SADIE Premieres At SXSW
We had a fantastic world premiere at SXSW 2018. The film was extremely well-received and the great majority of our cast were able to make the trip to Austin to support the film. Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, Keith L. Williams, John Gallagher, Jr., and Tony Hale joined Megan Griffiths, Jennessa West, Lacey Leavitt, Jonathan Caso, Eliza Shelden, T.J. Williams, Jr., Amey Rene, and Celia Beasley for an excellent premiere Q&A. Check out the video below (captured by Sophia's proud mom Irene Mitri.) For a fun highlight, go to the six minute mark to see Keith & Melanie's hilarious response to SXSW Festival Director Janet Pierson's question: "What stuck out in this experience for you?"
April 28, 2018
SADIE IN 60 SECONDS: WOMEN IN FILM
We're so excited to unveil the first video in our new series SADIE IN 60 SECONDS. These one-minute videos highlight aspects of our film and the production, providing a glimpse behind the curtain into issues that are important to us. The WOMEN IN FILM piece focuses on the fact that our production was made up of 50% women--more than double the industry norm. This didn't happen by accident--it was a priority for our whole team to not only seek out skilled female crew and department heads, but also to hire up and coming young women for our PA and intern roles in order to nurture the next generation of female filmmakers. We're really proud of the gender parity represented on our set, and thrilled to share this first video on #femalefilmmakerfriday during SADIE's run at Geena Davis's Bentonville Film Festival, which champions inclusion in all aspects of entertainment media.
WATCH HERE
May 4, 2018
SADIE IN 60 SECONDS: CREWTOPIA
In honor of SADIE's Seattle premiere, for the second installment of SADIE IN 60 SECONDS we are shining a spotlight on our incredible crew. 50% women, 50% men and 100% amazing, these stalwart crewtopians braved the soggy and freezing conditions of January in the PNW with a smile and an enthusiasm that humbled us every day. So grateful to them all for their hard work, their humor, their positivity, and the artfulness that they brought to every frame of SADIE.
WATCH HERE
May 25, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: SADIE And The Mountain Ahead
by Megan Griffiths
Welcome to the first of what will be an ongoing blog series in which we attempt to lift the curtain on the process of creative distribution in (almost) real time. With the release of my most recent film SADIE, my producers and I have made the decision to take our fate into our own hands. We weighed the options available to us and ultimately determined that this film required the kind of special handling that we just wouldn’t get from a traditional distribution arrangement. It is a project that is very meaningful to us, and one that we have always hoped would contribute to a larger cultural conversation. We want to be engaged participants in that conversation.
SADIE is the story of a girl who will stop at nothing to preserve her father's place on the home front. Sadie (Sophia Mitri Schloss) is the daughter of a soldier and models herself after his military example. When her mom (Melanie Lynskey) begins dating a new man (John Gallagher, Jr.), Sadie vows to drive him out by whatever means necessary. He is the enemy, and if she’s learned anything from the world she inhabits, it’s that the enemy deserves no mercy. The film also stars Tony Hale, Danielle Brooks, Tee Dennard and Keith L. Williams.
With six films under my belt I’ve had many experiences with distribution, and I’ll be honest with you—it can be a rough phase of the process for a filmmaker. You're entrusting something you care deeply about to someone new. And even if this new person really loves your film, it will just never be as important to them as it is to you. It can’t be. They are juggling multiple acquisitions, determining release plans and parceling out pieces of their P&A budget to lots of other high-maintenance filmmakers who, like you, believe their film is the highest priority.
After spending so much time and putting so much thought into making your film, it can be demoralizing to feel unable to be an active participant in its long-term life. Whether in success or failure, I think every filmmaker wants to feel that they’ve done everything they could--to have no regrets. But I know a lot of filmmakers, and I don’t know any who feel that way about their film’s release. Are our expectations too high? Or are we just allowing ourselves to be disempowered due to a lack of understanding of this phase of the process?
Information about the mechanics of distribution is heavily and needlessly shrouded. The recent Sundance case study detailing the creative distribution efforts behind the film COLUMBUS offered a very rare and illuminating glimpse at both the challenges and the rewards of embarking on this kind of journey. We want to continue that tradition of transparency and information-sharing. We want to include you in our process as we bring SADIE into the world. We may fall on our faces, but if we do we will learn from it, and we want others to be able to learn as well.
We have spent the past few months digging in and having conversations with many who have released their own films and who have lessons to share. The overwhelming majority led with a warning: it is a mountain of work. One person described it as “three times more work than making the movie and no fun at all.” Daunting though that may be, we decided to push forward up the mountain.
We feel incredibly empowered by this decision. The promise of retaining the autonomy to release our film with care and specificity is incredibly exciting. This film was created with intention, and we plan to deliver it to the world with intention. We are forming a team of incredible people who are specialists in their fields and are bringing huge enthusiasm and expertise to getting SADIE in front of an audience and engaging with the communities with whom our themes might resonate. We will be introducing the team in our next blog and they will be contributing posts of their own with insights from their very specific vantage points, from impact campaigns to the ins and outs of digital marketing.
Broadly speaking, we are planning a small, targeted theatrical run as well as a college/community discussion tour to raise the profile of the film outside of the major markets and engage with all kinds of audiences—especially young people—on the social issues the film tackles. We will then roll out the film on iTunes and Amazon and other digital platforms. We are incredibly fortunate to have been able to partner with Amazon via their Festival Stars deal, and will be building our release timeline to lead in to our February 2019 Amazon streaming premiere.
This is a huge endeavor, and we will be relying on our friends, supporters and fans for help in summiting this mountain. Thank you for your support in spreading the word about SADIE and for taking part in the conversations we hope to have with our audience. We will continue to post about our experiences and we promise to convey the good, the bad, and the ugly—all the things that go into distributing a film—in an effort to help those of you who are thinking about creative distribution as a strategy for your film. Thanks for joining us.
Want to stay really up to date on all things SADIE? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter.
August 27, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Producing The Release
by Lacey Leavitt
From left, clockwise: actor Tony Hale, co-producer Jonathan Caso, producer Lacey Leavitt, producer Jennessa West, writer/director Megan Griffiths, actors Melanie Lynskey and John Gallagher Jr., makeup artist Nancy Hvasta-Leonardi, and leading lady Sophia Mitri Schloss.
This past weekend I spoke on a Dear Producer panel at the Los Angeles Film Festival, where SADIE was playing. Curated by Dear Producer founder Rebecca Green (IT FOLLOWS, I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS), the other panelists were Steven J. Berger (THE FEELS, SLASH) and Avril Z. Speaks (JINN, HOSEA). It was a wonderful conversation in front of a sold out crowd and the topic of distribution eventually came up. All four producers had similar stories about experiences where distributors had promised to be good partners in the negotiation phase but wouldn’t put anything more than “meaningful consultation” rights in the contract. That almost never turns out well for the film/filmmakers. This isn’t because the distributors don’t care about films, it’s because a lot of them have to deal in bulk numbers in order to be financially solvent. So they might only have the bandwidth to truly focus on 2-4 film campaigns a year, with the others getting a more standardized treatment: new trailer, new poster, the occasional social media blast, short and perfunctory theatrical run, and then straight to VOD, hoping the cast and reviews alone can drive sales. They rarely do.
With these kinds of experiences ringing in our minds, our SADIE team made the decision in the early phases of pre-production to set aside $50k of our budget specifically to supplement the marketing campaign of our eventual distributor and ensure that our film had a fighting chance. Our executive producer Eliza Shelden recognized the intrinsic value of this strategy and was very supportive of it. What we didn’t realize at the time was that we would ultimately be handling the theatrical distribution ourselves, and that $50k was not going to get us where we needed to go when it came to hiring our team, traveling our actors, "eventizing" our theatrical screenings, and most importantly marketing the film outside of our existing sphere. Luckily, by the time we actually made this decision, we had another purse to draw from in the form of a $100k non-recoupable bonus from Amazon (which we opted into through their Festival Stars program). This gave us roughly the same distribution budget as the other films we’d researched that had taken this approach, and gave us the confidence and resources to proceed. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
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BACK TO THE BEGINNING
I have been working on this film for nine long (and wonderful) years. Megan first showed me the script while we were still trying to make our first feature together, THE OFF HOURS, in 2009. THE OFF HOURS was the first feature that I’d produced, Megan’s second feature as a director. We’d been on many film sets by the time we started making that film, as we’d both made our living as crew members on various films before making the full time leap into producer and director. When we set out to make THE OFF HOURS we’d never raised money for a feature film before. We’d never budgeted a feature film before. We’d never cast actors out of LA or NY before. So our strategy was to reverse-engineer the process. What format do we want to use? Let’s call the rental houses (even though we’re nowhere near ready) and get quotes on their packages. Who created the contracts for other indies locally? Let’s hire them to do our paperwork. Who funded recent Seattle independent films? Let’s see if they’re interested in our project. Who were the casting directors of some of our favorite films? Let’s hire one of them to cast THE OFF HOURS. I’m a big fan of reverse-engineering/research. In our modern, digital age, there is no excuse for neglecting to educate yourself on the business (and art) of indie film as you wade into it.
Since THE OFF HOURS, Megan and I have both packed in almost a decade of feature film experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to produce and co-produce some projects by some of my favorite filmmakers and people: Megan, Lynn Shelton, Todd Rohal, Colin Trevorrow. I’ve experienced films getting standing ovations and bidding wars at Sundance and films where our sales agents have had to beg somebody, anybody, to give us any kind of distribution deal. This is the experience I took into SADIE’s festival and distribution run, and it’s been a valuable bedrock to have. I also had an amazing producing partner, Jennessa West. Jennessa has twenty years experience as a producer and had just come off of a producing SJ Chiro’s beautiful feature LANE 1974 (also starring Sophia Mitri Schloss--our Sadie--in the title role). This was not the first rodeo for any of us.
So yes, we had all taken multiple feature films through the distribution process. But we had never actually run a distribution campaign before. We didn’t even know everything we didn’t know…still don’t! But, as we did when we started making THE OFF HOURS, we reverse-engineered the process and found three ways to close the gap and inform ourselves how to budget our time and money.
