If I were to develop an indie film theatrical distribution business (which, come to think of it, I would like to do), I would follow the Zeitgeist Films model (from the Village Voice article re: the company's 20 year anniversary):
"Gerstman and Russo, veterans of indie distribs First Run Pictures and Interama, respectively, joined forces in 1988, working in an elevator-sized apartment in the West Village for $175 per month. "We started the company with $1,000 each and $900 on a credit card," recalls Gerstman. Their first release was Bruce Weber's nonfiction boxing portrait, Broken Noses, followed by a collection of shorts from Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon's Apparatus Productions. Soon after, they released Haynes's feature debut, Poison, along with a bevy of work from budding auteurs, such as Guy Maddin's Archangel, Atom Egoyan's Speaking Parts, and The Films of the Brothers Quay."
More here.
And, the company is cool when approaching the big distribution changes that others are busy exploring at the moment:
"While other distributors are experimenting with video-on-demand and Internet distribution, Gerstman and Russo, in their typically tentative style, aren't leaping headlong into the new-media arena. "Big transformations are really not our thing," says Gerstman. "We're theatrical distributors. We're not looking to become producers..."
Read the entire excellent & inspiring article by Anthony Kaufman here at the Village Voice.
- Sujewa
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