July 22 at 9:12am

PMD Rising

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Today’s guest post is by Jon Reiss.

As some of you may know, I coined a new crew category titled the Producer of Marketing and Distribution (or PMD) in my book Think Outside the Box Office. I came up with the idea when trying to think of a solution to the enormous amount of work that distribution and marketing can be for filmmakers without a distributor. The concept boils down to: you didn’t make your film on your own – why should you release it on your own. You can read about the concept of the PMD in one of my other posts. I am happy to report that this concept is gaining traction. I was spurred to write this post after 25% (20 out of 80) of each of my Perth and Adelaide workshops indicated that they wanted to be PMDs (this is before my upcoming classes in Sydney and Melbourne). In Adelaide, the SA Film Corporation has plans to set up an in house PMD to help support the distribution efforts of independent filmmakers in South Australia.

Also just this week Adam Daniel Mezei who in January wrote a great blog post about the responsibilities of a PMD, has set himself up as a PMD for Hire. One of the attendees of my Amsterdam workshop has another PMD site and is already working on a Dutch film as a PMD. A group of Vancouver attendees formed a PMD support group this past month.

I feel that this beginning indicates that there a huge numbers of potential PMDs in the world who love films, don’t want to be on set and love the work of distribution and marketing. These are the people we filmmakers should seek out to be our PMDs.

This August I will be heading to the University Film and Video Conference (for US film school profs) to give 2 presentations on how and why to teach film distribution and marketing to film students. This is not just so that writer/directors can be aware of the realities of the world that awaits them, it is also to train a new generation of PMDs (and their support crew).

Finally I will be working on my own educational initiative for PMDs (beyond the 2 day workshops that I am giving).

My goal is that in five years time, whenever a filmmaker puts out a call for a PMD they will receive as many resumes for a PMD as for a DP or Editor or AD. Even if a film ends up with traditional distribution, the work of a PMD during prep, production and post is invaluable. If the film doesn’t obtain traditional distribution (or doesn’t want traditional distribution) a PMD (and a complete distribution and marketing crew) are vital.

– Jon Reiss

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  • Billyyeagerfla
    What a fucking whore give me money fuck you
  • Very excited about the many wonderful opportunities a PMD can bring to films as well as to independent filmmakers. As a graduate film student, I never had a chance to learn about any of this marketing and distribution stuff. I hope that universities listen to what Jon is preaching and make the necessary changes to their curriculum.
  • Not sure if you caught my article on digital-self-distribution in the latest issue of Movie Maker Magazine, but if you turn to page 38, (in the future of Movie Making 2010 issue) you'll find a pretty good template for marketing and selling your movie.

    That said, while I still consider myself an indie producer, after successfully self distributing our first feature (and getting awesome results), I suppose I have become somewhat of an expert in this new wave of PMD producing. I've now helped out filmmakers do the same for their movies - and truth be told, I LOVE this.

    When I first started, raising movie money was a challenge. Why? Because unless you had strong relationships with distributors, getting a deal for your movie (if any) was an unknown. The fact is, prospective investors really like to know your plans for getting your movie seen and sold.

    Do you remember how you formerly addressed that concern? You probably said something like this:
    "Well if the movie does well in festivals, we might just sell the sucker."

    Not anymore!

    These days, you can begin planning your movie business without the guesswork that once summed up your entire distribution strategy. Thanks to digital self distribution and several internet markets and VOD outlets for your movie, you can now approach an investor with confidence - with a clear marketing plan and an established distribution pipeline that allows you to make movies and make money making movies without the middle man.

    How can we not be excited about this? Distribution was always the unknown element in your filmmaking business plan. Not anymore!

    While I take it for granted that everyone is just as excited about this stuff as I am, I know many filmmakers would rather focus on making movies. I'll continue to make my own movies too - but inbetween my own projects, I sure do enjoy showing other filmmakers how to leverage this wave of digital self distribution.

    Jason Brubaker
    Producer (And PMD)
    http://www.FilmmakingStuff.com
    Los Angeles, CA
  • Think we need less people consulting and more people actually doing the work. A PMD on a project, as I see it, is someone actually doing this work, not telling filmmakers how to do it.

