The independent film community is a buzz with the collapse of the traditional independent film distribution model. No longer can filmmakers expect their films to be acquired and released nationally. But just as the digital revolution created a democratization of the means of production, a new hybrid model of distribution has created a way for independent filmmakers to take control of the means of distribution. This hybrid approach is not just DIY or Web based it combines the best techniques from each distribution arena, old and new. Jon Reiss spoke with countless filmmakers, distributors, publicists, web programmers, festival programmers and marketing experts to create this ultimate guide to film distribution and marketing for the digital era. Unlike any other book on the subject, Think Outside the Box Office is the first to address the new distribution and marketing landscape facing filmmakers today. Throughout the book, Reiss redefines the process from a filmmaker s point of view empowering the reader to create unique strategies for their individual films. Filmmakers are hungry for information on how to distribute and market their films. No single resource exists that combines all of the knowledge and tools now available to them. Think Outside the Box Office fills that void. The book is a break through step-by-step nuts and bolts guide to distributing and marketing a film. Each chapter addresses an essential aspect of a film s release and offers specific techniques so filmmakers can take control of their distribution and marketing destiny. Instead of buying multiple out of date books and searching the web for hints and tips now all of this information is available in one place for the first time. Topics include: o Audience identification and targeting o Negotiating split rights agreements for your film. o A reclassification of film rights from a filmmaker s perspective. o Your distribution and marketing team. o Integrating marketing into your production and post o Social networking crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. o Budgeting for distribution and marketing. o Redefining the theatrical release. o Booking a conventional and unconventional theatrical release. o The new role of film festivals. o Conventional and web marketing. o How to sell DVDs with a distributor and on your own. o How to negotiate with digital distributors and aggregators. o How to DIY your digital rights. o Using transmedia for marketing and expanded creativity.
Jon Reiss is a critically acclaimed filmmaker who has produced and directed three feature films, including most recently "Bomb It 2", the follow-up to the acclaimed documentary "Bomb It" about graffiti and the battle over visual public space throughout the world. His experience releasing "Bomb It" with a hybrid strategy was the inspiration for writing "Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution in the Digital Era, the first step-by-step guide for filmmakers to distribute and market their films."
Reiss now works with numerous film organizations, schools and film festivals to present a variety of distribution labs and workshops around the world. To date, Reiss has held his "Think Outside the Box Office: The 2 Day Workshop" in London, Amsterdam, NY, Los Angeles, Vancouver, San Francisco, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and Atlanta, among other cities. The IFP recently brought on Jon to help transform their Independent Filmmaker Labs into year-long completion, distribution and marketing labs.
Prior to "Bomb It", Reiss produced and directed the documentary film "Better Living Through Circuitry", a startling, humorous and entertaining glimpse into the exploding rave culture featuring Crystal Method, Roni Size, and Moby, among others acts. The film played at such festivals as RESfest, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, Copenhagen, Los Angeles Independent, Seattle, Vancouver, and Sheffield International Doc Festival before being released theatrically in the United States and on DVD worldwide. The film also screened on the Showtime and Sundance Channels.
Reiss' first film, "Cleopatra's Second Husband", is a dark psychological drama, which screened at the Los Angeles Independent, Seattle, Montreal World, Hamptons, Houston, Sao Paulo and Bangkok film festivals. The movie won Best First Feature at Cinequest before being released theatrically in the United States and on DVD by First Run Features. Cleopatra's Second Husband was subsequently broadcast on IFC/Rainbow.
An award-winning music video director, Reiss has directed videos for Nine Inch Nails, The Black Crowes, Danzig, Slayer, and the Kottonmouth Kings. Reiss' "Happiness in Slavery" video for Nine Inch Nails received awards at the Chicago and San Francisco film festivals and was voted Top Ten by the Village Voice Critics Poll for Best Music Video. In 1995 the Toronto Film Festival curated a retrospective of Reiss' music videos. Jon's shorts have screened at festivals throughout the world, including Sundance, Berlin, New Directors/New Films, Edinburgh, and Chicago. Reiss received his MFA from the UCLA Film School.
Reiss received his MFA from the UCLA Film School and currently teaches in the Film Directing Program at the California Institute for the Arts where he created the class "Reel World Survival Skills: Everything I Wish I Had Been Taught in Film School." This course covers the practical aspects of surviving as an independent writer/producer/director in today's economy; topics include finding a job, pitching, script development, financing and new models of distribution. He guest lectures at universities around the world including UCLA, USC, NYU, Tisch Singapore, AFTRS in Sydney and Melbourne, among others.
Jon Reiss' early credits also include four hour-long documentaries concerning the notorious performance group Survival Research Laboratories. These documentaries have screened in festivals, theaters and cultural centers throughout the world. All were included on a compilation DVD 10 Years of Robotic Mayhem released in the summer of 2004. Reiss got his start in filmmaking at Target Video, a San Francisco based alternative video company where he covered much of the West Coast punk explosion.
