By Mellini Kantayya
The team behind the independent feature Bite Me recently joined NYWIFT for a panel case study on how they flipped the film distribution paradigm from something you “get” into something you “do.”
Bite Me is a romantic comedy about a woman who believes she’s a real-life vampire and the IRS agent who audits her. The team felt they had a unique and edgy while still relatable and heartfelt film, but it wasn’t quite fitting into the current festival and distribution landscape. So, they forged their own path ahead.
Here’s a foray into the four ‘A’s (sorry, couldn’t resist) of their filmmaker-empowered release model.
Acknowledgement – They recognized festivals aren’t what they used to be: There was a time when festivals like the Sundance Film Festival, launched the careers of countless filmmakers who made groundbreaking films on shoestring budgets. Now they’re teeming with star-studded, big-budget features that already have distribution. Festival programs are currently bending towards more serious films in tone and subject (perhaps reflecting the current zeitgeist). The team also saw that the deals that foreign and smaller films were getting would be inadequate for their mid-range project.
Acceptance – They met the market where it was: Instead of crying in their metaphoric beers, they saw the pragmatics of their situation, faced the fact that the conventional festival-to-distribution model was going to underserve their film, its investors, and its potential audience. They recognized they needed to throw out their original plan and hatch a new one.
Action: Thus, the Joyful Vampire Tour of America was born. They’re renting an RV for a 40-city, three-month tour of screenings—each paired with a campy, on-theme event varying from Vampire Balls to Vampire Yoga. And, to take a walk on the meta-side, their distribution plan includes a weekly YouTube documentary-serieschronicling their adventures throughout the tour.
Audience – They knew their audience: A through-line across Bite Me’s inception to self-distribution is that writer/actor/producer Naomi McDougall Jones had a crystal-clear awareness of who the film’s audience was, which created a solid foundation for marketing. For example, though they didn’t get a superstar name attached, they got marvelous actors who had cred with the various types of movie-goers who could become fans—Christian Coulson (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story), and Annie Golden (Orange is the New Black). In knowing what demographics Bite Me would resonate, they were able to create a marketing plan tailored-made for them, both through events and social media campaigns.
The Bite Me team believes that “indie filmmakers should not be forced to make distribution decisions about their films with as little data as is now available.” They are offering up this venture as a “case study in creative distribution” and will be transparent about all their costs and revenue to give fellow filmmakers an opportunity to learn from their experiences. Follow along at https://www.bitemethefilm.com/joyful-vampire-tour.
Want to hear more? We recently sat down with the team from Bite Me on our Women Crush Wednesdays podcast:
Panel: Sarah Wharton (Producer), Joanne Zippel (Executive Producer/NYWIFT Member), Jack Lechner (Executive Producer) and Kiwi Callahan (Filmmaker)
(not in attendance) Naomi McDougall Jones (Writer/Actor/Producer)
Panel Producer: Terry Greenberg
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Toby Perl Freilich
Welcome to NYWIFT, Toby Perl Freilich! Toby is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and writer, focusing on cultural reporting. Her work explores all sorts of perspectives, from senators to artists, spanning across the world. She co-produced and co-directed Moynihan, a film about the late New York senator, policy expert, and public intellectual. She also directed, produced, and wrote Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment, about one of the world's longest running and most successful experiments in radical, secular communal living. Right now, she is producing and directing I Make Maintenance Art: The Work of Mierle Laderman Ukeles about the pioneering ecofeminist and the first Artist in Residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation. Read about Toby’s inspiring past and future projects here!
READ MORENYWIFT at DOC NYC: In Conversation with Amy Nicholson
Finding your tribe is one of life’s greatest pleasures—and losing it is one of the greatest sorrows. In NYWIFT Member Amy Nicholson’s beautifully observed film Happy Campers, working-class Americans gather every summer at a seaside trailer park in Chincoteague, Virginia, to enjoy the simple pleasures of a scrappy, no-frills vacationland, and each other’s company. When a developer buys the land and reimagines the property, the inhabitants of this shabby Shangri-La wistfully eke out the joys of one last summer together as a melancholic twilight hangs in the air. Happy Campers just made its world premiere at DOC NYC, where it received a Special Mention for the Grand Jury Prize. Amy spoke to us about her unique process making this film, biggest challenges and triumphs, and the commodification of some of life’s simplest pleasures.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Melisa Ramos
Welcome to NYWIFT, Melisa Ramos! Melisa is a filmmaker and professor from Puerto Rico, bringing 14 years of post-production and motion graphics experience to New York. Her first production, Puerto Rican Voices, a docu-series about the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Following Puerto Rican Voices, Melisa continued to share Puerto Rican and Latin American stories. In 2020, she directed and produced From Performers to Spectators, a doc-series showcasing New York City performers during lockdown. She is currently in production on Hoop Warrior, her first feature film. Read all about Melisa’s journey as an editor and artist here!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Aisha Amin
Welcome to NYWIFT, Aisha Amin! Aisha is an NYC-based writer and director. As a director, her work expands across narrative, documentary, and experimental forms to tell authentic stories built from real experiences. Her past film projects have explored and highlighted overlooked communities particularly in New York City, including formerly incarcerated mothers and communities struggling with the presence of gentrification in their neighborhoods. Amongst her directing, Aisha is an emerging screenwriting and was selected to participate in Cine Qua Non’s 2022 Screenwriting Lab. She is a 2022 recipient of NYFA’s Tomorrowland Grant and a 2021 recipient of the NYFA Women's Fund grant. She was a recipient of the 2019-2020 Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellowship at the Jacob Burns Film Center where she directed two short documentaries. She is also a recipient of The Shed's Open Call Fellowship where she expanded her film practice to installation art. Aisha spoke to us about her favorite styles of storytelling, the intersection of narrative and documentary, and her latest projects.
READ MORE
Comments are closed