Indie Screenings

Indie Screenings FAQ

Basics
Q: What's this all about?
A: Indie Screenings is a revolutionary film distribution system - no, really it is - which allows anyone anywhere to hold public screenings of independent films and - crucially - charge for tickets and keep the profits.
Q: Who is Indie Screenings?
A: Spanner Films thought of the idea, commissioned Torchbox to write the software and then employed LRG Media to send out the DVDs and Ben Hecking to run the show. As of December '09, Ben is off to film school and we've partnered with Dogwoof, who have big expansion plans for 2010.
Q: When did it start?
A: We launched on May 22nd, with 71 simultaneous screenings around the UK - plus a live webcast featuring Nick Stern and George Monbiot. See the report of the launch event here.
Q: How does it work?
A: Anyone wanting to arrange a screening, comes to our website, www.indiescreenings.net, to buy a license - the amount of which is set according to who you are, where you want to screen, which country you're in, how many people will watch and various other factors. The lowest fee is 1 pound (for a school screening in e.g Sierra Leone) and the highest 12,000 pounds (for a multinational corporation screening to 1,000 or more people in eg America). A few days before your screening, you'll get a DVD in the post. You can charge whatever you like for tickets - and pass round a fundraising bucket too, if you want - and all profits are yours to keep for your campaign group or pocket. After the screening, you can keep your DVD (we’ve changed the rules recently) as long as you promise to book any further screenings through the site. That's it. (BTW - we are adding the option for people to download the film instead of getting a DVD in the post - should be ready in next few weeks).
Q: How's it going?
A: Flabbergastingly well. I'm writing this on 24th November, seven and a half months after our official launch on May 1st. In that time, 1035 screenings have been booked through the system, just in the UK.... about twenty times more than we were anticipating. And we've also arranged blanket licenses for big organisations like the NHS, Transport for London and the British Council to screen internally as often as they like. Viva la revolution.
The Films
Q: Why is there only one film available?
A: We launched the system with Spanner Films' climate blockbuster, The Age of Stupid and will be adding more films from January 2010. Probably one a month.
Q: Which films are coming next?
A: Obviously Spanner's earlier works, McLibel and Drowned Out. And we've got our eyes on Food Inc, The End of the Line, Burma VJ, The Yes Men Fix The World and Heavy Load. Plus a couple of dramas and a film which got censored in the 60s and will hopefully be coming back to life via Indie Screenings.
Q: I'm a filmmaker. Can my film get on?
A: Possibly, if you've made a Change The World film. The first question is: do you control the non-theatric rights? Indie Screenings deals with the non-theatric market only, so you should be OK if you a) haven't sold to a distributor at all, b) sold other rights (TV, DVD, theatric, internet), but kept non-theatric, c) didn't sell in certain territories (you could then offer your film via Indie Screenings in whichever territories you still control). If you have sold all rights worldwide then you either have to go back to the distributor and ask to have non-theatric back, wait for your deal to end or have a chat with your distributor and see whether they'd be interested in signing up to Indie Screenings. Details of the deal will be made public in January 2010.
Q: Yes, I have non-theatric rights. What do I do next?
A: Please email details of your film to filmmakers@indiescreenings.net
Global Indie Screenings
Q: Can I screen in my country?
A: On October 5th, we opened Indie Screenings up to the whole world. Anyone anywhere (except the exceptions to the rule listed directly below) can now screen The Age of Stupid, by booking through the website. The first date for international screenings was October 24th, to tie in with 350's International Day of Climate Action.
Q: Which countries are blocked for Age of Stupid?
A: Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Former Yugoslavia and Taiwan. But that doesn't mean you definitely can't screen there, more details below.
Q: Can I screen Stupid in Canada?
A: Screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the Canadian distributors, Criterion Pictures: call 1-800-565-1996 ext. 260 or visit www.criterionpic.com
Q: Can I screen Stupid in Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg?