1. RESEARCH
Christopher Horton, Director of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative, has been doing fantastic, groundbreaking work for independent filmmakers for years through the Artist Services program. Recognizing the changing (mostly for the worse) landscape for independent film distribution over the last few years, the Creative Distribution Initiative launched its grant program with supporting the Kogonada film COLUMBUS, produced by Danielle Renfrew Behrens and Giulia Caruso. They then created a case study detailing that process and released it on the Institute’s website. Whether you are a first time filmmaker or experienced Sundance alum, the case study is available online and is an invaluable resource. (It also inspired us to blog about our distribution process, in the spirit of continuing to illuminate the creative distribution process for other filmmakers!)
We used the case study as our starting point, and took notes on the film’s distribution budget, timeline, and team. This was our “rough draft” and touchstone for strategy and budget, and I still go back and review the case study from time to time.
2. ASKING FOR ADVICE
Not too many narrative filmmakers we know have gone down this road before. I had met Danielle Behrens at the Sundance Creative Producing Summit years ago (when she was there with the fantastic doc THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES) and reached out to her to see if we could ask some questions about the COLUMBUS distribution after we’d sifted through the case study. She was incredibly generous with her time and advice, and helped clarify some questions we had after putting together our rough plan. She also gave us a great heads up: it is SO MUCH work. Be prepared for how much work self-distribution is. Going into this process with a clear vision of the road ahead was very important.
Courtney Sheehan, Executive Director emeritus of the NW Film Forum in Seattle, was another valuable resource as we planned and budgeted our distribution strategy. Her background as an exhibitor, and her connections within the arthouse theater world meant that her feedback and advice was coming from a much different place than most of the industry professionals we knew and that was incredibly helpful. She helped us recognize how useful academic screenings could be for us in cultivating conversations with youth about the film’s themes, a big goal of ours.
We spoke to Kathleen McInnis of See-Through Films, a savvy publicist and distribution strategist who specializes in documentaries. She was also incredibly generous and helpful, giving us a different perspective than we’d heard before and opening us up to ideas on how to connect with audiences that she’s utilized in the subject/audience-specific world of docs.
Megan had a conversation with writer/director/editor/composer Shane Carruth (UPSTREAM COLOR, PRIMER) about his experiences. Shane is a passionate and intelligent filmmaker who not only makes groundbreaking films but was a trailblazer in his self-distribution of UPSTREAM COLOR. He was generous and transparent in that conversation, sharing what he learned in his journey and recommending vendors to speak with.
Megan also recently spoke with Jim Cummings about the decisions he’s making on the creative distribution campaign for his film THUNDER ROAD. Like SADIE, THUNDER ROAD premiered at SXSW 2018 and is mounting a creative distribution campaign. Like Shane, Jim is a vibrant multi hyphenate (writer-director-actor) and is almost evangelical in his dedication to the distribution of his film. It was great to talk and compare notes with someone else going through a very similar process, on a very similar timeline.
3. INTERVIEWS WITH VENDORS
We had a budget in mind at this point in the process, and then started reaching out to the various positions we knew we’d need (theatrical booker, social media marketing, etc) to start those conversations. We interviewed many more people than we eventually hired. Although not everyone was the right culture fit, it was helpful to hear their take on our project and what they would do if they had the opportunity to work with us. And these conversations also allowed us to adjust the budget based on everyone’s quotes, as we’d overestimated in some categories, underestimated in others.
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THE FUTURE
We are four months into this process and still have yet to see exactly where it will lead us as we ramp into our October 12th opening weekend and then our digital launch. As we navigate through the remaining months of our release I’m sure there will be many, many lessons. At this point, I’m not sure that I’ll ever be this hands on in the distribution process again but I do know one thing: I will always make it a point to raise additional funds at the outset for the marketing campaign. Even if you don’t go down the Creative Distribution path, it gives you a true seat at the table with your distributor, and leverage during the negotiations. With us, it gave us enough leverage in the negotiation phase to feel truly excited and empowered to leave subpar distribution deals on the table. And it’s brought us on this exciting journey. While the road has been challenging, it’s also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my producing career so far.
Next week in the blog, our distribution strategist Mia Bruno will be taking the reins to talk about how to utilize strategic outreach to support your theatrical release and how to use your connection with the themes of your film to empower yourself in creative distribution.
Thanks for taking this journey with us, and as always, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and at our website. And join our newsletter list to have the news delivered right to your inbox!
September 24, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: It’s A Strategy, Not A Formula
By Mia Bruno
If there is one concept that I hope that every filmmaker and distributor can start to embrace it is this: Distribution is a strategy, not a formula. What works for a horror film is not necessarily going to work the same way for a romantic comedy. What works for a budget of six figures is going to look different from a budget of five figures is going to looks different from a budget of nothing. And what worked in 2011 is most certainly going to be challenging to make work in 2018. But when was deviating from a formula something that scared artists?
I work with filmmakers and distributors to custom build distribution campaigns that are specific and effective to the film for which they are designed. This includes a combination of knowing how to use windows and timing, booking theaters, booking events, doing grassroots marketing and impact producing, and doing sales to the platforms directly. I was likened recently to a "distribution doula." It is not an inaccurate description.
When the SADIE team approached me, they were in a situation that many filmmakers are in: they had played in a notable film festival to great fanfare, but weren't impressed with what traditional distributors were offering them, either in financial terms or in the form of support for the release. Recognizing that they had been enterprising and creative enough to get the film made and qualifying for Amazon's wonderful Festival Stars bonus, they decided to venture out on their own into the waters of creative distribution, and brought me on to help guide the way.
We started with a discussion around the goals they were looking to achieve: money was one (it usually is, as filmmakers tend to prioritize getting their investors' money back so as to maintain those relationships). Another was visibility—as already established filmmakers, they wanted to continue to be able to tell the stories they wanted to tell on their own terms. The third and most important was impact: they had made the film to contribute to a larger cultural conversation around youth and violence. Their hope was that this film would be able to serve as a discussion point for audiences to talk about the violence we are bombarded with in our society, how it affects us and our nation's youth, and to galvanize people to consider what they might do as individuals to challenge the status quo.
The reality of the distribution marketplace is that it is constantly changing. Platforms are constantly morphing into new entities. Distributors appear and disappear. A strategy that worked for a film even a year ago may be totally ineffective for a film today. For SADIE, we built a strategy that incorporated many traditional aspects—a theatrical run followed by a digital launch, compelling marketing assets that highlighted the film as a riveting and necessary conversation piece, digital marketing and social media. Within that we layered more innovative aspects to pull in different audiences outside of just a cinephile world: direct outreach to youth groups, free screening events for teens, conversations with women in media groups to talk about how female anger is depicted and other themes of the film, outreach to military family groups to discuss how they specifically grapple with absence and violence, and youth developmental screenings for educators to talk about how to identify and deal with young anger before things go too far. Our strategy was comprehensive—addressing the notable benchmarks of traditional distribution while expanding around it to bring in and engage new audiences.
We have worked on this campaign for many months together, come up with fresh ideas and burrowed down into data and analytics. When there is no distributor on board, there is no one to blame for difficult news. But conversely, there is the peace of mind to know that every rock is being overturned, every opportunity explored. And the excitement that when one strategy doesn't work, there is always the flexibility to pivot.
It behooves us all to experiment a little, to be nimble enough to adjust our approach if the data doesn't bear our theories out, and to develop a nuanced understanding of how the marketplace works and the value and consequences of atypical decisions. Making distribution a process that is based on informed assumptions allows for trying new things and challenging existing paradigms without ignoring potentially lucrative opportunities that may exist in a more traditional sphere.
The reality is that we are living in a time when there is no longer a "one size fits all" model when it comes to storytelling (as evidenced by so many things, certainly beyond just this film). If Netflix and Amazon can riff around their distribution strategies, then why can't independent filmmakers do the same? With fewer formulas, we have more fluidity.
This is a time when we can approach distribution with the same creativity that it takes to make a film.
Thanks for taking this journey with us, and as always, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and at our website. And join our newsletter list to have the news delivered right to your inbox!
October 8, 2018
A SPECIAL THANK YOU BLOG
From writer/director Megan Griffiths
Crew photo by David Chen
On the heels of our theatrical opening weekend and basking in the glow of some of my favorite reviews, I wanted to take a moment to spread some love.
Every person who was part of this production made this film better by their participation, so I’m commandeering the blog to call out many of them by name and swing the spotlight onto their contributions.
First up, David Lipson. David worked with me as a consultant in the early days of SADIE’s existence and read many, many drafts of the script, sitting down for long conversations with me about the characters and the story that helped me plumb the depths of Shady Plains Trailer Park.
Aron Michael Thompson was one of the first people to believe in this project and gave a critical infusion of support in the earliest stages, when we truly needed it.
Sue Corcoran rallied the troops in those terrifying weeks of early prep when you're still not 100% sure you're going to get to make a movie at all. And she went on to make a beautiful behind the scenes video that captures the love and hard work of everyone on set.
Alix Madigan read this script back at the Sundance Creative Producers Lab in 2011, resonated with both its darkness and its message, and was a stalwart supporter through the project’s life.
Rebecca Luke spent years visualizing this world as we waited for the stars to align, then brought all that forethought to bear in costume design that underscored our themes in an understated yet very powerful way.
My aesthetic twinsie Ben Blankenship brought his customary gusto to building out the world, even pointing us to the trailer park where we ultimately shot, which matched almost exactly to the one that existed in my mind as I wrote. He also pulled together an extraordinary team who created a lived-in, authentic world for our actors to inhabit.
Scott Larkin & Dave Drummond ran all over the region finding just the right locations to bring Sadie’s world into three dimensions. Then Scott worked through the production to land us at each spot, deploying his charm arsenal so that we were welcomed, or at the very least tolerated, by even the grouchiest residents.
Gretchen Oyster kept us on track and her warm heart brought me the comfort it always does on set, even while we shot in freezing conditions.
