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GOING BIONIC – DISTRIBUTING INDEPENDENT FILMS INTERNATIONALLY – MY BIONIC 2012!

By Hammad Zaidi | January 3, 2012

Happy New Year! I hope you’re turn of the calendar was eventful, memorable and safe. Mine was spent with my six month-old daughters. Feeding them, changing them, and being doused with a double-shot of milky baby puke was my itinerary for New Year’s Eve. In other words, it was perfect.

As we roll into 2012, I’d like to give you a bit of insight into the new directions this column will take. My company is changing course (slightly) and expanding (slightly) into a slew of new development, production and distribution ventures that will give me a plethora of new real-time insights to report on.

Of course, I will continue to report on all aspects of distribution as well as development and production strategies to help your project(s) get distributed. I’m also going to keep attending major festivals and film sales markets worldwide, so you will be provided with up-to-date insights on the distribution marketplace and it’s ever-so-changing trends. Thus, these new ventures are “in addition to” and not “instead of” everything else I’ve been writing about. While they’re may be some aspects of my new projects that I cannot report on, I will be as candid with you as I’m able to be. So, without further ado, here are some of the new things I’ll be reporting on in 2012.

Development Production and Distribution of Reality TV
No, I’m not going to move away from representing feature films and documentaries and suddenly start distributing tons of reality shows; but it looks as if I’m going to develop and produce a few reality TV series. There are a few opportunities on the table, and like most projects, I’m not quite sure which ones will move forward first, but 2012 should bring a reality TV shoot or two my way.

Side Note: For those of you who are developing your own TV series, the future articles dedicated to the progression (or regression) of my reality projects will hopefully help you with the strategic progression of your projects.

Licensing TV Formats For Production In Other Countries
I’m going to actively seek the licensing of TV formats, in order to produce those TV series in other countries. Since this is a brand-new venture for me, I’m sure there will be quite an abundance of new information to share with you. At this point, all I can tell you that I’m sure this venture will be time consuming and littered with a mountain of legalities. However, it will also be fun to learn how take a popular TV series from one culture and develop and produce it for another culture.

Side Note: It’s quite possible that I spend all of 2012 securing the format rights to TV series, and any actual production may not occur until 2013. Either way, I’ll keep you informed.

Produce An Internet Based TV Series
With the world of distribution changing hourly, much less daily, I may “roll with the changes” and dive into producing and/or executive producing a web-based TV series. Advertisers are spending more and more of their dollars on the Internet, so there is definitely a future in it.

Side Note: I’m not sure if producing a web TV series will garner any financial returns in the immediate future, but I’d rather be on the cutting edge of tomorrow, rather than be on the coattails of today.

Finish Shooting And Editing My Feature Film
Every filmmaker has an unfinished project, or twenty, and I’m no exception. Way back in 2001, I took a skeleton crew to Dawson City, Yukon (way up in northern Canada, just a handful of hours shy of the Arctic Circle) and started shooting a little feature that I wrote and directed. Since the film makes fun of my life, it’s still abundantly relevant today. While I no longer have “expectations” for my film, I do expect to finish it and distribute it this year.

Side Note: If I go on a festival run with my film, I will certainly share my strategies, roadblocks, successes and failures, so that you can consider adjusting your course of action.

Finishing My Children’s Book And Seeking Publishing
I started writing a Children’s book about four years ago, and I’ve been “about three weeks away from finishing it” for the past three years. Well, that shameful procrastination ends now, because I’m going to make sure my book is finished and ready to go out by my birthday on the 31st of this month.

While I know this column is dedicated to filmed entertainment, I may share some insights on getting your manuscript published because I’m sure there are quite a few writers out there who have written a book, are writing a book, or are thinking of writing a book.

Side Note: By “book”, I mean any book in any genre, not only a children’s book. Furthermore, by “published” I mean by a real publisher, not by way of self-publishing.

Get A Book Deal Based On This Going Bionic Column
Don’t worry; I won’t bore you with these details, especially since you already read this column right here. What I will bore you with is that at least one and possibly a few of the topics I’ve written about here will become chapters in a book on independent distribution that gets published this year.

That’s what I’m tangling myself into in 2012. I implore you to map out your own year. Should you not be sure where 2012 is headed, try to map out where you want it to go. That’s the funny thing about having a vision for yourself; doing so ensures you won’t drive blind.

As always, I thank you for lending me your eyes and I look forward to borrowing them again next Tuesday.

I can be followed on Twitter @Lonelyseal.

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  1. shamim Zaidi says:

    Beautifully written, well done.

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