The following information was compiled by cross-referencing several articles and resources on the success of the self-distribution of the film "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography." Watch the film here.
BONES BRIGADE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (2012)
Stacy Peralta
Ultra-premium high margin memorabilia products pre-sold
Synopsis:
When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
Production & Marketing Budget:
$500,000
Source of Funds:
Self-funded & finance partners (investors)
Marketing/Distribution Strategy:
• Partnered with topspin from the very beginning
• Stacy Peralta denied distribution offers after Sundance screening and kept all the rights to himself
• Making the release as personal as the story of the film
• engaging fans from the very beginning through their website
• they asked fans for 2,000 OG bones brigade photos to “unlock” the trailer for the film, through bit torrent – it worked in 22 hours, producing 11,000 photos, 46,000 email list
• Free downloads of "Animal Chin" film built a marketing database of e-mails
• Call to Action – all digital traffic was driven to buy pre-sales of VIP theatrical tickets and exclusive pre-order of ultra-premium, high-margin products(old skateboard decks and memorabilia) sold directly on the film’s website (allowing them to not only have higher margins, but also capture the sales/marketing data from those purchases)
• 35 four-walled theatrical screenings turned a 10% profit from online ticket sales
• earned 4X all the distribution and foreign presales offers COMBINED
• preselling the DVD, exclusive collectors edition, and other merchandise (The pre-order ends the same day the film is available on Transactional VOD)
• DVD(Traditional @ Retail) & Digital “day-and-date” release (#1 on iTunes for that day)
• Netflix, Hulu, Streaming was very last
• average transaction during preorder was $115 (higher average order because of the rare merchandise bundles)
• data collected from 1 promo tweet for limited edition merchandise: 109 reshares, 1530 clicks, 397 emails, 43 purchases, $6,168.77
• the film broke even before the official theater release
The Cast of "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography"
Reach:
• 178,000 Facebook likes
• 50,000 e-mail list
• Stacy Peralta 55,000 Facebook likes
• Powell Peralta 229,000 Facebook likes
• Tony Hawk 6.28 million Facebook likes
• Tony Hawk 3.78 million Twitter Followers
Gross Profit:
(Undisclosed)
At least broke even
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