DIY Liveblog :: Four Eyed Monsters Case Study

// July 26th, 2008 // news

Arin Crumley tells his story of making and distributing FOUR EYED MONSTERS.

  • Started with real life experience (weird artists being weird artists) (didn’t speak for the first 4 months of relationship, stalked each other online)
  • Developed a one page outline of their story
  • bought a decent camera and started shooting
  • Cast ourselves and our friends
  • never got permits or insurance
  • if unsure of a scene, edit it right away and re-shoot if necessary (work with the medium like its clay, not made of wood)
  • made a thumbnail wall to help the editing process (pictures of scenes to move around)
  • hired a cinematographer for complex scenes
  • borrowed money from parents to finish the movie
  • despite positive reactions they didn’t get a distribution deal
  • posted a daily video blog at SXSW (but when you’re no longer a world premier you’re not as special), blog got picked up by indiewire (doing something new got attention)
  • screened at 20 film festivals over 9 months, videobloged the entire experience
  • decided that film festivals suck (didn’t get paid, distributors don’t attend regional festivals, festivals don’t share the emails of the audience, took time away from new projects, festival audiences may not be the right audience for your film)
  • new the apple was coming out with a video ipod, started video podcasting (hosted on the myspace frontpage)
  • know where major audience hubs and distribution methods are going (myspace > video, ipod > video, etc.)
  • Podcast became more popular that the film which couldn’t even get distribution
  • Montage your film from day one for press
  • Fans of the online video wanted to see the actual movie
  • started to collect requests (emails and zip codes) to see the movie, document demand
  • emailed the people from their email list in certain zip codes to come to screenings in their area
  • for every 1 request to see the film equaled one ticket sold
  • gave requesters the ability to interact with other requesters in their area via a web site
  • screened movie in SecondLife
  • starting selling dvds off website
  • was $100,000 in debt from making the film
  • Approached sponsors themselves to help fund the film (Spout.com gave them $1 for every signup), paid from youtube banner revenue,
  • Landed TV deal with IFC, sparked interest from foreign markets (Canada, UK)
  • link your revenue to what gives your audience value
  • Share/Save/Bookmark

2 Responses to “DIY Liveblog :: Four Eyed Monsters Case Study”

  1. Lance Aston says:
    July 27, 2008 at 7:16 am

    I was grateful for the attempt to make this event interesting and informative… however I found the location fabulously disappointing … an all day event with no AC under an downtown bridge is in my opinion … questionable …
    So, to Mr Crumley’s tale of the 4 eyed monster film.
    He is joyfully articulate and I think a true ground breaker in his quest for the future of film. His presentation was very interesting and he has a wonderful understated confidence. However when I did the math of his 3 year venture to get his film seen, it seems as far as profit he did rather poorly.
    I must say I come from a socialist minded country where art for art sake still has a chance…. but in the USA to net 60k over 3 years when you have been the poster child for new media is just not right. Not a reflection on Arin but really the way this industry works.
    Congratulations are well merited for his ground breaking work and vision for new media. I hope he finds a way to make some real money as he truly deserves it.
    I would really like to know if he ever does get paid from the IFC.
    Thanks for a brave new concept in film making and other than the heat and location, I found it a worthwhile experience.
    Lance Aston
    My twitter name is kurthans

  2. Arin Crumley says:
    July 28, 2008 at 6:40 pm

    We can blame the industry for not giving us 1 million dollars the second our film premiered at Slamdance. We can blame the theatrical system for not being able to expand even though the film was growing week over week. We can blame web video outlets for not providing a comprehensive way to monetize the episodes while they were blowing up. We can blame audience habits for so few people joining spout because it’s like voting and hard to know your own impact. We can blame IFC for making a pretty cool deal with us but then not really paying us yet and not sinking any money into their own promotional efforts yet.

    But her is actually what I think the problem has been. I’m starting to really believe in the power of attraction.

    We just weren’t in a money making mind set. We were in a money struggle mind set. So what happened is that we did make money, but never the full amount we could have, always just barely enough to survive and pay bills and in the end break even. But not enough to prosper as we should be doing and to build a huge amazing filmmaking future. So lately I’ve changed my mind set and believe that money can come and it’s been working. Now I’m trying to design a future business model with that mentality in mind. I’ve been envisioning money and support will come from all over the place and reminding myself that there is incredible value in what I do as a filmmaker and that this value can be translated into monetary success.

    So expect much more impressive yields in the future and this time with a world that is ready and supportive of all the efforts.

    Arin

Leave a Reply