DIWO Filmmaking Finding Audiences and Dollars

DIWO Filmmaking examples: King Corn, Mad Hot Ballroom, What’s Your Point, Honey?, Note by Note

Recently John Tozzi of Business Week put out an article, Indie Filmmakers Hit Their Target, that further explains how filmmakers have been taking power into their own hands to engage the audience and convert DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) filmmaking into dollars. Below are some of the highlighted excerpts:

"Nearly 1,000 documentaries competed for 16 slots in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival (BusinessWeek.com, 1/24/08), and of the 105 documentaries released in U.S. theaters in 2007, the median box-office gross was about $25,000 for the year, according to the movie industry tracking site The Numbers."

"They booked King Corn for single-night screenings rather than wide theatrical release to keep the film from getting lost among the scores of movies that open each weekend. They also sold DVDs directly at screenings."

"King Corn has broken even on its $1 million budget, raised mostly from donors, with half going to production and half to distribution."

"When filmmakers get a distributor to put a DVD in stores, they might see $2.50 for a DVD that retails at $25. The same DVD sold through the film's Web site returns over $20 - all but the cost of pressing the disc. DVDs packaged with study guides can sell to schools for as much as $300. "There are a number of filmmakers who made more than $1 million selling one DVD from one Web site," Peter Broderick says. When fans buy through the film's Web site, each sale also adds an e-mail address to the film's mailing list, something Broderick says is as valuable as the sale itself."

"Note by Note cost between $150,000 and $200,000 to produce, Niles says. Although he has sold only about 3,000 DVDs since November, selling 10,000 with a profit margin of $20 would cover a $200,000 production budget. Likewise, Sewell needs to sell 35,000 DVDs to cover the $500,000 budget for What's Your Point, Honey? after donating 30% of profits to nonprofits supporting the film's message. She hopes to hit the mark within a year."

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