Let’s talk about then Amazon Prime Video. You got Prince Harming on that platform. Can you say something about securing the distribution as well as advice you give to other filmmakers on that point?
Yes. I met a wonderful sales agent, Almira, and her son, who worked for Ammo Content in New York City. It’s a distributor, and they usually take packaging and more significant films. But because they were taken with my film, they loved it, they made an exception and took a smaller film like mine. And it premiered on Amazon US on May 20th. And last month, it went live on five other platforms in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, along with Amazon. And it will be on other platforms too. This was just the beginning. It just opened there.
So I was fortunate and happy that I went to the New York Film Conference, and I talked to Almira. That’s where I met her for the first time. And she said, “Oh, you made a film. Oh, I love it.” After she watched it, she loved it. And then she knew this distributor that she has worked with and her son works with, so that was great. So it’s about networking and connections also. Yeah.
I noticed you mentioned a few times that you have a small film, a small indie film. I think that it can be daunting for filmmakers who can only make small films. What kind of encouragement can you give to them?
You might have a very small film in terms of budget, but make sure you have good sound, good actors, and you tell a big story—in terms of heart and human value and what touches people. It can be a big story. It can affect people. Then it’s a big film. I was just talking in terms financially. It was a shoestring budget, but make sure you have the right people to work with, that your story comes across, and you’re not distracted by production value.
“…if you blindly submit your film to the biggest festivals, you’re going to lose a lot of money.”
You talked about Film Fatales. What kind of organizations and groups have been helpful to you along the way?
Screen Actors Guild, definitely. I’m also an actor there, but they helped do the contracts, and they were very responsive, and they helped the Film Fatales. The National Board of Review, because I simply found a good friend who is my sound mixer, who’s a film buff and a professional sound mixer and sound designer.
What kind of resources did they provide you?
No resources. I mean, it was just finding people. The Film Fatales was the best organization in terms of connecting me with the DP, with the editor. The other stuff I had to do myself. I had people come forward who gave me money. They wanted to remain anonymous, but they are also in the film business. That was wonderful. They were very touched by the story.