What T.J. Williams, Jr., and his team managed to do behind the camera without enough gear or hours of sunlight boggles the mind. T.J.’s deep understanding of how to get sh*t done on set was invaluable, but his ability to make me smile even in the most challenging moments was appreciated beyond measure.
Cheryl Cowan kept her eye on the details and a smile on her face, her good spirits always keeping the tight quarters around the monitor a welcoming place to spend the long days.
Jonathan Caso made sure we all had what we needed to get the film made without starving or freezing, gracefully making that always impossible distinction between "need" and "want."
Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher, Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale, Keith L. Williams, Tee Dennard, and everyone else in our incredible cast brought not only authenticity and depth to each of their characters, but they also brought warmth, kindness and laughter to our chilly set. Their generosity with each other and with our whole crew truly created a family. And a special note of appreciation to Melanie, who came on board early and stuck with us as we pushed for years to get Sadie off the ground (and Mark Duplass, who made that fateful introduction). And to the parents of our young stars for raising such incredible children.
Amey Rene, Megan Rosenfeld and the whole AR casting team helped us to pull together that outstanding ensemble listed above, and, with their impeccable taste, culled the very best from our talented local community of actors to round out the supporting roles.
Celia Beasley sat with me for many months fretting over frames and tiny moments, marveling over performances, and being my partner in the journey to chip away to find the very best version of Sadie.
Mike McCready made my teenage dreams come true by agreeing to collaborate with me on this score, and then blew right past that old hallowed version of him in my head with his generosity and commitment. Not to mention he brought in Molly and Whitney from Thunderpussy, whose radical, badass feminine energy was exactly what we were missing. Sitting in on their first recording session was one of the singular pleasures of this entire experience.
Mia Bruno, Anna Feder, Ben & Katherine from Thin Pig, and Adam & Rob and the whole team at Brigade guided my producers and I through the new minefield of creative distribution with energy and enthusiasm, and opened our eyes to previously unknown ways to empower ourselves as filmmakers.
Eliza Shelden made all of it possible through her giant leap of faith, and gave herself over to the experience with a stunning degree of trust, which is truly the most amazing gift you can give an artist. Her deep understanding of what we were trying to accomplish with this film and her enduring commitment to helping us usher Sadie into the world are rare traits to find in a financial partner, and have buoyed us throughout this journey.
After pushing this boulder up the steep hill of development for seven years, those last few yards into production were some of the hardest to cross. Thankfully, Jennessa West came along with her confidence, effortless competence, and tireless work ethic, leaned fully into the boulder's relentless weight and sharp corners and tipped it over the summit at last.
Lacey Leavitt has been on this train the longest. Before THE OFF HOURS was even shot, she read this script and pledged to get it made with me, then proceeded to take it to Rotterdam, the Sundance Institute, and the IFP conference and, despite hearing plenty of them, never took "no" for an answer. And she also joined me for the SADIE roadshow, taking our film from Seattle, WA, to New York, NY, to Maryville, TN, and everywhere in between, and engaged with audiences in the challenging and meaningful conversations we always hoped to start.
There are so many others, and every one of them made this movie happen—our incredible art department, grips and electricians (including Mike Astle, doing double-duty as key grip and the watchful eye of Sadie’s absentee dad), our crafty and catering team, our stalwart AD team and PA’s, our army of interns, and everyone who provided support on set and off. I am grateful to, and thankful for, you all.
October 18, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Social Media Marketing
by Ben Rapson
At its core, film promotion is like film production: the art is what’s important, but it all comes down to time and money. Success depends on how well we can use every minute of our work and every dollar of our budget. At Thin Pig Media, we know this kind of hustle well. So when we met the filmmakers behind SADIE, we jumped at the chance to join their creative distribution team.
Social media offers myriad techniques for finding new audiences and driving website clicks. In fact we keep learning new ones every day. But let’s face it: they all require either our attention, our resources, or both. It’s imperative that we discover all the best techniques and then prioritize them.
That’s why we chose to focus our social efforts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And it’s also why our action plan is based on a master calendar with a constantly shifting task list. You could say we have that in common with film production as well: lots and lots of spreadsheets.
We’re right smack in the middle of our marketing campaign for SADIE, but already we’ve seen immense growth in our fans, followers, impressions (below), reach, engagement, website clicks, and video views. So what are we learning?
OUR POSTS
Content is Still Crucial
Content is how we refer to the photos, videos, copywriting and links that eventually get whittled down into a social media post. And the reason we say ‘content is crucial’ is that bad content goes nowhere. The people we’re trying to reach need to see things they care about, and it won’t work to simply share the official poster again and again. In other words, the “how” of what we post online will never be as important as the “what” and “why.”
From the beginning of our collaboration with SADIE’s team, we knew we had hit the content jackpot. They came to the table with ten behind-the-scenes videos featuring their cast, composer, and the powerful themes of the film. In addition, they gave us branding assets, dozens of print quality stills from the movie, behind-the-scenes photos, links to their positive early reviews, and a calendar of all their film festival appearances. As clients go, they’re a dream.
Of course the filmmakers weren’t alone in the content creation process. Distribution Strategist Mia Bruno and Academic Consultant Anna Feder have worked hard to book theatrical & academic screenings and worked with SADIE's intern Bobbin Ramsey to connect with organizations whose missions are aligned with the film's themes, giving us frequent, relevant updates to share with our growing fan base. Adam Kersh and his team at Brigade are helping the film garner reviews from news outlets and bloggers. And the SADIE team worked with an editor to deliver a top notch trailer, which has become the primary content piece for growing our audience.
OUR TIME
Organic (Unpaid) Growth
Yes, social media has transformed in recent years into a pay-to-play advertising market. But we don’t overlook the free methods and tools that each social channel offers. There are dozens of ways to establish and grow our brand that don’t cost a dime—they only cost our time.
The most obvious example is posting publicly. We have enough good content that we can post about SADIE multiple times every day on all our channels. This way, as our audience grows, we’re giving them consistent news and info to get them more interested in the movie. Certain types of content work better on each channel, whether it’s longer stories and videos on Facebook, bite size moments on Instagram, or articles and GIFs on Twitter.
Beyond that, we Like and Share the Facebook posts of media outlets and organizations that are related to the themes of the film. On Twitter, we Retweet good content about women in film, gun violence, and the opioid crisis. We find indie film influencers to engage with. On Instagram, we can scour hashtags to diversify the kinds of users we target, and build our brand by sharing things we like onto our IG Stories. And on all three channels, we manually mine for new fans and followers. It can be a rabbit hole, so again, it’s important to prioritize the methods and tasks that show us the best results.
Of course, the best free way to get our content into more users’ feeds is to have it shared by others—especially the well-known members of our cast. We’re lucky to have co-stars that are recognizable from popular shows like Orange Is The New Black and Arrested Development. Since their audiences are much larger than ours, our numbers spike whenever they post about us or share our content. Sometimes it really is about who you know.
OUR MONEY
Advertised (Paid) Growth
For all the groaning about advertising being necessary on social media, we have to admit that there are some extremely effective tools available on each network. Facebook and Instagram Advertising allow for robust targeting and many visual options. Twitter is great at seamlessly integrating brand Tweets into users’ feeds to avoid annoyance. After surveying the field of choices, we organized our campaign into three phases:
- Building Our Audience
- Prospecting for Website Clicks
- Retargeting for Purchases
To build our audience, we used Page Likes ads and post “Boosts” on Facebook, as well as Post Engagement ads on Instagram. We used geo-targeting to limit our reach to those cities where the film would be screening theatrically. We also zoomed in on users with interests like ‘independent film’ and ‘Cannes Film Festival’, because we knew that our movie would appeal to lovers of films that strike the heart and challenge the mind. We also ran a few A/B campaigns to test our content with military families and school safety activists.
As our fans and followers continue increasing, we’ve started running Prospecting campaigns, which deliver the SADIE trailer to our newest target audiences. Facebook’s technology is so effective that our trailers on Facebook and Instagram are being seen at a mere $0.02 per 10-second view. These ‘video views’ ads also include a Get Showtimes button that drives website clicks to SADIE’s Upcoming Screenings webpage.
Lastly we retarget. Retargeting is when we serve our ads to people who have already seen our content or visited our website. Using Facebook’s Custom Audiences tool, we retarget our most engaged users with a stronger call-to-action about buying tickets ASAP. What’s more, Facebook allows us to create Lookalike Audiences, which give us lists of new users who are most similar to the people that have watched our trailer.
OUR BOTTOM LINE
After all this wonky internet speak, it still comes down to this: our effort on social media is only one arm of a larger Creative Distribution strategy. Every member of our team is working their butt off, doing what they specifically excel at. There are movie lovers out there looking for the powerful and gripping cinematic experience that SADIE promises. Our whole team depends on one another to find those people who are already looking for us.
October 21, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Building An Academic Tour For Your Film
By Anna Feder
Blue indicates states that we have visited or are planning to visit on our SADIE academic tour (so far).
I have been a curator for over twenty years, starting at various film festivals and now as the director of programming at Emerson College running a film series that I founded almost seven years ago. The series, Bright Lights, screens 50 films a year for both an Emerson college and external community audience. While few colleges and universities have an exhibition program on this scale, screening opportunities are plentiful at institutions of higher learning across the country.
SADIE is a film that has many points of access for an academic audience. As a film with a 50% female crew, a female writer/director and producing team, and the story of a mother and daughter’s relationship at heart, women and gender studies programs were an excellent starting point for potential hosts. A character struggling with opioid addiction provided another way to frame the discussion. The film’s predominant theme, the impact of violence on youth (particularly girls), created yet another way to engage an academic audience.
We started reaching out to schools with a well-organized package with links to the film, a comprehensive discussion guide (including tips on hosting a successful screening) and several possible options for licensing the film with talent in person or available via Skype to suit a variety of budgets. I also made myself available to consult with schools on how to find funding, engage with internal and external partners and promote the event.
