It's true what some film-makers say, making the film is the easy part. Writing a script can be a lonesome and painful journey but at least all you need is a laptop and some late nights fuelled by alcohol and Haribo (me personally). Financing a film? okay, that's hard too, but these days you can build campaigns on sites like
IndieGoGo and at least get going. You don't need a lot of money to get a film in the digital can, just a decent idea and some dedicated people. But what about after all that's been done? when the film's been honed into it's finished form, when it's ready and waiting to be seen.
The next big challenge is getting it out there around the world and in front of a paying and hopefully appreciative audience. That's exactly the stage we're at with our feature
Harold's Going Stiff.
Navigating the course of film distribution has been the most daunting and challenging part of the whole process so far. Daunting because for the first time I'm considering handing over the one thing that is of most importance to me, control. I know it's a cliche, but Harold really has been my baby, from the point where I gave birth to him in a Hampshire caravan park to the point where I discussed the sound effect of a bird at a London audio facility. Having complete control over every aspect of the film is the one major advantage of being truly independent.
Self-distribution is becoming increasingly popular and more of a reality with online delivery platforms like
Distrify and
Dynamo where you at least maintain that control over your film. But if you actually sit down and figure out just how much time, money and effort you need to make self-distribution work, it becomes less of a reality for me. It boils down to this, I'm a film-maker not a marketeer and above all I want to get cracking with the next film project. I'm nearly done with Harold, it's time to let go of his stiff little hand and let him be guided by people who know the landscape of film distribution far better than I do.
So after looking long and hard at all the options and being lucky enough to capture the attention of three sales agents, we've decided to move forward and hand Harold over to
EastWest Distribution, a sales agent based in Vienna. We hope that with their wealth of knowledge, connections and experience they will soon have Harold sailing his way around the globe hitting the big, small and really small screens.
So when can we expect to see Harold released? I don't know is the honest answer. Traditional distribution is a well oiled machine of deals and marketing campaigns that have to be carefully co-ordinated and synchronised in order to make the most of the films release. But what I do know is this. In February,
EastWest Distribution will be representing Harold at the
European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin and it's here that Harold will have his first market screening to buyers from around the World. What happens next is anyones guess. Watch this space.
Harold had his first market screening a few weeks back in Berlin at the European Film Market. I'm informed that the market this year has been much quieter than usual and it's still too early to know what will come from the interest we've had so far. Me and Richard arrived a few days later and we had the opportunity to meet the lovely people of East-West Distribution, they really are committed to getting Harold out there and it's so great to be getting that kind of support.
