Kevin Smith’s distrib plan: “eventize his picture” http://tinyurl.com/457kgee
Economic reality is that if something can be reproduced for zero cost (digital copies) then the price paid will trend toward that marginal cost. Economics says we can only directly monetize scarcity, which is what Kevin Smith is doing in his self-distribution plan.
For the months leading up to (from memory) the October “release” he will be taking RED STATE on the road in “four walled” cinemas (hiring the venue for the film). These events will be “scarce” because they happen in a very specific time and place. If you’re a Kevin Smith fan, you’ll be at those screenings if you can.
This will likely work to bring in the expected $1.5 million (of a $4 million budget) because Smith already has a very strong connection with his fans thanks to his long term social media activities.
In other words he has CwF and he’s giving them a RtB – He’s connected with his fans, and the events give them a reason to buy.
I believe that this social component will be crucial to any independent project, and needs to start when the project is in pre-pre production.
And I think “eventize” is a new term that probably shouldn’t be allowed to continue being used, despite being very descriptive.
Comments
One response to “Kevin Smith’s distrib plan: “eventize his picture””
but does this work on a larger scale?
Sure, Kevin Smith is eventizing his movie… but that’s little more than a guitarist like Joe Satriani (with dozens of albums and a loyal following) saying he’s going on a North American Tour, people buy tickets to see him & hear his music live. Nothing new about that.
Problem is that when the SoC stops, so does the money.
So this is not long-term revenue- long tail, that keeps making money long after the costs to produce it stop.
If Kevin Smith sits down in his chair, the checks stop cold. That’s a hard, hard life and not one I’d recommend as the “new way” of media.