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>(Yes, you can sell the film as an MP4 from your own website. But the problem is that people won't buy it because that's not how the public are used to getting

>(Yes, you can sell the film as an MP4 from your own website. But the problem is that people won't buy it because that's not how the public are used to getting their films. At a film festival I recently attended, a very respected sales agent - and that's a rare breed - asked the audience and other panel members if they knew of anyone who had made a profit selling their narrative film digitally from their own site. Nobody did.) What about Horace and Pete (Louis C.K.'s self produced/distributed "web series")?

thenomad 11y ago
Webseries are a slightly different kettle of fish to feature films, and generally in the indie world people draw a distinction between indie movies from relative unknowns (which can cheerfully include people with multiple features under their belt, but doesn't include A-list movie stars, for example) and things made by people who are genuinely extremely famous. Obviously if Tom Cruise, say, decided to fund his own $100k feature film he could probably distribute it at a profit.
- fluxquanta 11y ago
  >but doesn't include A-list movie stars, for example Surely you aren't still talking about Horace and Pete. Aside from Louis C.K. himself being one of the top comedians (among other things) in America, Horace and Pete starred Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, and Edie Falco, among others. They, and the format of the series itself, is why I used quotes in "web series". I think it would be hard to argue that it wasn't a successful self produced distributed piece of cinematography that didn't include a cast of stars. That said, I agree to an extent -- I haven't seen a feature length, stand alone film that has been successfully produced and distributed independently like that.
  - thenomad 11y ago
    That cast's vastly beyond the reach of anyone not spending $50m on a movie. Steve Buscemi alone is enough to open a picture. And I'd argue Louis CK is, at this point, big enough to qualify as close to A-list by himself. He's famous enough to get a TV series greenlit essentially on the strength of his personal brand, for example. Essentially, that example shows that if you have a lot of very famous people who are willing to be in your series, and you yourself are also very famous, you can self-distribute. No-one's really denying that.

thenomad 11y ago

Webseries are a slightly different kettle of fish to feature films, and generally in the indie world people draw a distinction between indie movies from relative unknowns (which can cheerfully include people with multiple features under their belt, but doesn't include A-list movie stars, for example) and things made by people who are genuinely extremely famous. Obviously if Tom Cruise, say, decided to fund his own $100k feature film he could probably distribute it at a profit.

fluxquanta 11y ago
>but doesn't include A-list movie stars, for example Surely you aren't still talking about Horace and Pete. Aside from Louis C.K. himself being one of the top comedians (among other things) in America, Horace and Pete starred Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, and Edie Falco, among others. They, and the format of the series itself, is why I used quotes in "web series". I think it would be hard to argue that it wasn't a successful self produced distributed piece of cinematography that didn't include a cast of stars. That said, I agree to an extent -- I haven't seen a feature length, stand alone film that has been successfully produced and distributed independently like that.
- thenomad 11y ago
  That cast's vastly beyond the reach of anyone not spending $50m on a movie. Steve Buscemi alone is enough to open a picture. And I'd argue Louis CK is, at this point, big enough to qualify as close to A-list by himself. He's famous enough to get a TV series greenlit essentially on the strength of his personal brand, for example. Essentially, that example shows that if you have a lot of very famous people who are willing to be in your series, and you yourself are also very famous, you can self-distribute. No-one's really denying that.