WFor nearly two years under various lockdown conditions globally, the cinema industry experienced a major shift, as first-run films moved to streaming to capture audiences stranded at home.
For regional filmmakers, the challenge has gone further than that, as access to cinemas – with their limited time available for small and independent films made outside of major studios and distribution channels – has dwindled, even as screens are abundant in multiplexes. watched by smaller audiences.
Broadcast movies and television further fragmented audiences as screens became even smaller, shrinking to the size of a smartphone for some viewers.
For Bahamian filmmaker Maria Govan, director of Play the Devilgoing through a large distribution agency proved a difficult learning experience.
The distributor had exclusive rights to key territories, which limited the filmmakers’ ability to self-distribute. As a result, the film was limited to the regions in which it could be licensed for broadcast.
Play the Devil was a selection for the Watch a Movie On Us (WAMOU) initiative, a pandemic-inspired project by FILMCO, a Trinidad & Tobago coalition of filmmakers and producers.
The limited licensing agreement to stream the films was paid for by the National Gas Company, but the streams were geo-restricted (blocked by geographical location) to view.
“Our sales agent will not accept the usual [distribution] path in the future,” Govan said. “We’d rather go to streaming platforms than big distributors, especially with a feature film like Play the Devil.”
Govan and her team found it difficult to get access to the financial specifics of their film. Distribution took a large percentage of the profits along with additional fees that were billed as expenses.
Trinidadian Maya Cozier’s major directorial debut, That Heaven, was picked up for streaming on Amazon after a short run in T&T cinemas. The sales rep placed the film through Samuel Goldwyn Films, which secured distribution on Amazon, YouTube’s pay-per-view channels and Vudu. The extensive demands of distributors meant that delivery took several weeks.
Tfinancial return from cinema screenings can be a difficult proposition for filmmakers pushing boundaries for domestic audiences.
of Kim Johnson PAN: Our musical odyssey it had some success on French television, on PBS, and in theaters in Japan. But when he showed up in Trinidad, only four people showed up, Johnson recalled. The film was not picked up for broadcast during its initial distribution.
For movies in production, Netflix requires 4K capture (a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels), while Amazon requires a quarter of that at 1080p.
According to Gian Franco Wilson, CEO of Pavilion+ – a new streaming service aimed at the diaspora – these requirements are forward-looking and there may be flexibility for earlier films.
Wilson, who was born in Trinidad but has lived in the UK for most of his life, fondly remembers visits to the country where, for him, the most exciting thing was watching local programmes.
“It’s not just the quality of the format — it’s the story,” Wilson said. “We can’t expect Oscar-winning films to come out of the gate, but content has a role in reflecting itself on us.”
He noted the fragmentation of the audience, first from a single television channel, then to multiple cable channels. “Now with the Internet,” he said, “you’re not just dealing with hundreds of channels; you’re competing with other forms of entertainment.”
Fifteen years ago in business school, he decided he wanted to create Warner Brothers of the Caribbean. After years at Microsoft and Amazon in mobile, gaming and TV, he had what he described as his “ah-ha” moment.
First, it secured a deal with the Roku channel and became their biggest supplier of regional content – but soon began to complain that viewers outside the US, UK and Canada were powerless to watch.
Pavilion+ was his answer.
The platform was launched in mid-June and within a few weeks had tripled the catalog it offers to viewers. That number for regional films today is less than 100 discrete titles, which only scratches the surface of the content created and created across the Caribbean.
Viewers are interested in a large amount of content in a variety of styles, but every streaming service has started small and worked quickly to build the kind of catalogs that attract subscribers. But the pool of regional material available is still relatively shallow, and building sustainable streaming services depends on subscription revenue. Without investors to create more films, the region faces a chicken-and-egg puzzle that is still sorting itself out.
Of Roku’s 55 million viewers, the Caribbean regional section managed to attract 500,000, and this is the first target audience for the Pavilion.
orFollowing WAMOU’s pandemic inspiration, the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival created its own streaming platform – ttff+ – to build on the momentum of online viewing.
“Online distribution is inevitable – not only is it the future, it’s the present,” said FILMCO Interim Executive Director Mariel Brown. “Going online puts the power in our hands, in terms of deciding what will be shown and when.
“For too long,” she says, “local filmmakers have had to work within a hostile broadcast environment in which filmmakers [often] they were asked to pay for airtime, or submit their content for free, or participate in some nebulous revenue-sharing arrangement.
The first WAMOU in March 2020 reached 36,000 views for less than a dozen films available each week. This has slowed considerably since the sites have reopened, but the project is a long-term undertaking.
“Online distribution isn’t the panacea that a lot of people think it is, unless you’re Netflix or YouTube,” Brown said.
Wilson hopes to change things for filmmakers, not least because he’s trying to make his productions generate headlines for Pavilion+.
“With broadcasting, you have to keep feeding the beast,” he said, “and there are shows that we will produce to meet the interests of our subscribers.
“I’d like to see some fun stories. We are such a thoughtful community of people that I am surprised that so many of the movies are so dark and full of drama. The more we get into general entertainment, the wider our audience will be.”
Recommended viewing options
Caribbean Tales TV
caribbeantales-tv.com
US$9.99 per month, US$99.99 per year
Seven-day free trial
Digital movies can be purchased or rented
ttff+
plus.ttfilmfestival.com
Catalog of 27 movies available at
US$6 each
Users have 30 days to start viewing a rental and 30 days after they start viewing it
Pavilion+
pavilionplus.co
Individual (1 screen): $4.99 per month
Duo (2 screens): $5.99 per month
Family (4 screens): $6.99 per month
Studio neighbors
studioanansitv.vhx.tv
US$5.99 per month, US$60 per yearally
Seven-day free trial
Movies can be purchased individually (ranging from $3.99 to $61)
On this TV
kweli.tv
US$5.99 per month, US$49.99 per year
Seven-day free trial
StoryplayTV
storyplay.tv
Family oriented animation channel; some shorts available for free, with a catalog of films available to rent, most US$2.99
Patreon contribution of $5 per month is required
Patronage for The Caddy Club development starts at US$25 per month
YardVibes
caribbean creativity.nl
Catalog of 50 movies, all for rent, some for purchase
The average price is €2.99
