The self-distribution road less taken with ‘Beyond Biba’

The formula is changing for film distribution. Where at one time, nearly any successful project had to pass through the gatekeeping of festivals and distributors to get any kind of attention, there are a lot of documentary filmmakers finding other ways to go. The documentary “Beyond Biba” is an example of a film that effectively bypassed festivals, distributors and agents, and has done 50 theatrical screenings across the United Kingdom – something agents and distributors would have been hard-pressed to do. And rather than paying for the privilege of having their film screened at festivals at which the filmmakers realize no income, “Beyond Biba” has been bringing in revenue from Day One.

This kind of alternative model seems far more viable with documentaries than with fictional films, because of the principle that documentaries sell based on the topic, were fictional films generally sell based on the actors or director involved.

In the case of the one-hour “Beyond Biba,” the subject is Barbara Hulanicki, the Warsaw-born fashion designer who founded the Biba clothing store that became a fashion center in London in the 1960s. The film looks at her life and work.

The film was directed by Louis Price, and produced by James Collie and Thomas Walters. The group is collectively November Films. We spoke recently with Collie about the way the film has been put out into the world.

It began when the filmmakers approached the prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum of Design in London, shortly after the film was completed in July 2009. The museum, “which has a ginormous following,” James says, had published Hulanicki’s book “From A to Biba” two years previously, and has a collection of her work.

“They do Friday-evening lectures, and we approached them about having the premiere of the film there. They jumped at the chance. It was a lovely 350-seat theater, and they paid for us to be there, which was great. They weren’t sure how it was going to do, but it sold out six weeks before. There were 100 more people on the waiting list.”

Hulanicki came to the premiere, and signed books and posters for two hours after the screening.

“That was a great starting point, because then we got some press in the major newspapers in London. We got a double-page spread in The Mail, which sells 3 million copies a day.”

After the success of the opening, the group sat down and formed a strategy, James says.

"Beyond Biba" director Louis Price

“What we thought was because the film was an hour long – and this happens to a lot of independent films – the mistake is to say ‘I want the film to get into the cinema, and be in as many cinemas as possible, and we’ll wait for the chance to be in the cinema.’ That’s often the goal. I used to think like that.

“But it seemed to us there was no point trying to get a distribution deal, and there was already an established fan base. It wasn’t the sort of film that if there was a newspaper ad in The Mail, that more people would come. It seemed to me the best idea was to go to independent cinemas in the UK that we could work with, which had their own members and ways they publicized the films they work with.”

One chain November Films partnered with was the Picturehouse chain in the UK.

“Going into this, we had no contacts. This was our first film, and I didn’t know anybody. The Picturehouse Cinema in Notting Hill, London, was essentially Bibaland. It’s right around the corner from where Biba was.

“I called them and they said it would cost us £1,300 to rent the cinema. I wasn’t really too keen on that – I didn’t know the audience or how big it would be. But then I got a nice call back from Picturehouse – the managers at the head office said they’d like to do a box-office split on it.”

Picturehouse offered 2 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, and the deal was made. To do the screening, November Films had to create a Digital Cinema Master, which cost £1,400 (about $2,100).

“The DCM is like a digital print that can be shipped around to different theaters. It’s on a hard drive. They split the film and turn each frame into a JPEG 2000. The sound is Dolby 5.1 stereo sound – the film looks and sounds fantastic.” To exhibit in a venue, the cost was an additional £90. The DCM has the serial number of the projection system so that the film can only be shown on that system for the contracted number of plays.

“The nice thing is, once you have that in the system, if they decide to play the film a week or a month later, it’s in the system,” James says. It saves you having to go with an HDCam deck, which we’d thought about doing.”

The screening at the Picturehouse in Notting Hill was sold out four weeks in advance. Hulanicki did a talk, and the audience “rushed the stage” afterwards, and the filmmakers sold more than $1,000 in merchandise sold in conjunction with the film.

“The managers saw they could make some money, so they gave us screenings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford and Brighton. So we had what was really a nice cinema release. Then I carried on, going to other independent cinemas in the UK.”

James says that having a good website and trailer helped form there. “Once I approached the cinemas, it wasn’t a difficult sell from there. You’d be amazed how many people would turn up.”

The filmmakers also started a Facebook group and used other social networking to publicize the film. The website offers a limited-edition DVD that includes a booklet, photographs by Hulanicki, and bonus material including an interview with director Louis Price and commentary by the director and producers. The first 500 are signed by Hulanicki. James said the whole package cost about £5 a unit through a London company called Re:Fine; they’re selling the DVD at £19.99 for home viewing and £45 for educational screenings.

“With the DVD market going down, the thing is to actually make it worth buying. Rather than just sticking it in a box, we wanted to make it kind of special.” That includes an embossed cover.

James notes “we have sold the broadcast rights on our own to SKY TV in the UK and Globosat in Brazil. The film is now represented by 3DD Group who have just closed a deal with the Sundance Channel to release the film in France, Belgium and Asia. Cinetic Media is now our sales agent for North America.”

Ironically, the success of the film led to it being recruited by several film festivals. It screened in the Fashion in Film Documentary Festival in Rio de Janeiro (Hulanicki at one time lived in Sao Paolo), and at the Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Hulanicki lives in Miami).

James notes that going the festival route at first would likely not have reaped the same benefits. “It’s not a ‘worthy’ documentary in that way. It’s not about a struggle, and it’s not an expose.” He believes it would not have gotten the kind of screenings at festivals that November Films got for itself. And rather than depending on festivals for press, “Beyond Biba,” going without a strategy geared toward festivals or a distributor, has been covered by The Los Angeles Times, Vogue.com, Women’s Wear Daily, and many British newspapers.

“The main thing is getting your film out there and getting it seen,” he says. That includes not only the screenings at which Hulanicki appeared, but also making each one a bit of an event. James notes “I’ve done 40 Q-and-A’s after the screenings, and before that I’d never been in front of a microphone.”

“It was a lovely experience,” James says.

Beyond Biba trailer from November Films on Vimeo.