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With a free evening to unwind last weekend, I went onto Amazon to check their pre-theatrical on demand video rentals and came across Hobo with a shotgun.  If you read the title and then imagine a Troma (makers of The Toxic Avenger) film made in Canada and starring Rutger Hauer – you should know what you’re getting into.

I’ve already posted an entry on why I think on demand video is a smart business model and its possible ramifications to other areas (like music – see this post or this one for some more in-depth information / analysis / insane ranting).  It’s easy to focus on what people get wrong and harder to acknowledge when people have done something right so I’m going to focus on the positive here.

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First a Troma diversion

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Lloyd Kaufman is a personal hero of mine. There are a number of reasons for this:

• He is the president of Troma Films – the longest running independent (i.e. non major) film studio in the country.

• Lloyd is a Yale grad who manages to maintain a sometimes goofy (and very accessible) public persona.  Lloyd may goof around like a dumb ass – but he’s a very smart guy.

• Lloyd is a very hands on guy and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the mundane or unglamorous elements of running a company.

• In addition to the management elements of the company, Lloyd is still an active director and actor and also maintains an active lecture / speaking schedule.

• His film making books and dvds are informative, amusing and accessible.  A very difficult combination to pull off.

I got to hear Lloyd speak on a book tour for All I Needed To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger several years ago and (in addition to some really great film making advice) was really struck by the parallels between the film industry and the music industry.

The following is taken from this music industry observation:

On being nimble

“Lloyd told a story about how when the VCR was first introduced, a number of mom and pop video stores sprang up.  The major film distributors were slow to release films on VHS.  They would release new titles – but didn’t think the technology would take off – so they weren’t putting any money into transferring old films.  The mom and pop video stores all needed product and enter Lloyd Kaufman who rides into the sales void and says, “oh well we have this little horror comedy film here called the Toxic Avenger” and they sold beaucoup copies.  That widow only lasted about a 1/2 year, after that the majors started deluging the market with product – but Troma sold enough copies to give them the seed money to continue on.

Being small means that while you don’t have the power or money of corporations behind you – you are nimble and can move more quickly to make things happen than a corporation can.”

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The Power of Distribution

One thing Lloyd pointed out when I saw him was that this sales window was a lynchpin in Troma’s success.  With deregulation in the 1980’s – the first thing that the major film companies did, was to buy up all of the film distribution companies and squeezed independent films out of the larger theaters and relegated them to the much smaller art house circuit (until the 1990’s – 2000’s when larger film companies bought out smaller film companies and marketed their big industry backed films as indies in events like Sundance).

One of the main reasons for an independent musician to sign to a major label was the major label distribution monopoly.  It wasn’t impossible to self distribute your own record in the 70’s and ‘80’s – but the big labels had a lockdown on the retail chains and could get their product into retail venues independents were shut out of. This meant that you either signed to (or partnered with) a Big label to get (inter)national distribution.

The internet changed all of this.

Now anyone can release a song – and distribute it world-wide for free.  If they want to get paid, they can use a service like cd baby and get it on iTunes, or Amazon or a number of other pay sites.

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The problem however, with getting fans to check out what you’re doing  is the lack of a filter (or a qualifier).

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Years ago, I got to hear Bob Ezrin speak at a conference, and he was discussing how the one thing that the majors used to have going for them, was that they acted as a stamp of approval for artists.  Back in the real days of Artist and Repertoire and artist development, if you went to a record store and saw an album on Capitol – you might buy it just because it was on the Capitol label, and Capitol didn’t release crappy records.  Being signed to a label was a measure of quality, because it was a substantial investment (and artists had to be able to perform in a non digital editing environment).  Singers had to be able to sing.  Musicians had to be able to knock tracks out in one take – and that usually happened after years of honing things on the live circuit.  It all worked together to make more consistent release and live shows for promotion.

Now, people get signed to labels with no talent whatsoever.  And even with all of the production in the world, people still know when someone has talent and when they don’t.

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The bling puts the hop in the hip

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There were cracks in the system before the internet.  Some rap/hip hop artists took the DIY concept and ran with it whole hog. Specifically, I’m thinking of people like Master P, who started selling cds out of the back of his car.  Started a label (and kept all of the money) and by one account is worth about $661 million.  These people understood the power of public accessibility and building a fan base.  They started small and made a big thing out of it (check out this post on Elvira Mistress of the Dark to see another great example of this mindset).

Some independent labels have people buying things (even in the downturn market) just because the labels operate on such a niche (like world music, or death metal), that the customers are investing in the labels as much as the artists on the labels.  It almost goes without saying that this brand loyalty has vanished from the majors years ago – and isn’t likely to return.

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It’s about understanding and connecting with your audience.

Selling them something they want is infinitely easier than convincing them that they want something.

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Hobo With A Shotgun

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So now let’s look at Hobo with a Shotgun and see what was done right.

• The film isn’t for everyone – but targets the people it is for very effectively.  The trailer is smart.  It’s clearly geared toward the grindhouse circuit – and people who like that type of film are going to check out the trailer on title alone.

• While not a high budget film it has Rutger Hauer in it which adds perceived value to it.  I don’t think Rutger Hauer has had a leading role in 10 years or more but people still know who he is and it was enough for me to ask, “Wow Rutger Hauer…The Hitcher – what the hell is that guy doing now?” and checking out the trailer.

• The Pre-theatrical release angle is REALLY smart.  Even with a $9.99 rental fee – this a cheap date or a cheap night at home with friends.  If people like the film – they’re going to get their friends to see it as well.  Additionally it bypasses the problems and costs associated with widespread distribution.  In addition to MAKING MONEY while creating a buzz – the distributors can see what areas the downloads are doing well in and then do limited releases in those areas, thus capitalizing further on the market there.  Additionally if the film bombs online (negative reviews, etc) – they can cut their losses on the release side.

• The Iphone app is really clever as well and was probably very inexpensive to produce.  This is another buzz builder AND a revenue stream.

• Magnet Releasing (which appears to be associated with Magnolia) has been releasing a number of films for Pre-Theatrical Release like Client 9 (the Elliot Spitzer documentary),  Rubber (about a tire that gains consciousness and goes on a killing spree exploding people’s brains) and Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins.  This is just smart business.  I know I go on Amazon every week or 2 and look for “Pre-Theatrical Release” just to see what’s coming out and every once in a while I’ll rent something.  Return business is a good thing….

• The rental is good for about a month before it’s played – and then once you play it – it’s a very limited window (typically a day or 2).  Which is also smart as if your plans change on a weekend – you can watch it later rather than feeling shortchanged by renting it and then having it vanish 24 hours later before you get to see it.

• On a separate (but related note) – the new Amazon Prime model is very interesting.  Prime membership (In addition to offering radical discounts on shipping with a monthly fee – which probably makes sense if you order a lot of things ) now includes unlimited free downloads of on demand titles.  It will be interesting to see how this affects other on demand models (and what perks they’re willing to throw in).

• The Amazon site is smart.  There’s a lot of content – but it’s not overwhelming.  This is a much more difficult balance to pull off than you might think.

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A lot of the implications for this are the same conclusions that are outlined here, but now that the physical elements of distributing your music are no longer an issue reaching out to your audience on a wider level is more possible now than ever.  The challenges to getting them to reach back out to you remain just as real. Whether you’re trying to market an indie film (with some larger industry ties) or sell your songs – it always comes down to developing and nurturing an audience.  A big part of developing an audience is tingling their curiosity enough to get them to get in the door.  Hopefully this has given you some (P.T. Barnum-esque) ideas a la the subtle nuances of Hobo with a Shotgun.

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Thanks for reading!

-SC