After dealing with feet dragging by distributors over the acquisition of her film TEN9EIGHT, filmmaker Mary Mazzio decided to assume the role of theatrical distributor on her own and booked her film directly into AMC theaters in eight cities across the U.S. In this case study, Mary discusses how she secured the screenings with a major exhibitor, the methods she used to market and promote the screenings, collecting from the exhibitor, what she learned, what she'd do differently next time and more.

Additional Resources
The official TEN9EIGHT site: http://ten9eight.com
To pre-order the film on DVD visit: http://www.50eggs.com/osCommerce
To read the press Materials for TEN9EIGHT visit: http://ten9eight.com/for-media
To learn more about 50 Eggs visit: http://www.50eggs.com/about.html
To follow TEN9EIGHT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ten9eight
To follow TEN9EIGHT on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ten9eight
Mary's blog: http://marymazzio.blogspot.com

About Mary Mazzio

Mary Mazzio, an award-winning director, Olympian, and former law firm partner, is Founder and CEO of 50 Eggs, an independent film production company. Mary wrote, directed and produced the highly-acclaimed award-winning films, Lemonade Stories, Apple Pie and A Hero for Daisy and recently completed we are BlackRock. Her most recent project is Ten9Eight, which tells the stories of several kids from low-income communities who discovered the power of entrepreneurship.

Mary's interest in the subject of entrepreneurship was piqued after she made Lemonade Stories, an award-winning film about extraordinary entrepreneurs and their mothers featuring Richard Branson, Arthur Blank and Kay Koplovitz among others. Mary's first film, A Hero for Daisy tells the story of Title IX pioneer and two-time Olympian Chris Ernst, who galvanized her rowing team to storm the Yale athletic director's office in 1976, protesting the lack of athletic facilities for women. The film was hailed by The New York Times as a "landmark film," was invited to screen at the Smithsonian, and is in thousands of classrooms across the country. This project was followed shortly by Apple Pie, an intimate film about star athletes and their moms. It serves as a tribute to the often-invisible strength, courage and power of mothers, a resounding theme in Mary's projects.

Mazzio, an Olympic athlete (1992-Rowing), is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Georgetown Law School. A recipient of several awards including the Women's Sports Foundation Journalism Award, a Gracie Award, a Myra Sadker Gender Equity Curriculum Award, a Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship (to Korea); the Mary Lyon Award (from Mount Holyoke College); and a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship (to France), Mary, formerly a partner with the law firm of Brown Rudnick in Boston, MA, has served on a number of Boards of Directors including Shackleton Schools (which serve high school students in danger of failing in traditional high schools); Sojourner House (a homeless shelter); The Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, The Head of the Charles Regatta, The National Rowing Foundation, and World T.E.A.M Sports (supporting disabled athletes). She has also served on the Advisory Board for The Rhode Island International Film Festival as well as serving as a judge for the Sports Emmys. The Schlesinger Library at Harvard University has requested all of Mazzio's papers for its collection.

Mazzio has also been the keynote speaker at numerous events and ceremonies (both corporate and educational) across the nation, including: the State of Nebraska Convention on Economic Development; the NCAA Title IX Convention; The National Coalition of Girls' Schools Convention; the Women's Sports Foundation Convention; the National Association of Collegiate Women's Athletic Administrators' Convention; and USA Hockey's Patty Kazmaier Awards (celebrating the best collegiate hockey player in the country) as well as hundreds of events at universities and high schools across the country. She is a frequent guest on NECN, speaking on issues of the day. Mary is willing to disclose her height and true hair color - but refuses to disclose her golf handicap, particularly after her performance at the Drew Bledsoe Celebrity Golf Tournament where she participated as a celebrity (who nobody knew). She was, however, heckled by real celebrities -- NFL great Lynn Swann and producer Bobby Farrelly (There's Something About Mary) for having brand new golf shoes. She heckled back.

Her work has been supported by New Balance, Welch's, BlackRock, Staples, CVS, Babson College, Life Is Good, Nike, Clif Bar, The John Templeton Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, among others. Mary and her work have been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, The Los Angeles Times, Business Week, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Forbes.com, MSNMoney.com, CNN Sunday Morning, CNN Headline News, NPR (On Point, The Connection, It's Only A Game), Oxygen, ESPN's Sports Center, Baseball Tonight, and Cold Pizza.

Mazzio resides in Massachusetts with her husband, Jay Manson, and two children.

PC Users:
If you're using a Windows PC, RIGHT CLICK on the "DOWNLOAD" links above, and from the pop up menu select "Save Target As" in Internet Explorer or "Save Link As" in Netscape. In the "Save As" dialog box, choose where you'd like to save the file on your hard drive, then click "Save." Once the download is complete, simply open the file. The MP3 file should open in whatever audio program you have on your computer.

Mac Users:
If you're using a Mac and Mozilla Firefox, move your cusor over the "DOWNLOAD" links above, click the CTRL key, then click on the link. (The key is to do this in order) From the pop up box, select "Save Link As". Another window opens allowing you to choose where you'd like to save the file on your hard drive, then click "Save". Once the download is complete, simply open the file. The MP3 file should open in whatever audio program you have on your computer.

If you're using a Mac and Safari, move your cusor over the "DOWNLOAD" links above, click the CTRL key, then click on the link. (The key is to do this in order) From the pop up box, select "Download Linked File As". Name the film and the file downloads immediately. Once the download is complete, simply open the file. The MP3 file should open in whatever audio program you have on your computer.