Filed under: Distribution, Documentary, Production Models | Tags: activism
There is a quiet but fascinating synergy emerging between documentary filmmakers and social change organizations. Groups like Media Rights have emerged with the purpose of tying documentaries together with organizations or educational endeavors that are roused & galvanized by the same issues as the films talk about.
The idea is that educators and social change organizations gain new ways – beyond dull texts, e-mail calls to action – to show people how the system of mass food production works or why vinyl house siding is scary. On the other hand, documentary filmmakers get a new way of distributing their films – reaching, through educators and organizations, the audiences that want to see their work and for whom their work might make a difference.
We were encouraged by Working Films (‘linking non-fiction film with cutting edge activism’) via a kind & free phone consultation to pursue an unconventional distribution strategy by striking up relationships with organizations that work on the issues that our film touches – skipping the traditional film distributor world altogether. It’s a good idea. There’s also no road map for this:
- What do these partnerships between filmmakers and organizations look like? How do they get formed?
- Is this the death of film distributors? (e.g. cutting out the middle man between films and audiences)
- Or, will distributors adapt to this new sphere, perhaps creating relationships with social change organizations and targeted online spaces rather than festivals and TV stations?
- Are non-profit groups like Media Rights and Working Films the new ‘distributors’?
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