Everyone bemoans how Hollywood is always chasing the proven moneymakers--comic book adaptations, the Bridesmaids bandwagon, and sequels to sequels. But as it turns out, the same thing holds true for indie documentaries. At the "Meet the Distributors" panel last Thursday on the final day of New York City's DOC NYC festival, the panelists bemoaned the crush of "competition docs" that flooded the marketplace after the success of 2002's Spellbound. Docs that followed included such random topics as board game competitions and grocery store bagging, which simply copied the movie's structure with a different subject matter. "You could anticipate the beats," noted Magnolia Pictures' Eamonn Bowles with a shake of the head. The panel, moderated by Eugene Hernandez of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, featured the perspectives of Bowles, Ryan Werner (IFC Films), Nancy
Gerstman (Zeitgeist Films), Richard Lorber (Kino Lorber), Ryan Krivoshey
(Cinema Guild), and Paul Marchant (First Run Features).
Bowles, one of the more vocal members on the panel, also discussed the nuances of "unlocking the audience." For the documentary Food Inc., Magnolia gave it a "foodie spin," targeting people who cared about food and good eating, as opposed to an activist audience of environmentalists and animal rights proponents, which may have made it more difficult for the doc to break out to a wider group of people. The audience that is turning out to theatres isn't just craving comfort food, they tend to be older. The success of the fictional comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel this year is just one example. Older people tend to have the time and money to go to the movies. Expect more content geared to baby boomers in years to come.
When it comes to topical documentaries, the best ones don't have an expiration date. Richard Lorber pointed out Kino Lorber's release 5 Broken Cameras as an example of a documentary that is "not just topical, but re-engages and gains resonance." On the day of the panel, there were reports of violence in Israel, making the story of a Palestinian farmer and his interactions with Israeli soldiers that much more impactful.
When it comes to day-and-date releases in theatres and on-demand, it's not an equal playing field, as Lorber pointed out. Magnolia and IFC are each part of companies that have stakes in both distribution and exhibition. That means that they don't have to deal with the objections of exhibitors when they want to release a movie day-and-date with on-demand. On-demand can be great for certain documentaries. Something like First Run's Pink Ribbons Inc., which appeals to a niche of people, breast cancer patients or survivors, benefits from being able to reach people all around the country, not just in the big cities. IFC Film's Buck, a successful doc about the "horse whisperer," benefited from VOD's ability to reach rural audiences in areas too isolated to have access to a theatre. However, the panelists agreed VOD is not a "panacea." With hundreds of movies in on-demand menus to choose from, differentiating from the bunch is still a challenge. When slicing the pie, "VOD is becoming significant," Gerstman notes, though DVDs still do a lot to help out a movie post-theatrical release.
The panelists noted that the rise of DIY releasing has made the relationship between distributors and filmmakers more collaborative. As a whole, documentary filmmakers are more involved in promotion than fiction filmmakers. And it can have measurable results. Bess Kargman, the director of the ballet doc First Position (which does fall into the competition genre, for what it's worth) greeted people buying tickets at Lincoln Center and was a constant presence at the theatre, according to Hernandez. Werner gave her a lot of credit for the success of the release, which earned $1.1 million, saying it would not have crossed the seven-figure mark without her help. Turns out showmanship is still an important part of the puzzle, even in the days where posters, interviews, and movie trailers take precedence.
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