This is a copied and pasted response on Reddit to my article yesterday about the idea of driving your film in a ‘cinema bus’ or anything that can display a film, cross-country — in order to physically get as many eyeballs on it as possible:

“I’ve encountered about a dozen filmmakers who have tried exactly this. 1 of them had some minor success but the vast majority ended up tired and having spent way more than they took in, with the added benefit of not showing any additional traction of their films on digital platforms. The sad truth, one that filmmakers usually don’t want to hear, is that the real problem with indie film is on the supply side — there are far too many indie films made for the size of the audience that actually consumes them. In that sense, the only “problem” with distribution is that most films don’t actually have an audience (or depending on how you wanna spin this, the VAST majority of indie films aren’t really good enough to be released — whatever the method of distribution).”

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What can we make of such a statement? Do filmmakers make their films for the audience or for themselves? If there is an oversupply of indie films online or ‘content’ in general, why do filmmakers keep making them? What is the drive if the desired outcome is unachievable?

I recognize that embarking on a road trip in order to promote a film can exhaust the resources of a filmmaker both physically, psychologically and financially. The purpose of the article was to suggest to filmmakers that they should position themselves to accept and plan for the promotion and marketing of the film at the very beginning, if not before pre-production of their film. The journey should be designed and budgeted for.

An outcome by design is the only way to hope for an achievement worthy of the work put into the film. This is not to say that making a film isn’t a gamble, simply that there should be a plan for an outcome — one that goes beyond just ‘completing the film’ and hoping someone else will pick up the pieces and market it on our behalf.

As for the question of the ‘supply problem’, well, is this a problem? There will always be a supply of films and a lot of films will always fail in their endeavors to reach a wide audience. This isn’t the same as saying that there is a certain audience size that consumes indie films and they only have a finite number of films with which they can consume. The antidote to this thinking is belief.

Filmmakers must believe in the story they are telling, not in overthinking in the size of the potential audience. To believe in your story and to know the ‘why’ of why you’re creating this piece of art is your only guide.

If you believe in your story, someone else will believe in it too. It is, therefore, your job to find that person(s) and inform them. Talk to them — start a dialogue and nourish that communication. Both you and they will appreciate it more than if you were to billboard them info about your movie and hope for a response.

Movies are not cookies cut for a waiting audience that will consume until they are full — movies are stories made for people…

And people are everywhere.