you.
5. On the other hand, if the theater is full, don't put your jacket on the seat next to you if you're not holding it for someone but only because you want more room.
6. Chatting should stop as soon as the theater is dark, even though the only thing showing on the on the screen is the trailers.
7. Like all retail businesses these days, cinemas (especially art houses) are hurting. Don't take advantage by buying a senior ticket when you don't qualify, age-wise.
8. Though you may not be talking, the light from a cell phone during a film is distracting to the patrons around you. Shut it completely.
9. Putting your feet on the seat in front of you is never acceptable, even if the theater is empty.
10. If you don't want to see the long scroll of credits at the end of the film, move out quickly. Patrons behind you may want to see the credits.
Please do not diminish the film enjoyment of patrons around you by violating any of these rules.
