Category: Creative Distribution Initiative

“Okay, so that was different,” director Kevin Smith said first thing Sunday night after his movie Red State premiered at the Eccles Theatre. He wasn’t talking about the Westboro Baptist Church protestors or the much larger group of counter-protestors that surrounded Eccles before the premiere (Red State is about a clan of religious zealots who also happen to be murderers, thus explaining the church members’ presence at the premiere, but the presence of the counter-protestors, including many local high school students, and their inspired, surreal posters can be credited to Smith, who urged his fans to show up). He was talking about his wild, subversive, shocking, dark, and unforgettable new movie, but it’s eerie how aptly his comment summed up the mood at Eccles that was evident on everyone’s faces as they left the theater: the whole night was, in fact, really different from any other Festival premiere.

This is a continuation of wrap-up notes from the mega-panel known as “Is There a Doctor in the House?” Moderated by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE Editor-in-Chief; and Peter Broderick, head of Paradigm Consulting and sage in the new distribution landscape, the panel was split into four different sections with different panelists. You can find Take 1 here and Take 2 here. This third group included Richard Abramowitz from Anvil! The Story of Anvil; Sandi Dubowski, director of Trembling Before God; Chris Hyams, founder and CEO of B-Side; Tim League, founder of the Alamo Drafthouse and Cora Olson, producer of Good Dick.

This is a continuation of wrap-up notes from the mega-panel known as “Is There a Doctor in the House?” It was moderated by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE Editor-in-Chief; and Peter Broderick, head of Paradigm Consulting and sage in the new distribution landscape. You can find Take 1 here. In a radical panel format there were four rotating groups of industry experts, filmmakers, and strategists exploring concrete visions and case studies of the new distribution paradigm.

What I call the knights of the distribution round table took place today at the Prospector Square Theatre. Officially called “Is There a Doctor in the House?” it was moderated by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE Editor-in-Chief, and Peter Broderick, head of Paradigm Consulting and sage in the new distribution landscape. In a radical panel format there were four rotating groups of industry experts, filmmakers, and strategists exploring concrete visions and case studies of the new distribution paradigm.

As with most Kara Swisher panels, “Spotlight on Social Media” was full of heavy-hitters and big ideas. Swisher opened up the floor with her trademark pointed cynicism: “If social media and storytelling is lonelygirl15 and Facebook poking, we’re screwed.” From there it was a fast and furious exchange that I’ve managed to distill into some key subjects.

In the bunker-like Microcinema at New Frontier on Main, Michael Brown of Digitaria kicked off the Digital Dive Workshop with his presentation on bringing online film marketing back to its roots: the website.”The opportunities to raise awareness with an array of free online social networks and tools has never been greater, but your core is and should always be your website,” Brown continued, “Will these social networks be around in five years? Your website, however, can stay online forever.” It’s a great point he raises and the thought that a lot of filmmakers are foregoing a traditional site to solely market their film through a Facebook Fan Page is a sad reality.