So as the end of the year nears there are those “lists” out there. My best film list if you’ve followed my socials in the past goes from March to March so I’ve got a few months to catch up on what the best of 2024 has to offer. Stick around for that. But not to be outdone by the spotify wraps et al, I thought about a list of non-dependent films that did interesting and/or successful releases in 2024. So here’s the Atelier Format’s 2024 round of applause for film releases.
*Note I’m going to focus on non-fiction and the list is just alphabetical!
The jury’s out in terms of the success as I haven’t read anything yet. But these folks saw quickly after their festival premiere that no streamer/distributor was going to touch this political film so instead of waiting around to see if folks changed their mind (which many films did for much of 2023 & 2024), they partnered with Jolt and brought the film to the public asap this fall even landing themselves on the doc shortlist. Just over a year ago I heard some filmmakers wonder out loud why they would put their film on Jolt...
Of all the films on the list this is probably the one who really could say at their festival premiere they came in thinking “hey traditional distributors come and try to put an offer on the table that’s better than what we can do, we have a Plan-A that isn’t what you can offer”. They screened different versions of the film throughout their release, that alone is crazy! We floated years ago the idea of screening different versions of a film to the distributor under different parameters, long story. Glad someone made this a reality. The global theatrical release of ENO has as of November brought in gross 900k+. They did one screening in Glendale with $40 ticket price that netted 27k after all costs. There’s a proper case study coming out some time next year and I’m sure there will be much to learn. Excited to see how they do with their twenty-four hour streaming event in January.
Another political film that had struggles with corporations, in this case I assume that no one wanted to piss off China? Knocked out a seemingly never ending 15 month plus theatrical tour across the globe showcasing why a slow release is another fine path to distribution success.
Love to read a proper case study at some point. Loved their eventized black Friday to giving Tuesday limited online release. It couldn’t be more appropriate act of defiance to release your film on Amazon’s big weekend. They worked with Gathr to get the film out and use their pay it forward option to gift the film experience. Also Gathr’s affiliate marketing options allowed partners to build the film’s audience while being incentivized.
Much like Gary Hustwit of ENO, Jeanie Finlay isn’t new to the world of building her own audience, her own relationship that can be a pathway to distributing her films. With Your Fat Friend she also had a participant with a big loyal social following. I’m blanking on the figures I heard at their Getting Reel case study presentation but they did eventized global screening events via Kinema and activated their audience base to sell out tickets fast. These initial Kinema screenings funded their direct distribution release. They also experimented with Jolt.
and then an honorable mention to the fiction film Hundreds of Beavers. Read the Jon Reiss case study here. Also let’s shout out Sabbath Queen, which I think will have good learnings to share when they are done but it’s too soon in their release right now. They did have great per screen average in the opening weekends in NYC and LA. NYC was $17,500 from one theater. There’s also the doc that made 12m at the box office that I can’t bring myself to name. It’s a clear indication that knowing your audience and having a path to reach them does in fact lead to box office success.
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Ok now the plug part of the post...
Firstly if you’re into Christmas music that’s a little left of center I do an annual mix and this year’s is coming in a few days. In the meantime you can listen to last year’s here and this is the mixtape playlist of all previous nine years.
Secondly dropping this here again with some updates.
One of the current films I’m involved in out there running an event driven release is Born Innocent: the Redd Kross Story. I’m aiming to gather up the numbers for a case study post early next year. The film started its Fall/Winter release at the Chinese Theater in LA and heading towards 30 40+ playdates locked in with hopefully some returns and holdovers. We just wrapped up sold out LA shows thankfully. The film will be back in LA in January and a Feb date at the Grammy Museum! A mini tour with the Alamo Drafthouse happening in LA, Denver, Austin and Brooklyn. We’re also screening in alternative venues too, clubs, record stores and community spaces. Find your tickets on our WATCH page.
*pictures from a recent pop up screening in Phoenix!
As always I’d love to know about your non-dependent experiences.