We started with a fairly robust list of institutions across the country, tapping in to relationships I have through the University Film and Video Association, the Art House Convergence and other professional contacts. That list was shared with the director and producers, who added additional contacts. We ended up with a list of over 40 schools (mostly colleges and university and a few high schools).
We began reaching out in the summer hoping to lock screenings for the fall semester. We spent a fair amount of time and energy trying to find the correct contact and then weeks of emails back and forth with faculty who were checking their work emails sporadically. In the end we were able to secure screenings at 17 institutions and have hopes of planning more screenings in the spring.
There were several challenges we encountered, from trying to identify who to talk to at each institutions, to dealing with varying timelines and the filmmaker’s changing schedule. Planning the academic screenings concurrently with the theatrical also made things a little more difficult. I would recommend to anyone planning an academic run of their film to do so after they’ve exhausted all possible theatrical screenings. As an exhibitor hosting free screenings in a robust film landscape with several art house cinemas and film festivals, I try not to screen films until after all paid screenings have happened in my area.
While academic screenings present a very real revenue source and exhibition circuit for your film, it is difficult to research who might be interested (and have the funds/motivation) to host a screening of film. For schools, these events require a significant amount of work, including audience building and sourcing funds for licensing and hosting visiting artists.
Companies like Swank and Criterion have cornered the market on licensing films for non-theatrical exhibition, particularly colleges and universities. The films that they are pushing range from Hollywood blockbuster action movies, to small budget, art house, social issue documentaries. They make it easy for schools to book a film with them, providing a blu-ray and materials to market the screening. In order to effectively compete with distributors such as these, I have long advocated for an academic cinema consortium that would operate a circuit for independent films (on South Arts’ Southern Circuit model). Filmmakers could apply to have their films chosen for the circuit and schools would pay an annual fee to license a group of films that would come prepackaged with filmmakers in person or on Skype as well as marketing materials, discussion questions and other resourced to enable anyone to host a successful event. Too many filmmakers currently must re-invent the wheel as we did, starting from scratch and spending a fair amount of time and energy doing so. Hopefully one of the larger funders of indie films (Cinereach, Ford Foundation, PBS) can be encouraged to put resources in to making this a reality.
In the meantime, if you are interested in forging a academic exhibition path for your film, I would recommend: 1) determining the points of interest where your film might overlap with traditional areas of study, 2) building out an easily shared submission packet with a link to the film, filmmaker bios, information about the film and what you can offer as a filmmaking team in terms of your time and participation, 3) creating a discussion guide with questions that might help hosts to launch the conversation post-screening, and 4) dedicating some time to coordination for each event, working with the school to help them successfully reach the audiences you’re targeting. Screening for an academic audience can be very fulfilling, as students tend to be a media-savvy and engaged audience. For the SADIE filmmakers, these screenings have yielded many of the best post-screening conversations of their screening tour, and have served to re-enforce their reasons for making the film in the first place.
November 5, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Lessons From My SADIE Internship
by Bobbin Ramsey
Hi! My name is Bobbin Ramsey, and I have been working for the past six months as the creative distribution intern on SADIE.
A little about me: I have spent my professional years as an active and successful theatre director in Seattle. In 2015, an unexpected curveball came my way - I was offered the opportunity to direct a horror film called DEAD BODY. Though I had always been an avid audience member, I had never imagined myself to be a filmmaker. I jumped at this immensely exciting offer, and through the intense collaboration, the energy on set, the immersion into storytelling - I discovered a newfound passion for filmmaking.
Then in May of this year, I met Megan through a mutual friend and she asked if I'd be interested in joining SADIE's creative distribution team. Since my experience with DEAD BODY I have been seeking opportunities to learn as much as possible about the independent film industry, and creative distribution was something I knew very little about, so I eagerly accepted. My education started immediately.
The first thing I learned was the reasoning for creative distribution—why taking on this momentous task was the right way to go for SADIE. After watching the film the first time, it was clear that real care needed to be taken in the conversations around and ways of engaging in the film. Since the story deals with the intense, terrifying, and heartbreaking relationship that our country has to violence, it made sense that Megan and the whole team wanted to ensure that the film was reaching people in the way that would have the most impact. It was so exciting to see the team taking ownership of the film that way, and creating their own path for building and engaging with audiences.
Next, I learned about the distribution strategy that they had developed: a national theatrical release, an academic tour, and a robust social media and online campaign. I was assigned to do outreach work for the theatrical release and the academic tour which entailed brainstorming appropriate interest groups, doing research on each of the communities where the film would screen, and reaching out to people to let them know the film would be in their area. We reached out to organizations focused on military families and women in filmmaking, college courses around the effect on violence on child psychology and the relationship between women and violence, and youth organizations interested in cultural events, leadership, and sociopolitical issues.
Though it was an immense amount of cold-calling (and cold-emailing), we received more responses and interest than I had anticipated. We formed partnerships with groups all around the country, and college faculty sent their students to see the film as part of their course work. Art and storytelling is such a powerful tool to ignite discussion, and people were eager to interact with the opportunity we were offering them. One profound lesson from this experience was how important word of mouth is for the success of a theatrical run. Reviews make an impact of course, but a good recommendation from someone who relates to the story and themes of the film often yields many others who will be personally affected.
Throughout my internship I had other responsibilities including creating academic discussion guides and editing audience response videos, among other things, and it all taught me the immense amount of planning, detail, and forethought that goes into an undertaking like this. You have to think about your audience every step of the way. I know that for me, the audience can slip into being a secondary consideration when you’re in the midst of scripts and sets and shooting, but this was a powerful reminder that we do this all for them - and we have to do everything possible to find and connect with those who will be impacted by the stories we tell.
Even after almost six months of working with the SADIE team, there is a still a lot that goes over my head and a lot left to learn, especially around the more technical elements. However, I was given an invaluable and in-depth look into the post-production and creative distribution side of the job. There is so much information available about making a film, but less about getting it out into the world—beyond festivals and industry screenings, and into the hands of the people who will appreciate it the most. After you’ve poured years of time, energy, and skill into a project, knowing how to extend its reach and have a profound impact on people is an unmatched piece of knowledge and something I will hold onto as I take my next steps as a filmmaker.
December 2, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Digital Marketing
by Katherine Boehrer
These days, your online presence can make a huge difference for your brand, whether you are marketing a store, restaurant, hotel, or, yes, a film. Social media plays a huge part in this, as Thin Pig Media’s Ben Rapson wrote about earlier this year. But there are other ways to spread the word about your film online as well. I’m here to talk about the other side of our digital efforts —digital advertising, SEO, and email marketing—and how other films can take advantage of them as well.
Start with Your Website
Your website is the heart of your film’s presence online. It’s where we want users to go when they search for you on Google, where we want to send them from our advertising and social media efforts, and where they will end up once they click on a link in one of our emails. We want your website to be easy to use, have all the relevant information about your film — trailer, screenings, and later links to watch online — and be findable by search engines. To make sure it’s findable, it’s important to do an SEO audit and make sure your website has the proper page titles, meta descriptions, and text with the right keywords on your web pages. This also helps your website’s page titles and descriptions show up properly in link previews on social media. SADIE’s website was already built on Squarespace, so all we needed to do was optimize for search and social. After optimization, it’s essential to make sure your website is up to date with all the latest news, screenings, and contact information.
Engaging Fans Through Email Updates
You’ll want a simple form to allow website visitors to sign up for your newsletter. Having a newsletter is a great way to keep in touch with your film’s best fans, let them know first about news and releases, and provide valuable content (like this blog). For SADIE, we used Squarespace’s new email marketing feature. This allowed us to seamlessly set up a sign-up form and keep our campaigns all in one place. For email marketing, your number of subscribers, open rates, and click rates are used to measure success. We boosted the initial subscriber list by asking SADIE fans to subscribe through personal requests, social media, and a website pop-up. Open rates are largely dictated by the email subject line and the time and day the message is sent (weekday mornings are best). Click rates are typically determined by how strong your calls-to-action (CTAs) are in the body of your email, and also how engaging your copy is. Having clear CTAs is important for users to easily understand what you’d like them to do next, whether it’s read your blog post or watch a new trailer.
Promote Your Theatrical Release Through Digital Ads
Digital advertising allows you to reach a highly targeted audience that you choose with video, image, and text ads. Just like social media ads, you can even place these orders yourself and set a budget that is right for you.
For SADIE, we wanted to boost attendance at theatrical releases and screenings across the country. Alongside targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram, we utilized YouTube and display advertising to reach key audiences in our target cities. YouTube pre-roll advertising is a great way to promote a film because you only end up paying for actual video views (longer than 30 seconds) or interactions (clicks) on your ad. If a viewer chooses to skip your ad before that, you don’t pay. For SADIE, we advertised the trailer and several shorter cuts of the trailer and linked back to “Find a Screening” page on the SADIE website. Video advertising is a great choice because it is so engaging, and of course, it is a natural fit for a film.
We also used display ads to drive viewers to watch the trailer on the SADIE website. Display ads on the Google network are shown across a variety of websites and apps, reaching interest groups where they spend their time on the internet. For both our YouTube and our display ads, we targeted movie lovers, parents & family-focused individuals, art & theater aficionados, and a variety of other interest groups. Of course, we also limited our geographic targeting to those who were in cities that SADIE would be screening. We also made sure to retarget those that had been on the SADIE website to remind them to find a screening to attend in the future.
Once the film was available on demand, we changed our calls to action and drove people directly to the film’s page on iTunes, where they could purchase or rent the film. Throughout our campaigns, we refined our targeting and placements to achieve the best click-through rates and longest video views at the best price. These are all metrics available through the Google Ads platform. This is an important step for any campaign, and if you choose to run digital or social media ads, it’s important to evaluate your success and make edits accordingly throughout your campaign.
(These are examples of just a few SADIE display ads. We created a variety of these in three sizes—250x250, 300x600, 728x90—and continually tested which generated the most traffic to ensure we were spending our limited budget efficiently.)
