Distribution

Vincent Weberink My favorite festival experience so far was attending Cannes for the first time this past Spring. The history, the networking, the panels, the events, it was all incredible. I walked away with so much new knowledge, built some amazing relationships, and can’t wait to go back again.

I love Cannes, have been attending as an exec since 1989, but TIFF has grown on me. It's the Festival where I actually go and enjoy movies and get a sneak peek at Award Season contenders. Plus, being in line for two hours at a Press and Industry screening is the catalyst for making new friends and connections- every single time.

Ashley Renee Smith Cannes really is special, fortunately for me its almost in my backyard. Glad you made the most of it, I was there too, but we missed the opportunity to meet, let's make sure we do this next time.

Alexia Melocchi I love how you describe TIFF, Alexia. It sounds like such a great mix of films and real connections. I’ve never been myself, but from the way you put it, it seems like a festival worth experiencing. Do you feel TIFF has become more valuable for you than Cannes over the years?

Pat Alexander On average, box office revenue accounts for roughly one-third of a film’s total lifetime gross. For instance, if a film earns $100 million at the box office, it might ultimately generate around $300 million from all revenue sources combined, assuming other factors remain constant. However, it’s crucial to consider the time value of money: receiving $100 million within the 2–3 month theatrical window can be more valuable than earning $200 million over several years from ancillary sources. When you discount future revenue to present value, it is not equivalent due to factors like inflation and delayed cash flow.

A similar principle applies to lottery winnings. For a $300 million jackpot, the winner could opt to take a lump-sum cash option of roughly $150–$180 million before taxes, or the full $300 million paid in 30 annual installments while hoping they don’t get offed or found dead under suspicious circumstances three years into receipt of payments.

You cannot directly compare lump cash received today with cash spread over several decades—the timing of payments dramatically affects real value.

Using theaters across the globe to promote the album's release is smart, Debbie Elicksen!

"What she is doing is providing us with new and unique ways to promote and distribute our creations." You're right. I'm always looking for new ways and testing out things to promote my projects. Some work and some don't. I learn from the ones that don't work and adjust.

Debbie Elicksen One important takeaway from this, IMO, is that Taylor Swift is not controlled by any mainstream studio. She owns her copyrights and her team makes the publicity, branding and distribution decisions. Se controls her own path and cuts mainstream in when it makes sense to do so. She doesn't kowtow to them or look for their handouts. On short, she lives in the BUSINESS of music, not the fantasy of being a musical artist, and that is the reason she is able to control her destiny. This is the blueprint for successful independent filmmakers as well. It is what the Independent Producers Guild is all about - empowering filmmakers to live in the profession of being a filmmaker, and not in the fantasy of maybe one day being touched by a studio. Because the value the major studios and their subs can add to your project has largely evaporated over the last decade, while the ability to distribute without their participation is now in everyone's hands. We should be asking the studios, "what can you do for me" instead of being in the position of asking for their help.

Thanks for sharing the video, Debbie Elicksen. One of the things Nicolas Cage said that stood out is the VOD format keeps screenplays that may take chances alive, whereas studios may not make them. He's right. I've seen producers, directors, writers, and actors make that kind of script and release them on streaming platforms.

I love this Debbie Elicksen, specially for us that are in Europe. :) Thanks for sharing.

Sandra Isabel Correia I was also thinking about you when I shared it. ;)

Thank you, Debbie Elicksen, we’re definitely on the same wavelength :)) We have a fantastic European subsidiary, and this interview highlights it beautifully: Creative Europe MEDIA, the initiative through which the European Commission champions indie creativity across the continent. It’s encouraging to read. Grateful once again!

