Seize the Power: A Marketing and (DIY)stribution Symposium
Seize the Power: A Marketing and (DIY)stribution Symposium
Festival Events
(300 mins)
Seize the power. Engage your audience. Learn how to monetize your art.The bottom line is, that in order to sustain your career as an artist you need to be able to make a living out of your work.

  • How do you do it in the noisy environment of our increasingly mediatized world?
  • What tools are available to you?  How do you use them?
  • Who are the people that can help you?
  • And how do you keep making art when you’re busy trying to sell it?

Artists and key players in the new landscape of marketing and distribution will tackle these questions and more.

DAY 1
Saturday, June 19
1:00PM - 5:30PM
   
1:00PM – 1:15PM    INTRODUCTION


1:15PM – 1:45PM    TED HOPE on THE ARTIST ENTREPRENEUR
The age-old line between art and commerce does not benefit today's creators. Starting from the first seeds of inspiration, we have to engage in new practices to extend our projects’ reach into new domains of discovery, appreciation, promotion, and presentation. Maximizing revenues and extending reach are dictates not just for survival, but necessary mantras for the execution of ambitious work.


2:00PM – 3:00PM     NEW DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION INITIATIVES
Leading digital distribution executives present new solutions for distribution as they explain their business models and the opportunities they offer filmmakers to reach audiences and bring in revenue for their films.

Erick Opeka, New Video
Nolan Gallagher, Gravitas Ventures
Orly Ravid, The Film Collaborative
Scilla Andreen, IndieFlix


3:15PM – 5:30PM     THE NEW TOOLS OF THE TRADE
As artists and filmmakers are exploring new options to engage their fans and fund and distribute their movies, we bring together a group of innovators to show the platforms that are enabling artists to take control of their sales, fund their work, and launch live events.

  • 3:15PM – 3:40PM   KICKSTARTER: Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, and explorers.Yancey Strickler
  • 3:45PM – 4:30PM    TOPSPIN:  Topspin is a technology-focused, direct-to-fan marketing, management, and distribution platform. Bob Moczydlowsky
  • 4:35PM – 4:55PM    NEOFLIX:  Neoflix is a service that provides an integrated solution for e-commerce, order fulfillment, and customer service created for filmmakers and film     distributors with multi-channel sales strategies. John Chang
DAY 2
  Sunday, June 20
10:00AM - 5:00PM

10:00AM – 10:15AM     INTRODUCTION
   
10:15AM – 11:00AM     NEW WAYS AND MEANS: A Conversation with Cory McAbee
Writer, director, and musician Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut) has been at the forefront of experimentation with small screen films and multiplatform distribution. In conversation with Jon Reiss, he discusses his latest effort: the feature film Stingray Sam, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.   Nine months after its debut, Stingray Sam went on to a day-and-date release with a live broadcast, DVDs, and digital downloads available on McAbee's website the same day the film premiered in theaters.  McAbee’s experiences will offer a wealth of information and insight on the new ways and means of distribution.

Cory McAbee, writer/director/musician
Jon Reiss, director/producer, Bomb It, author, Thinking Outside of the Box Office


11:10AM – 11:40AM    GOOD SOCIAL NETWORKING AND UNDERSTANDING EGO S.E.O.
S.E.O., or Search Engine Optimization, can be key to branding yourself and your film.   Learn to create a compelling online persona and look good in Google with Sean Percival, an American blogger and author from Los Angeles. Percival is a Director at MySpace and the founder of the Los Angeles-based technology blog lalawag. Formerly with Mahalo and Docstoc, he taps the real-time web to identify and develop content around today's biggest Internet trends. He's been featured in Forbes and numerous other publications for his ability to develop and monetize social networks and is the author of MySpace Marketing and The Second Life Travel Guide, both from Que publishing.   

Sean Percival, Director of Content Socialization, MySpace


11:50AM – 12:20PM     ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE FROM THE GET-GO
Building your film's core audience beginning in development and throughout the production journey is essential for ultimate distribution success. But it's not that simple.  Aligning the competing demands of production (getting it in the can on time and on budget) and marketing (putting bums in seats) is easier said than done.  The trick is to leverage the actual production workflow process to expedite delivery of fresh content to fans in over the entire project lifecycle.  MovieSet Founder and CEO, Colleen Nystedt, describes the mechanics of using online communications, scheduling and asset approval tools to generate real-time content for engaging and growing sustainable fan communities.

Colleen Nystedt, President and CEO, MovieSet   

       
12:30PM – 1:00PM    MAKING CHANGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO ADVOCACY-DRIVEN DISTRIBUTION
Film Sprout founder Caitlin Boyle talks about the power of community screening campaigns to seed grassroots support for independent film, to earn filmmakers revenue, and to contribute to social change—all at once.  In this presentation, Caitlin introduces us to the strategic and practical steps necessary for combining advocacy and distribution goals to rally a motivated audience around your film.    

Caitlin Boyle, Founder, Film Sprout


1:00PM – 2:00PM        BREAK


2:00PM – 3:00PM     CROWDFUNDING:  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Crowdfunding has arrived.  Every independent filmmaker should understand it.  Crowdfunding enables you to raise critically important funds and harness your audience.  Distribution strategist Peter Broderick will give you the lowdown on how and when to use it.  Broderick discusses with filmmakers who will share their crowdfunding experiences. 

Moderator:  Peter Broderick, President, Paradigm Consulting
Filmmakers to be announced.


3:00PM – 3:50PM     TRANSMEDIA
In an era dominated by media franchises, transmedia entertainment is often an economic imperative, yet it can also be an aesthetic opportunity. This is an amazing time to be a storyteller.  The democratization of the tools to create combined with rapid changes in media consumption mean that there are more ways to tell stories than ever before. The creative possibilities are endless, but where to start?  How do you extend the stories you want to tell beyond a single screen?  Two transmedia experts approach the issue from two different perspectives.
 
  
3:00PM – 3:20PM    TOYING WITH TRANSMEDIA: AN OVERVIEW
Drawing on examples from both commercial and independent productions, Henry Jenkins will outline aesthetics of transmedia production, which will be valuable to critics, filmgoers, and filmmakers alike.

Henry Jenkins, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
 
 
3:30PM – 3:50PM TELLING STORIES BEYOND A SINGLE SCREEN: A FILMMAKER’S EXPERIENCE
Lance Weiler, one of the leading experts on transmedia, will share how he designs and deploys engaging transmedia projects while at the same time building audiences and tapping into new forms of funding and revenue streams.    

Lance Weiler, Founder, The WorkBook Project

         
4:00PM – 5:00PM     HOW DID THEY DO IT?
DISTRIBUTION CASE STUDIES
Filmmakers who have used innovative techniques and strategies to fund, market, and distribute their films give an honest account of what has worked and not worked on their distribution journey.

Moderator: Josh Welsh, Director of Talent Development, Film Independent
Mynette Louie, producer, Children of Invention    
Additional filmmakers to be announced.

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