Why all three titles at the same time?  It was, in a word, cheaper.  At this time, not certain if this was the wisest move, but it was the only option at the time given, once again, our lack of funds.  The DVDs began to roll out July 31st.  Therefore, you find me now swimming in distribution hell.  

Distribution … ah yes, what can make or break the average film production company, let alone a fledgling one such as ours.  In the beginning, the idea was a good one: make a film then self-distribute to folks on the streets of New York.  

Why self-distribution?  Well, let’s not kid ourselves here.  We paid no celebrity 10 million dollars to grace his/her face on our DVD cover.  Our production budget, and consequently, value of each feature has not risen above $5,000.  As a result, as I see it, distribution companies shy away from our product.  We knew all along we would have to do it ourselves, that was part of our business model. 

What made me think self-distribution was the way to go?  There is the incredible phenomenon that is Nollywood.  For those of you who follow the Nigerian film industry, you know it has become a juggernaut that ranks third in terms of annual movie releases, behind Hollywood, and Bollywood (India), respectively.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, simply google it and sit back and see what happens.  

Nollywood films have infiltrated the United States, and have become a booming business to local distributors who deal in African films.  Considering all this, when AFRICAN LIFE FILM SERIES was conceived, I knew we could run parallel to Nollywood.  Our films would serve the same viewers, mostly Caribbean Americans, Africans and, to a lesser degree, African-Americans.  In order words, there was a market already.  We didn’t have to create it. 

Running parallel to Nollywood, incidentally, means just that – running parallel, not swimming in the same river.  I could not write a Nollywood film if my life depended upon it, I imagine my training at Columbia.  Plus, the “cross-over” appeal is highly challenging to me.  I am interested in making films that everyone will be able to watch, and not one relegated to only a cross-section of the population.  

But distribution, however, we would have to use the same distribution channels that Nollywood employs in the States.  It goes something like this: filmmaker makes film; while filmmaker is busy in post, flyers of the DVD cover are sprayed about town to build buzz.  These posters grace the windows, doors, walls of local African DVD vendors; customers enter store, see flyers, begin pestering DVD seller with questions of when the movie will drop, etc.  It helps a great deal if the faces on the flyers are of top Nollywood actors/actresses (which our DVDs do not have, since, as I said earlier, we do not make Nollywood films); when film is finally released, there’s a mad dash to deliver DVDs to local stores before the pirates do. 

Earlier in this entry, I spoke about being in distribution hell.  So, in the next entry, I will share some of that suffering with you - VIGIL 

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