May 23, 2013
Artist Development
The San Francisco Film Society, having recently wrapped its inaugural A2E (Artist to Entrepreneur) programs at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival, today announced several exciting and unexpected outcomes from the weekend of stimulating presentations and networking events. A2E-the Film Society’s signature program bringing leading companies in the tech sphere together with independent filmmakers to discover new sustainable models for getting films made, seen and appreciated in the current digital landscape-has inspired participants to make serious groundbreaking commitments to the program’s 12 filmmakers.
A2E tech companies such as presenting sponsor Vimeo as well as Gravitas, Kickstarter, SnagFilms and more have pledged their ongoing support of participating filmmakers in the form of discounts, premium services, unique marketing and promotional opportunities, private consultations and case studies, clearly demonstrating the success of the Film Society’s pilot program. In an impressive show of cooperation, all platforms agreed to work together in such a way that none of their offers would require exclusivity or in any way limit filmmakers’ involvement with other participants. Additionally, A2E direct distribution consultants including Peter Broderick, Paola Freccero, Dylan Marchetti, Steven Raphael, Jon Reiss, Shaady Salehi, Marc Schiller and Ruth Vitale have pledged to make themselves available for private consultation with all A2E filmmakers.
“I’ve never been to a more inspiring industry event,” said Ted Hope, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. “The feeling in the room during these sessions was electrifying. It really speaks to the fact that A2E is fulfilling a serious need in the indie film community that our pilot program was able to motivate these cutting-edge companies to action in such a palpable way. I’ve heard it said that only 100 people or so saw the Velvet Underground or the Sex Pistols play for the first time-yet many of those who attended formed their own bands and went on to change the world. We had 12 platforms, 12 filmmaking teams and eight consultants, and all committed to work together to build a better infrastructure for indie film. The shift won’t happen overnight, but something started in that room. Indie film has changed its game, if not its name.”
DETAILS OF A2E PARTNER COMMITMENTS
Vimeo has already provided upgraded Vimeo Pro accounts to A2E filmmakers to enable them to use their tool for all aspects of their projects. Jeremy Boxer, Vimeo Creative Director, film + video, has also pledged to personally work with the A2E filmmakers and be available for more detailed conversations about their project, and to work alongside them so that they will get the maximum out of the Vimeo platform.
Fandor will provide a detailed case study to A2E filmmakers, which, in conjunction with ongoing marketing efforts and a business model that shares revenues with filmmakers, will demonstrate the long-term success technology platforms can bring to independent film.
Gravitas has agreed to distribute any of the 12 A2E films over the next year to its 100+ cable, satellite, telco and online VOD partners, which means each film will be available in more than 100 million North American homes. The company will guarantee that each film will also be distributed with at least one of its primary subscription VOD entities (Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Redbox Instant). Gravitas will also pledge meaningful collaboration with other A2E tech partners to help orchestrate a high impact multifaceted direct distribution release for interested filmmaker teams.
Elisabeth Holm of Kickstarter has pledged to help A2E filmmakers strategize their direct distribution raises on their platform and map out the best way to use Kickstarter as tool to engage with their community around that release. They will also highlight A2E projects on a San Francisco Film Society-curated page.
KinoNation will waive its 20% commission for film submitted for VOD distribution for a period of 36 months beginning June 1 2013. The company will give “premium status” to A2E films, providing much elevated visibility in each of KinoNation’s U.S. and international VOD outlet partners.
SnagFilms has agreed to distribute all participating A2E filmmakers’ short films and to feature and program them in a designated A2E collection. SnagFilms promises to program this collection of shorts both to support A2E on an ongoing basis and also to promote the filmmakers feature film release plans.
Tugg has offered A2E filmmakers discounted DCP creation services, featured placement on their company’s homepage, social media and newsletter mentions.
VHX will provide dedicated, one-on-one consultation with all A2E projects and offer all of their services at a reduced rate.
The inaugural group of A2E filmmakers was Jules Bishop (writer/director) and Olivier Kaempfer (producer) – Borrowed Time; Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart (co-writer/directors), Jordan Gross (producer) and Mike MacMillan (producer) – I Put a Hit on You; Laura Colella (writer/director/producer) – Breakfast with Curtis; Adam Collis (director/producer), Adam Robinson and David Breschel (coproducers) – Car Dogs; Jonathan Duffy (producer) – Pit Stop; Rodney Evans (director/producer/editor) – The Happy Sad; Tom Gilroy (writer/director), Paul Mezey(producer) and Margaret Shafer (Cinereach consultant) – The Cold Lands; Eliza Hittman (writer/director) and Laura Wagner (producer) – It Felt Like Love; Elisabeth Holm (producer) – Obvious Child; Rola Nashef (writer/director/producer) and Leon Toomey (producer) – Detroit Unleaded; Tommy Oliver (writer/director/producer/editor) – 1982; and George Rush (producer) – Ping Pong Summer. In the spirit of mutual cooperation, many of the filmmaking teams have offered to share data about their projects with the group in the form of case studies to help measure the success of their direct distribution strategies.
REACTIONS FROM A2E PARTICIPANTS:
“A2E was quite honestly a watershed moment for me as a producer regarding the way I think about financing and distribution.” –Tommy Oliver, director/producer of1982
“This is an incredibly exciting time for filmmakers. But it’s also unrealistic to expect them to wake up one morning, take off their creative hat and put on a marketing one, and know what to do next. That’s why filling a room full of filmmakers, distribution experts and technology innovators for a weekend at A2E seems like such a simple idea-after the experience, I think it’s borderline criminal it hasn’t been done until now.” –Dylan Marchetti, A2E direct distribution consultant from Variance Films
“A2E is a giant step away from the abyss into which the indie film business and the culture of cinema is rapidly slipping. Kudos to everyone at the San Francisco Film Society.” –Adam Collis, director of Car Dogs
“A2E and the San Francisco Film Society share a sense of purpose for the future of independent film and I was honored to share the ground floor with other innovators helping to mold what can happen next in direct distribution.” –Nolan Gallagher, founder and CEO of Gravitas Ventures