Cinesouq Blog

The independent film industry is facing growing challenges in today’s marketplace. The world economy, piracy, the shrinking of the DVD market, the decreasing advances from the domestic and international territories, and the costs associated with releasing films have made it difficult for independent films to find distribution.

Even when the major studios overwhelm the market, there’s still a chance for truly independent cinema… That chance is Cinesouq.

Our Mission

Cinesouq to Democratize Film Distribution

To help independent filmmakers overcome the challenges related to the marketing and distribution of their filmed properties, to succeed and profit from their works utilizing the power of the internet and its vast possibilities, and to fortify our commitment to keeping the spirit of the independent filmmaking alive throughout the globe.

Cinesouq is a unique new publicity, marketing, and sales tool created for independent filmmakers by respected independent film producer and sales agent, Tony Kandah.

Forward-thinking Kandah launched Cinesouq in 2010, as The World’s Online Film Market, to face the growing challenges and fulfill distribution needs of the independent film world, by giving new films the opportunity to be screened (in their entirety) to distributors, sales agents, producer’s reps, and key entertainment executives everywhere in order to create “buzz”, and find distribution.

Filmmakers: Marketing and Licensing simplified.

With Cinesouq, you are in control of your film’s destiny. Not only do you get to showcase your film, but you get to promote yourself with your own profile page. We allow you to upload all of the relevant title and biographical data related to your project, along with the means to promote it from the site directly. Upon subscribing, filmmakers gain access to our extensive database of international distributors, sales agents, and producer’s reps, as well as viral marketing tools, industry-related articles, and tips on the marketing and distribution of your independent film properties.

Industry Professionals: You don’t have to travel the world looking for films.

Cinesouq brings films directly to your own computer screens, to view them in the comfort of your office or home. With a click of a button. you have the ability to connect with filmmakers to place offers and license titles. Our professional team will help you locate and access the hottest new titles that you most desire. Whether you’re a Buyer or an Agent, we want to help you in every way.

Feel confident knowing that Cinesouq is a service provided by Hollywood Wizard^†, a company which for the past 7 years has been serving the distribution needs of independent filmmakers and licensing films for buyers worldwide. Utilizing years of market research and field experience, we have developed a filmmaker-friendly program to bring multiple sales tools online to the independent film world.

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† Hollywood Wizard is a member of The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA).

© Cinesouq 2010 . All rights reserved.

Cinesouq launches a new home page to reflect a Community approach. To give filmmakers the power to share, and connect, while making distribution available to everyone who needs it.

We’re bringing filmmakers closer together. It doesn’t matter if you’re in New York or Paris, or whether you language is English or Japanese, it’s all fair game.

Take a look now!

www.cinesouq.com
Cinesouq – the World’s Online Film Market

© Cinesouq 2010 . All rights reserved.

Filmmaking is not a lonely business. We may sometimes feel like the world is against us, or that we’re alone in our fight to create films against the grain of our day-to-day lives and challenges, but it’s not true. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other filmmakers and video artists, feel the exact same way. No matter what your budget is, or where you come from, filmmaking is a collaborative medium unlike any other. Even if you make a movie on your own with very little help, you still have some help. Even on the smallest production, you have to collaborate and work with members of your cast and crew. The best films sometimes have the largest casts and/or crews, but again that’s not the point. The point is you need a community of likeminded people to lean on when the times are tough. Sometimes it’s just inspiring to get an idea that works from someone else also.

Everyone is part of a community, even the greatest filmmakers came out of filmmaking communities and friendships with other filmmakers. When the independent film scene exploded in the 70s in America, it was because of tight groups of friends and collaborators. It’s no surprise that great filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ron Howard all knew each other. Thanks to producers like Roger Corman and Edward Pressman, the aforementioned filmmakers got to work within factory-like community environments, and subsequently made connections that lasted a lifetime. Even now, there are so-called film movements like the “mumblecore” trend in micro-budget moviemaking lately. Many of the prominent filmmakers in the “mumblecore” scene know each other, or even work together. Now, look at how far they’ve come… The Duplass Brothers, for instance, just released a new film called “Cyrus” starring Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei!

