Why Go Direct-to-Fans and Build Your Brand as a Filmmaker | Stephen Meier (Filmmaker)
“I hear so many people complain about distribution but they don’t do anything different.”
Watch now on YouTube.
Stephen Meier is a writer, director, and producer who wrote, directed, and produced the coming-of-age thriller Woodbridge. He also produced the feature film Lake George, which was recently in theaters. Stephen runs his own production company called Dream Factory and is currently working on his next film, Debutantes, as well as a television series called Runner.
In our conversation, we discuss:
The budget range that Stephen calls the "danger zone" for indie films.
Why Stephen believes the "Amazon, Apple, Tubi" distribution deal that most indie filmmakers take is a terrible deal.
The per-theater marketing expense that most filmmakers don't budget for when hoping for a theatrical release.
Why it’s a waste of energy to try and get people back to theaters.
What an influencer’s true ability to influence is. More specifically, how casting a film with influencers in it actually impacted ticket sales.
How Stephen’s LinkedIn presence led to inbound opportunities including a potential $15 million film investment.
And much more!
Key Takeaways:
“Marry business with creativity.”
Too many filmmakers build their strategy on hope (e.g., I hope we get into Sundance, I hope we get a distribution deal, I hope we get a bidding war, etc.). This is not realistic.
Start with story. Write in a genre that sells (this is why many do horror, thriller).
Consider budget constraints realistically from the beginning. The "danger zone" for indie film budgets is between $15-100 million.
Above or below this range there’s a clearer path (above being major studio films).
When you’re in that middle, it’s tough to recoup that investment. (e.g., films like the new Soderbergh film, Black Bag, which had a $50M budget).
Account for marketing expenses in your initial budget.
An investor asked Stephen recently, “what is the financial health of this picture?” Know your answer to this.
Where you are filming (tax incentives / credits), pre-sales, can you get sponsorship dollars, etc.
Build an independent distribution plan.
How do we get people back in theaters? We don’t. Rethink theatrical distribution.
Just as the music industry was upended by Napster, the film industry is facing a similar moment. “We aren’t going back.”
Instead, think about where your audience is. Where can you make money now.
If you have the opportunity to do a theatrical release, there’s data to show that your VOD will do better but keep in mind that theatrical is itself a huge investment.
Plan for $3,000 in marketing budget minimum per theater for a theatrical distribution.
Think about ROI in relation to this minimum expense. E.g,: No Other Land is doing very well in theaters. Even so, looking at Box Office Mojo shows it’s bringing in only $800 per screen in some places, which in an indie theater is likely their only screen. (Note: we don’t know what their marketing spend is but as you think about the ROI of theatrical for your film, look at the per screen data of comparable films.)
Pay attention to what your split is with the theater. Deals often favor theaters, not filmmakers.
“Too many filmmakers trust these distribution deals. A lot of people get this Amazon-Apple-Tubi special…it’s such a bad deal.”
People want to be able to say my movie is on Amazon but be weary of that goal.
An aggregator will put your film out, but will put no money behind it.
There are too many films on these platforms for anyone to find your film without marketing.
“I hear so many people complain about distribution but they don’t do anything different.”
“They always say ‘you just need to spend more marketing dollars.’ No! That’s throwing more money at a problem.”
Instead, go direct-to-fans.
“I would rather see people use Kinema than make a deal with Amazon, Tubi, or Apple…I always think if we really want to change the shift for independent film, get off the big streamers. They don’t care about independent films. Go to the person that actually cares about independent film.”
Case study: Lake George:
The director “wanted a theatrical” which is a common feeling in this industry, so the team took a deal with AMC that “was not favorable.”
Film played in different cities for a couple of weeks.
AMC gave a deal that depending on performance it could go wider.
This is a tough path. If you choose it, make sure to also build in time and money.
Case study: Woodbridge:
Stephen wrote and directed Woodbridge, a thriller with a number of influencers in the cast.
Stephen cast influencers (who could also act!). He was interested in what an influencer’s true ability to influence is.
