Today's Independent Filmmakers:
A New Generation Spurred by Technology
Interview with Ted Bonnitt
Music Dish.com, by LTVNET (Associate Writer)
| This is the last interview in our three-part series on today's innovative independent filmmakers. Ted Bonnitt is breaking all the rules with his documentary film Mau Mau Sex Sex. Rave reviews from Los Angeles Times and TV Guide Online. Playing in theaters across the country. Wanna know the best part? He's doing it himself. Let's find out how. [LTVNET] Tell us something about your background, Ted. What made you wanna make a movie? [Ted Bonnitt] Telling a feature length movie story has been a life long desire of mine. I'm a storyteller by profession, whether as a journalist or in entertainment. I have written and produced news and features for CNN, NBC, and NPR. I also have written, directed and produced entertainment programming ranging from my own comedy show on a New York radio station to working with the Firesign Theatre Comedy Troupe. I have an advertising and marketing background, with my current production company creating and producing radio campaigns for major motion pictures,, including Charlie's Angels, The Patriot, etc. When I was in school back east, I managed movie theatres for a time, so I have a certain comfort level in taking on the marketing, packaging, creative advertising and distribution tasks associated with movie self-distribution. [LTVNET] But specifically this kind of movie? [Ted Bonnitt] I wanted to make a movie that was funny and enlightening. I decided to make my first movie a documentary, because I have a journalism background and I'm more familiar with that style. I also think that at the time that we shot the picture (late 1999), the available quality of the lower cost digital movie format was better suited for non-fiction storytelling. It took me years to discover a subject that would be fascinating and entertaining. I chose the stories of film exploitation legends Dan Sonney and David Friedman because they are as different as they are fascinating, and they are likable and naturally funny, in addition to having a great life story to tell. From a production and marketing perspective, their story is of interest to many and supported with hundreds of their old films. We used those film clips to illustrate their tales, which also served to augment the limitations of the digital movie look. Finally, we could use the old artwork they used to sell their original films to market our movie about them. It was an ideal fit - engaging subjects and plenty of accessible support materials. The bottom line is that any story is compelling if you have a good subject. [LTVNET] You've had some success in getting your film into various theaters across the country. How did you do it? Where did you do it? [Ted Bonnitt] I called theaters in cities that program alternative/art house fare that are equipped with video projection. (We've decided to keep the movie in its native digital format rather than transferring it to film - for both financial and aesthetic reasons) Fortunately, all the theatres we've approached have booked the movie, including New York - a major hurdle. We are not four-walling the theatres. [LTVNET] Four-walling? [Ted Bonnitt] Four-walling is a term for when a distributor cannot convince the theater to take a gamble on the picture and then rents the theater for a flat rate, and then takes 100% of the box office proceeds. Renting is expensive plus the distributor must organize and pay for all the advertising and publicity to gain business. We've been fortunate that theaters are willing to book Mau Mau Sex Sex because they think it will do well for them. So we are working out traditional split box office proceeds with the theaters. Though they believe in the movie's potential, it does help our booking potential that we offer full color posters, ad slicks with favorable review quotes and 35mm film trailers to theatres. [LTVNET] You're selling Mau Mau Sex Sex on your website. How's that going? In fact, please give us a brief breakdown of sales overall. [Ted Bonnitt] The website (maumausexsex.com) has been a great help. It serves as a robust electronic press kit for both industry and consumers. We have hundreds of visitors a day to the site. We've just initiated sales, and it is too early to gauge them. Things should kick in by the time we hit theatres this fall. [LTVNET] You shattered a lot of conventional wisdom with Mau Mau Sex Sex. You shot it on digital tape and the audiences seem to be okay with that. For the most part, you didn't market the piece in film festivals. The theaters are using digital projectors to play your movie. It seems like you're doing virtually everything yourself. Do you think Hollywood wastes resources doing things their way? You must have some opinion on that. [Ted Bonnitt] Well, every method of marketing and distribution is different, and is designed for the product and its audience. Ours is very much a guerilla method in the making and the marketing. It is a lot of hard work, but a new wave of genuine independent moviemaking is emerging. The film festival circuit did not apply to our distribution objectives (to make money). We decided not to bank on the hope that someone would buy our movie along the way. We did get quality distribution offers early on at the Independent Feature Film Market in New York. But they amounted to a financial return for us akin to a bankruptcy settlement. We have faith in our movie. It was not our first choice to self-distribute, but we are enjoying success while trying to erase the stigma of self-distribution in the process. [LTVNET] Where is the filmmaking business headed, especially now that technology is empowering creative industrious people to produce and distribute quality motion pictures on their own? Is Ted Bonnitt a trend? [Ted Bonnitt] I think Mau Mau Sex Sex does represent a beginning of a new independent track. It's the people who own content that make money in the long run, so why not the creators? Our plan was to make a movie that people want to see, and give it shelf life that will allow selling direct to consumers over the coming years through theatrical, broadcast, home video, and eventually video-on-demand and Internet streaming opportunities. If you keep your production costs low, you should be able to tell your story your way and turn a profit. I get calls all the time from moviemakers looking to go this way. We're packaging and marketing our movie on the same Apple G3 computer that we made it on. We're aiming for a "desktop to big screen" success story. The democratization of digital technology is returning moviemaking to a small business opportunity. Hopefully these new tools will foster more storytelling diversity. [LTVNET] Thanks for sharing your time, Ted. July 16, 2001 |
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