It’s HERE! CMJ is happening all over the fine city of New York and we’re ready for it. This year, The Orchard is kicking off their very first Stairwell Series CMJ Edition tomorrow, live from our NYC office. We are hosting the lovely Sophie Auster, the party-inducing Duologue, electro studs Solid Gold, and poptastic Pretty & Nice. Watch this space here for pictures and links to videos! Speaking of great Orchard music, here is our CMJ 2012 mix for your enjoyment in case you missed it.
While the night is left for showcasing and parties, let’s not forget the daytime conference. This year we have loads of Orchard representation. Below are panels you can check out to catch some of our staff chatting about what they do best. And there is something for everyone here.
Analyzing Digital and Physical Sales in a Global Market [Cat Kreidich]
With unprecedented mainstream success around the globe, independent labels are proving that the freedoms of the digital world can be far more empowering than the shrinking physical market. Here we delve into what drivers are behind the long-term success of digital music services and, the importance of the independent repertoire and catalogues to their consumers.
PANEL ROOM: 405
October 18th, 2012
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Sifting Through Transnational Licensing Complexities [Miki Tunis]
While the world gets closer from digital opportunities, the complexities of international music licensing grows. This panel of experts will depict, define and try to conquer the current issues at hand while also exposing where good fortune may exist.
PANEL ROOM: 405
October 18th, 2012
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Silver Boardroom Meeting: Social Media Movements [Jaclyn Ranere and Tierney Stout]
An opportunity for aspiring executives to engage in a boardroom meeting environment. Each meeting will have two well established industry professionals running an agenda. Attendees will be challenged to think, share and generate ideas pertaining to the topic at hand.
PANEL ROOM: “Silver Boardroom”
October 18th, 2012
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Seasoned Experience Implemented in a New Music Industry [Richard Gottehrer]
While a shrunken music industry still prevails, the physical and technological boundaries of the world music market have been exploding. Many artists, labels and managers from the US are now also focusing on efforts abroad, and vice versa. These now-modern pioneers will delve deep into the changes of modern music business in both the domestic and international spaces.
PANEL ROOM: 905
October 19th, 2012
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
As noted in my post a couple of week ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel on Saturday, March 31st, devoted to Crowdfunding and Social Distribution. Hungry for knowledge, filmmakers packed the room with an array of questions and experiences. All of the panelists were, in different ways and on different scales, able to find ways to build and grow their audiences, as well as provide insight into the different models of distribution that have worked for them. The biggest takeaway – the Internet has profoundly changed the model and empowered the filmmaker to find his or her audience.
I will be talking about similar things at two different regional film festivals coming up. First, at Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, one of the oldest and most esteemed festivals devoted to the showcase on non-fiction cinema. There, I will be part of a meet-and-greet about online distribution, to take place at Marriott HQ on Friday, April 13th at 1 pm. If you can’t make that, look for me at the Marriott Headquarters or sipping a drink in the courtyard in front of the beautiful Carolina Theatre starting the evening of Thursday, April 12th through Sunday, April 15th.
This Sunday, April 15th, Doug Shineman, The Orchard’s Director of Video Business Development, will speak on a panel called Paths of Glory: Distribution Battle Plans for Indie Filmmakers, part of the new Soho International Film Festival. The panel, which starts at 11am, takes place at Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side and you can tickets here.
And — there’s more! — in two weeks, I’ll journey to IFF Boston, long an industry and filmmaker favorite due to its strong line-up of fiction and non-fiction films, creative parties (Candlepin bowling, anyone?) and presence of the filmmakers. Watch out for me around the Filmmakers’ Lounge and Somerville Theatre, and a TBD industry event.
Photo by Agnes Varnum.
Here’s an inarguable truth about independent filmmaking: the two biggest challenges in the entire process are 1) finding financing and 2) navigating distribution options. (Well, I suppose it is arguable, but I welcome the brave soul who dares to challenge me on this).
Tomorrow in Chelsea, the New York City Film & Finance Network, a “member community of individuals in both the film and finance industries interested in working together to produce independent & feature films for theatrical distribution,” is presenting their annual Crowdfunding and The Filmmaker workshop.
I am honored to be able to speak on the 2:45 pm panel called Crowdfunding & Social Distribution for the Independent Film. Along with microbudget filmmaker Morgan Nichols, Ranfi Rivera of WNET/Thirteen and Ralph Scott of the Social Cinema Project, I’ll be talking about strategies of piecing together financing, particularly via crowdfunding tools, as well as new models of distribution, and how the two are organically tied together in terms of audience building.
The event starts at 11 am and goes til 5 pm at the appropriately named Showbiz Store & Cafe at 19 West 21st Street. Stop by for a snack and, hopefully, some knowledge. Tickets can still be bought here.
(Just to get in the mood, while I’m writing this, I’m listening to our Don’t Mess With Texas SX+Orch Sampler on Rdio. I recommend you do as well while you read this post. Its also up on Spotify AND Amazon!)
We’re talking SXSW here. No other festival in the world has Europeans Facebooking about breakfast tacos and Shiner Beer three months before their arrival. Nor can any other festival compete with the charm of the beloved Austin, Texas. Austin Hippies and Hipsters unite. If you’re not a Hippy or Hipster, you don’t even care – you’re in Texas, in March, and it’s 70 degrees. Not to mention you’re listening to an unmatchable variety of artists out of 2K buzz acts from around the globe.
That said, we can’t forget that it’s not all play. SXSW hosts a ton of amazing panels and educational events that reflect the side of SXSW that reminds us that we mean business, too. We have some of our very own staff members getting their panel on at SXSW this year:
Bring your questions and notepads as you’re bound to learn something from this crew!
This year, on the heels of some exciting news (did you hear?) we’re lucky to be joining our friends from IODA for their Day Party on Wednesday March 14th at The Red Eyed Fly. They’ve got a killer line up with the likes of The Oh Sees, Dan Mangan, Ruthie Foster, Y La Bamba and many more. Check out IODA’s Free SX Music Sampler here.
Last week, Jason Pascal, The Orchard’s VP & Associate General Counsel, was invited to speak on two CMJ panels.
An already experienced speaker, Pascal was honored to share his expertise on both industry trends and current legal discourses.
Here’s a little more on the panels Pascal attended:
1. The Cloud Is Shaped Like an $
Everybody is talking about clouds these days, and I don’t mean the ones in the sky. Along with representatives from Google, RightsFlow, Merlin and CatchMedia, Jason Pascal discussed how dollars are and will be made in the world of cloud-based distribution. The audience was very engaged, and Billboard.biz even wrote a bit about it!
Focusing more on the legal side of the industry, this panel broached the topic of royalty accounting and the assumptions underlying royalty payments. Pascal sat beside attorney Brian D. Caplan, CPA J. Christopher Hull and Massarsky Consulting president Barry Massarsky, all familiar with auditing and royalty-centric litigations. Pascal was happy to publicly state that he felt The Orchard’s accountings were solid and prepared to face any challenges. “We do the best we can, and though mistakes can be made, we work with our clients to solve problems as they occur,” says Pascal.
Did you miss him last week? Fear not! Jason Pascal will be speaking at more conferences in the near future. Stay tuned for more information.
