Category Archives: Monetize Video

Google and Facebook take lion’s share of global advertising

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CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson

Sara Fischer reports on Axios that Google and Facebook are booking “83% of every new ad dollar,” at $80.8B and $36.3B this year respectively.

These are huge percentages of the global advertising spend:

“Google’s ad revenue is roughly the same as all print ad revenue globally and Facebook’s ad revenue nearly topples all radio ad revenue globally.”

Related: the world’s biggest advertisers with country and category breakdowns.

My take: I was curious if this is a case of growing the market or of dominating the existing market. I think it’s a bit of both. Certainly mobile is where it’s at right now.

Streaming strengthens

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As Netflix releases the first trailer for its most expensive movie to date at San Diego’s Comic Con ($90 Million USD for Bright, starring Will Smith), CMF Trends explores the flourishing streaming world:

They claim one out of three homes are watching Netflix every night; one out of six are watching Youtube; and one out of 25 is watching Amazon.

“In 2016, the consumption of audio and video content amounted to 71% of evening online traffic on fixed broadband networks in North America according to Sandvine. This proportion has doubled in the past five years…. The spending shift towards streaming services can also be observed in Canada, where spending on Internet access has been higher than spending on cable TV subscription since 2015.”

The cost of all that content is exploding on an upward curve as well:

For instance, prices paid for comedy specials have doubled:

My take: I’ll tell you what drove us to Netflx: TV commercials. We didn’t mind appointment viewing for the new shows we liked but the commercials became too intrusive for all but live events (like sports and award shows). And on Netflix, if the story really grabs you, you can binge watch multiple episodes.

Indie distribution strategies

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Ben Fritz reports in The Wall Street Journal that Video on Demand Gives Low-Budget Films Wider Audience.

The sub-head continues: Amazon and Netflix can widen movies’ reach. Just don’t expect big box office.

“Indie movies have become marginalized at the box office. Most rely exclusively on VOD rentals to make their money and use short runs at a handful of theaters to generate reviews.”

He outlines three ways independent filmmakers can distribute their work:

  1. Sell the movie to a digital distributor who then releases it on tVOD platforms (upfront payment, few stats and complex accounting)
  2. Launch on sVOD services like Netflix (one payment and no eyeball stats)
  3. DIY and release on Vimeo or other outlets and do all the marketing yourself (nothing up front but full stats)

The first is closest to the old film distributor model. The third is the method that most fully embraces the potential of the new economy. However, it requires the most time and energy.

My take: which model you choose might depend on your audience. For instance, if your film is mainstream, you might be tempted to look to Netflix. However, if your film is purely indie, Vimeo might be better suited. The real problem, of course, is getting noticed. How to stand out in a crowded pond. Discoverability is the main challenge for every project and filmmaker.

Netflix lunch boxes coming soon

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Bloomberg Technology recently published Netflix Plans New Toys, Merchandise Based on Hit TV Shows, by Lucas Shaw.

The article links to a Netflix job posting that seeks “someone to take on the responsibility of creating an end-to-end strategy and executional plan for merchandising and promotion of the Netflix brand and/or content.”

The emphasis seems to be squarely on promotion rather than profit:

“We are pursuing consumer products and associated promotion because we believe it will drive meaningful show awareness/buzz with more tangible, curated ways to interact with our most popular content. We want licensed merchandise to help promote our titles so they become part of the zeitgeist for longer periods of time. Last but not least, merchandising and promotion will be used as a marketing tactic to capture member demand and delight our member community.”

Netflix has already beta-tested merchandising with it’s hit show Stranger Things. You can buy 46 Stranger Things items, from Hawkins High School iron-on patches to jewellery to t-shirts.

Shaw concludes with a nice quote from Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos:

“We don’t want to make any shows to sell toys. What’s really important is there’s a marketing component that comes with toys. Kids carrying the backpack sells the show.”

My take: back in the day, this was called merchandising. It’s still that but the goal is now becoming more about marketing. The next level, of course, is transmedia, in which the story continues on in the real world, in this case, via stuff. Think comics and board games, for instance. Secret decoder rings?

Seed and Spark wants Canadian features, series

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Seed&Spark, the indie crowdfunding and streaming platform, believes independent films require the seed of an idea and the sparks of human and capital investments to bring them to life. Based in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, they’ve recently turned their gaze north, to Canada.