A: Screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the local distributors, Chrisje Simon-van Oosterhout: cs@mgmc.nl
Q: Can I screen in Poland?
A: Screenings are allowed, but they need to be booked through the Polish distributors: Against Gravity, Artur Liebhart, Widok 5/7/9 pok. 410, PL-00-023 Warsaw, t +48-22-828 1079, f +48-22-826 7857, aliebhart@docreview.pl, www.againstgravity.pl
Q: Can I screen in Former Yugoslavia (including Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo)?
A: Maybe. Please contact the local distributor: Demiurg Cultural Management, Vasja Bibic, Cvetka Flakus s.p., Lome 3, 5274 Crni vrh, Slovenija, t +386 40 870 175, vasja.bibic@siol.net
Q: Can I screen in Taiwan?
A: Not sure. Please contact the local distributor: Dennis Lu, AV Jet Int'l Media Co., Ltd. Inflight & Content Business Development, www.avjet.com.tw Tel: 886-2-23461101, dennis.avjet@gmail.com
Buying the software & Blanket Licenses
Q: We are film distributors/financers/producers interested in licensing your software. Will you sell it?
A: If the offer is good enough.... Please contact us on person@indiescreenings.net to discuss.
Q: We are a big organisation with X offices in X countries. Can we buy a blanket license to screen throughout our organisation?
A: Yes. We have already made blanket deals with the NHS, Transport for London and the British Council, which we're absolutely delighted about. Please contact us on person@indiescreenings.net to discuss.
Holding a Screening
Q: I want to hold a screening. What do I do?
A: Go to the website - www.indiescreenings.net, click on the big green "Start Booking Now" button and then follow the instructions. Don't worry, you are not committing yourself to paying anything until you put your credit card details in at the end.
Q: Where can I screen?
A: Anywhere as long as it’s in the country you booked it for (see "Global Indie Screenings" above). Your front room will do fine but if you want more people to see it why not try; pubs, schools, church halls, museums, bookshops, offices, fields, canal boats. We’ve had screenings in all of these sites. If you have a good relationship with a local independent cinema then why not try them? One thing to note is that you should always discuss with the venue any costs from their end - find out if they have a projector and a screen or whether they’d need to hire one in etc. Indie Screenings is not responsible for these costs.
Q: I'd like to hold a screening for X people, in location X. How much would it cost?
A: We can’t answer that question as it is too vague. Just go to www.indiescreenings.net and follow the process until our software has generated a quote for you. It's also really easy to use and you are not committing yourself to anything. Go on, give it a go...
Q: I don’t want to pay for a booking yet though, I just want to find out how much it costs. What do I do?
A: That’s fine. Just visit www.indiescreenings.net and answer all the questions relevant to your booking. Once you’ve generated your fee you can just close the window - the booking won’t have been made and you won’t have had to pay a penny. Then, when you do want to make a booking, just go through the process again and move on to the payment side of things.
Q: I can't get the Indie Screenings website to work for me. Can I book on the phone?
A: Sorry, we don't have the person-power to book screenings individually. Maybe you could ask a friend to help you with the website? It definitely works, as we’ve had over 1000 bookings since we started. Have you tried using a different Internet browser, like Firefox? Start by clicking the big green "Start Booking Now" button...
Q: Can I book a speaker to attend my screening?
A: There is a list of suggested speakers on the Indie Screenings website, who you can request for your screening. You'll get an answer as to whether they can attend within a few days - as well as quote for their fee. If you have the technology, it might be possible to do a Skype Q&A, which is obviously much cheaper and easier than someone travelling to your event. It's often a good idea to get in touch with local campaign groups, or local branches of national groups. They know what they’re talking about and are the guys who are out there fighting the good fight.
Q: I don’t know how many people are going to turn up. It could be 100 or it could be 10. What information should I enter?
A: Just put your best guesstimate.
Q: I'm not sure whether my organisation counts as an X or an X in the Indie Screenings options.
A: Just go with whichever one you feel is closest, we don't mind.
