Connecting To Niche Audiences

Another ‘niche’ indie filmmaker is D.A. Sebasstian - as you can guess by the title of his films: Hot Rod Girls Save The World and Rat Rod Rockers.

“I love cars and hot rods, and work with car clubs and other car enthusiasts who donate their time and automobiles to my projects. This is also my niche market, a market I understand. I don’t make Hollywood style films. I don’t want to try and compete with $50,000,000 film budgets. I make cool little movies that people really love and sell very well for what they are.” 

Go-Kustom Films has taken the microbudget DIY indie route, using CreateSpace and IndieFlix as primary online distributors.

CreateSpace is owned by Amazon, so movies instantly become publicly listed with the world’s largest online retailer (great post here from GoKustom describing dealings with CreateSpace in detail). They have also recently done a deal with Youreeeka for mobile device downloads.

Other revenue streams include a store on CafePress to sell film merchandise to fans in a no-fuss manner, the soundtrack, and fan hosted parties. This last option gives car clubs and car enthusiasts the chance to fund raise while selling the DVD at a discounted price in a win-win-win situation. Go-Kustom gets sales, buyers get the DVD cheap, and the intermediary who hosts the party gets a cut.

Go-Kustom sold 1,300 Hot Rod Girls Save The World DVDs in the first year of release, continues to see growth in sales and traffic, and sales gets a bump whenever the film is mentioned in a magazine or on TV. They pocket about $4 per DVD (after expenses), and have covered the initial costs to make the film.

Go-Kustom has also released a television series on DVD and has another film due out later this year called Rat Rod Rockers. As they continue to grow awareness of their films, website, and blog, using local, niche, and online networking, with all content targeting the same audience, they can expect that sales of their next film will be larger still.

Targeting a niche audience can be both a curse and a blessing. Obviously there is a limited audience size, however, because people tend to seek out others with their interests, it can be an audience that is easier to pinpoint.

There is a small but passionate subculture known as “Kustom Kulture” that Go-Kustom’s films appeal to. It isn’t something that I’d heard of before, but put it into Google and you’ll quickly find a festival near you. Fans of this subculture congregate at festivals and car clubs to show off their cars, bikes, fashion, tattoos, and so on – which makes Go-Kustom’s strategy of targeting people in groups a good one. 

One thing this brings to mind is the argument between various filmmakers over the value of digital distribution vs the cinema event. It really shows that the best approach depends on your project, and who your target audience is. Digital distribution allows everyone in the world access to your film in a low cost non fuss manner, but sometimes it’s better to build hype in person by giving your audience something more than just the film.

Go-Kustom has covered both angles – the films are available online for purchase or download, but most effort goes into inserting it into the social space that the subculture inhabits.

What could be improved: 
Go-Kustom currently has several different websites and blogs, which I think fragments the audience and makes it more difficult to navigate. It would be well worth redesigning the website to cater for all needs, and put a forwarder through so people going to www.hotrodgirlssavetheworld.com are simply redirected to the relevant page on Go-Kustom’s main website.

Operating in the indie scene, it’s always a difficult balance between earning an income vs creating your art. While Go-Kustom has covered their microbudget production costs, nobody was paid for their time, which means production had to fit around people’s paying jobs and life responsibilities. It’s okay if you consider it a hobby, but it’s not a sustainable business model.

How to improve revenue? There are no easy answers, but here are some ideas:

• Approach Kustom Kulture businesses for sponsorship (e.g. tattoo parlours, car dealers, mechanics, fashion labels, magazines – and check out who advertises in those magazines) 
• Ask festival stall holders to stock the DVD for a cut of the sale 
• Do a deal with a Kustom Kulture magazine where they buy the DVD cheap to bundle into a subscription promotion to boost their own sales 
• Partner with other Kustom Kulture creators, so both parties sell a bundle that is your DVD plus theirs, thereby increasing reach 
• Fan funded: it’s great to use other people’s cars for free in the film, but can you take it one step further by convincing car owners to pay you to put their car in your film? Car enthusiasts love showing their cars off, some pay big money to get professional photos taken of their car, would they like a video clip with their car centre stage? You make your film, and cut together a 2 minute showreel showing their car off – for a price. 
• Create an event around your film. Is there a drive-in theatre near you? Hire it to screen the movie, have all the cars on show, the actors walking around talking to people, an entry fee, selling autographed copies of the dvd and other merchandise, have people upload photos of themselves with the actors/cars to their Facebook accounts so word spreads. 
• Create or integrate with an online Kustom Kulture community forum, so anyone interested in it will naturally find the film.

Does you have any additional ideas on reaching niche audiences?