the Distribution Advocates Podcast
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Churchill
More in the “resources” series, which is all about linking out to great work others are doing in the field. One of my aims is for this to be a place that I can send my students to and be a hub of support for them (and others of course…like you!). So please HIT ME UP WITH YOUR TIPS!
The team at Distribution Advocates are doing great advocacy and field building work. This is how they describe themselves. If you ask me they are like the Avengers (much cooler) for indie film.
Distribution Advocates works to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers in the current systems of distribution and exhibition. We are a coalition-in-formation striving to advocate for filmmakers and maintain plurality and originality in a culture that needs it more than ever. We fight for radical transparency, rebalancing entrenched inequities and blazing a new, more interesting, accessible and inclusive way forward.
They have a fund that’s making grants to experiments in distribution called Film-Ade. Who else is making grants towards distribution right now?!? Huge props. (Ok yes if you go to Europe most of the countries have either national or regional film bodies, often both, who do give support to distribution, a post for another day).
A great point of entry to what they do is their podcast, which in season 1 is broken up into 6 episodes covering:
sales agents
awards
film festival
film schools
exhibition
distribution
This is not a by the numbers hear the same old story but rather a demystification of these six areas with hard truths about how the system is NOT set up to reward those that come from the outside (I mean it’s not set up to reward those on the inside either really!). In fact most of these episodes and their guests challenge the strongly held notions around the indie film ecosystem that thrives on gatekeeping. Yes you can get around this if you come from outside the system by writing a great script or making a great film but you can’t rely on that. Those great unicorn success stories you hear are just super rare. Harder to get into Sundance than Harvard...
It’s important going into this to note that the episodes are not about pointing fingers and saying this is bad or that is bad but rather the knowledge you will learn empowers you to take charge of your own destiny much more than we all did coming up the industry previously. I will also add that for me (and likely others who have been in the indie space a while) there are things they get into that is actually uncomfortable to acknowledge. It’s important to confront these, to confront the “norms” we exist in and took for granted as ok. We need to clear a new path forward and not be afraid to step out into the unknown.
Big props to the DA team of Karin Chien, Avril Speaks, Amy Hobby, Abby Sun and Carlos Gutiérrez plus all their guests.
Go dive into the podcast. And let me be on the record to say we need a second season folks!
Be sure to give the Distribution Advocates Substack a follow and subscribe! And in case you haven’t gotten the breakdown of what differs between a follow and a subscribe on Substack go read this post from User Mag for all you need to know!
