Taking Indie Films To The Next Level

The Yes Men have been doing there brand of social/environmental activism for over 10 years now. Their latest film "The Yes Men Fix The World" originally released in 2009 sets its sites on the internet marketplace of FREE. The film is using the new P2P site VODO to blast the film far and wide onto the wide array of bit torrent networks across the world. As I write this entry the film has received over 24,000 downloads in just 3 days of being available for download. Since the tracking of torrents isn't an exact science it is likely that the number of downloads is realistically twice as much as the tracker reports.

The P2P release of The Yes Men Fix The World is not only effective in taking the film to a global Internet sized audience but it directly engages each viewer to support the efforts of making more Yes Men films. While a vast number of viewers will enjoy the documentary free of charge, a decent percentage will feel inclined to give back $5-$25 and a smaller percentage will give up to $500 as a big pat on the back to the Yes Men and their cause.

With the whopping cost of distributing the film drifting close to $0.00 the money contributed to the film by viewers online is real, rather than the net profits the Yes Men are probably still waiting for from the original release of the film.

P2P models such as VODO are giving the net and audiences the first real glimpse at the potential future of DIY internet distribution. Big thanks to the Yes Men for dropping the film gratis and staying ahead of the curve of Internet distribution.

Open Indie May Bring Bucks Back To Filmmakers

Indie filmmakers who choose to distribute their work on their own (like myself) are at a serious disadvantage relative to films with high end distribution. On the other hand, audience opportunity to interact with filmmakers and artists as well as hold screenings of indie movies are much better than films distributed by a third party.

OpenIndie.com is an opportunity for indie film audiences to find movies they want to see and/or screen, and be informed about showings in their area, all while the filmmaker has a chance to benefit financially from each viewer.

As much as the internet has democratized cinema, image makers are still searching for ways to monetize their content in a way that stays accessible to the internet audience. Open Indie may be part of the answer... we'll see.