Ashley Renee Smith IMO of course, 1. No one really thinks the mainstream media is not entirely controlled, which has been confirmed to the public time and again since at least 2016. But which has been to one extent or another true forever (and the subject of political science studies since long before I got to university to learn about it). 2. However, I think this specific case, so far as it relates to Kimmel, ABC and Disney specifically is an interesting point which could be a useful case study. There is absolutely no doubt that the assassin is a leftist. There is absolutely no doubt that he was aided by leftist sympathizers and one has been arrested for intentionally causing distraction after the shooting so that the assassin could get away. There is absolutely no doubt that the host of AI generated posts painting MAGA wear etc. on assassin and his associates are faked as that is not his or their background, and their near immediate appearance smacks of a prepared effort. 3. It is also clear that the general audience doesn't buy it and that ABC, aware of this, is reacting to that - and possibly JUST PLAIN DECENCY by removing someone who is immediately jumping on an assassination of a politician in this country to support his personal politics, instead of decrying it as the despicable evil it is. If we continue to permit political violence and "lawfare" amongst political elites, we are descended into the morass of the second and third world and we will never get out. 4. That "Disney staffers" have any say in this at all proves that politics rules, at least in that company, and that the dominant political group there has a political axe to grind - why are they championing Kimmel instead of decrying political assassination? It puts much of the last decade of Disney activities into a new light.

Ashley Renee Smith Reading in Canadian with a European and Commonwealth lens who cancelled Disney two years ago, not over politics, but lack of content value for the subscription fee, when compared to other platforms. Re ABC, mainstream platforms are quickly being replaced by digital media sources. The migration is inevitable because of the censorship and controls, but the Kimmel thing likely jump-started the fast track. This is also the danger of tech companies buying mainstream media and other platforms. The public square decides what they want to see, not the media companies.

Disney returning Kimmel is partially a business decision after Disney + and Hulu faced subscription cancellations.

Kimmel returns tonight despite the rabid vitriol of those to the left of Attila The Hun and holdouts Sinclair and Nexstar. Unfortunately, I'm in a Nexstar ABC market.

Insights based on report from Jeff Clanagan

One angle: YouTube is dominating because CTV manufacturers HAVE to have it in their OS offering because people are looking for their favorite podcast or creator on YouTube and it better be three remote clicks away or it’s the last time they buy that brand of TV

Seems like a good opportunity for a smart distributor / Hero slot players to offer free remotes to subscribers - and that is a universal remote with THEIR buttons on it.

Randall Scott White I don't believe CTV actually does reach 90% of households yet. Is that an independent stat or an industry stat? On our FilmPod & DBO we've had to analyze the tech closely and CTV just isn't capable of what it claims to do, so far as tracking viewership, etc. The reasons are many and sometimes technical as well as legal and contractual, not to mention the designs of corporations like YouTube, Amazon et al to obfuscate delivery numbers on both ends of the distribution pipeline. Honestly, IMO YouTube is dominating, as it has before CTV became a thing, because it has the best platform and now Google is a defacto monopoly on search results... among other things. This is not to say that CTV isn't important. But it isn't all that, really.

Truth. Everything is connected. My Samsung and Roku TVs have cable like an app. Everything syncs with Google, if you want to use voice and other features (I don't) but I hook up to Google via YouTube. It's opened the door for more choice, thanks to the free apps like Tubi. It's a bit more complicated for people who are not technically savvy, but they get savvier as they learn more about their TV. I love it.

Many paths in, Julio Antonio Toro.

They still aren't in many ways, Debbie Elicksen. But those who get it are lapping the field.

Geoffroy Faugerolas 2, thanks for that. My film is a two person road trip across the USA. It is a retired horror show host and a young fan. They travel around visiting the homes and workplaces of real life horror show hosts.

Richard "RB" Botto Yes sir! And no two journeys are the same. Thanks to you and the good folks here, I feel energized in this push to make it happen.

That's absolutely correct, Julio Antonio Toro. That's why comparing yourself to anyone in this business is a losing battle. Go blaze your own trail.

A cartel "requires some consolidation" only to transform into a monopoly...

I think moreso the point he's secretly hinting at is that he's seeing consumer behavior that supports the idea that there are too many streamers right now, and these conglomerates are starting to recognize that no one consumer can be spread so thin across Netflix, Disney/Hulu, AppleTV+, HBO, Paramount, Peacock, Starz, Criterion, Mubi, AMC/Shudder, plus sports packages, plus everything else in one's life. It's too expensive for anyone to find what they really want. A single consumer can hardly get a critical mass of content tailored for broad tastes anymore on one single platform, like we could when the streamers first launched. Because even Netflix has become grown into it's own Netflix-style-content niche, which are just movies and shows you don't have to pay attention to and can watch while on your phone. Disney/Hulu's my favorite though because it's basically just family content then super dark gritty FX shows and indie movies for adults.