Benefits of Digital Advertising
The great thing about digital and social media advertising is its target-ability and its scalability. You can target very specific audiences that you define based on your knowledge about your film and your goals. If you have a limited budget, you could choose to target only your primary release cities and only target those individuals who are most likely to attend a live event. Or you could focus exclusively on a retargeting audience to drive conversions. Whatever your budget, there are strategies you can use to reach new audiences and engage with your current fans.
Growth in website traffic leading up to the theatrical release.
Your film’s presence online—your website, blog, digital ads, email blasts, and social media—is an important component of building your brand and telling a story about your film. By taking an active role in all of these areas, you can help connect your film with an audience with whom it will resonate most strongly. Digital advertising is becoming more accessible every year, so don’t be afraid to give it a try to help expand the reach of your film!
Katherine Boehrer works as Digital Advertising Manager at Thin Pig Media and loves geeking out about all things marketing.
December 17, 2018
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: Lessons From Our Theatrical Release
by Megan Griffiths
This year, our team made the momentous decision to turn down offers from traditional distributors and build our own distribution model. We accepted an SVOD deal from Amazon via their Amazon Festival Stars program, then set out to produce the theatrical and TVOD releases of SADIE on our own terms. We made SADIE to contribute to a cultural conversation about youth and violence, and we wanted to actively engage in that conversation in our release. We walked in with our eyes open, knowing we were facing a mountain of work, but also knowing that we wouldn’t be satisfied unless we finished the process of releasing SADIE without a single ounce of energy left on the table.
We have had highs and lows. Premiering at SXSW, engaging with audiences, reading our favorite reviews and getting featured on Variety’s list of the 10 Most Under-Appreciated Films of 2018 were amazing highs. Showing up to venues after doing everything in our personal and financial bandwidth to promote those screenings to find only a handful of audience-members in the seats, not so much.
2018 was an excellent year for movies, which is a wonderful thing for audiences everywhere. However, it made it a particularly challenging year to release a small film and find a way to register on the radar of the movie-going public without a huge advertising budget.
We started this blog in order to provide a glimpse behind the curtain of distribution. In that spirit, we wanted to reflect on some of the things we have learned on this journey so far--essentially the lessons of our theatrical release. We hope that these disclosures serve to both caution and inspire filmmakers who are considering the daunting, empowering leap of releasing their own films.
THE BARRIERS
There are many gatekeepers in this business--festival programmers, critics, distributors, and more. These people serve an important curatorial function, especially in light of the sheer numbers of films that are now made and released each year (an average of more than two per day). We knew going in that we’d need to pass through some gates--what we didn’t fully appreciate was that beyond each gate was another gate and another keeper.
An example: early in our theatrical booking efforts, we learned that two major national chains had expressed interest in releasing SADIE in their cinema networks. We were thrilled, knowing how many venues each chain included, thinking we would get to pick and choose the markets where we would play. It didn’t turn out to be quite that straight-forward, as once the chain’s programmer opened the first gate, we discovered we still had to await approval from every individual theater.
SADIE has never been a no-brainer--for financiers, distributors, or for audiences. It is designed to confront the viewer to consider uncomfortable truths. Yes, there are light moments and appealing actors giving beautiful performances, but there are also tough questions that many people just don’t feel like engaging with--particularly in this political climate. That doesn’t mean the film is less worthy but it certainly presented a challenge at each point in the process when we came to a new gate.
Some programmers are bold--they believe strongly in a film and take the chance on playing it even if they know it might be tough to fill seats. But the majority are struggling to stay afloat in this era of streaming services and can’t afford to roll the dice; they make choices based on what they know will provide a financial return and keep their doors open. It’s understandable, but it doesn’t always lead to the embrace of riskier work that may have a more difficult time connecting with mainstream audiences. And hey, some might just not dig your movie.
More frustratingly, even the individual programmers in those major chains that did express interest in SADIE did so on their own timelines. Most were not willing to confirm our film until mere weeks before our release date (presumably due to wanting to save space for larger titles or successful films that might hold over for another week), meaning we wouldn’t have any certainty of when or where the film would screen as we were mounting our promotional campaign.
Ultimately, we chose to book the film outside of these larger chains at smaller independent theaters. These venues worked with us to lock in dates far enough in advance of our release to leave a window for us to build buzz. They also did not require the long window the chain theaters would have before our VOD release, allowing us to better capitalize on the momentum from our theatrical press. We played at some fantastic independent theaters, including the Northwest Film Forum, where we sold out almost every screening over our opening weekend, and the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, VA, where the Winchester Film Club did an incredible job of promoting our event. Our Distribution Strategist Mia Bruno and our Creative Distribution intern Bobbin Ramsey worked with the venues to do outreach in each community where we played and forged some amazing partnerships (more on that in Mia’s blog here and Bobbin’s here).
Playing smaller theaters also allowed us to avoid Virtual Print Fees (VPF), which distributors must pay at all major venues where their films are screening. This article from Arts Alliance Media does an amazing job of detailing the history of these fees and why they initially became de rigueur (and why they may soon be moot), but basically in budget numbers VPF’s represent an additional $850 per theater. This probably goes without saying, but that is a lot of money for a small film. Especially a small film trying to reserve money for the two most important markets of them all...
THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW YORK & LA
When your P&A (prints & advertising) budget is limited, positive reviews in major market publications are your best chance of building awareness for your film. Given the fact that papers like the New York and Los Angeles Times only review films that are released in theaters, that makes it critical to secure a good date in a good theater in New York City and Los Angeles. Unfortunately, since there are a finite number of venues and screening times in those cities any given weekend, and 600-700 films a year vying for those spots, that puts the power securely in the exhibitors’ hands.
We had offers from some venues in NYC and LA that were in farther-flung reaches of the cities. Some of the more centrally-located theaters proposed programming SADIE in off-peak hours, like 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. nightly. At the time when we were making these decisions, our theatrical run was in front of us. Our hopes were high that our money and effort, coupled with positive reviews, would push the film into the collective consciousness and get people out for opening weekend. We decided to make an investment in booking the films in highly populated areas at prime viewing times, so we four-walled (bought-out in advance) our venue NYC and did a rental/box-office split for our venue in LA.
Should we have? The receipts from our week-long runs at each venue certainly didn’t justify it on a purely financial basis. We rationalized the cost as a publicity expense, since reviews were the primary factor in the decision, and in that regard we fared better--the reviews we generated from our time in those markets were majority positive (though nothing so rapturous that it tipped the scale in any major way and lit our box office on fire).
Would we have garnered the same number of reviews if we’d gone with the less expensive options of off-peak times or lower-traffic neighborhoods? Perhaps it just matters that you play somewhere, anywhere in each city, and proximity and venue name recognition don’t factor into it. Perhaps we didn’t need to play in those cities (or get those reviews) at all and that money would have been better spent on digital ads for our iTunes release. Certainly that is one school of thought. However, our digital sales have been generally higher in regions where we also screened theatrically, so maybe it was all worth it in the grand scheme. It’s truly hard to know what the perfect strategy would have been, even with 20/20 hindsight.
We encountered one other unanticipated wrinkle as we neared the end of this process. Since our LA theatrical arrangement only allowed for two screenings per night, we ultimately did not meet Academy qualifications (which require three screenings per night during your LA run), so we were unable to submit our composer Mike McCready’s incredible work for best score and song consideration. A good reminder to review the qualification checklists for any awards you might be vying for to ensure your decisions early in the process support your long-term strategy.
ACADEMIC SCREENINGS
In one of our early calls with a traditional distributor in the weeks following our premiere, we brought up the idea of an academic screening tour. The distributor dismissed the idea out-of-hand, saying they’d tried it before and found it to be more expense and trouble than it was worth. That ended up being a critical moment in our conversations around whether we’d take a swing at creative distribution. SADIE deals with themes around what our society is teaching our youth about violence and problem-solving, and we wanted to bring that conversation to those it might impact the most.
The decision to make academic screenings a cornerstone of our release strategy has been one we’ve never questioned. We took SADIE to 18 schools in 11 states (and one Canadian province). That’s almost twice the number of venues we hit on our theatrical run. Part of this effort was the Southern Circuit, which brings filmmakers to the South for a series of screenings at participating institutions within driving distance of each other. This model is something we wish existed in more regions, as it brought us to six schools in eight days and provided a well-organized framework and communication chain. But between our own university connections and the schools we reached through our academic outreach consultant Anna Feder, we built out a tour that brought us to many places that SADIE may never have reached otherwise.
Many of the schools we visited for our academic tour were in underserved communities that rarely had the opportunity to talk to filmmakers or even watch independent films on the big screen, so the events tended to draw large and engaged crowds and yield excellent conversations. And on the budgetary side, the schools covered travel expenses and paid a fee to screen the film, so our tour generated a decent profit as well.
Something else we took from our academic experience was this: the ability of kids to handle and process challenging material is dramatically underestimated in this culture. In the decade we spent trying to get SADIE to the screen, we had many, many people tell us that the barrier we faced was that we were trying to make a movie starring kids but for adults. If there’s one myth that’s been dispelled in this journey, it’s that one. By far the best questions we received during our many post-screening discussions came from young people. We had a screening at a high school in Washington State where 130 kids, mostly sophomores and juniors, came out at 7:30 a.m. to watch SADIE, engaging in a thoughtful and deeply inspiring conversation afterwards (when it was still only 9 a.m.!) We won the Gryphon Award at our international premiere at the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, and it was awarded to us by a jury of 16- and 17-year-olds from 50+ countries. Kids get it. They understand what’s going on in our culture right now and they want to talk about it.
TAKEAWAYS
The odds are against those approaching the theatrical release process independently. Many excellent films released this year even via traditional distribution companies have struggled to register on the national radar. Which films will capture the American imagination and become critical or box-office juggernauts remains impossible to foresee. Bottom line: Every filmmaker wants to do what they can to connect with the audiences that will resonate with the story they’ve told, and as this industry continues to go through immense change, we’re all experimenting, pushing, and working to determine how to do that.
