📽️ Community Learnings: On starting your film distribution plan, tax credits, test screenings, film marketing ideas, and more
Helpful learnings gleaned from this gorgeous film community.
You’re reading “Community Learnings,” Kinema’s monthly-ish round-up of the most helpful insights gathered from attending film festivals and other film community events.
Covered in today’s newsletter:
Upcoming filmmaker hangs
Five film marketing ideas to try
A link to The Distribution Playbook presentation
and Emily Best gave at the Creative Sustainability Summit at the Atlanta Film FestivalWhy Ava DuVernay joined Substack
Other takeaways from the Atlanta Film Festival, Mountain Film Fest, ATX TV Festival and more!
Highlights from “Have You Seen My Film?”
Upcoming hangs
The Kinema team will be at these film community events, perhaps speaking on a panel or just hanging out, likely both. We would love to meet you! If you see any one of us, come say “hi!” or shoot us an email at hello@kinema.com and we’ll do our best to coordinate.
June 4 – June 15 — Tribeca Film Festival: We'll be around!
June 6 — Tribeca Storytelling Summit:
speaking on The Long Long Night case study
June 7 — Southern Documentary Convening: Rish Aggarwal speaking on The Distribution Playbook.
June 13 — DC/DOX: Rish speaking on shorts
June 14 — NYC Creative Sustainability Summit: Rish speaking on distribution trends
There’s a private producers Meet & Greet after. Password: S&STribeca2025
June 16 – June 20 — Cannes Lions: Find Christie!
June 18 — Christie is moderating a panel on influencer marketing and entertainment
Top threads this month
Very cool thing. I got to takeover
’s Substack as part of his “The Five” series (thank you Ted)! I had a lot of fun organizing a gaggle of links to mostly other FilmStack writers who have helped clarify my industry thinking. I hope you take something new from it.
Below is the other stuff we saved in Notes—quotes, insights, advice—that we’re still thinking and talking about.
1. On independence
- spoke with about her decision to join Substack: “What do the artists have to say about [these chaotic times]. Shouldn’t we be engaged more deeply. Beyond just the things that we make, but the process, the way that we make them, the reason that we make them, and just to really make sure I keep an independent space for myself to discuss those things.” Despite having access to the studio world, Ava also shared in this conversation the ways in which she’s always kept it independent. Watch or listen here.
I’m regularly inspired by the pep-talks, experimentation, and openness shared by filmmakers on this platform. But being steeped in independent distribution and active on FilmStack can be like wearing blinders. Going to film festivals and adjacent events is a reminder that many independent filmmakers still aren’t familiar with the distribution landscape or the business side of filmmaking more broadly. A film investor shared that she no longer accepts unsolicited pitches because most filmmakers haven’t thought beyond their film. We’re still hearing: “What's distribution? Why do I need to know that? What about <insert example from three years ago…>”
Sharing The Distribution Playbook presentation given by Christie Marchese and Emily Best during the Creative Sustainability Summit at the Atlanta Film Festival.
also designed a template for distribution planning. Both are superb ways to start planning (or to gut check) your film distribution strategy.
At ATX TV Fest a similar conversation was being had—about the shift in power between creators and streaming platforms. Platforms once invested in pilots and development. Now they tell creators: “sounds great—come back when you have your first season” or “show us three completed episodes first.” Established artists are responding by bypassing the traditional process and demonstrating to platforms that creators have other options and can build audiences directly. Like Mark Duplass is doing with The Long Long Night.
2. On test screenings
Early audience engagement is essential for successful distribution. Begin during production (or earlier): if your film is about horses, connect with equestrian communities; if it's a niche story, find Facebook groups where those people gather. The Minecraft movie succeeded with kids because the director understood that specific audience and screened for them repeatedly.
Early outreach and film testing can happen on any budget—borrowing someone's apartment for a screening or setting up virtual viewings (Kinema is great for this). The “key” is developing thick skin and remembering that feedback isn't personal criticism of you as a filmmaker, but valuable data about how your vision translates to the people you’re making it for. Related ideas:
At an event on AI and creativity, legendary founder and investor Reid Hoffman advised that when you’re asking for feedback on any product, you actually don't want “feedback.” You want people to break your product. You want to know in what ways it’s not working. This principle feels analogous to film testing as well.
“She came here to be insulted.”
shared an essay by Torrey Peters that might prove useful when hosting test screenings.
If a potential partner or investor says they will support your film but it’s contingent on you taking a specific scene out, think to yourself, is it worth changing it for this one partner? If four partners say the same, would it change your mind?
3. On community
How we create sustainable, independent creative economies regionally is top of mind. Openly discussed at the Atlanta Film Festival was the tension felt towards the Georgia tax credits. Money comes in for production but often talent is devalued in the process (e.g., come to Atlanta, it’s cheaper). On top of that, post-production work returns to NYC or LA, leaving ATL as a production location rather than a complete creative ecosystem. This is the broader challenge facing regional film communities—how to leverage financial incentives to build lasting creative infrastructure rather than simply serving as temporary hosts for projects that ultimately benefit established industry cities. (And on the flip side, LA is of course rallying to bring production back.)
