Anne Thompson, Variety columnist and author of the widely read Thompson on Hollywood blog wrote a great story yesterday (and not just great because B-Side is featured) on the challenges of online distribution. A companion piece to her must-read pre-Sundance story “Sundance Shoppers Beware,” today’s story is titled “Frustrated indies seek web distrib’n: But still face challenging online marketing gap.”

The story explores the question of what options remain for the 100+ features from Sundance that failed to secure distribution.

Once filmmakers make the mental leap that Hollywood isn’t going to offer them a $2 million minimum guarantee, they have plenty of other distribution options, from cable and self-distribution to the Internet. The problem lies in getting the word out to sufficient viewers to convince them to download, stream or pay-per-view the pic.

Thompson argues that alternative distribution models are starting to offer real possibilities for filmmakers. But she also lends ink to my assertion that making films available online is only part of the puzzle.

So far, a large market for selling movies online has not developed. Tiny movies with microbudgets are selling online, but while Amazon, Netflix and others are expending considerable effort in building these marketplaces, this is a nascent business. “The pure online approach is not generating returns,” says B-Side’s Hyams, who has recently partnered with IFC to air five new B-Side fest pickups on “Choice Indies” each month, promoted by 30-second spots both on IFC and online. SXSW discovery “Before the Music Dies” debuts in February.

“Combining different approaches both online and offline allows us to identify things that other people are missing and get them in front of audiences,” says Hyams, who also books and invites B-side members to local screenings — more than 300 in 2007 — and sells both $7.99 high-res downloads and $12.99 DVDs, such as “Four-Eyed Monsters,” on the site.

B-Side promotes eco-horror comedy “Blood Car” on the site, but the filmmaker still owns the DVD rights and a click to “buy now” goes to Bloodcar.com/store.

B-Side is featured throughout the article, alongside the perspective of with Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Cinetic’s John Sloss, and others. The full article can be found here.

So I’ll go public with my commitment here to post at least twice a week. I do have a bit of catching up to do first, which means the next several posts will probably be “old” news. Bear with me, it’s all good stuff. At least you’ll see what’s been keeping us so busy.

- Chris

But don’t take our word for it, just ask the audiences of the 20+ film festivals where Blood Car has played and won awards. And take a gander at these here glowing sentences of praise:

“As its title admits, ” Blood Car” is conceptually on the primitive side. What lifts it above most low-budget horror comedies (Troma-tized or not) is the loopy, off-kilter humor director/co-scenarist Alex Orr and collaborators bring to the table. There’s something charming about the feature even at its most cheerfully tasteless …” - Variety

“Awesome. Completely awesome. So far in this festival this is the only movie I’ve seen that I’ve thought was a runaway hit.” - Ten Movies to See Before You Die

“The world two weeks from now is a little absurd, and it must be seen to be understood. Grab a bottle of wheatgrass spiked with a squirt of hemoglobin and let “Blood Car” take you for a ride.” - Film Threat

Our fondest memory of Blood Car is the recent midnight screening at the Austin Film Festival, where an audience fueled by caffeine and other substances hooted appreciatively in all the right places. When the lights came back up, Director Alex Orr and producer Tony Holley answered crucial questions about nudity and meat into the wee hours.

Blood Car is available for purchase on DVD or download from the B-Side store at http://www.bloodcar.com/store/.

- Chris Holland

Short: Trevor’s in Heaven

Trevor’s in Heaven is a wickedly funny film by Alec Brownstein that was B-Side’s favorite short at the 2006 Austin Film Festival. It’s also one of the highest rated films on the site. There have been a lot of funny (and not so funny) comedies about dysfunctional families….generating laughs out of all kinds of painful and awkward situations. We think this one is among the best. Don’t let the early tone fool you. It’s hysterical.

Feature: A. (anonymous)

Speaking of painful situations, what if you had a behavioral syndrome that too obscure to merit its own support group? Like a compulsion to wear extremely tight pants. Or an insatiable desire to run things over with your car. In director Daniel Bowers’ very funny mockumentary A. (anonymous), help awaits in a startup group open to the full spectrum of obscure phobias, compulsions and physical shortcomings. During its festival run in 2006, the NY Times called this one “hilarious…I nearly fell out of my seat.” We screened it in the B-Side office with some Friday beers and had a great time.