We probably won’t ever really know whether every choice we made was the right one. We followed conventional wisdom about the NYC/LA press, pushing for reviews in hopes that that press would publicize the film in a way that we couldn’t afford to do with P&A money alone. And while we received many great reviews (and likely gotten a bump in digital sales as a side benefit) we may have put too much stock in the belief that any single review would be a game-changer. But we also made a decision early on that we wanted to hand-deliver this film to as many audiences as possible and be active participants in conversations around youth and violence. After 53 post-show discussions with a diverse population of movie-goers from one end of the country to the other, we can say with all certainty that we accomplished that goal.
Exhausting though it may have been, it was so rewarding to travel around the country and attend our many screenings. We never knew who would be in the audience or what would come up for them after the credits rolled. The discussions we had when the lights came up at those screenings consistently helped to remind us of why we chose to embark on the nine-year journey of making SADIE in the first place. We learned something about the world we live in and the people who inhabit it at every stop on our SADIE tour. And we even got a little hope for the future via the intelligent questions and observations of the many young people we met.
A final anecdote: When we were in the South screening SADIE, there was a young woman in the audience who came up to talk to me after the Q&A. She told me she came from a military family and could relate to Sadie’s family life, but she was bothered that I portrayed Sadie playing violent video games in the film. She was a big gamer herself and bristled at the connection being drawn between Sadie’s gaming and the bad choices the character made. I explained my reasoning, as I have to others when this has come up: I don’t take issue with violence being portrayed in media (video games and beyond), but I do worry about how it affects our collective empathy and our feelings about violence as a problem-solving tool when we watch so many characters take lives without consequence and without any connection to the emotional ramifications of the act. She took that in and her whole demeanor shifted. She said she agreed and told me about two games she’d found which she thought bucked that trend--creating worlds that built empathy towards their flawed central character (like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) or where empathy towards an opponent and alternatives to violence were built into the game’s DNA (like Undertale). I felt like we both walked away having learned from the short interaction, and it stands out as a highlight of this journey.
THE METRICS
43 - States where SADIE has now been seen via theater or VOD
22 - States where SADIE played on a big screen
53 - Post-Screening Q&A’s (40 attended by Megan, 33 attended by Lacey, 18 attended by Sophia, 14 by other members of the team, and three via Skype)
10 - Cities where we played in theaters
18 - Academic Screenings (including the Southern Circuit)
5 - Buzz Screenings (IFP, Geena Davis Institute, SAG/LA, SAG/NYC, Jeff Goldsmith Podcast Screening)
2 - Awards Received (the “Gryphon Award - Best Film” at Giffoni Film Festival and “Best Performance: Sophia Mitri Schloss” at Tacoma Film Festival)
81% - Critics Score on Rotten Tomatoes
90% - Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes
121,000 - Number of minutes our theatrical trailer has been viewed on YouTube
41,237 - Authentic Social Media Engagements
1,161,531 - Total Social Media Impressions
We’re still in the midst of SADIE’s digital release, and will report back in a future blog with our thoughts on the lessons we’re still learning from that part of the process. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who attended a screening and engaged with us. We’re glad that we (and SADIE) found you. And if you’re a filmmaker enjoying this blog, please leave us a comment and let us know if there’s more you’d like to learn from our experience.
December 31, 2018
WE ARE NOT STUCK IN THIS CULTURE, WE ARE THIS CULTURE
by Megan Griffiths
Writer/director Megan Griffiths on the set of SADIE. Photo credit: David Chen
In the aftermath of a school shooting, we tend to dissect the people immediately surrounding the shooter. Were his parents nurturing? Did his fellow students bully? Did the officers who were once at his doorstep do enough to interfere with his destructive tendencies? As we look to find ways we might prevent other lost souls, others with mental illness, other sociopaths, other pathologically lonely people from making these same disastrous choices in the future, these questions can be valuable pieces of the puzzle. But when our scrutiny doesn’t extend beyond that intimate radius, it also provides cover to avoid a larger examination of ourselves and our culture. As someone outside the nexus of the latest active shooter, is it possible that I am still culpable in his choices? What am I doing to encourage and disseminate the idea that violence is a solution? Am I doing anything to actively counter that narrative?
The United States spends more than any other nation on our military—almost three times more than the next highest spender (China). We are the world’s enforcer and Americans take great pride in our military dominance. We spend $600 billion a year teaching our nation’s youth one very loud lesson—might makes right. The country with the deadliest arsenal wins. Diplomacy is utilized to varying degrees depending on who sits in the Oval Office but wars, surgical strikes and armed occupation have always been our stock and trade, our headline-grabbers, our chief export. Whether we go to battle for valiant reasons or not, and whether we ever really “win” any war (and those are whole other conversations), the take-away remains the same: the only way to stop a bad guy with a nuke is with a good guy with a nuke.
Young men and women enlist in the armed forces for any number of reasons: to protect and serve; to stand up for an ideal; to escape destitution or afford an education; to honor a tradition; to prove something; to be heroes; for brotherhood; sisterhood. Once they are accepted, they are trained to enact medical procedures, to de-escalate hostile situations, to be adaptable and responsible, to communicate with people from other cultures in other languages. But they are also taught to kill. They are taught to rationalize an other’s death as a necessary evil, to distance themselves from personal choice. How else could they cope?
These lessons—dehumanization, white hats versus black hats, force as solution—are regularly reinforced by our media as well. We collectively spend billions to cheer on superheroes as they epically battle their foes, and to engage in first-person bouts where our avatar leaves someone else’s avatar in tatters. Examining violence through film, television and video games can be constructive—a way to parse the complexities of our world and understand those who make choices we don’t understand—but very often the characters we watch, these surrogates for ourselves, mow down enemies without thought, without pause, without any psychological effect at all or any attempt to understand the “why.” If I took out a gun and shot someone on 5th Avenue, it would impact me for the rest of my life. But when was the last time you saw a vigilante or soldier in a video game truly reckon with the life he just took, or reckon with the part of his own humanity that was lost with the squeeze of the trigger? Yes, we live in a brutal society, but what comes of disconnecting emotionally from that brutality? What is the collective impact, what is the message to those coming-of-age with these narratives filling their minds, when we don’t show its tangible and intangible consequences?
We all distance ourselves. When we make personal choices that perpetuate violence in our culture, we rationalize or ignore, or perhaps don’t even realize it’s happening. We dodge meaningful dialogue about our accountability in the violent acts of others. We look for others to blame. We wait for others to change. We don’t look to ourselves. We don’t change.
Villains, both real and fictional, have origin stories. Osama Bin Laden had one, the Joker had one, and every mass shooter has one. And yes, the people with whom they interact in their daily lives contribute to those stories in huge ways. But we each contribute too. The choices we make as consumers perpetuate the dissemination of consequence-free, gleeful, psychosocially-vacuous violence to people all over the earth. The people we elect to public office determine how much of our city’s, our state’s, and our nation’s budgets are directed towards building our police force and military arsenal as opposed to, say, rehabilitating our violent offenders or treating the mentally ill. The ideas we put into the world, the work we do as creators, contribute to a collective conversation and can change hearts and minds. Our decisions are not made in a vacuum and they do not fall on deaf ears.
There’s a Zen concept that asserts, “you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic.” We are not stuck in this culture, suffering from a predicament thrust upon us by faceless others. We are this culture—every individual, conscious, buying, selling, voting, living, breathing one of us—and this predicament is our own to solve.
January 28, 2019
NO NEED TO TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT...
This week, SADIE will have its launch on Amazon Prime. This is a film we spent nine years making and one into which we poured our hearts and souls, from the long road of development, through the cold but rewarding days on set and the heavy scrutiny of the editing room, to our SXSW premiere, and through the past nine months as we’ve embarked on our creative distribution journey, pushing SADIE out into the world and trying to connect with audiences alongside the crowded and excellent slate of films 2018 had to offer.
So of course WE hope you’ll watch it.
But no need to take our word for it! Below, we’ve assembled a list of our favorite pieces that have come out about the film since our premiere.
Hopefully these wise strangers will give you the final nudge to stream the film on Amazon Prime and maybe even to tell a friend (or ALL your friends) to watch it too.
Thank you!
PROFILE
To kick things off, check out IMDb’s profile on Megan and SADIE, recorded at SXSW last year. It’s a short and sweet two-minute look into the film and its themes about consequence-free violence, as well as Megan’s process as a filmmaker.
VARIETY & BEST OF 2018 LISTS
Secondly, we have had a really fantastic champion in Variety’s Joe Leydon, who wrote this beautiful review calling the film “quietly absorbing and methodically disquieting“ when the film premiered, and then included us on Variety’s Most Under-Appreciated Movies of 2018, commenting that we “drifted into and out of limited theatrical release without raising the ruckus that was their due.”
We also made an appearance on the AV Club’s Best Films of 2018 That We Didn’t Review. They said, “fiercely talented newcomer Sophia Mitri Schloss plays the title character as a sort of Machiavellian open wound,” continuing, “writer-director Megan Griffiths devotes nearly equal attention to everyone in Sadie’s life—particularly her loving but distracted mother, played with heartbreaking emotional transparency by Melanie Lynskey. John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, and Tony Hale all pitch in to create a richly detailed hand-to-mouth community.”
NPR RAVE
Back when SADIE came out last October the fine folks at KPCC’s Film Week (the weekly film review show on LA’s National Public Radio affiliate) called it their “favorite film of the week” and said they “really, really, really loved it.” They talk for about three minutes and if what they have to say doesn’t convince you to watch, I don’t know what will.
PODCASTS
If you’re looking for something to queue up in your car or while you’re at the gym, we also did a few podcasts that were incredibly fun and great conversations.
For The Talkhouse, Megan spoke with friend and fellow filmmaker Colin Trevorrow (who many may know as the director of one of the top grossing films of all time, JURASSIC WORLD). The two talked about blockbusters, diversity, "overnight" success, and much more. Producer Lacey Leavitt also pipes in with some wisdom throughout.
