How ‘Eventizing’ Distribution Can Change The Game For Independent Filmmakers

A new model for distributing independent films is emerging in the U.S., where traditional marketing and exhibition strategies have historically resulted in box office returns that don’t justify a theatrical release in the first place.

Jon Reiss, founder of indie distribution outlet 8 Above, has spent the last 15 years consulting on and distributing independent films. In 2007, he organized the distribution of his own film, Bomb It, and eventually scored a network deal. His approach got lots of attention online, and he was asked to write a series of articles for Filmmaker Magazine. The articles caught the attention of indie filmmakers, who asked Reiss to consult on the distribution of their films.

Reiss obliged and quickly became an authority on the subject, writing a distribution how-to book for indie filmmakers. He also runs a six-month intensive in which he teaches indie filmmakers how to navigate the distribution landscape.

My Love Affair With Marriage: A Case Study

Recently, Reiss and the 8 Above team worked with filmmaker Signe Baumane on a distribution plan for her latest film, My Love Affair With Marriage.

Since October 6, Baumane and her partner, Sturgis Warner (producer and set builder on MLAWM), have been on a cross-country Animation Rock Tour with the film. The tour kicked off in New York, which Baumane and Warner call home, and will travel to more than 25 U.S. cities over the coming three months. At many stops along the way, Baumane and Warner will engage with the audience, host Q&As, and give away artwork that appeared in the finished film.

More than A Name

A fully-lit marquee blazoned with Animation Rock Tour is an exciting thought and a fun metaphor for the on-the-road nature of Baumane and Sturgis’ plans. However, there is a more literal history to the name, as Reiss’s philosophy on distribution has very punk rock roots.

In the 1980s, before he began working with films, Reiss booked concert tours for his band. As video equipment got smaller and more accessible, the shows became more multimedia.

“I booked five or six tours of Europe with the videos and the band, and we actually traveled around with our projector and three-quarter-inch deck in a VW van with bad brakes,” he told us. “I realized that half of the battle of making films or being a filmmaker was getting your film seen. And that’s been a truism throughout my life.”

Creating A Sense of Urgency

Early in his career as a distributor, Reiss realized that traditional week-long theatrical models didn’t work for the kinds of films he was making or for the filmmakers he was working with.

“I was touring with a film once where each stop was a week in the cinema, and there were four or five people at any given screening,” he recalled. “Then we took the film to a location in New Orleans where we only had one night, and the room was packed. Bingo, a lightbulb went off in my brain, and I knew this was the way to go.”

According to Reiss, “One thing that really works is scarcity and ‘eventizing.’ If a film is going to play in a theater for a week, someone might put it off and put it off and then miss it by the time the film is gone.”

Many U.S. anime distributors have employed similar tactics with smaller films, opting for one-day or one-weekend runs with plenty of pomp and circumstance programmed around the screenings.

A New Way Of Marketing

Another area where Reiss says traditional models are failing independent filmmakers is marketing.

“Advertising a small indie film doesn’t help sell tickets,” he says. “Doing press helps a little bit, but to really make an impact with marketing, you’d need a lot more money than these types of films have to spend. And you’d almost never make it back.”

Reiss and his team at 8 Above focus their public relations efforts more carefully when plotting a film’s tour and are explicit in who they target. Rather than casting a wide net across a city where a film will be screened, they reach out to special interest groups they believe will appreciate the film and organize group screenings. If those go well, word of mouth often leads to more screenings and larger audiences.

Impact Event Theatrical

“We call this ‘impact event theatrical,'” Reiss told us. “It’s where we work with community groups to set up screenings for smaller films.”

My Love Affair With Marriage is the ideal type of film for this strategy. Baumane is Latvian and the film has a strong Eastern European influence, appealing to potential viewers with roots in that region. Narratively, it tells the first-person account of how songs and fairytales convince young Zelma that love will one day solve all her problems. As she grows up, though, Zelma realizes the world in which she lives is far different than the one she was promised.

When plotting the Animation Rock Tour, 8 Above and Baumane contacted women’s groups and Eastern European organizations to plan group screenings. It’s an opportunity for the groups to see a film made by someone from their own community, while for Baumane, it ensures an interested audience will see it.

Another advantage to this strategy is that the groups help get the word out. “Groups will send out newsletters and have conversations that facilitate engagement,” said Reiss.

The Cost

Baumane spent seven years working on My Love Affair With Marriage and can’t wait to get started on her next film. But, she says, the work doesn’t finished just because the film is finished.

“To release a film like this is definitely not for the weak of heart,” said Baumane. “And it’s definitely not for people who want to just make a film and then sit back and wait for the film to do work for them.”

According to her, it’s the responsibility of independent filmmakers to ensure their work has a life after the festival circuit. It may mean less time spent making films, but it’s a vital part of the process and essential to ensuring that future films are possible.

The Reward

My Love Affair With Marriage world premiered at Tribeca, has been well-received by critics, screened at more than 60 festivals, and won more than a dozen awards. It’s deeply personal while staying relatable, the animation is fun and fits the narrative well, and Baumane’s mix of 2d drawings over hand-built sets gives the film a vibrancy that makes it exciting to watch.

But is that enough to call it a successful endeavor? According to Baumane, she accepted early on that this film’s success would not be measured in financial terms. The goal was never to get rich; it was to find a distribution model that makes independent animation production sustainable.

“We are looking for new ways to bring indie films to theaters,” she says. “Maybe animated indie films will go the way of the opera. Opera products are expensive, don’t bring in huge profits, the expenses always outweigh the income, and they depend on donations. I hope that’s not what happens. We must work together to make indie films sustainable.”