By Roger Jackson
Previously: How to Make Your Film a HIT on Hulu
At Kinonation we get asked certain questions all the time — important issues that deserve thoughtful answers. Bottom line: the world of video-on-demand is new, developing fast, rather complex and full of nuance. Thus, there are no dumb questions. Here are the most frequently asked.
Is my film guaranteed to get on all your outlets?
No. The outlets cherry-pick the films they think will do best for them. The exception is Amazon Instant Video, who believe that curation is the job of the consumer. So any feature film is guaranteed to get onto Amazon, assuming it meets minimum tech standards.
How long until my film is distributed?
As soon as we have all the assets, including the essential metadata, we distribute the film to the outlets. Ideally they make their Select or Decline decision within a couple of weeks.
How long do exhibitors take to turn it live?
Once a VoD exhibitor selects a film, Kinonation delivers all the assets, more or less immediately. It can then take up to 60 days to go live, depending on the outlet.
Why do you need a ProRes file?
So we have a big enough file to make multiple different “mezzanine” transcodes for different outlets. Also iTunes require ProRes files.
Isn’t that way too big to upload via the internet?
Certainly these are big files, but we created software that allows you to upload any size file (up to 2 tera-bytes) from the browser. It’s fail-safe, doesn’t matter if your upload crashes, you can stop/start as often as you like, it will just pick up where it left off.
How long does it take to upload?
Depends on your internet connection. With a fast fiber-optic connection (e.g. Verizon FiOS) it will take about 12 hours for a 100GB ProRes file. Slower connections may take a few days, but it just bubbles away in the background, and is still typically faster than sending a hard drive, and free also.
What else do you need?
We need four assets, or five for a foreign film. The main video file, trailer, images, metadata, plus subtitles as necessary.
Can I watch my film after it’s uploaded?
Yes. As soon as your film & trailer are uploaded, our system automatically creates a Preview version, which the outlets can watch, as can you.
Is it essential to have a trailer?
No, but highly recommended.
Do I need to complete every metadata field?
No, just the 31 fields marked “mandatory.”
Do I control the release date?
Yes, you can define the VoD live date
I see my film is live on IMDb…I didn’t expect that?
When films go live on either Amazon Instant or Hulu, they automatically get a link on the IMDb page for the film.
Do I need to get my film rated?
Generally no, although some territories (UK, Australia, New Zealand) in theory require a local rating for a film before it goes live on VoD. In theory.
What’s the story with music clearances?
We like to collect them, because we believe composers should get royalties for VoD. In reality, few if any digital VoD outlets require cue sheets.
Do I need closed captions?
They’re required by most cable TV outlets, and by everyone for movies which had a previous TV release. Pretty soon the FCC will require all outlets to have them, so plan on creating them for your film.
What do you recommend for foreign language/translation?
Wait until you’re confident your film has an audience in that country. Wait until it has proved itself on VoD in the US. Then you can consider relevant overseas markets.
How do I create my own subtitles or closed captions?
Hire a translator who does subtitles. Not your pal who happens to write Spanish. For a movie audience, there’s nothing worse than screwed-up subtitles.
Once it’s live, who will market my film?
Basically, you will. Your distributor — Kinonation or anyone else — will help. But it’s up to you to get creative with press releases, email blasts, social media, stunts — whatever you can come up with to make the film stand out.
What could a film recoup over a 12 month period on VoD?
Hard to predict. It depends on the genre, name talent, quality, festival track record, existing fan base, # of trailer views, etc. If you can give me that data then I can give you a (very) ball-park estimate, using our Kinofactor algorithm which takes into account all these factors. BUT — it’s still just an informed guess.
Do I need Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance?
The outlets we currently deliver to (Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, Viewster, SnagFilms, Google Play, etc.) do NOT require E&O to be carried by either the content producer or by Kinonation. The major cable VoD outlets do still require E&O, so once we start delivering to them we may have to carry it.
Why can’t my film be letterboxed? It looks better that way.
Doubtless it does, but the outlets generally want it de-letterboxed, mainly so all the thousands of films they ingest are comparable. They may add letterboxing of their own, but they don’t want yours.
Does Kinonation have any reservations if I were to additionally self distribute a DVD of the film, most likely through the Amazon create-space?
Yes, go for it, no problem with the DVD and createspace.
Do you have a list of what the various online distribution outlets take as their commission?
Good question, iTunes takes 30:70. Meaning they keep 30%. Most other VoD outlets in N America take 50:50. In the UK, it’s more like the iTunes 70:30 model.
Do you take shorts?
Yes, with reservations. Most outlets don’t take shorts. Those that do (e.g. iTunes, Hulu) are very selective. So we’re reluctant to open the floodgates to shorts, because most will be declined by the outlets.
If I have sold the rights to certain territories can I disable them via your service? e.g. iTunes Canada but not iTunes USA?
Yes, no problem, you do that in the Outlets & Territories tab of the metadata pages.
Any magic words on VoD Marketing?
Figure out the real demographic niche for the film and focus on that. Advertise on Facebook, acquire mailing lists, contact the relevant blogs & magazines. Do something every day to connect your audience to your film.
Other Questions?
Email me roger@kinonation.com and I’ll be happy to respond. Guaranteed fast & friendly.
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Next Up: Post # 34: Secret 19 Point VoD Marketing Plan
Roger Jackson is a producer and the co-founder of film distribution start-up KinoNation. He was Vice President, Content for digital film pioneer iFilm.com and has produced short films in Los Angeles, documentaries in Darfur, Palestine and Bangladesh, a reality series for VH1 and one rather bad movie for FuelTV. You can reach him at roger@kinonation.com.