Megan also chatted about 12 MONKEYS and making movies about mental illness with April Wolfe for her podcast Switchblade Sisters, and with Jeff Goldsmith about her career trajectory and how it all led to SADIE for The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith (warning: this podcast contains spoilers and may be best listened to after watching the film).
INTERVIEWS
We did a couple fantastic interviews, one of our favorites being Megan’s interview with Women And Hollywood where she was asked about the #TimesUp movement and said, “I believe it’s a long overdue conversation — one that women have been having for years, and one that I’m thrilled men are finally beginning to engage in. It’s well past time to challenge the power imbalance in our industry. The world needs inclusivity right now. We need diverse stories and the empathy that those stories bring to our hearts, and we need it urgently.”
We also loved Film Inquiry’s coverage of the film—both their interview with Megan (where Megan and interviewer Lee Jutton talk in depth about the cast, the film’s themes, and how challenging it is to get a film like SADIE made) and their fantastic review, where Lee says, “Griffiths highlights the particular problems faced by a sector of society often looked down upon by those in a more privileged place and does it with a refreshingly non-judgmental eye. You understand the tough, often uncaring world in which these people have all spent their entire lives and how that has shaped their identities. As a result, all of them are painted in such diverse shades of grey that it is impossible to form a simple, singular conclusion about any of them.”
BUILD NYC
Lastly, if you’ve got a half an hour to spend, we loved this BUILD NYC interview with Megan, which dives deep into the themes of the films and also how we brought it into the world. It’s such a comprehensive overview of everything we wanted to talk about with this film, we recommend checking it out.
OUR INCREDIBLE CAST
"Lynskey, one of indie cinema's finest actors, is once again superb in her emotionally complex turn. Gallagher Jr. delivers career-best work as well, infusing his portrayal with subtle shadings that keep us intrigued throughout. And Schloss is a revelation as the emotionally disturbed teen, her performance all the more impressive for its restraint." - Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
“The film boasts a major turn from Sophia Mitri Schloss…you simply can’t turn away from her.” - Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“Sophia Mitri Schloss is absolutely revelatory in the film’s titular role... Her motivations for her actions are deeply felt, and provide a terrifying glimpse into how the violence of the world around us can shape the mindset of a child by convincing them violence is the only answer to their problems.” - Lee Jutton, Film Inquiry
“Gallagher Jr. makes Cyrus into something more than just another guy from the wrong side of the tracks; he shows us how society makes it so hard for certain people to pull themselves out of the mire, instead leaving them to spiral further downward.” - Lee Jutton, Film Inquiry
“Danielle Brooks … brings together contradictory notes of an everyday anguish endured through everyday kindnesses, and in a rare way that elevates a secondary character from mere support to one who underscores everything the film wants to say.” - MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filopsopher
“Sadie is an arresting experience, anchored by Schloss’s dynamic work.” - Ken Bakely, Film Pulse
“Lynskey continues to demonstrate why she should be recognized amongst the best actresses working today with her nuanced and emotional performance.” - Jonathan Berk, Berk Reviews
“Sophia Mitri Schloss gives an unforgettable turn in her title role.” - MovieCriticDave.com
"Schloss is intensely affecting as Sadie." - Betsy Bozdech
"Schloss and Lynskey deliver heart wrenching performances in this strikingly femme-centric film which shoots an arrow right into the heart of domestic disruption that results from faraway wars." - Jennifer Merin
"At its most mesmerizing when fixed on Schloss’ unblinking gaze; a child at war with forces — and consequences — that she can’t yet understand." - Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times
February 26, 2019
ADVENTURES IN CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION: The SADIE Case Study
Written by Lacey Leavitt (originally published via Dear Producer)
“We’ve spent a lot of time as a culture trying to reckon with the effects of the intense exposure to violence faced by soldiers, but what about the effects of similar exposure on those at home? How does this steady diet of violence (from the real-world carnage of war, mass shootings and police brutality, to the fictional, cartoonish bloodshed filling our screens) impact those coming of age in this era? When all they see are adults solving their problems with force, what does that teach kids about how to solve their own problems?” - Megan Griffiths
Sadie is the story of a girl who will stop at nothing to preserve her father's place on the home front. Sadie is the 13-year-old daughter of a soldier and models herself after his military example. When her mom Rae begins dating a new man, Sadie vows to drive him out by whatever means necessary. He is the enemy, and if she’s learned anything from the world she inhabits, it’s that the enemy deserves no mercy.
THE ROAD TO GREENLIGHT
Making the film was a long, challenging process. Writer/director Megan Griffiths wrote the script in 2009 and showed me the first draft to see if I’d be interested in producing. Megan is one of my favorite directors to work with, as well as one of my favorite overall human beings, and I really resonated with the characters and themes of the script. It was an easy, automatic, enthusiastic YES for me. Unfortunately, throughout our process, nothing else would ever come together that quickly again.
The next eight years was a journey that included me attending the Sundance Creative Producers Lab and the Rotterdam Co-Production Lab and both Megan and I taking the film to IFP’s No Borders Market. Raising money was a challenge, as film financiers thought a drama for adults, but starring a young girl, was too risky an investment. (And, in those early years when the cultural climate was slightly different, we were asked several times if we’d consider making Sadie a boy.) During the long development process of SADIE, Megan and I made 9 other feature films between the two of us! But we’d always come back to SADIE after each project ended and wonder when and how the stars would align for us to be able to make the film.
We eventually attached Melanie Lynskey (HBO’s TOGETHERNESS, THE INTERVENTION) as our adult lead, Rae. Melanie is the kind of actor who attracts other talented actors to want to come aboard your project, so soon after we also attached John Gallagher, Jr. (THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, HBO’s THE NEWSROOM) as Cyrus, the new man in Rae and Sadie’s life.
Melanie Lynskey as ‘Rae’ and John Gallagher, Jr. as ‘Cyrus’ in SADIE
As we neared the end of 2016, a critical mass had hit to get the ball rolling: there was a break in Megan, Melanie, and John’s respective schedules and it seemed like it was now-or-never to make the film. Jennessa West (LANE 1974) joined the team as my producing partner and Jonathan Caso (OUTSIDE IN) as a co-producer. We re-approached a film investor who had long been a fan of Megan’s work and this script, Eliza Shelden, but who had formerly passed on the project because the timing wasn’t right. But it turned out that the stars now aligned for her as well, so she came on board as our sole investor and we were officially greenlit and finally off and running.
Above and beyond the film’s modest $650k budget, we raised and set aside an additional $50k to contribute to the eventual distribution marketing campaign. This was something we prioritized because we knew that putting SADIE into the world would require some special handling whether we partnered with a traditional distributor or decided to distribute it on our own, and we did not want to become powerless victims to a boilerplate distribution plan.
We set dates for the shoot for January 2017 and Tony Hale (VEEP, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) came on board in the role of Rae’s other suitor and guidance counselor at Sadie’s school. Danielle Brooks (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) joined the cast as Rae’s best friend Carla. And despite doing a nation-wide search, our perfect Sadie turned out to be Sophia Mitri Schloss who, like Megan and me, lives in Seattle. We shot for 19 days in Washington State.
PREMIERE/PRESS REACTIONS
SADIE Cast and Producers at 2018 SXSW Pizza Hut/Getty Images Lounge
Photo credit: Getty Images
The film premiered at SXSW 2018. The screenings were packed with enthusiastic and engaged audiences who asked insightful questions. Press reactions were incredibly slow to come out, especially annoying considering we’d chosen to host an advance screening in New York for press. After leaving our premiere, we saw that only one review had posted and it was mixed. Having that be the sole review for the days following our premiere was torturous (and likely harmful to our distribution prospects). But once the other reviews did come out, they were overwhelmingly positive. Almost surprisingly so, considering our difficult subject matter and controversial ending!
“Equal parts coming-of-age story and slow-burn thriller, writer-director Megan Griffiths’ quietly absorbing and methodically disquieting drama is a genuine rarity… Griffiths and Schloss tease and disquiet you with the possibility that Sadie will stop at nothing to get what she wants. But even that’s not sufficient to fully prepare you for what happens when they make good on that threat. Or for what happens next.” - Joe Leydon, Variety
“Griffiths exhibits a strong grasp of tone, filming the proceedings in a visually gloomy fashion befitting the characters' hardscrabble lives. And the performances are uniformly first-rate. It's no surprise that Lynskey, who has quietly establishing herself as one of indie cinema's finest actors, is once again superb in her emotionally complex turn. Gallagher delivers career-best work as well, infusing his portrayal with subtle shadings that keep us intrigued throughout. And Schloss is a revelation as the emotionally disturbed teen, her performance all the more impressive for its restraint.” - Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Sophia Mitri Schloss as ‘Sadie’ and Keith L. Williams as ‘Francis’
DISTRIBUTION OFFERS
The core reason behind making the film was Megan’s desire to add to the cultural conversation about youth and violence. All of us producers, including our executive producer, were unanimously on board with that goal. Like most filmmakers, our two main objectives in finding the right distribution path were: getting as many people to see the film as possible and to recoup our budget/turn a profit for our financier. A third objective, which emerged after a particularly inspiring Seattle International Film Festival screening for high school students, was to be able to screen the film to as many young people as possible in order to bring the conversation to those it would impact the most. We felt that an academic tour of SADIE to colleges and community groups (especially those with a teen and/or violence prevention focus) would be the best way to achieve that goal.
Cut to: lackluster market conditions. Distribution offers came in with the best one being from a reputable, name brand film distributor that offered a 10 city day-and-date theatrical and VOD release, with a minimum guarantee of only about 25% of the film’s budget. Team Sadie was faced with a decision: take a loss financially, but have a reputable film distributor behind a 10 city theatrical push, or follow the creative self-distribution playbook outlined by films like Shane Carruth’s UPSTREAM COLOR and Kogonada’s COLUMBUS. The latter might turn out to be a financial loss and would require additional time spent on “producing” the distribution, as well as significant capital to fund the release, but it would mean that we as filmmakers would have creative control over the marketing and distribution of the film, empowering us to make decisions about how our film was presented to audiences.
