Are Oscar campaigns waste, fraud and abuse? Unfortunately in some cases they are. I will never forget the young filmmaker with a very small film who told me she hired a PR person for the Oscar’s (someone I know) and he charged her $40,000 and didn’t lift a finger.
Yes, Oscar campaigns can also help raise films and directors profiles. But I feel like only accredited investors should be allowed to gamble such large sums on these campaigns at this point!!!
Or else take your strategy somewhere interesting -do a collective campaign with other films and pool your audience and resources.
Just please dont do a campaign unless you a really, clearly know your goals and how to fund them so you win whether or not you get a nod.
I love the turn this takes. The critique is sharp and necessary, but then you make room for delight and beauty too. “One Recommendation” feels like a wonderful addition, especially right now. And “fancypants distribution budget” made me laugh out loud. 😊
You have a point, however - it’s almost impossible to raise distribution / marketing funding at any point of the indie films life. Film must be one of rare businesses that expects to sell products without marketing money. Partly because it runs so often only B2B and not B2C.
Fair point. I think this is a factor of the project-based indie film model. To extend your metaphor, marketing spend is a line item in a company budget, with investor income earned on the organization’s overall performance on their basket of products. Companies do not raise, spend, and realize revenues product-by-product in isolation.
Thanks for articulating this!! It feels like pay-to-play, which is heartbreaking when you’re a filmmaker writing grant applications for a few hundred or few thousand dollars to pay a living wage to your crew. Especially when you’re self-distributing a film that wins awards on the circuit, sells out screenings all over the world, and you get messages every day from young viewers saying your film saved their life 😥
Are Oscar campaigns waste, fraud and abuse? Unfortunately in some cases they are. I will never forget the young filmmaker with a very small film who told me she hired a PR person for the Oscar’s (someone I know) and he charged her $40,000 and didn’t lift a finger.
Yes, Oscar campaigns can also help raise films and directors profiles. But I feel like only accredited investors should be allowed to gamble such large sums on these campaigns at this point!!!
Or else take your strategy somewhere interesting -do a collective campaign with other films and pool your audience and resources.
Just please dont do a campaign unless you a really, clearly know your goals and how to fund them so you win whether or not you get a nod.
I love the turn this takes. The critique is sharp and necessary, but then you make room for delight and beauty too. “One Recommendation” feels like a wonderful addition, especially right now. And “fancypants distribution budget” made me laugh out loud. 😊
Great read, Maida. As someone outside the field, I learned so much. I'm hooked. xo
You have a point, however - it’s almost impossible to raise distribution / marketing funding at any point of the indie films life. Film must be one of rare businesses that expects to sell products without marketing money. Partly because it runs so often only B2B and not B2C.
Fair point. I think this is a factor of the project-based indie film model. To extend your metaphor, marketing spend is a line item in a company budget, with investor income earned on the organization’s overall performance on their basket of products. Companies do not raise, spend, and realize revenues product-by-product in isolation.
Thanks for articulating this!! It feels like pay-to-play, which is heartbreaking when you’re a filmmaker writing grant applications for a few hundred or few thousand dollars to pay a living wage to your crew. Especially when you’re self-distributing a film that wins awards on the circuit, sells out screenings all over the world, and you get messages every day from young viewers saying your film saved their life 😥
Great essay. Man, the economics of this are becoming more impossible by the day.
Beautiful essay, yours and Mr. Jung Lee's.