My first feature, New Low, was released about a month ago digitally and on DVD. You’re about to get insightful analysis on the success of our distribution model by someone who got a D in Microeconomics. If this were the old Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios, Doc Brown would be telling you to strap in right about now… But it isn’t, so if you’re reading this while driving, please pull over.

Our digital distribution is through a new partnership between Sundance and New Video, where a film that’s played at Sundance or gone through the labs is eligible to have a US digital release through New Video on iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, AmazonVOD, YouTube, and SundanceNOW.

It’s a very filmmaker-friendly deal on their part, where you keep all of your rights to the film, get a good percentage of sales, and have a lot of say in how the film is presented and marketed. It’s so filmmaker-friendly I’ve decided that the person who runs the partnership has got to be a basket of puppies. And I’m talking ORGANIZED puppies, ones that know a lot about the current distribution landscape, not those idiot golden retrievers (I’m never working with them again).

One of the features about this deal is that the filmmaker gets to decide which outlets they want to launch the film on. Currently, New Low is available on all of the outlets except for Netflix. Now, if you assumed that it’s not on there because I’ve lost so many of their copies of Corky Romano that they won’t even release my movie, I’d get where you’re coming from, but I actually chose to hold off on it (mainly because I can’t stop watching Corky Romano).

For anyone who doesn’t know (everyone else, you’re going to have to just read this paragraph and DEAL WITH IT), Netflix is a great way to get the most people to see your movie, but because they pay a flat fee instead of a per-view percentage, and because once it’s on Netflix, any of the 20 million subscribers won’t have a reason to get it anywhere else, so you pretty much stop making money from the distribution at that point. People who gave birth to me might say “I thought you loved not making money.” Well, I’m trying something different, okay?!

Now, the movie will be out on Netflix in March, but we wanted to try to squeeze the last penny out of the struggling US economy before launching there (The puppies’ words, not mine). I won’t know how the digital release has fared until the end of the quarter (I smoked a cigar and gelled my hair only while typing this sentence), but I think it’s safe to assume that I can put a down payment on that speedboat I’ve been eyeing.

Because the digital distribution was US-only, and I have a TON of fans in the Ukraine, we decided to also self-distribute DVDs internationally from the movie’s website (newlowmovie.com). This is where my marketing genius comes into play:

Despite the movie being no-budget, we’ve still got a little bit of that juice known as “star power” (we also have a surprising amount of “orange”). One of our actors, Toby Turner, has since become a YouTube celebrity with legions of devoted followers who are most likely in the sixth grade. We launched the trailer on his channel (here’s the� link) and got 150,000 views within the first day (and, judging from the comments, only about 10,000 of those thought the movie looked “gay” — a record low for a video on YouTube).

In addition, we reached out to different newspapers and websites that might be interested in posting about the release, like bloggers who liked the film when it played festivals, the college newspaper in Gainesville, FL, where the movie was shot, and every Corky Romano fan site (I figured, while I’m here…). Basically, trying to target different groups that might be interested in the film. And sure, we might not be posting ads in fancy magazines like Dog Fancy or even Cat Fancy, but when you’re working on a very tight budget, all you need is a little creativity and chutzpah (which I think is some sort of hummus).

Unlike the digital distribution, I know exactly how well the DVDs are selling. How well? Let me just put it this way: the Ukraine totally screwed me. We’ve done okay, made some profit, but it wasn’t quite the avalanche of orders we expected, considering that it’s the only way people who live outside the US can see the movie (YOU HEAR THAT, UKRAINE?!). Now, I’d heard a lot of people say “Nobody buys DVDs anymore,” but I thought it was more of a style-thing, like “Nobody wears bucket hats anymore”: you know, no one SAYS they do it, but as soon as your roommates leave, you put one on and feel great about yourself. You all know what I’m talking about.

Regardless of the Ukraine totally screwing me over (and I WILL get you for that, Ukraine), I’m happy to finally have my movie out there for people to see, 2 years after its premiere. Many films don’t get the opportunity, but hopefully this Sundance/New Video program proves successful, and more opportunities like it start showing up. As for me, I’ll just pop in the New Low DVD, watch some of the hilarious bonus features, and think about how it’s available for only $15.95 on newlowmovie.com.

“What a steal,” I’ll say to myself.