I produced a film about slave life in Missouri. I once had a guy work off a
list of midwest and African American studies librarians (Richard Dill) and he
worked like crazy and he is a good sales guy who wants to get into the doc film
business. He did not sell one of my films about slave life and culture in
Missouri. I did have some unexplained sales on Amazon (7-8) during that time.
I sold my film on slave life to a local library and then did a film about the
Underground Railroad on the Missouri Kansas border that was of higher
production values. I submitted it to the same buyer and he did not buy it. When
I asked, he really did not have a reason, and advised this is a "tough
business."
He is right about that. When libraries buy from Amazon, the film producer gets
a very small royalty.
Gary Jenkins
www.lifedocumentaries.com
4442 Fairmount
Kansas City, Missouri 64111
816-931-3535
816-931-2908 (fax)
________________________________
From: Rachel Gordon <[email protected]>
To: video lib listserv <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 6:29 AM
Subject: [Videolib] self distribution
self distribution
Self-distribution…ah…one of the most complicated things to explain to someone
just starting to figure things out.But please tell this person that the good
thing about education is that you can take your time to figure things out.
Unlike other markets, you can go slow and ask as many questions as you want
because there is longer usage of your content in education than in the
commercial environment.
The first thing I’d say to anyone is that if you’re not willing to devote at
least a year to it – either by yourself or with an assistant or intern – that
you basically want to go with a distributor.
Some time ago I wrote an article for Shooting People on whether to choose
self-distribution or not. I’m not suggesting to read it because I wrote it, but
because it gives a sense of the investment they are in for.
Best of luck!
Rachel
Rachel Gordon
Energized Films
www.energizedfilms.com
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control,
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and
distributors.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control,
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and
distributors.