    Filmmakers themselves have far too much to do as it is without trying to keep up their blogs, immerse themselves in communities, looking for screening opportunities, scouring the internet for interesting news to post for their audience's interests, pitching news stories, setting up interviews, capturing on the set materials, updating all the social networking pages etc.. Some filmmakers may like this work, but I haven't met too many. Mostly they want someone they trust who is part of their team who knows how to do this and enjoys doing it. The synchronicity has to be there with both the personality and the passion of the PMD for the project. If you just see yourself as advising others on how to do this, you are a teacher or consultant, not a PMD.

    I have just written a post on how I see the role of a PMD and the skills and attributes needed to do the work. It is probably the most important job on the crew for getting the film seen and it shouldn't be done by someone who is advising from the sidelines, and not entrenched in building the film's community every day. www.shericandler.com
  • jesus of malibu
    People talk, that's it talk lets talk about film, production, funding etc.
    Nobody has done what we have done, and most likely ever will.
    I joined and blogged on this post to tell the truth.
    If you want to become a part of the Revolution then here is the way, the truth
    , the light
    http://tinyurl.com/2epx9fy
  • JESUS OF MALIBU
    JESUS OF MALIBU IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE, IT IS THE REVOLUTION FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE MIND, THERE IS NO OTHER FILM IN HISTORY THAT WILL EVER BE, OR COMPARED.
    FILMS ARE DEAD
    THIS IS THE RESURRECTION.
    http://didyoufindus.blogspot.c...
  • David Geertz
    My only comment here is that it would be great for someone to create an HR style checklist or litmus test to properly identify great PMD's. I think most people in this business get into it to be filmmakers and finding a PMD that does NOT want to be a filmmaker themselves, but truly wants to market films is a huge challenge in itself.

    I'd like to hear what everyone thinks is the proper criteria for a good PMD.

    thanks
  • David -

    I think you should hire a PDM with a track record and measurable results. They should probably have a strong understanding of SEO, list building, VOD, Amazon and iTunes. Additionally, they should have relationships with several online platforms, so that they can assist filmmakers in getting their movie marketed, seen and sold.

    Since I make my own movies too, I don't see how having an understanding of the script to screen process can hurt.

    Jason Brubaker
    http://www.FilmmakingStuff.com
  • David Geertz
    Hey Jason,

    Thanks for your comments. Here are my thoughts on your quote: "Since I make my own movies too, I don't see how having an understanding of the script to screen process can hurt."

    My gut feeling here is that it takes so much effort and focus to deliver a film that you would want the person marketing and distributing the product to be focussed on your film. I think if you had a filmmaker who makes his own films doing this work eventually you would find the focus shift away and center on the creative aspect of their own work and not the task at hand.

    That being said I think there are lots of filmmakers who, if given incentive could assist the PMD in pushing multiple films to market by using their lists and connections; however, I do think that the PMD is someone who's core focus is to market.

    Additional thoughts?

    David
  • David,

    Yeah. I understand what you mean. I simply meant that it's good for the PMD to have an overall understanding of the production process. There are plenty of internet marketers and PR types who think that SEO and publicity is all you need to make getting your movie seen and sold a success. The reality is, there is so much more to the process, especially if you're working on a budget.

    Knowing the filmmaking process as well as having an understanding of how to manage, market and sell a movie provides the PDM with a deep context for what's happening, when - specific to the filmmaking process. Additionally, if the PDM has experience in distribution, because he or she has already (personally) navigated that arena - they can add tremendous value to your project...

    When I work on a movie, it is usually so time consuming that I don't have time to focus on other work until that particular project wraps. Even then, the job is never fully done. I mean, there are a gazillion variables that need to be managed - well after your movie hits the market.

    Jason
    http://www.FilmmakingStuff.com
  • WeirdArchives
    Hopefully this untapped resource will bring in movies that would otherwise be overlooked by the traditional distribution network. The age of the Internet has given filmmakers and producers a golden opportunity to get their work out into the field and with reasonable risk.
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