Caitlin Gold, Acquisitions & Programming, explains:

“I’m most interested in acquiring features and series with at least one season completed. ALL filmmakers are welcome on our platform as long as they can demonstrate how their project is inclusive, and representative of the diverse world we live in. We are particularly interested in working with female filmmakers, people of colour, minorities, the LGBTQ community, etc. ALL stories matter. Later this year, filmmakers in Canada will be able to crowdfund with us as well.”

I asked Emily Best, Seed&Spark Founder and CEO, how their expanded focus on Canada came about. She replies:

“The credit belongs to ‘Storypreneur’ Annelise Larson. I met her a few years ago at the Vancouver International Film Festival where we were both tasked with guiding filmmakers to good distribution outcomes and we discovered we share a brain about building audiences. She is working on helping me open Seed&Spark’s crowdfunding platform to Canadian filmmakers and in the meantime, we’re programming a channel of Canadian films together.”

I followed up with Annelise Larson for the full scoop:

“When I first heard of Seed&Spark I was a fan of the concept, a crowdfunding platform for filmmakers by filmmakers. In my work as a digital strategist and teacher for media storytellers I instantly recognized the potential, but was disappointed it was only available in the U.S. Emily and I had an online acquaintance for a couple of years and then met in person at VIFF in the fall of 2015 when we sat on a panel about digital marketing and distribution. We realized pretty quickly we were brain twins, finishing each other’s sentences and nodding in vigorous agreement when the other was speaking. Early last year when Seed&Spark launched their streaming platform to compliment their crowdfunding platform, I knew this was something Canada needed more than ever. Emily and I both share a passion for supporting filmmakers and independent, diverse voices. We believe in the digital opportunity to help them have sustainable creative careers and want to support that whenever we can. Seed&Spark is such a fantastic, empowering model, and recently supercharged this by incorporating a dashboard interface that gives its filmmakers access to audience data that is a little mind blowing. Canadian filmmakers and storytellers need Seed&Spark. We thought a great way to begin would be to get Canadian content for the streaming platform in time for National Canadian Film Day on April 19, 2017. This day promises to be the biggest film festival in the world ever with hundreds of screenings across the country as well as online. Seed&Spark hopes to be part of that story, supporting Canada in its celebration of its 150th birthday. I hope it is just the beginning of the Canadian Seed&Spark story.”

My take: If I had a Canadian feature or web series, I’d jump all over this. It promises to be a great introduction to the Seed&Spark community, with the potential to become a funding source in the future. This is some of the best news to come out of America lately.

Cinema not dead, just bloated — Schrader

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As quoted in the Independent while talking about his new film Dog Eat Dog, Paul Schrader asserts:

“Don’t confuse the multiplexes with cinema. The multiplexes have run their course. That’s a 20th century phenomenon that has gone. But there is still obviously a lot of audio-visual entertainment – there’s a tsunami of product. You can’t really say cinema is dead. If anything, it is bloated and overpopulated at the moment. Cinema had a magical deal with capitalism for 100 years. If you’ll pay to see it, we’ll make it for you. Movies are now like painting, literature or music. What percentage of musicians make a living? Three or four per cent? We are now getting to that point where only maybe five per cent of filmmakers make a living.”

He continues:

“The reason I am doing press and going to festivals is to be number one VOD on our opening VOD weekend. If you can be the top VOD film at the (opening) weekend, then you make money. That’s where the economics of a film like Dog Eat Dog lie right now. You’re never going to make money theatrically.”

My take: It’s rather sobering to hear this from Paul Schrader, the man who wrote some of Martin Scorsese‘s best films, including Taxi Diver and Raging Bull. But it’s hard to argue with him that clicking on the top of a VOD queue hasn’t replaced queuing in line under a cinema marquee.

CMF lists support for Canadian exports

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Amidst a background of reflection on Canada’s cultural place in a digital age, the Canada Media Fund has published a list of federal and provincial support for audio-visual exports.

The 10-page PDF list 6 national and 19 provincial programs, ranging from 1 in Yukon to 4 in Ontario.

For instance, Telefilm Canada‘s International Marketing Program:

“…seeks to support the marketing of Canadian feature length and short films that have a huge potential for success. Supports the international promotion and marketing strategy for Canadian productions officially selected to be presented during a recognized international festival. Nature of the assistance: Non-reimbursable contribution that can reach 100% of eligible costs, up to a cumulative maximum of $40,000 per eligible production.”