Q: Can you advise about projectors/seating/technicalities?
A: Please see the How To Set Up A Screening guide on our website for everything we know about organising successful screenings.
Q: I've already got a copy of the DVD, I just want a license to screen it in public.
A: There's an option towards the end of the booking where you can tick "already got the DVD" and so we won't send you a copy (and your license fee will be a bit cheaper).
Q: It's mad to post DVDs all round the world. Why don't you have a download option?
A: We agree and we're working on it... Should be up and running by the end of January 2010.
Q: Is there a legal agreement?
A: Yes, everyone booking a screening has to agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Pricing & Payments
Q: How do you work out the price for your license fees?
A: Our cunning software calculates a bespoke license fee based upon who you are, where you plan to screen and how many people will watch the film. The lowest fee is 1 pound (for a school screening to 20 people in e.g India) and the highest about 15,000 (for a multinational corporation screening to 1,000+ people in e.g Britain).
Q: I think your fee is too high in my case, because of X.
A: If after using the software honestly, you feel that the quoted fee is too high or low then contact fees@indiescreenings.net explaining why you think you are the exception which breaks the rule and we'll get back to you. But we spent ages working out the prices and we think they're right.
Q: Ok. What if I want to hold multiple screenings. Do I get a discount?
A: Yes, the system allows a 30% discount on additional screenings, after you’ve booked your first, as long as you book at the same time.
Q: Why isn't the film free?
A: Quite a few people have said that if we "really cared about the planet", we would give Age of Stupid away for free. Here's why we're not going to. Firstly, the £450,000 budget was raised by our "crowd-funding" scheme: 228 people invested between £500 and £35,000 of their own money. (Which is incidentally the largest amount any project has ever raised using similar schemes.) We want to repay our investors' belief by returning at least some of their money. (We would have to take £10 million pounds to pay everyone back completely, so that's never going to happen - it's not a profit making exercise.) Secondly, if we can prove that this alternative funding system works, we might persuade other filmmakers (or writers or artists or whatever) to step outside the mainstream media and start making independent films, without advertising execs or corporate suits watering down their content. Thirdly, the film was made by 104 people - including top animators, editors, composers and everything in between - working at minimum wage or just above, some of them for five years. If we can take their wages up from almost nothing to ridiculously low, then they are more likely to give their skills to future low-budget projects. Fourthly, we can only make more films if we make our business viable - clearly we have to pay rent and eat. And if we had to get day jobs, we wouldn't be able to concentrate on our films - or our new distribution models - or the Not Stupid action campaign - or writing this FAQ to answer your questions. And finally, we have put our hearts and souls into the film and feel that it has value: the fact that you'd like to hold a screening kind-of means that you agree. So in the same way that car manufacturers don't give away their cars, publishers don't give away their books and hot dog sellers don't give away their hot dogs, we're not going to give away our film. Having said all that, you can of course find a pirate copy of the film and screen it illegally without a license and we'll probably never find out. And you can steal from charity shops, evade your tax and change your granny's will when she loses her eyesight.
Q: So I’ve gone through to the payment section but it wants me to pay through PayPal. I don’t have a PayPal account. Is there some other way I can pay?
A: You don’t need to have a PayPal account to pay for the film just as long as you have a credit card.
Q: How secure is PayPal?
A: Very. It’s the world’s most widely used secure payment provider. See the PayPal website for their view www.paypal.com
Q: I work for a school/local council and it is not possible to pay by credit card. Can I send a cheque? Will you send me a payment order?
A: Sorry, we don’t have the people power to process payments other than credit card. Why don't you pay on a personal card and then get reimbursed by your organisation?
Publicising Screenings - Age of Stupid
Q: So I’ve booked my film but I don’t really know where to begin when it comes to organizing the rest of it. Any tips?
A: The How-To section of our website has all the information you need. You can find it by clicking on the following link www.indiescreenings.net/how_to and then clicking on the PDF image on that page. You might get a security warning, but it's legit, don't worry.