Given the digital footprint of this cast, his goal was to get 1% of their followers to purchase a movie ticket.
Content released on TikTok and other social platforms did get a lot of views, e.g., a teaser trailer got 265K+ views in 15 min (now it’s over 1M views).
Stephen learned that his target audience didn’t want to pay. They were excited and wanted to know “when it would be free.”
This is likely going to be a problem for anyone building content around influencers. The expectation from their audiences is free. And the audience is native to a specific platform(s). It’s tough to translate that audience (e.g., Beast Games).
If it was easier to purchase AND watch a film directly in these social apps, Stephen hypothesizes his conversion rate would likely be higher.
On having a social media presence as a filmmaker: “I should be posting. I can’t ask someone else to post if I’m not going to post.”
Stephen started sharing and engaging with the American and international film communities on LinkedIn and has met people and had some great conversations this way.
He’s even had potential investors reach out proactively, including one willing to invest $15M in his next film entirely because that investor really understood what and who he was investing in given how open Stephen is on LinkedIn.
Be disciplined with your social media time (set specific hours). Stephen does his writing from 5a-10a every day and reserves his afternoons for meetings and LinkedIn.
Share your wins and your losses.
Be generous with your knowledge.
Respond to comments and engage in genuine conversations
Not everyone is going to love you. Have thick skin.
Pick the platform that works for you.
What do you think?
Are you building an audience on any platform(s)? Which one(s)? Have any surprising opportunities come from your efforts?
Where to Find Stephen Meier:
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction and background
(01:15) Why Stephen loves the indie way
(03:13) Marrying the business side with the creative side
(04:10) What budgets make sense
(05:20) Getting people back to theaters
(06:35) What you need to invest for a theatrical (Case Study: Lake George)
(08:43) Problems with standard distribution deals
(10:58) Case Study: Woodbridge
(15:18) Promoting a film
(16:25) Stephen's journey with LinkedIn and building a personal brand
(25:22) Advice for other filmmakers on being ‘online’
(30:05) Conversations with investors about the “financial health” of indie film
Referenced:
Woodbridge: https://www.instagram.com/woodbridgethefilm/?hl=en
Lake George: https://lakegeorgethemovie.com/
The Electric State budget: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/business/media/netflix-electric-state.html
ScarJo on social media: https://variety.com/2025/film/news/scarlett-johansson-instagram-jurassic-world-rebirth-press-1236333575/
Learn more about how filmmakers are taking control of their film’s distribution journey.
Great information. I'm making a documentary and am building an audience via social media and building an email list. I plan to share it on places like Kinema. I've just started a presence on LinkedIn so I'm going to push this more. Thanks!
Ben Affleck just made a similar point re: business x creative, and with many of the same indie film references as Stephen shared in this interview.
Copying fun, slightly related, story below:
"When I got into this—and I wanted to be a director, and I had directed short films and was trying to write and obviously be an actor—it was a time when this sort of DIY thing was just starting. You had Cassavetes, you had independent filmmakers, but the ’90s is when you had Reservoir Dogs and Clerks and Slacker and [1989’s] Do the Right Thing, and there were these movies that were made by people outside of what they call the studio system. And they were interesting and they were ambitious. And what I learned about when I was coming up and had ambitions to start doing this was, “Oh look, if you get Harvey Keitel to do your movie, you can get a million dollars and you can make Reservoir Dogs.” So even writing Good Will Hunting, we always had to keep in mind all these commercial concerns. We thought, Well, it’s not going to be a very expensive movie, because no one’s going to invest in an expensive movie with us in it, so it’s going to be a small movie that takes place in rooms and streets of Boston and doesn’t have all those other high-production-value costs associated with it. And we need to have a movie star, otherwise no one’s going to make it. And so with the movie-star part, we have to make that a supporting part so they don’t have to work as many weeks, but give them all the great monologues and speeches. And so the corporate-mode thing, in terms of thinking about the relationship between what you’re creating and what it costs and how you’re going to get it out to people, has always been a part of the way I thought about it." https://www.gq.com/story/inside-ben-afflecks-plan-to-remake-hollywood