As Megan and my fellow producers and I have all worked with various indie film distributors over the years, we have had a variety of experiences with how our films have A) have been marketed to audiences and B) have connected (or not) with those audiences. With SADIE’s nuanced drama, we knew it was incredibly important to frame the film properly and be thoughtful in our strategy. The discussions we had with our potential distributor made us realize that we had very different ideas for how to market this film; they wanted to go with more of a BAD SEED-like approach and market SADIE as a thriller starring a young girl (how far will she go?!). While it was possible that marketing this as a more traditional thriller genre film might get more people to rent or buy initially, we felt we’d severely risk audience backlash. In other words, if someone paid $4.99 expecting to see a thriller/horror film, they would likely feel misled after watching the dramatic slow-burn of SADIE and review the film accordingly. In turn, those negative reviews could drive down the overall rating, counteracting the marketing messages of the film and potentially alienating a larger audience than it would attract. It’s possible it would’ve netted more money for the film, but it wasn’t a guarantee, plus we would definitely be throwing one of our main goals (creating an environment for meaningful audience discussion about youth and violence) out the window. While we asked for mutual approval over poster and trailer, the distributor was only willing to give us “meaningful consultation.” And as we all know, that is not very legally meaningful at all. So knowing we were starting in two pretty different places, we did not have faith that our opinions would be heeded much–or at all–when it came to marketing the film.
Producer Lacey Leavitt and writer/director Megan Griffiths at the Geena Davis Institute screening of SADIE, Photo credit: Credit Mary Schwinn
Lastly, the distributor did not want to entertain our idea of an academic tour at all. Not only did they not want to mount one (understandable, if it’s not already part of their services), they didn’t want us to take the film to colleges or high schools even if we were doing all of that work and covering our costs. They felt the screenings would cannibalize the film’s sales with those audiences. We felt that an academic tour would raise awareness within the 18-25 year old demographic, who we didn’t see as naturally discovering the film with the distributor’s vague marketing plans.
So ultimately, we decided to walk away from the traditional distribution offers and instead take the $100k non-recoupable bonus from Amazon Prime Video as part of their Film Festival Stars program (a program which ended in December 2018), pair that with our $50k we had set aside for marketing, and mount a creative distribution strategy for our film ourselves.
DISTRIBUTING SADIE
Megan and I, along with my producing partner, Jennessa West, and co-producer Jonathan Caso, committed our late spring and summer of 2018 to developing our creative distribution plan. Jennessa and Jonathan were shooting another feature that fall so Megan and I cleared our fall schedules to work full time on SADIE’s theatrical release. But there was no way to handle all of the aspects of the distribution ourselves. We needed someone with the contacts and access to book theaters, someone who could help us navigate and price out the academic bookings, a publicist, and a social media and digital marketing agency. To get a more detailed picture of the breakdown of roles, you can read our detailed blog post at SadieFilm.com.
CORE TEAM
MIA BRUNO: Distribution Strategist, Theatrical Booking & Impact Campaigning
THIN PIG MEDIA: Digital Marketing & Social Media Management
ADAM KERSH/BRIGADE MARKETING: Publicity
ANNA FEDER: Academic Outreach
BOBBIN RAMSEY: Distribution Intern
ADDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION PLAYERS
GIANT INTERACTIVE: Digital Aggregator
MICHAEL LANGE: Trailer Editor
YEN TAN: Poster Design
DAVID ROBBINS: Deliverables
SIMPLE DCP: DCP and Blu-Ray creation
Everyone on the team was a genuine supporter of the film, worked very hard to position the film to succeed, and was a lovely person to boot. While the core team all had specific titles, there was some overlap of roles. If anyone had a personal connection to a college, they put us in touch directly. Adam did several reach outs to theater programmers he knew personally. Mia was incredibly helpful with positioning the film. In other words, a dream team. We had weekly calls between the core team, adding other individuals if necessary.
Producer Lacey Leavitt, actress Sophia Mitri Schloss, actor Keith L. Williams, and writer/director Megan Griffiths at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation LA screening, Photo credit: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
We started assembling the team in May of 2018. We had a hard Amazon Prime VOD premiere date of February 28, 2019. Reverse engineering from there, we landed on a fall theatrical date, which eventually solidified as October 12, 2018. This lead us to a TVOD (iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, etc.) window that started with iTunes on November 6, 2018, an inDemand window that started January 1, 2019. We also licensed our airline rights to Alaska Air via the SIFF channel and officially started airing in the friendly skies in April 2019.
In the lead up to these theatrical release dates, we built out our social media and digital campaigns. Adam/Brigade targeted key reviewers in LA and NYC and we created an influencer screening strategy wherein we had various screenings with organizations that we felt would help boost our signal to our target audiences, such as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles. And in NYC we had another SAG screening as well as one with IFP during IFP Week.
Running parallel to all of this, we booked academic screenings across the country, mostly woven throughout the lead-up to our theatrical premiere and again in the winter, between our TVOD and SVOD premieres. Ultimately we screened the film in 22 states and collectively attended 53 post-screening discussions between September and December 2018.
SIFF Cinema Uptown Marquee in Seattle, Photo credit: Megan Griffiths
RESULTS
SADIE did get the robust academic tour we hoped for, which was both profitable and immensely gratifying. Not only did we get bookings at individual universities, we were fortunate to be selected for the 2018 fall tour of the Southern Circuit. This program brings films to rural universities and towns in the south, providing under-served audiences with access to independent films and filmmakers with screening fees and per diem to travel and engage with students via post-film discussions and classroom visits. The conversations Megan and I had with students and community members from Tennessee (Johnson City, Maryville), Georgia (Oxford, Athens, Statesboro), and South Carolina (Clinton) were some of the most rewarding experiences we’ve had in our entire careers.
Financially, the film has not yet recouped its production budget, which is obviously disappointing. We were really hoping to not only create meaningful conversation around the film but also build enough awareness and a large enough audience so that the film could turn a profit. First and foremost to allow our financier to recoup, but also to prove that making a smart, nuanced drama is not a lost cause in this indie film landscape. We wish we could point to SADIE as an example of a film that challenges its audiences and makes them think without cheap thrills or gimmicks but yet still succeeds financially. As filmmakers, it’s honestly disappointing to “fail” in that way, especially because the audience response, when we do get the film in front of people, has been so overwhelmingly positive.
Even in this crowded marketplace and with our limited means, we do feel that SADIE made an impact on those who saw it, and we hope that it will continue to find its audience as time passes and people discover it on Amazon Prime, iTunes, and other digital platforms.
THE METRICS
43 - States where SADIE has now been seen (via theater or VOD)
22 - States where SADIE played on a big screen
54 - Post-Screening Q&A’s (41 attended by Megan, 34 attended by Lacey, 19 attended by Sophia, 14 by other members of the team, and three via Skype)
10 - Cities where we played in theaters
18 - Academic Screenings
5 - Buzz Screenings (IFP, Geena Davis Institute, SAG/LA, SAG/NYC, Jeff Goldsmith Podcast Screening)
164,246 - Number of minutes our trailer has been viewed
18,648 - Clicks on our website generated through social media
53,515 - Authentic Social Media Engagements
1,731,378 - Total Social Media Impressions
WAS IT WORTH IT?
At the end of the day, Megan and my fellow producers (including our financier) and I all agree that yes, we are glad that we self-distributed SADIE. Of course we wish we would have had more financial success, but we do believe we had greater success in bringing the film to audiences than the distributors we were speaking to would have had. There’s no way to know that for sure, but with the thoughtfulness of our marketing materials and campaign, and the personal interactions we had with audiences across the country, we just don’t think that a traditional day-and-date theatrical/VOD release would’ve garnered more engaged fans than we did ourselves.
Danielle Brooks as ‘Carla’ in SADIE
So yes, we feel that it was worth it. We are proud of the work and care that we put into SADIE’s release and we are grateful to now have a more detailed understanding of the distribution process. Not only do we feel that we did right by SADIE, we are much more educated on the issues and difficult decisions facing distributors. Even if we never self-distribute again, we feel our increased knowledge base will be very helpful when working with future distribution partners.
We decided early on that we wanted to share as much information as we could in order to lift the veil on the self-distribution process for other filmmakers, so we started a blog about our experiences which we added to throughout our theatrical, TVOD and SVOD releases. Those blog entries can be found here {https://www.sadiefilm.com/blog}.
As a producer, this experience has given me a lot to think about in terms of what projects I can sustainably take on in the future. I don’t want to solely think about money in the choices I make, as a major part of the reason I am in this business is to tell meaningful stories, but financial return is an undeniable part of the decision-making process. A producer needs to raise money, and that becomes more challenging when your prior films have failed to break out in a financially significant way—unfortunately, a slew of good reviews will not make an investor whole. I love SADIE, and I’m so proud of it—the last thing I want to do is run scared from films that make space for important conversations to take place. Which isn’t to say that audiences don’t have an appetite for the D-word (drama); but viewing options and habits have changed dramatically over the years and episodic work seems to be where most of us get our fix for stories about well-drawn characters in authentic, realistic worlds. (In fact, we entertained the idea of converting SADIE into an episodic during our long development process). So until audiences are ready to reward these types of films with their box office dollars, I can’t say it won’t impact the projects I commit to (and the avenues I pursue in getting those projects made) in the future.
All that said, films with specific and niche audiences, especially documentaries, tend to fare well in the self-distribution space. Even without the support of organizations like the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship (which was instrumental in helping narrative films like COLUMBUS and Jim Cummings’ THUNDER ROAD succeed), films can connect with community groups and build an audience through grassroots methods, where not everything depends on a broad and expensive ad campaign.
In other words, if you find yourself with a film that you believe in but without a distributor who is willing to formulate a plan you feel confident will connect to an audience (at a fair price to you, of course), you do have options. This is true especially if you plan ahead as we did, and set aside money early to support your own release. Creative self-distribution can be incredibly empowering and can serve to connect you directly with audiences that may continue to follow your films for years to come.
Just don’t say I didn’t warn you as to how much work you’ve got ahead of you.
May 7, 2019
