You made a film. Now what? Chances are you would like other people to enjoy the fruits of your efforts, and if you are fortunate enough to have other people with a financial interest in your project, chances are that they would not only like the film to be distributed, but rather they would demand it. If the latter is your situation, I would hope you have already planned ahead and have a distribution plan ready (see our recent article on how to make a business plan for your film). If you don’t, read on for some of your options.

Tugg

Tugg is a community-driven platform for bringing independent titles to screens anywhere in the US. As a filmmaker you can use the platform to arrange and promote screenings, or you can use it to engage your social media following to the point where enough of them – your fans – request your film shown in a theater near you. It’s not a money-making machine, but it’s a fairly low-risk way of making sure your film gets a theatrical release.

Gathr

Like it’s slightly more streamlined competitor, Tugg, Gathr is a theatrical-on-demand service where either filmmakers or fans can request and promote a screening. Gathr is focused on documentary films.

VOD

Video-On-Demand seems to be the best way for a self-distributed film to generate revenue on a continuous basis and it should be part of any distribution plan you create for your project. Once your film has completed it’s festival run, you need to push for sales on VOD services like Netflix and iTunes. But don’t limit yourself to those brandname services – there are dozens of smaller, independent services that don’t require curator approval before making your film available for download/streaming. As a DIY filmmaker you can make your film more or less instantly available on services like Amazon Video Direct, IndieReign, Vimeo On-Demand and TopSpin, so you can start creating a stream of revenue. Check out this list of services compiled by PBS.

Aggregator Services

There are a lot of film out there. Not only do you need to know who you are marketing your film to, you also need to make sure your film is available for purchase wherever your potential viewers might be looking for it. That means either a lot of submissions for VOD services – or using an aggregator. A service like Quiver Digital takes a one-time fee to distribute your film across all major digital services (like iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google Play, etc.), after which you get to keep all revenue, less any percentages taken by the service your film was purchased or rented on. Similar services are offered by Kinonation and Juice.

Check out this No Film School article on aggregators – and the same writer’s experience using Tugg for her theatrical run.

h/t No Film School and Oakley Anderson-Moore

A friend of mine works for a little company called Quiver. While I’ve yet to use their services myself, every time my buddy talks about it, I make a mental note for when the day comes that I have a film of my own to share with the masses. Let’s face it, distribution is not the sexiest part of filmmaking, but unless you’re an auteur who doesn’t give a crap about the life of your work after it’s done (’cause it’s about the PROCESS, man!), distribution may very well be one of the most important parts. Not knowing a whole lot about shopping distribution rights, theatrical releases or how to get anything up for sale on Amazon, services like Quiver are a godsend.

So naturally, I was excited and intrigued when Mashable broke the news about a new partnership between Quiver (which has been around since 2011 as en extension of Premiere Digital Services) and the Sundance Institute, announced right before the Sundance Film Festival. Enter Quiver Digital.

First, a word from Quiver – about Quiver:

Quiver is a digital services and distribution company.  We provide technical services for your feature and short films, episodic content, music and music videos.  We also provide aggregation and distribution capabilities for content to popular digital retail platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and more.  Unlike much of our competition, we provide services for one-time service fees, so you keep all revenue from your specified retail platforms.

 

Quiver is a tool in the filmmaker and rights holder’s arsenal. We give control to the people who deserve it most.

 

You.

And here’s an excerpt from the Mashable story:

Quiver Digital is a distribution dashboard through which participants can very quickly and easily push their movies to iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Google Play, Vudu and Sony Entertainment Network, all at once and all in one place. No more need to deal with different distributors and their Byzantine conversion protocols, which can still be a headache-y and time-consuming process.

 

Sundance Institute’s deal with Quiver’s parent company Premiere Digital Services, announced Wednesday on the eve of the Sundance Film Festival, gives artists streamlined access to the major retailers through Quiver. The software is available only through the institute’s Artist Services initiative, which has been providing filmmakers with creative self-distribution, funding and marketing tactics since its launch in 2011.

 

“In today’s market, creative funding, marketing and distribution strategies are required to ensure that that independent content creators retain their rights and earn fair, sustainable revenue, and audiences find distinctive, authentic narrative and documentary stories,” Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, told Mashable. “Artist Services through Quiver Digital offers efficient and easy-to-use tools that allow filmmakers to more effectively connect with their audience.”

 

Premiere Digital put the software suite together via direct distribution deals with major digital platforms. Quiver offers encoding, licensing and digital delivery services, giving filmmakers exclusive access to a diverse menu of distribution models. It can be used alone, or to complement deals for certain territories, categories or time frames.

 

The Artist Services initiative has already launched over 100 new and encore Sundance Institute films into the digital marketplace, with more than 200 alumni artists — including Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Detropia), Shane Carruth (Primer and Upstream Color) and Tiffany Shlain (Connected) — taking advantage of the services in its four years of existence.

Easy access to all the platforms? For a one-time fee? I’m on board.