Magic Rock is proud to announce that Good Intentions Films LLC and producers Pamela Peacock and Richard Sampson are making the DVD for their upcoming romantic comedy, “Good Intentions”, available on their website via Neoflix.   The film stars Grammy award-winning, country superstar LeAnn Rimes (“Northern Lights”), Luke Perry (“Beverly Hills 90210”), Elaine Hendrix (“The Parent Trap”), Jon Gries (“Napoleon Dynamite”), and Jimmi Simpson (“Date Night”).   Neoflix will provide online DVD sales and distribution support for Good Interntions LLC.  The DVD is available from the film’s office website http://www.goodintentionsmovie.com/.

About the Film:

Description

Meet Etta Milford. Loving Wife. Doting Mother. Armed Robber. When Etta’s husband blows their nest-egg on ill-conceived inventions, she secretly decides to take their children’s “investment” matters into her own hands and things quickly go awry. Their savings gone, her husband suspicious, and their children out of control, Etta concocts a scheme of unexpected proportion to get back their money and save her family. There are just a few things she has to do first, including blackmailing the sheriff, and holding up the grocery store before little league practice.

Cast

Starring Grammy award-winning, country superstar LeAnn Rimes (“Northern Lights”), Luke Perry (“Beverly Hills 90210”), Elaine Hendrix (“The Parent Trap”), Jon Gries (“Napoleon Dynamite”), and Jimmi Simpson (“Date Night”).

Production Credits & Notes

Directed by Jim Issa, Good Intentions marks the feature film debut of Atlanta-based film production company, Shadowlight Pictures headed by Producers Pamela Peacock and Richard Sampson.

Top Selling Neoflix Documentary Clients First Year’s Performance (by Box Office Metrix)

This report shows the first year’s sales performance for top-selling Neoflix DVD clients, with documentary films comprising the majority of this group.  We decided to create this table for filmmakers who (a) wanted to know if self-distribution for DVDs can work; (b) what “numbers” are these self-distributed films doing? [Keep in mind these are only 1st year sales, so these clients have actually sold more than what is reported here.]

In addition, we provided charts on the characteristics of each clients’ performance throughout the first year.  When you click on the sales number in the second column, you will be linked to the month-to-month performance chart.  If you go through each graph and correlate to the channel that each client sells through, an interesting trend appears.  Those clients that sell to more than one channel tend to have less “spike and fall” characteristics.  Instead, multi-channel selling helps smooth out (and elongate) the sales cycle, thus making a case that the more potential channels you sell into, the more consistent the sales numbers over time.

By: A. Luna (aluna(at)magicrock.com)

Magic Rock will begin publishing statistics and research reports to the public relating to self-distribution process for films and videos.  If you are interested in receiving these reports, please email bow(at)magicrock.com, Subject: BOM Reports.

As an independent filmmaker who embarked on self distribution, I was leery of using any old fulfillment company. I’d heard way too many horror stories. I actually drove out to see the Neoflix warehouse to ensure that I was making the right decision. JC and Ginny answered my many questions and went on to deliver on their promises. I used the soup to nuts approach. They not only replicated my DVDs and introduced me to to a very cool type of environmentally friendly packaging but have gone on to send them out to customers with no issues. They’ve been the consummate professionals and wonderful to deal with. I highly recommend Neoflix to any filmmaker who is looking to self distribute.

Anat Baron
Ducks In A Row Entertainment Corporation

Neoflix client.  Film: Beer Wars

Curnan Pictures and director Albert Pyun have decided to experiment with DIY as part of their release for the new film Bulletface.   They are offering two DVD packages: The Bulletface Collector’s Package with 5 discs for $29.99 (including Bulletface feature film, Bulletface feature film with director’s commentary, Free Bonus feature film–Left for Dead: Inferno Version, and 2 full-length CD soundtracks), and an Exclusive Package for $14.99 that includes the Bulletface feature film and the free bonus Left for Dead feature film.

