The Love Like Hers self distribution experiment, a look at the figures

As an indie filmmaker and entrepreneur I’m always looking at ways to monetize the work I do, like everyone else, I have bills to pay and making films is not cheap! The decision to self distribute Love Like Hers was meant to highlight the need to make a return as a filmmaker as well as act as an experiment for such a self distribution model.

I’ve been very luck to have built up a loyal following over the last few years via Twitter and this blog, through the innovative way in which I’m sharing the whole filmmaking process – open, honest and online. I wanted to see if I could offer something that would result in people parting with their hard earned cash, and so I wanted to release Love Like Hers on DVD and Blu-Ray and pack it full of cool extra features (see promo video above or click here to see what’s on the disc).

In this blog post I wanted to share the financial breakdown, including costs of this self distribution experiment. To date, the Love Like Hers DVD/Blu-Ray has sold 188 units, but I will base this breakdown on 100 sales.

I’ll start with the costs per disc:

• Blank DVD (dual layer) = £0.54
• Single DVD case = £0.13
• Printed DVD wrap = £0.35
• On body print = £0.10
• Envelope = £0.25
• DVD TOTAL COSTS = £1.37 (per unit)
• Blank Blu-Ray (25gb) = £1.08
• BLU-RAY TOTAL COSTS = £1.91 (per unit)

The postage costs for the packages are £1.20 for UK delivery and £3.50 for international.

Here’s the sales breakdown based on 100 units sold:

• Blu-Ray International – 22x £21 = £462.00
• Blu-Ray UK – 35x £18 = £630.00
• DVD (UK only) – 43x £12 = £516.00
• TOTAL SALES (based on 100 units) = £1,608.00

Taking postage and VAT into consideration on the above figures, the total profit for the 100 units is £948.02.

So, it’s working out at approx £1,000 per 100 units sold, which is great if a large number of units can be sold. This may end up being time consuming and incredibly labour intensive, is it worth it? Only time will tell but at the moment – yes.

The target is to sell 1,000 units over the next 3 – 5 months. The money raised will help go towards future creative projects, including the next short film, Walk Away.

Hope you found this post of interest, the major thing I’ve learnt is it’s important to make sure people are getting plenty of bang for their buck. On the Blu-Ray there’s over 4 hours of behind the scenes extras and all three of my other short films in full HD.

If you would like to get your hands on a Love Like Hers DVD or Blu-Ray, please do visit dannylaceyfilm.co.uk/lovelikehers_shop.html

Keep your eye on the blog for more updates on the next short film, Walk Away and some very exciting news about a big workshop at BAFTA!

Thanks for stopping by and for your continued support.

Danny
dannylaceyfilm.co.uk
twitter.com/dannylaceyfilm
youtube.com/dannylaceyfilm
vimeo.com/dannylacey