Well, this is officially the first time the word "Boffo" has been used in conjunction with B-Side. Richard Horgan of FilmStew wrote a nice piece last week on B-Side’s Roll Your Own Screening program for Super High Me. The very generous subtitle reads:

Although Super High Me’s grassroots exploits are of an entirely different nature than Indiana Jones’ imminent record-busting totals, they deserve to be celebrated just as loudly.

The story includes a good summary of the numbers behind the program:

From April 20th through this past Tuesday, May 20th, there were a total of 1,576 grassroots screenings in 975 cities (with 1,076 of those taking place on opening day). Events ranged from private parties for 20 people to public screenings at 2,000-plus seat auditoriums.

… as well as an interesting analysis we did comparing the attendance for our opening day (4/20) with the opening weekends of the top-grossing documentaries of all time:

"Our opening weekend attendance is greater than six of the top ten grossers of all time (including March of the Penguins, Sicko and Winged Migration), which had more typical platform release patterns. It’s worth noting also that Super High Me’s opening attendance is tallied from one day, and primarily single screenings, compared to three days with 4-5 screenings per day for traditional exhibition," [Hyams] continues. "Considering that the vast majority of films spend more on marketing than they earn in gross theatrical revenue, this level of attendance for a documentary is unprecedented. Even before taking into account the marketing budget for Super High Me, which was less than $5,000."

The last point is really the key behind B-Side’s exhibition model, what we call Groundswell. Yes, our screenings are free, so there is no box office. However, according to the MPAA’s annual research statistics, most — if not all — movies lose money during their theatrical run.

In 2006, the theatrical marketing costs for the average studio film was $34.5 million. That same average film grossed $32.7 million at the box office. Once you factor in the 50/50 box office split with exhibitors (theater owners), you have a pretty unattractive business. And while you’re at it, factor in the $65.8 million production cost for that same average film. That leaves the golden ratio of $4 spent on production and $2 spent on marketing for every $1 in gross theatrical revenue. Yikes.

So why is it that studios even bother releasing films in theaters? Trust me, it’s not because of the magical communal experience of sitting in a dark room together. Sure, that might be why we go, but to these guys it’s just math. 2/3 of industry-wide revenues are from DVD sales. Most films generate gross DVD revenues roughly equivalent to box office — but without the pesky 50/50 split with theaters (retailers take less than 25% of DVD sale price). The rub, of course, is that no one has figured out how to sell $100 million worth of DVDs without first doing $100 million at the box office. (Forget for the moment the Disney straight-to-DVD machine).

So for us, the idea was pretty simple. If everyone else loses so much money trying to make money at the box office, what if we just tried to not lose money? Could we get the same benefits without any of the risk?

By turning exhibition over to fans — the community — we have found a way to get some of that dark theater communal magic, plus a whole bunch of press and buzz, without spending all that money. And the results have been pretty amazing so far:

• widest ever single day opening of a documentary (1,076 screens vs. Fahrenheit 9/11’s 868)
• higher opening weekend attendance than more than half the top-grossing docs of all time (see above)
• peaked at #29 on Google Trends Hot 100 searches across the US.

And then there’s this:

Meanwhile, over on Netflix, whose Red Envelope Entertainment was a producer on the film, Super High Me is, according to Red Envelope exec Liesl Copland, "tracking better than some of the best reviewed films of the year [that we've been involved with]."

So the real proof will come on June 17, when the Super High Me DVD streets. Until then, I’m flattered to hear Richard describe our campaign as "nothing short of groundbreaking."

Check out the full story here.

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Anthony Kaufman of Indiewire wrote a great story today on indie digital rights. I was pretty pleased to be included in the story in the company of folks like Liesl Copland of Netflix, Robert Nathan of Cinetic, Jason Janego of Magnolia, and Lisa Schwartz of IFC.

Most people agree that digital distribution will become the most dominant form of media consumption in the not too distant future. Where people tend to diverge in their thinking is just how distant that future is. And where they diverge even further is what to do in the mean time.

The big technology players (Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon) are investing (read: losing) a ton of capital under the (correct) assumption that they can’t afford not to. Whenever we reach the promised land, if they’re not already there, it will be too late. To be fair, Google (YouTube) is definitely making money, but in a different space (short-form vs. long-form). And even Fox & Universal are now in the mix with Hulu (they are private, but unlikely to be making money yet).

With close to 60% of the total market, Apple today is still the 800 lb Gorilla. But to put that in perspective, last year they sold only 7 million feature films on iTunes. At $9.99 a pop, that’s less than $70 million. Which is less than than the opening weekend gross of I Am Legend – last year’s #6 grossing film. Which means the whole market is roughly $117 million, or less than the opening weekend of Shrek the Third – last year’s #2 grossing film.

So what does this mean for filmmakers? That for the foreseeable future, digital distribution is still experimental. To put it another way, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Currently, the various models include download-to-own, such as iTunes, or subscription-based, such as Netflix. In the age of “freeconomics,” however, as outlined by Chris Anderson’s March 2008 WIRED cover story “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business” (link), “the trend lines that determine the cost of doing business online all point the same way: to zero.” The most successful future model, then, could be simply to give the movies away.

That’s at least what Hyams’s B-Side has been doing in theaters: B-Side has been promoting over 300 free screenings around the country for their most successful title, the music documentary “Before the Music Dies,” in the hopes that it will drive online sales.

[...]

“I don’t believe there will ever be a time when you can just put your movie online and make money,” said Hyams, who believes that a cross-platform approach is integral to getting movies watched and purchased.

At B-Side, that means that we spend most of our time and energy on innovative (we think) approaches to marketing — eg, check out what we’re doing with Super High Me. And we spend the rest of our time and energy on partnering with distributors to pair online distribution with offline outlets — eg, our partnership with IFC.

I do believe the first pure-online million-seller will happen in the next year. But it will likely come from a movie version of Radiohead’s In Rainbows experiment — ie, a known-entity with established brand taking a great film and making it available online only.

The keys there are a) established brand, and b) great film. One thing people often forget is that while digital distribution absolutely does reduce friction in the system, it can’t make something bad turn good. In fact, I believe the online world is more Darwinian, drawing a sharper line between “good” and “bad.” This is true for two key reasons:

1. Audiences are no longer captive. When massive selection and on-demand availability becomes a reality, why would anyone bother spending 90 minutes on something that doesn’t resonate? If I’m bored, I’ll just fire up something else.
2. Viral can mean life or death. Word of moth travels fast for things that are great, and faster for things that suck. This is one that people tend to forget / ignore. The only things that benefit from buzz are the ones people love. You can’t manufacture true buzz.

So, not really big news that the future is uncertain. But Kaufman’s story is a great view into what some of the indie players are thinking and doing.

You can read the full story here.

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Our friend Mike Jones at Variety wrote a nice piece on today’s Super High Me announcement.

This is the kind of alternative distribution news that defines SXSW.

Announced at the film’s SXSW screening, B-Side, Red Envelope and Screen Media Films have partnered to distribute Michael Blieden’s stoner doc, “Super High Me,” where the director documents comedian Doug Benson’s journey to smoke pot for 30 days straight while monitoring his medical condition.

In a unique arrangement, the partnership will roll out grassroots screening events, giving free DVDs of the film to anyone that wants to hold their own public screening — with any sized group.

Those interested can go to superhighmemovie.com to “roll your own.” Once they’ve completed the signup, their event will show up on a list of other free screenings. They’ll be sent a DVD and promotion assistance.

The hope is the campaign will fuel DVD sales of the doc.

The idea follows the success of the 2006 doc “Before the Music Dies,” which screened at 300 fan-hosted events across North America.

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