I firmly believe that positioning and selling one's films should entail
multiple contexts, rather than one or the other. The possibilities are numerous
thanks to social media options that appear to blossom by the month. Over the
past five years, I've sold over 4,000 DVDs of my Mad Dance Mental Health
Trilogy both in person during my screening presentations and through the
purchase page on a dedicated website. Web page vs Vimeo as point of purchase is
interesting to consider insofar as what kind of presence one wishes to create
on the net and who one's audience is. My sites have shape-shifted over the last
13 years to accommodate where I was artistically and what it was (my work
and/or DVD sales) that I wanted to promote and/or reflect. For example, when I
was applying for tenure track teaching positions, my primary site was more
about presenting myself as an artist who works in the medium of film with some
critical thinking skills. Prior to my mental health trilogy, I never made work
that was capable of selling as the works were very short, personal
explorations. Once I endeavored making more socially and politically themed
work that was of interest to a particular audience, I crafted a dedicated site
for related information and purchase options. But it was important to me that
that site also be a work of art unto itself, not just a business platform. All
my websites, Facebook and Vimeo platforms are interlinked, so they ideally feed
off one another seamlessly. I try and make the user interface intuitive, and
configured so that a visitor to any platform who is interested in making a
purchase will always be pointed towards the same purchase page. I know this is
a longer answer than may have been sought, but I just wanted to make the point
that we should put as much creative effort and focus into our business model as
we do to our works of art. After 5 years of selling the trilogy, it still blows
my mind that any of this works at all! For example, in just the past 3 months,
I've sold DVDs to folks in: India, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada,
Israel, Switzerland, France, and of course all over the US. And I've done zero
outreach in that time. It's all because I have a solid web presence with a
dedicated purchase page. Of course, how to attract buyers to that page is
another discussion altogether. One last note: Crooked Beauty, the first film in
my trilogy was completed 5 years ago and sales have dipped significantly over
the last 2 years. So I recently decided to make it available for free on Vimeo
in the spirit of offering its message of healing and hope to those in need,
even though the filmmaker in me cringes at the viewing quality in the context
of a tiny computer screen. In the description beneath the viewing window, I
explained that the resolution was not as optimal as screening it on a DVD, and
that the user options (private vs academic, etc were limited). So putting it on
Vimeo serves as a sort of preview and since doing so, DVD sales have surged. I
considered putting the entire film on the dedicated website where viewers would
have immediate access to critical reviews, essays, interviews, etc. But decided
I wanted first time visitors to the website to purchase the DVD based on the
trailers, endorsement, and background information, and not forego a purchase
because one of the films was available for free in its entirety. In closing, I
consider Vimeo a low grade screening room were the user is more of a 'visitor'
than a 'viewer'. And that they will be redirected to a dedicated project site
presents a broader artistic profile for you and a theme-driven context for
selling DVDs and streaming options.
Good luck! Ken
www.kenpaulrosenthal.com
www.whisperrapture.com
www.maddancementalhealthfilmtrilogy.com
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