This represents an exciting opportunity for both the filmmakers and Magic Rock to experiment with tools for self-distribution and social media tools to generate awareness, then gauge process for conversion to sales.  Aside from helping create the customized Albert Pyun Films website and the store, Magic Rock is planning to run an extensive promotional and affiliate marketing campaign to drive sales using its platform tools Neoflix and Indie Clix.

Filmmaker Albert Pyun has directed over 45 films, beginning with the 1982 action-adventure film, THE SWORD AND SORCERER, which still ranks as one of the top grossing independent films of all time.  It was re-released by Anchor Bay on DVD in 2002 and continues to enjoy screenings at conventions and festivals around the world. He followed with the highly original RADIOACTIVE DREAMS which won the top prize as Best Picture at the Brussels International Film Festival of Fantasy (BIFFF). His action film, TICKER, was awarded the Most Successful  Non-Theatrical Release of the Year for 2002. His science fiction cult classics, CYBORG and NEMESIS, both opened theatrically in the top five of North America box office.  (read more about Albert Pyun)

Here’s what Albert shared with Dread Central about the making of Bulletface:

“Why did I want to make Bulletface? Well, when I first read Randall Fontana’s script, I was drawn to the way he created a kind of throwback to the B-movie noir crime thrillers of the 1940’s and 50’s. I really wanted it to be, stylistically, like a contemporary version of those great crime thrillers from the poverty gulch studios of the time like Monogram. They were shot fast (Bulletface was shot in five days), on the cheap (Bulletface cost just a bit less than $100,000), and with a lot of creative desperation (which mirrors the plights of the Bulletface characters).

The great appeal of these films was that they had characters that were generally unredeemable and very bad. It was shades of black, not gray. These were hard-eyed, sensationalistic films. Precursors to the exploitation movies of the 1960’s and 70’s. So Bulletface has a lurid tone. It’s a little scruffy and ragged with sharp edges … a movie that follows one person’s two-year descent into Hell.

I was also looking for something to star Victoria Maurette, the young Argentine star of my Gothic horror western Left For Dead. I wanted to bring her tough, sullen quality into a more contemporary setting. She has one of the more remarkable faces I’ve ever had before my camera. It’s exotic, petulant, and beautiful in a rough and street-wise way. Clearly not a Hollywood starlet type.

Bulletface was originally written with a male lead. A traditional silently coiled man. I thought casting Victoria in the part would open up its possibilities. I kept the romantic and sexual connections the same. So her relationships are with women, but clearly she is bi-sexual. Victoria brings a sexy earthiness into the role that makes you understand her character’s preference for female companionship.”

To generate awareness, Pyun and Curnan Pictures is using a giveaway campaign to promote the new release to various genre websites, social media venues, and fan sites.  Here are some examples of websites running the Bulletface giveaway promotion:

http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36004/win-a-five-disc-bulletface-dvd-package

http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2010/02/19/Win-an-autographed-copy-of-BULLETFACE-on–5disc-DVD

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albert-Pyun-Movies/172106871258?ref=ts

http://www.bulletfacemovie.com/twitchfilms/

In answering the questions by many clients who sell to educational institutions, libraries, and wholesale, here are the price range we see for each channel.

[1] License to public and high school libraries:  Usually twice the rate as the private home use version, between $39 to $69 per DVD.  This does not include screening rights for inside classrooms, but not auditoriums or libraries, which clients individually negotiate based on the size of the audience.  Clients have asked for $1 per anticipated audience, so a 100-person screening event would charge $100 + the cost of the DVD license.

[2] Academic and educational Institutions.  Some clients have two levels here, depending on institution size.  Two-year community colleges usually are charged between $75 to $125, and large 4-year institutions at $150 to $350.  The pricing varies depending on the length of the content, and if there are extra materials or handbooks (i.e. in digital format on a separate disc) included.  This license also includes classroom screenings, which on an institutional campus can be hundreds of students, but not public screenings.

[3] Wholesale. These are the volume discounts we normally see from clients selling multiple units from their e-commerce stores.  For retailers, the discounts are the same, except the minimum quantity is usually 10 units.

