I started getting all my things together for Cannes Film Market which begins in little over a week. Whooooeeeeee! And for all of you who have been asking, YES we plan to take little videos and post them up for you "Live From Cannes" style, so you'll be able to experience it with us, even if you're not there. That is barring any technological melt-downs!

So there's been a lot going on in the last couple of weeks in the Pay TV arena. And I know from my experience consulting with filmmakers that getting a Pay TV deal is one way filmmakers hope to recoup some of their budgets.

Well if you recall, in the All Channel Films Audio Seminar a couple of months ago, we learned that although big Pay TV deals for indies are rare they aren't impossible to get IF you have the right ingredients. We also learned that VOD/PPV can be even MORE of a profit center for indies than Pay TV. To get a refresher course on all this, you can check out the ALL CHANNEL Audio Seminar here:http://www.filmspecific.com/members/578.cfm

Now for how this relates to current events...

First of all, Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate have joined forces to launch a rival movie channel and VOD service to Showtime, under the Viacom umbrella. Word on the street is that Showtime is stressed out about this. Why? Because it means they will lose 3 of their biggest suppliers of movies (remember, big studio output deals are their lifeline). But guess what? They're saying that indies might be in higher demand now, since they still need tons of content to fill their movie slots (even though they're relying even more on their original programming than ever before).

And secondly....even though the demand for indies might be increasing at Showtime in the short term, over the long term the Pay TV window in general is shrinking in importance. The main reason for this is because Studios are getting fed up with the decrease in license fees from the big Cable networks (which is what caused them to go off and start their own channel in the first place). Thus, they are starting to invest more in the VOD/PPV window which has much higher margins. In fact, just last week Warner Brothers said they will begin releasing their films on DVD and VOD/PPV on the same day. Mind you, they are also looking to replace declining DVD revenues, but VOD/PPV continues to be a HUGE profit center for Studios. Great news is, indies can participate in VOD/PPV distribution as well. So don't forget to add that to your distribution plan.

And speaking of Distribution Plans, we had info-packed Advanced Seminar this weekend on GETTING THE MOST OUT OF CANNES. If you missed it, you can download the MP3 right here: http://www.filmspecific.com/members/626.cfm

Following the seminar we had a live Q+A and I got to speak extensively with one participant on crafting inquiry letters to distributors. During the impromptu consultation, I realized what an important topic this is, so I've pulled together a nice PDF download called "Distributor & Sales Agent Inquiry Letter Samples". Get your hands on it right here: http://www.filmspecific.com/members/635.cfm

That's it for now gang! Have a great week and I'll speak to you again soon...

To your success, Stacey*