Community is a very overused word that often in different ways is the answer to many questions we get. e.g., How do I start my crowdfunding campaign? Where do I get started when I'm coming into the industry? etc.
Emily Best of Seed&Spark spoke about how it’s more beneficial to meet the person next to you at a film event than to storm the stage and speak to panelists. “The people on stage really cannot help you as much as the person sitting next to you.” Participate in the film community. Start locally.
4. On the future
An audience member at Mountain Film Festival asked how to reprogram audiences, who expect unlimited content for $15 a month, to recognize and pay for the true value of individual films.
One observation made by Jeff Orlowski-Yang from Exposure Labs was that while people hesitate to spend money on themselves, they're surprisingly willing to gift films to others. A different spending psychology to tap into.
The success of Patreon and Substack offers another pathway. Audiences have demonstrated they will pay artists directly when they feel a personal connection to the work and the person behind it.
Will audiences have stronger relationships with platforms or with individual filmmakers? There’s more evidence that director-driven brands are gaining traction again.
, the filmmaker behind Secret Mall Apartment, talks about how the film industry is catching up with the creator economy in this way. “Indie filmmakers of tomorrow are going to be much more of a brand and become much more of the engine behind their exhibition."We’re experiencing a “cultural fitness emergency” and
has a vision for how to solve it. Stick around for the comments on her post.
5. On AI
At an AI and creativity event (different from the Reid Hoffman one) executives from major platforms discussed how the promise of AI in film lies in solving The Discovery Problem. With AI they can move beyond basic algorithmic recommendations toward something more nuanced—understanding “vibes” and emotional contexts that might lead someone to the perfect film for their current mood. It was framed as potentially transformative for independent creators and if true, would lead to less marketing spend because you could more efficiently find your audience.
That said, human curation will continue to decide the most valuable real estate. Whatever they feature prominently—in top carousels or recommended sections—performs well, which means platforms will continue investing in and prominently featuring their originals.
Veo 3 / Flow took over my feeds. Lots of people messing around with it. Examples here, here, and here.
Judd Apatow in the IG comments: “AI telling people AI is great in a not funny or interesting short is the proof that it will never be able to make Boogie Nights or Blazing Saddles. It will always be like this short. Fine. Whatever. It will replace mediocre films with mediocre soulless glossy films.”
Film marketing ideas to try:
Sharing film (or film adjacent) marketing finds that made me stop scrolling.
Give a mini-lecture: What part of your process, story, film, cast, costumes, locations, etc. can you go deep on? This Ryan Coogler x Kodak vid captivated the Twitterverse. One of the top comments: “Don't even feel like a 10 minute video because you feel the passion.”
Show up in relevant sub-reddits: I’ve been seeing films show up more and more in casual ways on Reddit. Like this example from The Diamond King.
Share cast and community real-life stories about a topic addressed in your film: A Nice Indian Boy is a film about an Indian son who brings his white boyfriend home to meet his parents. The film team created a social media series about love and acceptance and in this example lead actor Karan Soni shares his coming out story.
Get clever with music: The right song can do a lot to lodge your film’s trailer, your movie’s message, or a specific scene into the minds of movie-goers. Is there a way that you can use a nostalgic song to be further memorable in the minds of your audience. I keep thinking about the Babygirl milk scene. Or this Love Hurts trailer. Yes, music is $$$, but there are ways. e.g., Indie film Land of Gold worked with a music producer to create a new version of a pop song they had no business trying to get the rights to.
Have a “photo booth”: The FX show Adults recreated a Subway car. So like, that’s an approach. Don’t blow your budget on the “photo booth,” but give some thought to what people might want to photograph as a memento of their experience at your screening. Something specific to your film that audience members can feel they are on the inside of and share with the world. A prop, a set piece, a costume, etc. Check out what indie film Secret Mall Apartment set up in a theater lobby.
What’s a recent film or brand campaign that inspired you?
Highlights from “Have You Seen My Film?”:
Where experts share their wisdom on indie film distribution.
Episode 15: Find your superfans
“Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all trailers—you should have five trailers and test them out.” - Jo Jensen, impact marketer, at 18:52
Episode 16: Negotiate better distribution deals
“At the very beginning, whether or not they give you an MG, you should still get the distribution company to tell you what their projection is. And then if they don't come close to that projection in that period, there should be an automatic reversion so that you have the rights to go to another place. If they completely fall flat, then that's a good way to get your rights back.” - Steven Beer, lawyer, at 24:55
Episode 17: Advice from a lawyer
“The only way people are going to succeed in this industry is together... A rising tide lifts all boats and it also can make people courageous.” - Candice Cook Simmons, lawyer, at 19:38
Episode 18: Building a career and community in film
“I think we're going to a future of regionality...find the filmmaking community in Indiana, create a micro budget film.” - Alece Oxendine, film strategist, at 15:48
Thank you for being here. If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend, and let me know in the comments what else you’d like to see in these film community round-ups.
Your TAKEOVER on HopeForFilm was hugely popular, Ami!