Edward Burns, Director of Newlyweds, on the Changing Face of Indie Film Distribution & VOD Platforms - The Daily Beast

Edward Burns on indie film distribution - Excerpt from a longer post on thedailybeast.com "...As all indie film distribution companies will attest, the economics of a theatrical release for smaller budgeted films just don’t really make sense. And many of these companies have gone out of business clinging to this old model. The few specialty distribution companies that are left are exploring different models, with a greater emphasis on VOD and shorter windows between theatrical release and digital release. These companies even regard the theatrical release as a loss leader, a way to market the film for its more significant ancillary revenue to follow.

Slaven Vlasic / Getty Images

To be fair, bypassing the studio forces you to make some significant compromises, but as a filmmaker, these are things I am comfortable sacrificing. While I may not get the comforts of a big production—the fancy equipment, the big set pieces, working with huge movie stars, I also have complete creative freedom to tell the story I want without any outside interference. Any decision, from casting to script to music, is made between me and my creative collaborators. When the terrifically talented (but largely unknown) actors that I’m able to work with come on set, they know there won’t be a spread from craft services waiting for them. Or a stylist and makeup artist on hand to fix them up between every scene. We’ll likely have early mornings and late nights, and without a giant machine to move after every set-up, we are shooting about 10 pages of dialogue a day. The actors get to act, and typically love the liberating, creative environment we have created. But that is what I love about filmmaking. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to make successful films on small budgets. And now I’ve found the best way to distribute these films to an audience—using digital platforms...."

via thedailybeast.com

Posted via email from Siobhan O'Flynn's 1001 Tales