Feature Doc: Beat Makers

B-Side has had much success with docs that shine a light on hidden corners of the music industry (see: Before the Music Dies and What is Indie?). Our latest is Beat Makers, directed by Laron Austin, which digs into the never-ending hustle of young producers trying to make it in the intensely competitive music business. The film taps into trackmasters at various stages of their careers, as they struggle to make (and keep) a name for themselves. It’s a cool window into the birth of the beats that get our heads bobbing.

Check ‘em out. I hope that tides you over for now…there’s much more on the way.

Later.

B-Side Steve

Shorts

Our latest shorts run the gamut from documentary to experimental.

11:11 takes the classic relationship narrative and turns it literally upside down. The film runs backwards — not like “Memento,” where the timeline is reversed, but the footage is actually run backwards. English becomes a foreign language (subtitled), broken things mend, and gravity reversed. As director Esther Peres explains, “Telling a break up story backwards takes unfortunate events and turns them around.”

11:11 premiered at the Boston International Film Festival, where it was described as “Intellectually challenging and visually engaging, 11:11 plays like a sexy foreign film but is really a hip-hop comedy in reverse.”

Space Thing is a collage of black and white imagery employing photographs, super 8 home movies and stop-motion animation to recall the fragmented nature of dreams and old memories; it was inspired by, and features, the electronic music of Manherringbone. Directed by Tim Busko, Space Thing has screened at several major film festivals include the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival.

Unicorn Pride is a short documentary about a small Texas town’s community who claims to be the only high school in the nation with a Unicorn mascot. Kooky faculty, fanatical parents and students take their dedication of the Unicorn to another level. Mystical Creature or not: Unicorn Pride is justified. Directed by Linnea Toney, Unicorn Pride premiered at the Boston International Film Festival.

Features

Our highlighted features this week look at death from 3 very different angles.

The Boy Who Loved Hearses tells the unlikely story of John Keel. John Keel’s passion was cars; and the cars he loved above all others were hearses. He adored them. He studied them. By the time John was fifteen he was considered by many to be North America’s greatest expert on hearses. By age sixteen John had memorized the entire catalog of every US-made hearse ever built, and had begun working on a comprehensive history of the American hearse. By the age of eighteen John Keel was dead, the cause of his death is still a mystery. Directed by Nicholas Kalikow, this documentary is the story of an all-too-short life, and the remarkable effect his brief existence had on all those who knew and loved him.

Shoot George is the story of George Baxter, an idealistic young screenwriter whose dreams of writing nonviolent movies are ruining his career. But when George mysteriously discovers a handgun on his doorstep, his fortunes suddenly change. This wild comedy of errors reveals the truth about guns, secret identities, and big box office. Directed by Adam Nadler, Shoot George premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Infidel is the story of a street preacher who encounters a man in a greasy rib joint, and becomes convinced that she has been chosen by God to bring this solitary stranger to Jesus. What she doesn’t realize is that he is a hired killer staking out the restaurant as he lies in wait for his intended victim. Both the preacher lady and the hit man are determined to carry out their mission. No matter what it takes. Written and directed by Peter O’Keefe, Infidel premiered at the Rome International Film Festival.

We hope you like these as much as we do. As always, please let us know what you think, and check back next week for more new releases.

- Chris

Two years ago I started b-side because I wanted to bring great independent films to an audience beyond film festivals. But building a web site where filmmakers can sell their films is only one part of the puzzle. The real trick is helping people find something they’re going to love, even though they’ve never heard of it before.

Most people are drawn to the familiar. One look at this year’s top-grossing movies makes that pretty clear. As of today:

1. Spider-Man 3
2. Shrek the Third
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
4. Transformers
5. 300
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Now that’s some out of the box thinking.

In other words, the top 3 are 3rd installments of massive franchises, the 4th is a toy line and a tv series, and the 6th is the 5th installment of the biggest book/movie franchise of all time. Only 300, which was a wildly popular graphic novel, required audiences to actually pause and evaluate a new idea before deciding to plunk down their $8.50.

b-side is all about the other side. Things you haven’t seen before. Something where you don’t know exactly what you’re in for when the lights go down. But something we know you’ll love.

If you’re here reading this, odds are pretty good you’re already interested in finding something new. But that doesn’t mean you’re less discerning with your time — or money.

So we’re going to make it a bit easier for you to make that leap. For the next two weeks, anyone who registers with b-side will receive a free Portable download. Just sign up, and we’ll send you a $2.99 gift certificate that can be used to download any film on the site.

It’s that simple. The first round is on us. We think you’ll like what you see.

- Chris

Today I am excited to announce 6 new b-side films. We have 3 new features, and our first 3 shorts.

