Distribution Advocates to Launch a $200,000 Distribution Grant

During a Distribution Advocates podcast recording at Hot Docs, producer/director Amy Hobby announced a new documentary $200,000 grant called The Marketing Innovations Fund, which will go to independent distributors.

Hobby co-founded Distribution Advocates in 2020 alongside Abby Sun, Avril Speaks, Carlos Gutierrez and Karin Chien. The organization “works to collectively reclaim power for independent storytellers in the current systems of distribution and exhibition.”

The Marketing Innovations Fund launches in August and will provide grants between $5,000 and $50,000. That money will go to independent distributors working with film teams to supercharge audience growth for a wide range of docus. The grants are aimed at encouraging experimentation and innovation in reaching ticket buyers. The number of releases supported each year will vary and depend on applications. This year Fund money will help between four and 15 releases.

“Our goal is to inject much needed capital and resources into an anemic marketplace and ultimately to inspire the emergence of new models in the film-to-audience pipeline,” Hobby told Variety.

Hobby explained that the Marketing Innovations Fund emerged from the years-long work of Distribution Advocates whose direct conversations in the field continually showed “a frightening paucity of funding from film team, distributor to exhibitor for doing the best work needed to draw audiences.” By providing the field with innovation grants to bolster the audience reach of independent films, the Fund aims to fuel bolder ideas, more fresh voices, and boundless creativity.  

Hobby, who will be managing the Fund, said that as available funding ramps up the goal is to support 30 releases by 2025.

“The first round is doc only due to our funding being ring-fenced for docs,” says Hobby. “It’s our aim to support scripted as well and we are currently seeking funding to expand.”

Hobby and Sun were at Hot Docs on Wednesday to record the latest Distribution Advocates podcast titled “The Truth About Marketing,” which explored how to market docus and directly connect with audiences. Panelists included Magnify Digital’s Moyra Rodger, doc producer/filmmaker Jacqueline Olive, filmmaker Sophie Compton, and producer/marketer Sam Chater.

One topic of conversation was marketing and publicity at film festivals and what goes on behind positioning a film at fest.

Olive, whose doc “Always in Season” garnered the 2019 Sundance Festival Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency, said that while film festivals feel magical they “are definitely not organic.”

The director noted that when she was at Sundance in 2019 she did five press appearances everyday and brought out 19 people who were in the doc or worked on it.

“There is an expense that goes with (top tier festivals),” Olive said. “A lot of fundraising goes into that.”

Sun revealed that publicity firms charge a minimum of $25,000 to work on a Sundance project and that the contract starts during the lead up to the fest and ends as soon as it’s over.

“If you don’t have a publicist at (Sundance) you simply get no time and no attention,” said Sun. “It’s a lot of time and it’s a lot of money.”

The podcast panelist also discussed marketing a doc. In the current landscape finding distribution doesn’t necessarily mean that a docu will receive a marketing budget.

Compton described marketing her directorial debut “Another Body,” which premiered in 2023 at South By Southwest. The doc, which Compton co-directed with Reuben Hamlyn, tells the story of a college student’s search for answers and justice after she discovers deep fake pornography of herself circulating online. Utopia acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Another Body” in August 2023.

Alongside the docu’s funders, Impact Partners, Compton and Hamlyn created a grass roots impact campaign that helped get the word out about “Another Body.” That included writing a 50-page dossier to members of the U.S. Congress about deep fake pornography. Compton also hosted issue oriented conferences and events around the world.

Since only a handful of docus get legitimate marketing dollars to publicize their respective films, panelists suggested that filmmakers think outside the box and find and market to specific niche audiences who would be interested in the film. Creating an online presence and self-publicizing via social media was also suggested as was creating a newsletter.

Increasingly doc filmmakers are being asked to wear more than just a directing hat. Not only do they need to find the idea for their films, they also need to raise the money to shoot and edit their docs. And now, in addition to serving as a producer and director, nonfiction filmmakers are more often than not required to market their docus on limited resources. It’s a task that doesn’t seem feasible given the enormous amount of the time and effort it takes to plan and execute a marketing campaign, which filmmakers are not being paid for.

But Olive said, “it’s a necessary” evil.

“It may not be feasible,” she said. “But it’s necessary.”