Would selling a few DVD's screw up potential distribution?

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

The reception in Richmond has been very warm. A lot of people want to buy the DVD. Especially those who have seen it. I'm cool with releasing the DVD, but I don't want to screw up any potential distribution.

Can I sell a few DVD's without causing any future headaches? Any negative repurcussions from selling something in the ballpark of 300 limited-edition DVD's?
 
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There could be.

Some distributors do not what their first, most obvious buyers
to already own the movie they are selling. Some are fine with it.

What if you find a distributor who believes in your movie but their
policy is no previously, self distributed DVD's sold? Is it worth it to
you to take that chance? On the other hand, if you find one who
doesn't have that policy then you have missed out on selling 300
DVD's. And on the other hand, you could simply not disclose you
have sold special edition DVD's.

It's a tough one.
 
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I think it depends on how far you think the movie can go.

If you believe major distributors might pick up your movie, then I wouldn't make and distribute any.

If you're getting offers from minor distributors (all these DIY type places), where you'll probably never see a dime, then make a little cash for yourself.

If you're sending copies out for review, and the reviews are sterling, and you have representation that can get your movie seen by some big wigs, I'd hold off.

The most important thing is, how good is the actual movie. Your opinion doesn't count as much as a viewer. Because, you're suppose to believe it's great.

I offered to send all my extra copies to my distributor, and he told me to hold onto them and sell them as collectibles down the line.
 
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I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution with this one.

What do you lose from waiting? A tiny bit of immediate impact interest, but little else.

What could you lose from being to hasty? A really good chance to distribute the film professionally.
 
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Thanks for the input, everybody. I think I should probably play it safe. No early limited-edition DVD.

Blade, I'm interested in whatever will put the most money in my pocket. There is a rough-cut trailer. I got some great feedback from some people on this forum, suggestions on how to make the trailer better. This cut is all in-cam audio. I was kind of rushed with it, because I needed something before we did our local screening (and I was still editing the actual movie, until one day before the screening). Anyway, it's on the website:

http://www.antihero-movie.com
 
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I enjoyed that, CF. I pictured you as an older gentleman by your usually wise posts. Great job on the makeup? lol

I'm just busting out to start a like project. This is inspiring.
 
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CamVader said:
I enjoyed that, CF. I pictured you as an older gentleman by your usually wise posts. Great job on the makeup? lol

I'm just busting out to start a like project. This is inspiring.
Click to expand...

:lol:

Thanks, man. I've got my juveline moments, don't question that.

Make sure you have fun on your project. That's priority #1, right? Best of luck!
 
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How long does it take to shop it to distro's? Give it a month then sell those 300 DVD's if you can make some $$. Whatever you do, don't over manufacture DVD's. Do 500 if you can. DVD's are going out of style fast like Larry King.
 
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I'd say keep people wanting and waiting. Plus, I think it sounds cool to play the potential distribution card. No one would blame you for that.

Maybe start collecting an email fan list of folks who want to purchase a DVD?

A few cents more... ;)
 
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Like the trailer! I'll be the dissenting voice here - I'd say sell the DVDs. You've got a willing customer base ready to spend money on your product - that's actually a rare thing, probably as rare as getting a distribution deal. Hell, in the other thread about potentially turning down a distribution deal everyone's saying 'a bird in the hand...' - I see this as the same situation. In fact, I personally think it's kind of crazy to hold screenings of a film and not have merchandise - including a DVD of the film - ready to sell on the spot. That's when people are most likely to buy, the longer you wait I'll bet the number of actual sales drops dramatically.
 
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ItDonnedOnMe said:
Like the trailer! I'll be the dissenting voice here - I'd say sell the DVDs. You've got a willing customer base ready to spend money on your product - that's actually a rare thing, probably as rare as getting a distribution deal. Hell, in the other thread about potentially turning down a distribution deal everyone's saying 'a bird in the hand...' - I see this as the same situation. In fact, I personally think it's kind of crazy to hold screenings of a film and not have merchandise - including a DVD of the film - ready to sell on the spot. That's when people are most likely to buy, the longer you wait I'll bet the number of actual sales drops dramatically.
Click to expand...

Huh. Thanks. You make a good point.
 
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gooberman said:
Could we get a password protected private screening through vimeo? Iv seen snippets of antihero and would love to see the whole thing.
Click to expand...

It's basically finished, but I still have a few tiny little things to touch up, and I've reached a stand-still in editing. Every time I try to do anything -- render, save, pretty much anything, Premiere freezes up. I assumed it was a RAM issue, because this project is huge (almost 3,000 media files). But I just doubled my RAM and I still have the same issue. It's rather frustrating, and mind-boggling as well. I'm going to be out of town for the next few days, so I won't be able to try and figure out the problem until next Thursday. If/when I finally get this issue sorted out, I do plan to have a private online screening. Either that, or maybe I'll change my mind again, and sell a limited-edition DVD. ItDonnedOnMe does make a good point. But before I can make that decision, I need to figure out this freezing-problem.
 
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Let me know when you get the DVD out or put it up for a private screening. Not sure why your computer is going crazy but have you thought about breaking your movie down into scenes and then editing them seperately. Then putting them back together later once the edit is all done.

Your computer could be running low on virtual memory since you have so many files on the hard drive. Maybe that is it.
 
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Rockerrockstar has a really good point. At one point in time I had over 30,000 photos on my hard drive which made it crash and I lost all my files because im an idiot and i didnt back my shit up. now I keep all my files on an external hard drive and when im working on them i pull them onto the computer for editing. I have a 2Tb external and 120GB solid state Internal which works out since i no longer store un-needed files on the computer.
 
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Well, thanks of course, for tossing out ideas, but no that's not the problem. I thought that was the problem. So I got more RAM. And when it freezes up, my RAM is not maxed out. And I've got plenty of space on my hard drive. I'll figure it out. I feel like I've got a corrupted file, and I'm gonna have to do some clever work-around. Cheers!
 
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