This collection should give you a bit of insight into the broad range of films you can expect to find on b-side. Our commitment is to bring you the best films from the festival circuit that you won’t likely find anywhere else. No one person is going to love them all, but each one has an audience out there.

Shorts

We have three great new shorts on b-side to introduce from two new directors, both of whom have made (very different) films inspired by their mothers.

The first are a pair from filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff.

Twitch tells the poignant story of a young girl torn between two worlds: her domestic life where she must care for her wheelchair-bound mother and her escape into the emerging world of sexuality with her eager, hormone-addled boyfriend. A Student Academy Awards finalist, and Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner, Twitch has screened in over 100 film festivals and won a dozen international awards. Twitch is currently airing on IFC and Skandinavia TV.

Twitch features Toni Meyerhoff, the director’s mother and inspiration for this project. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis shortly before her daughter was born, and has been in a wheelchair ever since. This is her first acting role.

Team Queen is an award-winning music video from Meyerhoff that has played at over 80 film festivals. In this “gender-bending, fire-breathing, tassel-twirling, post-punk rock ‘n roll prom,” the new girl in school is thrown into a topsy-turvy madhouse of high school hellcats. The cheerleaders are drag queens, the nerds are nymphomaniacs, the punks breathe fire, and the prom band is none other than the all-girl, post-punk phenomenon Triple Creme. Featuring the best of New York burlesque: including Murray Hill, Julie Atlas Muz, Tigger, and Scotty the Blue Bunny.

On a very different note, we have the first film from director Jack Truman. Phone Sex Grandma is, in every sense of the word, exactly what it says: a 60-something Grandma working a phone sex line in a small Southern ghost town. This shocking short has blown minds at over a dozen film festivals including Slamdance and Cinequest. Roger Ebert’s response was “you’ve got a hit,” and John Malkovich followed with “you’ve got a BIG hit.”

Opal Dockery, the star (and only cast member), is the mother of director Jack Truman. Definitely not for everyone — Phone Sex Grandma has been (fairly) compared to The Aristocrats.

Doc Feature

Our latest doc feature is the beautiful and affecting Garlic and Watermelons. A year before the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, forty Gypsy families were forced to abandon their settlement next to the main Olympic stadium so that the land could be used for a parking lot. A hit at over a dozen international film festivals, Garlic and Watermelons chronicles their humble battle against racism and poverty.

Narrative Features

Our new narrative features are a pair of comedies that share a connection with James Joyce.

Double Spaced follows the plight of Berkeley grad student Raymond Carey, who has spent the last nine years revising his doctoral dissertation on James Joyce. With the new budget crunch, he’ll be forced out Berkeley’s back door jobless and degree-less unless he can pull through and submit his dissertation by semester’s end. Ray’s professor, Dr. Hansel, agrees to sign off on the dissertation if Ray employs his powers of seduction to test the devotion of Grace, the professor’s mail-order bride.

A Joyce Story is the tale of the owner of the James Joyce Irish Bar, who is about to lose the two most important things to him in life - his wife and his bar. He has only a few hours to figure out how to keep both while dealing the wide assortment of characters always present at his bar.

That’s it for today. Check ‘em out, tell your friends, and let us know what you think.

- Chris

Well, we’ve had an exciting week here at b-side. Last Friday, Four Eyed Monsters made history by becoming the first feature film to be posted in its entirety on YouTube, and featured on the YouTube home page. As I write this, FEM is closing in on 400,000 views.

This raises some interesting questions. Sure, Sony is not going to release their next Spiderman for free on the internet. But when 95% of films lose money at the box office, shouldn’t the goal of any filmmaker really be to have more people find out about their movie? And if the movie is one that connects with an audience, odds are good that more people seeing it for free means more people who will a) want to buy a download or DVD, and b) tell other people about it.

So for an independent film, what’s “better” — a two-week run in NY and LA that puts the producers $150k in the hole, or 400,000 direct “engagements” in less than a week? We don’t know the answer yet, but either way this is clearly a bit of history here.

I am personally thrilled that Susan and Arin have invited b-side to be their partner in making history. While anyone can watch FEM for free on YouTube, b-side is currently the only place to buy DVDs and downloads of FEM.

For those of you that might not know the FEM story, Arin Crumley and Susan Buice have redefined DIY indie distribution through a combination of their brilliant video podcasts with online community building on MySpace, YouTube, and their own website at www.foureyedmonsters.com. The podcasts, which have served essentially as an internet reality show chronicling their efforts to get the film seen, have had over a million downloads in the past 18 months.