No one lives in a vacuum. We exist in a social world, and that is precisely why social networking sites are so popular on the internet today. When you make a movie, you make it to share with audiences. Much like the advent of sites like Facebook, MySpace, and even LinkedIn, people are finding new and exciting ways of reaching out to new people, and re-connecting with personal and business contacts all the time. This is all great, but what about something catered more specifically to the needs of active filmmakers out there. Yes, that means you…

Cinesouq is making social media a reality for filmmakers and entertainment industry professionals, in general. We want to connect you with one another, while also opening up the doors to distribution, talent representation, and much more. Utilizing a Community approach, we’re bringing filmmakers closer together. It doesn’t matter if you’re in New York or Paris, or whether you language is English or Japanese, it’s all fair game. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have a place where you can reach out to distributors from everywhere in the world, while also building relationships to other film professionals in just as many places? Of course it would. That’s why we’re here for you!

Let’s make the world a slightly smaller place with Cinesouq.
© Cinesouq 2010 . All rights reserved.

Cinesouq is proud to be hosting 12 titles from Breaking Glass Pictures, a U.S. distributor located in Philadelphia, PA.

“Baghdad Texas” will be screening theatrically in New York City at the Quad Cinema on 34 West 13th Street starting August 27th with five shows daily until Labor Day weekend.

Film Marketing 101

You start with a script of some sort, and you end up with a finished product after you’ve shot and edited your project… That’s how it works, right? Well, only sort of. You’ve just slaved away for the past few months or years to create your commercial or artistic masterpiece, and now you feel like you’re done. The movie is now on a disc or on a hard drive or a tape, and you feel a great sense of accomplishment. You deserve to! You just completed a monumental task that most people can only dream of accomplishing. However, your mission is far from completed. You still want people to know about the film, and you need to get it out there. So many avenues present themselves as obstacles with little to no assistance available to help you attain these future goals… Films festivals, distribution, press, representation, and much more… All of these things (in no particular order) are the real necessities and destinations for both your film and your career. So what do you do?

Just like every good screenplay starts with a solid concept and outline, every finished film needs a good strategy to get it seen, heard, and talked about. The traditional approach would be to hire someone, either a Marketing Producer, a Consultant, or even an Entertainment Attorney early on in production to advise you on which way to proceed. This is an expensive and time-consuming way to go about it though, and it leaves some low-budget productions and filmmakers scratching their heads. The only real way to do it inexpensively is to do everything yourself, but this too can be an overwhelming undertaking. Ideally, independent filmmakers need a home-base or hub to host their film to actively promote and publicize their films. If your film is listed in the Internet Movie Database, and has its own website, then you’re off to a good start… But it’s not enough.

Every film needs a powerful online presence with the capability of getting the word out, while also targeting respective distributors, agents, and film fans alike. Your film’s official website is helpful, because it allows you to mold a look and feel that represents your film stylistically and thematically. The film’s listing on the Internet Movie Database is also helpful, because it gives your film legitimacy by allowing people to find more information out about your cast and crew. These two tools are very important, however, once again, they do not handle the needs of festival programmers, film reviewers, and most essentially, distributors, agents, and producer’s reps. These are the people that you NEED in your court to get your movie out there in the widest and most successful way.

Cinesouq was designed with your specific needs in mind, as we took the time and know-how to engineer a site that allows filmmakers to centralize their film’s information in a virtual film market environment. Like the big international film markets, Cinesouq, allows buyers (i.e. film distributors, broadcasters, and sales agents) to study your film, and make offers on it. This revolutionary new service we devised not only allows them to find all of the relevant information and links necessary to convey your message, it also gives you the essential strength that you most desire… A way to showcase your entire film in a private screening set-up, that enables prospective buyers to watch your film from anywhere in the world. Unlike sending out DVD screeners, the Cinesouq screening process is secure, watermarked, and Flash-driven, to insure that the film is not bootlegged or stolen.

We want to help make your marketing dreams come true. The ultimate goal is in sight, and we have our eyes locked on it for you. We give you a place to put everything you can think of, from your key art and stills to your filmmaker’s bio and much more. We also empower you with a live chatbox that gives you the opportunity to get into discussions with entertainment industry professionals directly from your own profile page on our site. Interactivity is the key to our mission, and we want to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for you to establish and maintain your film’s presence in the film distribution world. Our service is non-exclusive, keeping you free to do what you wish with your film, from representation to releasing. We just want to give you the extra support you need to take your film to higher ground.

The Entertainment industry is at your fingertips!
© Cinesouq 2010 . All rights reserved.