It feels like the theater experience is 1) diminishing in cultural importance, 2) becoming a relatively more expensive entertainment option in today’s marketplace, and 3) in light of the recent FCC approval allowing studios to remotely switch off DVR’s and offer day-and-date VOD release, soon to be a less crucial channel for monetization and a less important marketing vehicle for future sales in other formats. Without the theater experience helping to drive physical sales of DVD/blu-ray, the interesting practice of “librarying” films will likely become less meaningful, and most sales will move to a VOD model, or pay-to-play. This will happen for studio and indie projects alike. So I say that indie filmmakers should be concentrating more on the “replay” elements of their films – how the stories impact our daily lives, how their cinematography could become important examples for future films, how the performances evoke emotion, how the dialog can become ingrained in culture. Other than the cinematography, the important elements for indie filmmakers seem to be the qualia of the film, and not technology driven anyway. Which, overall, will improve the film business in its entirety. So I say let the studios have their tentpole exhibitions while they can. Meanwhile, long-tail economics will begin to turn rewards for excellent indie filmmakers through other channels. At that point, search engines, recommendation engines, and push marketing will replace mass marketing as the primary methods of discovery of excellent programs.

The fact that the exhibition industry is one of the few that can demonstrate a healthy experience with the public is a good indication that the theater experience is not dying. It seems it’s indeed a latent desire, since it’s common to hear people bitching about the cost of the movies and bitching about the 3-D experience, but at this point in time I think it is wise for indie filmmakers to ignore the loud and pay attention to the quiet: the evidence that people will pay a premium to enjoy a movie in a theater.

Maybe that will change as the millenials come up in force with some new cultural touchstone, but the movie experience has ruled every generation since its inception.

My concern is basic MARKETING: perceived value. The fluctuation in pricing is valid when it goes UP, as a premium. We do not want it to go down. That will destroy perceived value. As proof, the DVD kiosks are helping push down the DVD market. They have now established the perceived value of a DVD rental as $1. If you want a horrifying experience, go the the 99c Only store in your neighborhood, where you expect, what? Cheap crap items AND THERE IS A BLOCKBUSTER DVD KIOSK IN THE STORE NOW.

Preserve the perceived value of movies. Instead of playing with lowering the prices, the indie filmmaker can seize upon one of the greatest marketing tools available: rebates, coupons, and AFFINITY CLUBS. Since indie filmmakers must develop a core following anyway, I urge us to always think in terms of offering benefits to our core audience–rebates–rather than lower the ticket price at the box office.

Use coupons. Use rebates. Build reward programs just like your supermarket does.

Seize this opportunity to grow your own loyal audience.

Do not squander this change in the paradigm by devaluing the experience at the box office level.

A theatrical release is merely a gathering of people in a darkened room to enjoy a film on a “larger” screen than they have in their homes.

Indies should stop moaning about the fact that billion dollar corporations who pay a hefty fee to have the real estate license on those giant screens, get most of the access to those same screens.

There are lots of other ways to present your film to your audience (if you have one) without bitching about the big 7 taking up all the available screens.

Go rent a hall or rent a projector and play it on the side of a building. If that goes well I’m sure that you won’t have to worry about your next film as I’m sure you too will be gobbled up by the machine and be forced to make fare for the masses….dear god!

Stop worrying about the venue and you can have a great night with your fans. The popcorn will be better too!

Keep this in mind in any discussion: When a movie, any movie, indie or studio, 3D or 2D, hits a theatre, that theatre takes an admission from each and every set of eyeballs. No other distribution venue can do this. VOD, DVD, cable, free TV, whatever, is a flat charge for however many people can sit around your TV set.
Obviously there’s a P&A question to consider, whether the outlay of marketing money comes back to you and gives you a positive ROI. But if you have a chance at theatrical, and the P&A is doable, you really have to take it. Not only is it still the imprimatur in downstream markets for whether something is worth the rental or not, but it offers a way to exploit each set of eyeballs and the chance to sell them popcorn. When distributors seduce you with VOD they’re selling you short because they’re taking what they can in returns with little output in marketing dollars (no P&A). They don’t care if you cram 50 of your buddies in your media room to watch the film. But you should. Again, this is only if you have a chance for theatrical in terms of quality. What this ultimately means for the indie producer is this: is your product really able to command a per person premium in the marketplace? Is it different or unique enough, was it made by a Holofcener or Garcia, or does it offer a cast member and/or story so unique that it can lure people into a theatre? Distributors live on the carrion of producers who guess wrong on that question.

Oh, and my opinion on 3D cinema?

Showscan was/is the only format which truly encompassed the third dimension in the viewers mind. Oh, and without glasses.

The cheaper technologies won that battle.

Anyone can make a movie, but not anyone can make a good movie. Just because you have an expensive HD camera, doesn’t mean your movie is going to look expensive. Novelists have faced the competition from everyone who can put a pen to paper, but it’s the writers who know what they are doing that succeed.

DVDs sell at 50% the rate they sold a few years ago because half of the stores that sold them went out of business.

So the only way to make money is to get some theater play.

Pricing films differently isn’t the worst idea except how do you price them? With 3-D, you are getting something tangible for the extra money. Without it, what are you paying for, the budget? The quality? More for high-brow, less for low-brow? How about the filmmakers set the price?

The real trouble with getting any films into theaters is the defacto monopoly that the studios have on exhibition because of their need to open films on 4000 screens and with 60 million dollar marketing budgets. When one film takes up 1/4 of the screens, there’s not much room for anyone else.

Wow – Lots of good comments on Indie film.