Given how far Susan and Arin have come completely on their own, it’s even more exciting that they turned to b-side to help distribute FEM online. Which brings us to the point of why b-side exists in the first place: to help filmmakers earn money for their work.

By their own estimates, Arin and Susan are $150k in debt from making FEM. They have found a generous sponsor for their YouTube run in Spout.com, who is paying them $1 for every person who signs up with Spout.

The other key way to help them pay off their credit cards is to buy FEM on b-side. I am thrilled we can support them, and am asking you to do the same.

If you watch FEM on YouTube, or watch the preview and podcasts on b-side, and you like what you see, please support these filmmakers by buying a DRM-free download or DVD. As with all b-side films, they earn a generous cut of every single sale.

Due to the overwhelming success of this first week, Susan and Arin have decided to extend their YouTube run for two months. And we’ll be here right alongside them. Check it out, tell a friend, and be a little part of history.

After last month’s big announcement from Apple and EMI, Amazon becomes the latest major e-tailer to get a clue by announcing their upcoming DRM-free music store. According to CEO Jeff Bezos, “Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device.”

This is definitely a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, Amazon’s own Unbox movie download service does not play by the same rules. Regardless, it’s clear that the industry — or at least the music business — is slowly catching on.

b-side’s download service, which as I type launches in 6 days, 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 17 seconds, was conceived from the start as 100% DRM-free. As the launch draws closer, this seems as good a time as any to explain my thoughts on DRM, and why we have made this commitment.

1. DRM doesn’t prevent piracy. As long as a film is sold on DVD, it can be pirated by any 12 year-old. If someone really wants to put a film up on bittorrent, they’re going to do it. Selling a download without copy protection will not encourage otherwise law-abiding citizens to rush out to break the law.
2. Independent films are far less susceptible to piracy than mass-marketed Hollywood films. The same is true for independent music compared to major label acts. This is why you have companies like BMG shooting themselves in the foot trying to lock down their music, while independent artists like Wilco stream their entire albums online for free, and then go on to sell 500,000 records.
3. DRM punishes consumers. If I buy a movie from iTunes, I can only play it through a device or software designed by Apple. If later I go out and buy a Zune, I have to go back and re-buy all of my movies. Likewise, if I buy a movie from Amazon, Wal-Mart, or any other download service, I can’t play it on my iPod.

   Even more frustrating, if I buy a movie from almost any download service, the only way I can watch it on my TV is if my computer is connected, or if I buy an expensive new device.

   For most consumers, these restrictions are a non-starter. This lack of choice is the primary reason why downloads have not yet taken off like everyone knows they eventually will.

   By offering downloads without the restrictions of DRM, consumers can watch movies wherever they want to - on their iPod, on their laptop, on their TV, or on a friend’s TV.

4. The future of digital distribution is DRM-free distribution. The movie business is 3-5 years behind the music business in figuring this out. Apple is pushing hard, and even the majors are starting to catch on with EMI announcing it would sell all of its music DRM-free on iTunes.

For a compelling overview on the future of DRM, check out Steve Jobs’ Thoughts on Music. I say future, but of course one vision of the future will be here in 6 days, 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 32 seconds, 31 seconds, 30 seconds….

As April comes to a close, B-Side winds down the biggest month ever for our Festival communities. In addition to major returning partners the Atlanta Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival, this year we added the largest North American doc fest and market, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

This year’s festival has been a huge success so far. According to Variety:

With the number of filmgoers well outstripping projections midway through the fest, organizers expect a more than 25% increase in public attendance by the time Hot Docs, which kicked off April 19 in Toronto, wraps on April 29, with numbers topping out as high as 70,000.

Check out the buzz from the festival on the B-Side community.

In addition to the huge crowds, the B-Side community grabbed Variety’s attention as well:

As with any film fest, technology is increasingly taking a front seat at Hot Docs, and savvy filmmakers and distributors are taking advantage.

Fest organizers inked a deal with Austin, Tex.,-based independent film distributor B-Side Entertainment to supply info on which films were drawing Web site traffic. “The game is to help the festival build buzz and awareness for its programming,” says B-Side principal Jonathan Berkowitz, “and the benefit for us is we get to watch all that happens, and we get a pretty good idea of what films are hot.”

Although it’s just 18 months old, B-Side, which distribs “Before the Music Dies,” has already made similar arrangements with about 40 film festivals across the U.S. and has about 100 more on its dance card for 2007. The Hot Docs deal is one of its largest to date.

Check out the full story on Variety.com.