2-5 copies: 10% discount
6-10 copies: 15% discount
11-25 copies: 20-25% discount
26-50 copies: 30-33% discount
51-100 copies: 40% discount
100 copies plus: 40-50% discount

Neoflix Top Documentary Titles – January 2010

Neoflix is proud to report to our clients that the Neoflix operated Amazon store achieved near perfection during 2009.  With nearly 400 buyer ratings, 98% positive, 1% neutral, and 1% negative.   During Q4, Neoflix’s Amazon store had 100% ratings by users, as well as achieved less than 1/2% late shipments.

Neoflix’s Amazon Rating

(This is the January monthly performance letter from Amazon)

Greetings from Amazon.com,

Welcome to the Customer Experience newsletter. This document gives you improved insight into how you’re doing with respect to customer satisfaction. You can also access this information from your Seller Central account (Seller Central > Reports > Customer Metrics).

The following sections describe historical performance against four key criteria.

A. Order defect rate (ODR): The percentage of orders that have received a negative feedback, an A-to-Z Guarantee claim or a service credit card chargeback. It allows us to measure overall performance with a single metric.

B. Pre-fulfillment Cancellations: This is a great way to measure your in-stock rate for items sold with Amazon.com.

C. Late shipment rate: On-time shipment is a promise we make to our mutual customers. Orders ship-confirmed three or more days beyond the expected ship date are considered to be late.

D. Percentage of orders refunded: High refund rates may be an indicator of item stock-outs.

Your individualized information is presented below. You may review a list of frequently-asked questions covering common inquiries in the “Customer Experience Metrics” reference at our website: Seller Central Help > Learn More About… > Customer Experience Metrics.

Performance Targets

All Amazon.com merchants should be working toward achieving and maintaining a level of customer service that meets the following performance targets. Failure to meet these targets does not necessarily put your account in negative standing, but failure to improve may negatively affect your account.

• Order defect rate: < 1%
• Pre-fulfillment cancel rate: < 2.5%
• Late shipment rate: < 5%

These are baseline goals. Merchants with exemplary performance have the opportunity to distinguish themselves to buyers through the feedback rating that appears next to each of their listings. Most merchants are exceeding these targets, so the stronger your performance, the better your chance of building a stronger, more competitive business.

Your Metrics

Recent Customer Experience Data

Overall Review Summary

Orders placed between 10/19/2009 and 01/17/2010

Order Defect Rate (ODR) Breakdown

Orders placed between 10/19/2009 and 01/17/2010

Magic Rock is pleased to announced that its Neoflix fulfillment service has been rated as a “Top Choice” fulfillment house by Filmmaker Magazine in the just released Winter 2010 issue.   Clients who are seeking a solid service with options to expand into optional services have found Neoflix to be a trusted e-commerce and fulfillment provider.  The article can be found here:  http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/winter2010/fulfillment-company.php

===Start of Article===

Filmmaker Magazine, Winter 2010 Issue

As part of our ongoing effort to provide information that may help DYI filmmakers make better decision during the process, Magic Rock has established a new group to create statistics, reports, and perform analysis under the Box Office Widget flag.  The three targeted reporting groups are:

1. Performance reports for Magic Rock clients based on their individual titles;

2. Public statistics and reports for trade press and the industry in general;

3. Analysis and research reports for film financing and production companies, and filmmakers about how to optimize a direct-to-consumer marketing strategy.

Each month, Magic Rock will take sales data from Neoflix to create aggregated information on sales performance by region as well as publish a list of top-selling DVD titles that are independently distributed on Neoflix.   As we move forward, additional reports will be added to the monthly reporting.  Below are three reports.

Top Selling DVD Titles on Neoflix

Note: ranking based purely on online DVD sales transacted and shipped by Neoflix.  Does not include other online merchandise, offline sales or channel sales such as Amazon or Magic Rock’s educational distribution programs.

Sales by Region – USA, Canada, Other International

Note: These are total online sales, including DVDs and merchandise.  Does not include other retail channels or offline processed sales (such as wholesale or educational orders submitted by purchase orders)

Sales by Region – States

Note: These are total online sales, including DVDs and merchandise.  Does not include other retail channels or offline processed sales (such as wholesale or educational orders submitted by purchase orders).