How to Find Distribution for Your Genre Indie Film

By Filmtrepreneur | April 27, 2019

How to Find Distribution for Your Genre Indie Film

You need names and the “right” genre to sell a movie. Those are the rules. You may think it’d be as simple as that, but it’s not. Dramas and comedies are too broad to be considered genres: they don’t sell. Leaving the porn industry out of it, you want to look at horrors, thrillers, science fiction, and action films as bankable business models as far as finding distribution goes.

Tell that to me ten or fifteen years ago and I wouldn’t have believed it. Hell, I challenged the idea as recently as five years ago. I resisted any logic claiming there was no way out for the little man: the broke, basement-dwelling, new-independent micro filmmaker who tells stories about everyday people. There’s got to be an audience for everything, I thought, even simple, slow-paced, character-driven narratives like my first feature, Uptown

Thanks to filmmakers like Joe Swanberg and the digital age moving us ever closer toward niche marketing, such a path is being paved, but not nearly enough to justify ignoring the exposure that a genre can bring., Even Swanberg, starting in 2011, began moving toward genre work with the horror film Silver Bullets before crossing over into mainstream success with his directing contribution to V/H/S.

So perhaps my idealism wasn’t what was at fault for blocking this insight, regardless of how persistent my producing partner, Princeton Holt, was in sharing his vision; maybe it was my stubborn idealism. After all, Princeton’s vision has always come from studied research.

The great irony is that I had always started as a genre filmmaker, at least in my head. All of my early scripts were Shane Black rip-offs; later I would attempt to recreate Tarantino’s uniqueness. What kicked off our friendship and mutual respect for each other was a debate Princeton and I had over the role of the actor. I was under a spell believing that actors are props and that the director’s job is to place the actor, direct their movement and control their speech. Coming from the fandom world of Action-Adventures and Sci-Fi-Comedies, this was my perception, and this was what I wanted to emulate.

Princeton felt the opposite, using Robert Altman as the ultimate example of a director directing around his actors. Altman may have been closer to a documentarian than a narrative filmmaker: he let his actors find their own blocking and he let them speak whenever they wanted to, and he simply (or not so simply) captured them on film. Princeton was in awe of this method that liberated the actor, trusted the actor, and respected the actor’s choices.

And with that he challenged me, to make a movie with actors and not just by using actors. “Uptown” was born, and the experience of making it opened my mind to the possibilities and rewards of true collaboration.

Now here we are, years later, discussing a concept that could push our company further than we’ve ever gone. That concept is “Alienated,” about a man who witnesses a UFO but he doesn’t know how to tell his wife because he doesn’t think she’ll believe him. And the idea to make this kind of film comes from our research that shows you need a name and a genre to sell your film. It’s taken me a while, but I’m starting to see that moving in this direction may be the best way to move forward; may not be the only way, but certainly a proven way. An easier way than struggling against the grain.

Sometimes you just have to let go. Sometimes ideas stay with you for so long that you make them a part of you. You work them into your personal philosophy, and before you know it they’re working you.

My learning curve on Alienated is still bending, still stretching. All throughout our post-production process, I was challenged by the question, how much genre is enough? The heart and soul of my film are about a relationship between two people and how they represent humanity if they do. How many sci-fi elements must we add to ensure that our film will be seen? How many can we add before our story is lost or upstaged?

Brian Ackley is the Head of Development at One Way or Another Productions. His second feature film ALIENATED won 13 film festival awards and was picked up for distribution by Gravitas Ventures for release in select theaters and VOD.

REAL-WORLD STREAMING FILM EDUCATION

FILMMAKING RESOURCES

Gain Access to On-Demand Filmmaking Courses

If you enjoyed this episode, then watch below:

[adsanity_group align=’alignnone’ num_ads=1 num_columns=1 group_ids=’464′]

[adsanity_group align=’alignnone’ num_ads=1 num_columns=1 group_ids=’465′]

[adsanity_group align=’alignnone’ num_ads=1 num_columns=1 group_ids=’466′]

If you enjoyed this episode of the Filmtrepreneur Podcast, please spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc by using social media buttons in the post. Feel free to post to your blog and anywhere else you feel it would be a good fit. Thanks for the support. Let me know what you think in the comments section below…

Get Social with Filmtrepreneur®
Facebook: Filmtrepreneur
Twitter: @Filmtrepreneur
Instagram: @filmtrepreneurs
Youtube: Filmtrepreneur.tv

Podcasts You Should Be Listening To:
Podcast: Indie Film Hustle Podcast®
Podcast: Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast®
Podcast: The Filmtrepreneur® Podcast

Stuff You Need in Your Life:
IFHTV: Indie Film Hustle TV
IFH Academy: Exclusive Filmtrepreneur Training
Book: Rise of the Filmtrepreneur®: How to Turn Your Film into a Moneymaking Business
Book: Shooting for the Mob (Based on the Incredible True Filmmaking Story)
FREE 3-Part Indie Film Producing Video Series

Please note some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase or use a service. Understand that I have experience with all of these services, products, and companies, and I recommend them because they’re extremely helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I earn if you decide to buy something.