My take: as we look beyond our borders, this is handy information.

ourscreen does cinema-on-demand in the UK

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Stephen Follows in the UK has just posted an excellent analysis of cinema-on-demand in general and about ourscreen in particular.

Stephen’s main belief is that “the emergence of online tools empower audiences to communicate and organize.”

About ourscreen:

“ourscreen empowers film fans and local communities to create and attend screenings at their local cinema. ourscreen is where film fans can control their local cinema. In three easy steps (pick a film – decide where and when – share your screening), we are all able to create film screenings for our friends or anybody who wants to come. If enough people book tickets the screening happens. This is people-powered cinema. ourscreen offers a quick and easy way to make the cinema yours, whether you are a film fan, a school group, a local business or anyone who wants to enjoy a great film in an amazing cinema.”

Stephen includes three case studies that reveal actual performance numbers. ourscreen claims their overall screen average is £621 or roughly $1040 CAD.

My take: I’m glad to see there are multiple firms in the cinema-on-demand business in both the UK and the US. What I really want to see is someone start this up in Canada.

Demand.film launches cinema-on-demand service

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The cinema-on-demand space is about to expand.

Joining Tugg and Gathr is new-comer Demand.film.

According to Forbes:

“The three Australian entrepreneurs who created the platform say their dual aims are to enable filmmakers from around the world to reach audiences who would not otherwise get the chance to see their works, and to supplement traditional theatrical distribution.”

They are also disrupting film exhibition accounting and reporting:

“Demand.film is the first crowdfunding cinema service to use blockchain technology to create databases which record high-level, scalable sales information that can’t be changed. ‘The advantages that gives us are transparency and trust with producers, distributors and exhibitors, which will be transformational in the accounting side of the business,’ says David Doepel, the firm’s managing director.”

According to Startup Daily:

“The platform uses blockchain technology to enable independent filmmakers to negotiate a multi-country release in one single deal. While the Demand.film team are being tight lipped on the features of the new platform, Doepel said that the upgraded functionality has been specifically designed with audiences and cinema in mind. Vice president of operations and development for Demand.film Barbara Connell further explained, ‘We’re incorporating some fantastic fintech, which includes Blockchain technology. This will be complemented by new dashboards that can be married to social media campaigns and other social media activity. While this all seems very complicated, the platform has been designed to be very easy to use and to be nimble.'”

Demand.film also operates in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and plans to expand to other countries and North America in 2017.

My take: come to Canada, please! There is so much under-utilized capacity in movie theatres, particularly outside of busy Friday and Saturday nights. How many times have you gone to a matinee only to find merely a dozen or so  fellow patrons sitting in the dark? I would definitely become an impresario once again because the cinema-on-demand model assures a win-win-win-win screening for the filmmaker, the audience, the theatre and the organizer.

The quickest way to identify your film audience

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I see indie filmmakers make their movies and then begin figuring out how to monetize them, i.e. finding a paying audience. (Mea culpa; that’s what we did with Recorded: Live!)

Or, better, they put together a project and at the planning stage, devise a marketing strategy. Part of this will be determining their ideal audience. Too many say ‘Everyone’ will want to see their movie. (Yeah, I’ve thought this too.)

Now, an indie filmmaker half-way around the world enlightens me.

Rihaan Patel slashes the ’10 steps to your audience’, etc., to one simple principle. Writing in a learned language, he offers in
This one is for Innocent Independent Filmmaker who make awesome film but don’t know what happens next!:

“But how to find your potential audience? Just look at the protagonist of your film. And Your protagonist is personification of your audience.”

Simple! He continues:

“Find people who shares quality of your protagonist and share your marketing message. It will connect them.”

Of course! This is a solid strategy that should allow any film to earn its production budget. Ron Mann did this with the DVD Tales of the Rat Fink, which he targeted to hot-rodders. All word of mouth, media coverage and critical reviews just expand the audience beyond the core, and generate your profit.

My take: this is brilliant! ‘Your protagonist is the personification of your audience’ is a great place to start when defining your audience. Literally, then figuratively, and finally metaphorically. (On a recent project, we came close to this, using setting to determine that our audience was small-town Canada — but perhaps we needed to focus in on our heroine and the women and people she represented.) When the ‘Patel Postulate’ really becomes powerful is when you flip it on its head, writing your movie using its audience to personify the protagonist. For instance, it makes no sense for the homeless guy to be the protagonist in my rom-com; homeless guys don’t buy many movie tickets. Rather, a better protagonist would be the earnest woman who befriends him.