Q: What about publicity materials?
A: Make your own poster here: www.ageofstupid.net/postermaker and take anything you want from the Age of Stupid website www.ageofstupid.net. There's loads of photos here and the logo is here. You don't need to ask us for permission to use our images in relation to your screening.
Q: I ticked the box to "publicise my screening". What does this mean?
A: Your screening will be listed in the Upcoming Screenings section and on our really rather funky little map. It just lets everyone know that there is a screening going on and, if you’re open to the general public, it will hopefully boost your attendance.
Q: Actually I did that but the screening isn’t listed on your website. What does that mean? Am I still going to get my DVD? Did I actually book the film?
A: Sometimes it will take a few days between booking your indie screening and it showing up on our site. This is because screening information transferred from the Indie Screenings site does not automatically appear on The Age of Stupid site, and instead has to be verified manually. You can do this yourself if you go to http://www.ageofstupid.net/postermaker/[your email] and put the venue address into the correct columns. And, no, don't worry, this does not have any impact on your disk - DVDs are being sent out by LRG Media and they use the information that you inputted into the website.
Q: My screening isn’t listed correctly. Can you please change it?
A: You can do this yourself at www.ageofstupid.net/postermaker/[your email] Once you've made the relevant changes, save them by clicking on "save details/make PDF". If you are unable to make the necessary changes, you can email your updated info to me on person@indiescreenings.net, but this will take up to seven days as I'm only human.
Problems & Refunds
Q: What happens if I haven’t received my disk in time for my screening? It’s tomorrow and it still isn’t here!
A: If you've booked your screening through the Indie Screenings website and haven’t received your disc three days before your screening then please email dvds@indiescreenings.net. Your email will definitely be answered, as long as it's a weekday. Please don't call the Spanner Films office as we are not doing the disc delivery - it is outsourced to LRG Media.
Q: What happens if I have to cancel my Indie Screening. Can I get a refund?
A: If your DVD has not yet been posted out, you can get a refund minus an adminstration fee. Contact dvds@indiescreenings.net to do this. If your DVD has already been posted, you cannot get a refund. Either way, you can rebook your screening by starting again with the Indie Screenings website.
Q: I booked a screening and no one turned up to my film/the venue had hidden costs and it ended up costing me more than I thought. Can I get a refund?
A: Sorry, no. It states in our terms and conditions that Indie Screenings is in not responsible for the success of your screening. Make sure that you give yourself enough time to publicise your screening and make sure that you’ve discussed any extra costs with your venue before you go ahead with the screening.
Q: I had to cancel my screening at the last minute because we had a death in the family/my wife gave birth unexpectedly. Can I get a refund?
A: Obviously there are some circumstances that are totally out of your hands. In these situations please contact person@indiescreenings.net and let us know - we’re not ogres. Maybe we could let you screen the film again for free.
Film Festivals
Q: I want to screen the film at my festival. How much will it cost? How do I go about it?
A: If you're in the UK, just book through the Indie Screenings: www.indiescreenings.net or contact person@indiescreenings.net if you feel your event is outside the system. If you're not in the UK, please email all details of your festival to person@indiescreenings.net including: where / when, festival website, how many attendees, proposed screening fee, language version requested, screening format, speaker requests, press attendees, entry deadline and so on. Basically, the more info you provide, the faster we can respond.
Mailing List
Q: How do I keep up with what's happening at Indie Screenings?
A: Just send an email to addtolist@indiescreenings.net to join our mailing list.
Q: How many messages?
A: Not at all many. One or two a month, maximum.
Q: Can I send something out on the Indie Screenings mailing list?
A: Sorry, no.
Q: How do I get off the list?
A: Follow the link at the bottom of the mailing list messages or send an email to getofflist@indiescreenings.net
Anything Else
Q: My question has not been answered. Who can I talk to?
A: If this is not a porky pie, and your question really isn't answered here, please email us at person@indiescreenings.net and we will respond as fast as humanly possible.