The State of Independent Film. Part 2

Ahhhhh, Kevin Smith. My hero. When you look at us on paper, we have a lot in common. He worked at a video store, I worked at a video store. He's from NJ, I'm from NJ. His father died from a heart attack, my father died from a heart attack. I could go on, but I already sound creepy.

Kevin Smith made his first film for roughly, $27-28k. Clerks has a massive cult following and remains arguably, his best film. I love all his films, including Cop Out (some debate that it's not his film since he didn't write it) and Jersey Girl.

Fast Forward a career and out comes Red State. Completely independently funded ($4Million), Red State premiered at Sundance with Smith saying he would sell the movie "auction style", with the highest bidder taking home his (and his crew) hard work.

What ended up happening, according to critics, is Kevin Smith "imploded". He bought his own movie for $20.00 and proceeded to tell the audience that, and I'm paraphrasing here:

"It's messed up that a distributor will buy my $4Million movie, pump $16Million in Marketing and BAM! just like that it's a $20Million movie. So before we see any of the films profits, the distributor has to recoup expenses, plus interest, while you critics bash every film I've ever made. It'll take years before that money comes back."

The man has a point. He's absolutely right.

So what did he do? Well, he hit the road, with cast in tow and showed his audience the film and gave them a Q&A. And it worked. (Kevin talks about the tour numbers here, a long read)

But do you know why this worked? BECAUSE HE'S KEVIN FUCKING SMITH! Who knows what he'll do when it comes to Clerks III, his final film, but he's said he will NOT crowd fund the movie. I respect that. Why take money out of the wallet of the "next Kevin Smith"?

He said he toured with Red State because he wanted to show future filmmakers that it's possible to show your movie without playing the Hollywood dance. Well, when Ned Stevens from Bumfuck, Iowa makes his movie and starts to tour with it, will he have the same success as Kevin Smith? No. Not a chance in hell. I think all new filmmakers have something like a 1% chance at making it in the industry. But that really counts on what you consider "making it".

Kevin Smith has his audience. His fans will see his movies. So how does a new filmmaker gain an audience?

Youtube.

It's as simple as that (there's actually more to it, but yeah, it's that easy). When Clerks came out, you had barely any options when it came to equipment/distribution. Now, you can shoot a movie, cut the movie, and distribute the movie for under $2k easy. Marketing through social networking is free. If you make good content that appeals to a specific demographic, you'll get viewers. When you gain viewers, you can get Partnership. Then you start making money (not a lot of money from what I've read, anywhere from $.50 to $3.00 per thousand views). After that you can choose what to do, either continue making content for Youtube, or sign onto the big leagues. Believe me, when companies catch wind that you have your own audience, and you're doing it all yourself, they'll come snooping around. Or you can do both! That's the beauty of being your own boss.

But let's look at a Youtube channel that's done really well...