By Simon de Bruyn
SPAA Fringe patron and US distribution guru Peter Broderick has written a guide to the new world of distribution, where “the old rules don’t apply and the old rulers aren’t in control”.
Broderick said he was compelled to write a response of sorts to the much discussed “Yes, the sky really is falling” speech about indie cinema given by ex-Miramax president Mark Gill at the LA Film Festival’s financing conference in June. The full text of Gill’s keynote speech is currently on the Screen Australia website.
Broderick said the new world of distribution is growing and evolving rapidly, as compared to the old world which is in crisis as it is disrupted by digital technologies and begins to undergo major structural changes.
“The New World…presents unprecedented opportunities and fresh challenges to independent filmmakers who can reach audiences directly for the first time, but must take greater responsibility for their distribution than ever before,” he said in his newsletter.
He said he wrote the guide from a filmmaker’s point of view “rather than from a corporate perspective” and has made the whole essay available on his website.
In 2007, Broderick addressed the SPAA Fringe and big SPAA Conferences with his views on the changing landscape of distribution.