DETOURS: Coming Soon to Amazon Prime!

I'm delighted to announce that DETOURS will be released soon exclusively on Amazon Prime! This means that it will be free to watch for members, and available to rent or buy for non-members. I'll post an exact date as soon as I have one.

It's great to be working once again with Distribber on this - they've been terrific with my first feature, Surviving Family, and I'm looking forward to continuing the relationship.

Here's a small taste of Detours - one of my favorite scenes featuring Carlo Fiorletta and Peter Graham, with Tara Westwood at the wheel.

Lower Prices, or the McDonald's Effect

One of the challenges of indie filmmaking - like many other small businesses - is figuring out the best price point for your product.

My first feature, Surviving Family, is available on iTunes and Amazon Prime. Prime members can watch for free but for iTunes and regular Amazon, I set the price. The split is 70/30 for iTunes sales and 60/40 for their rentals; it's 50/50 with Amazon. I work with Distribber for the set up and to collect revenue; they do not take a percentage of sales or rentals.

I recently decided to reduce the rental price in both places to $0.99 - it took a bit of persistence (and help from the Distribber support staff) to make that happen, as it's what the companies consider a "promo" price rather than a "regular" price.

Why did I do it?  For a small movie with some recognizable actors (Billy Magnussen, Tara Westwood, Katherine Hughes, Vincent Pastore, and the wonderful Phyllis Somerville) but that is not widely known to movie watchers, I need people to take a chance with their entertainment budget. I figure $0.99 is the cost of a cup of coffee at McDonald's and a reasonable amount to gamble on an unknown movie.
 
Was this a good move?  I'll let you know in 6 months!