What a Great Indie Distribution Strategy Looks Like | Catherine Gray (Filmmaker, Show Her the Money)
You can always work with an aggregator to get up on Apple or Amazon. But first, while you have complete control, focus on the brand and community building.
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Catherine Gray’s documentary Show Her the Money has had one of the most successful releases on Kinema. She is a venture capitalist, general partner of the Silicon Valley Women Founders Fund, founder of She Angels Investors, and co-founder of the She Angels Foundation. With a background in both filmmaking and finance, Catherine brings a unique perspective to independent film distribution.
In our conversation, we discuss:
Creating a "moviement" - combining a movie with a and social movement
Balancing traditional distribution models (film festivals, awards campaigns) with innovative approaches (utilizing Kinema for community and partner screenings)
How Catherine planned her distribution strategy and who she worked with
Executing a 50-city screening tour (and growing it to 100+ cities)
Considerations for fundraising for both production and distribution
Building a strong network of corporate and organizational partnerships
Key takeaways:
Set a goal: "Our vision for the film was that it would be, I always say, it's a movie and a movement. So we coined it a movie-ment." Films often choose one goal to focus on at a time. Catherine had three goals in mind:
Impact: educate people about venture capital, why women are only seeing 2% of that capital, and how we can change this.
Revenue: Make money. Film is not the only revenue stream. Publishing a related book, have some merch (though that hasn’t done well yet), and more.
Reach: Catherine’s 2025 goal is to reach 1M viewers.
Strategic release planning: "We first did a festival run in order to get, you know, hopefully awards, which we did. So we won ‘best documentary’ at probably about 10 festivals. And then from there, with those accolades, we did a theatrical release so that we could qualify for the Oscars."
Start with a festival run to gain recognition and awards.
Use theatrical releases strategically for award qualifications.
Plan a community screening tour to build momentum and impact. (Note: Midwest was a good market for Show Her the Money, it wasn’t just the big cities or the coastal cities. Also we available globally and had screenings in Europe and Australia).
Setting a strategy that maximizes revenue potential, reach, and impact:
Know your audience: Catherine learned that 50% of their audience is entrepreneurs and 50% of their audience was women who invest (women starting their own venture funds or successful business women / women who have inherited $$ and want to invest).
Set a big goal: 50-city-tour around the world. This perpetuated the mission to make it a movement. (Note: they’ve now exceeded this goal screening in over 100 cities: “every city was pure magic…the energy in the room was palpable.”)
Seek advice: Catherine hired the consultant Peter Broderick and spoke to him several times throughout the journey. He had told her it was “better to stretch [her distribution] out. It doesn’t have to happen over night.”
The importance of control: “We wanted to still keep it a grassroots campaign. And that’s what I love about Kinema. We control when people see it and we can still allow groups of people to see it together. Then we can still have an online talkback which they get with the ticket…we have a panel with the producers and cast of the movie so people can engage in conversation about it and ask questions.”
Putting your film on Amazon or Apple will always be there, but first Catherine wanted to kickstart the movement and make sure the film is making an impact.
Community screenings allow Catherine to maximize revenue but also FOMO.
Build an email distribution list of marketing as you go:
Conduct surveys at screenings and collect emails.
Included her own followings on email and social media.
Add opt-ins from Kinema sign-ups to your email list.
You need partners. Don’t market on your own: "We have probably two dozen women's groups that are out there helping us promote it. And their logos are on our social. So we're promoting them and they're promoting us, it's a win-win. Like we are stronger together helping each other out."
Identify and collaborate with organizations aligned with your film's message.
Create mutually beneficial promotional relationships.
Use partnerships to expand your reach and credibility.
Flexible pricing and licensing models: "With Kinema, you can put that sliding scale. You know, nonprofits were $1,000 to license it. Corporations were $5,000. Or we gave the option that they could just sell tickets and split the percentage with us.”
Offer different pricing tiers for various types of screening hosts.
Create flexible options to accommodate different budgets and audiences.
Use revenue-sharing models to incentivize community screenings.
When fundraising, give people options: "So one was allowing people to put money into the film and get equity in the film. And the other was to work with From the Heart Productions that gave me a fiscal sponsorship for people that wanted to donate money and get a tax write-off."
Create multiple entry points for financial backers. As an example offer equity investments and tax-deductible donations.
Build relationships ahead of time, before you need money.
Raise money for both production and distribution (Catherine raised in chunks). Used distribution funds for Academy Awards promotion, the book, PR, etc.
Build long-term value over the life of your film: "The coach I was telling you about, Peter, said that this film probably has a 3-5 year life. And for us, it's pretty strong because it's a movement that's not going away."
Think beyond the initial release to create lasting impact. For Show Her the Money all the venture funds featured in the film have all raised millions as a result of the film.
TVOD will always be there for you. You can always work with an aggregator and get up on those platforms but it’s important to focus on the community and brand building.
It takes work, but it’s not forever.
Embrace alternative distribution platforms: "I also think it's more profitable to use a platform like Kinema. So that's why I recommend it to the filmmakers who ask me what I'm doing."
On revenue: explore platforms that offer more control and better revenue splits.
On impact: to watch a film one-off on Amazon, it’s unlikely people will take action compared to a community screening event.
On reach: maintain direct relationships with your audience throughout distribution.
On safety: “[Kinema] keeps people from pirating independent films. They get it for their screening, that’s it. They can’t steal it!”
Final words of advice: “Build a great team around you and have fun. It does take a village. You don’t have to do everything on your own!”
Where to Find Catherine Gray:
Website: showherthemoneymovie.com
Substack:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/showherthemoney/
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction and Catherine's background
(01:25) The vision for Show Her the Money as a "moviement"
(02:25) Strategic release planning: festivals, theatrical, and community screenings
(05:34) Balancing multiple goals: audience reach, revenue, and impact
(07:32) Designing a distribution plan for your film
(11:34) Marketing for your distribution
(12:26) The power of partnerships in film promotion
(15:47) Pricing for partner-screenings (corporate vs. non-profit)
(16:45) Fundraising advice for film projects
(18:45) Focus on community building before putting your film on Apple or Amazon
(24:00) The benefits of Kinema and alternative distribution platforms
(24:57) Where to find Catherine Gray
(26:50) Advice for filmmakers on team building and enjoying the process
Referenced:
Upcoming Show Her the Money screening event
Peter Broderick (distribution consultant in conversation here)
US World and News Report (recognized Show Her the Money as one of the best financial films of the decade)