Why You Don't Need A Distribution Company w/ Rob Hardy
So you’ve made an awesome film and now it’s time to launch it. Sure you could go through a distribution company, but what if you could cut out the middleman and do it yourself? It’s a good thing that I have a guest today who lays out the blueprint on just how you can do this while maximizing your profits!
Today we welcome Rob Hardy back to the podcast. He is a filmmaker and entrepreneur who runs Filmmaker Freedom, a blog and growing community of indie filmmakers where he guides readers on how to redefine success for themselves, according to their own circumstances, talents, and values. He is passionate about helping indie filmmakers build their online audiences so they can cut out the middleman in this process and truly support themselves doing what they love.
Today we are having a raw and honest conversation about finding your audience and figuring out how to best serve them. This might involve getting your work directly to your audience without going through an expensive distribution company. Throughout this interview, Tom shares some great ideas on how you can start building your audience right away and launch your film yourself so that you can best serve your audience all the while making more money for yourself.
Have you launched a film yourself? Tell me what you learned through this process in the comments on the episode page!
In this episode:
- The role of filmmakers indirectly serving their audiences
- Red flags to look out for if you’re going to work with a distribution company
- How to build an enthusiastic audience long before your work is even finished
- The importance of building an audience and how your email list can become the lifeblood of your business
- How to launch your work yourself all while driving up its value and increasing the excitement around it
- Harnessing the identity feedback loop of your niche to create profitable and meaningful connections with your audience
Quotes:
“It really is about finding that group of people, ideally people who are like you and who you care about helping, get something in their lives. Obviously, if you’re making films, you’re not going to solve some burning problem they have in their life, but you can serve their identity. You can give them something that uplifting, that makes them think.” [7:46]
“Who are the people or companies who hold your set of values, who share some piece of your own identity, who you would want to grab a beer with at the end of the day? Who are those people and what do they need in their lives? What do they need in their businesses? It’s sort of like a grand human principle.” [12:37]
“You just have to be creative and come up with bonuses that people in this niche will love. Just by nature of being in this niche and serving this niche, you should know them inside and out. You should have a clear psychographic profile for who these people are, what their day-to-day lives look like, what they want, what their fears and dreams and desires are. That’s what marketing is.” [31:23]
“Not only do you have to take responsibility for your work and the things that you make, but you have to take responsibility for what happens once the work is finished. The world does not take care of that work for you.” [46:19]
Links:
Follow Rob on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Studio Sherpas Episode 12 with Tom Hardy
Additional Links:
Check out the full show notes page
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