A Conversation with Beer Wars Producer Anat Baron
After viewing the film, Beer Wars, via VOD (full disclosure, I'm a long time craft beer purist) I was impressed with not only the content of the film (not that I'm giving anything away here but the beer lobby: NBWA is in bed with Congress) but with the production I reached out to Anat Baron, the Producer to discuss Indie production as it relates to Internet distribution. What follows is our conversation.
ipTVe
How did you approach web distribution, what were your expectations early on, did they change?
Anat
Web distribution came after the theatrical premiere and DVD release. And is simultaneous with the on demand release on cable and satellite. I wanted to make the film available to everyone with a TV or computer. We just launched on February 1st and the film is available for download on iTunes, Amazon VOD and Netflix streaming. Expectations were low but we were #3 top rental and #5 top sales on iTunes documentaries the first week (we were featured on the home page for movies). The film reached #2 on IMDb most popular documentaries in week 2 then fell to #5 in week 3.
ipTVe
What lessons did you learn about where the Internet is with respect to distribution, marketing and building community?
Anat
I've had a tough time getting the word out through traditional media. Having Anheuser-Busch as the evil empire in the film means that networks/TV stations are afraid of losing ad dollars if they promote my film. I've used social media to get the word out.
I built a community on Twitter and got people to follow me @beerwars and @beerwarsmovie, and also set up a Facebook fan page. We linked it all together through the film's website and hub: http://beerwarsmovie.com
Initially I used the trailer and deleted scenes to bring attention to the film and also started a blog. This allowed people to get a sense of the film and also of my voice. I learned that people like to be talked with and not to. The more I made conversations personal, the sooner i responded directly, the more viral things became. On April 16th, the day of the film's live premiere, Beer Wars was a trending topic on Twitter. The same day that Ashton Kutcher reached the million follower mark. That was pretty cool.
(view the trailer on the extended page)
ipTVe
Have you found it difficult to rise above the Internet clutter and what strategies have you employed?
Anat
Everyone talks about the internet as the magic bullet but I've found it more difficult to make noise because there is so much fragmentation and clutter. It's tough to get attention and even when you do, the pace is so fast that you have it for a moment and then everyone moves on to the next. I have tried to foster relationships without being pushy. I've found that the more "famous" someone is in the social media rankings, the tougher it is to engage them. And I also found it interesting that these same people have their hand out. Beyond what can you do for me? Actually looking for money to tweet about my film. I've tried to engage bloggers by appealing to what they write about. It's worked well for the most part. Especially when you show them that you're paying attention to their platform.
ipTVe
How has iTunes been verses other distribution vehicles, where are seeing the most traction?
Anat
Too soon to tell. iTunes is the only place I can check on a constant basis. As I said earlier, it did well initially and now that it's not promoted, it goes up and down depending on the day. I need awareness to push it back into the top 10.
ipTVe
Do you see a market for a behind-the-scenes film exclusively for web distribution, had you thought about this early on to build community?
Anat
I started making the film before social media sites existed (2005) so it wasn't on the radar. I think that what I've found is that video on the web has become the norm and so people expect it for free. The problem is that as an indie filmmaker, I still need to recoup my investment. I still have almost 200 hours of footage, lots of it really great. I'd love to edit it and post it into watchable videos but who will pay for that? It's a constant art versus commerce question.
ipTVe
Do you have any final thoughts?
Anat
I think the biggest question for filmmakers remains this whole idea of free. And many people's expectations that everything on the web be free. As someone who invested 3+ years and close to seven figures making and promoting the film, that option doesn't really work. If you're a young filmmaker and invest $20,000 in your movie, and use it as a calling card well then the Internet may be the perfect solution (although you still need awareness to find your audience). There's no question that the indie film business model is broken. I'm just not sure that we have anything viable to replace it. Yet.
The Trailer
