Going Bionic Column

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – DELIVERING DELIVERABLES I was nursing an Arctic-cold Dr. Pepper at the American Film Market (AFM) on Santa Monica Beach a few years ago, when a fiercely confident independent filmmaker interrupted my moment of …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – “REGIONAL FILM FESTIVALS!” Film festivals are like rabbits; every time you turn around they’re multiplying all around you. There are over 4,000 film festivals worldwide – with at least 1,628 of them in …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – “PRODUCTION STRATEGIES” Since January of 1997, I’ve had the honor to serve as a film festival jury member, screener or panelist at several festivals worldwide. From the far north reaches of Dawson City, …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – “THE BUDGET GAME” During my time in international distribution, I’ve seen several $1,000,000 documentaries that should have been made for ten times less, and a few $100,000 features that should have been made …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY: FILM MARKET BAGS, BOOTHS, AND YOU I was sitting in my sales booth at the European Film Market in Berlin watching a film seller in a neighboring booth boast about his upcoming film slate …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – TAX CREDITS ROCK! I always loved Halloween growing up. For one magical evening, I could transform myself into a clown, Dracula or any other flavor of the month costume and create future cavities …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – GOING THEATRICAL! I was nine years old in June of 1977, when my uncle Babu convinced my dad to corral the family one Saturday afternoon to go see some new Sci-Fi movie called …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – HOW NOT TO GET SCREWED ON YOUR DISTRIBUTION CONTRACT! I still remember how wide-eyed and excited I was when I attended my first American Film Market (AFM) in 1992. President Bill Clinton was …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – DEVELOPMENT HELL! The first draft of the first screenplay I ever wrote left a lot to be desired. It was a family drama I wrote with a friend of mine in the fall …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – CO-PRODUCTIONS (FINANCING PART TWO) Over the past five Octobers, my company has trekked to Tokyo, Japan to attend TIFFCOM, an up-and-coming film sales market that runs concurrent with the Tokyo Film Festival. Knowing …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – INDIE FILM FINANCING (PART ONE) It was February of 2006. I had just returned from my annual birthday trip to the Super Bowl when I learned that an indie producer from the east …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – A BIONIC AFTERNOON WITH OMAR BENSON MILLER I first met Omar Benson Miller at the Cannes Film Festival in May, when he was with his brother Terry, who is also his creative partner. …

GOING BIONIC – DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – “TERRITORIAL INSIGHTS” One of the best lessons I ever learned about knowing my international territories came in Budapest, Hungary at DISCOP; a Film and TV content market “for growing world regions.”  I …

GOING BIONIC – DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – V.O.D. IS VERY V.I.P. I was a student at the UCLA Graduate School of Film Producers Program in the spring of 1994, (which was pure heaven and I’d recommend it to everyone) …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – R.I.P. DVD It was right after “Star Wars” came out in May of 1977, when my dad brought home a totally groovy, bulky, space-age-looking silver box with red lights, clicking parts, and something …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – ONLINE DISTRIBUTION I was on a flight home from New York in the spring of 2003 when the man sitting next to me was bawling his eyes out. While I respected his right …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – FILM FESTIVAL STRATEGIES I was gazing at a stuffed bear in a glass case at the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska when the first eerie, “what the hell am I getting myself into,” feeling …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – PACKAGING YOUR FILM It was July 20, 1984, when I piloted my fierce navy blue Camaro to my local movie theater in Overland Park, Kansas to Eddie Murphy’s newest comic masterpiece. I was …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – GENRES THAT SELL! It was a crisp morning in the fall of 1979 when I first learned that I had won the district-wide “Why I love America” essay contest. I was a sixth …

GOING BIONIC: DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – FILM MARKETS On a flight home from the MIPTV television market in Cannes a few weeks ago, I was pondering how I would introduce myself and describe the world of selling independent films …