ThisMarriageThing.com says yes!

Anyone who as seen a skin flick has laughed at ‘porn music’ at one time or another. You know, “boaw, chicka boaw, boaw”. Or, the moan track. Yikes, I need a shower just writing about it. That vibe, with all its stereotypes, is unappealing to me. The average adult film is so bad. I ‘ve actually fallen asleep from boredom. I wanted something with a plot that I could actually watch that also was hot. Enter Comstock Films. Here’s what they say about themselves:

Comstock Films offers award-winning erotic documentary films about real couples, having real sex. Our mission is to acknowledge the role of sex in human relationships, depict it graphically, and celebrate the power and joy of sexual pleasure and emotional intimacy.

They actually achieve their mission. They do celebrate and honor love. And, they are ‘Oprah-approved’. Comstock has been featured in national magazines like O, Women’s Health and Mens Fitness, all cite the film maker’s extraordinary commitment to making ‘real’ adult films. You can see that the couples are loving, have a connection and sex means more than a paycheck.
Comstock selection is limited (3 heterosexual and 2 same-sex) because it takes about a year to make each film. I ordered two of their films. We’ve enjoyed them both and will eventually get the third.

Distribution thought for the day:

If you don’t care about money, you will forever be beholden to people who care about nothing but money.

So what I was talking about when I said I saw some trends I didn’t understand is that about two years ago we started getting Google visitors on the search [real sex] and that was very good for our business. Visitors arriving on the search [real sex] were just as likely to return and ultimately just as likely to buy one of our DVDs as visitors arriving on the searches [comstock films] or [tony comstock].

What that means is we were catching and keeping customers who didn’t already know our name or our films. They were wandering the internet, looking for “real sex”, and when they wandered into our little corner they found something that was real enough to spend $28 on a DVD.

Then last December, it all went to shit. We and many other sexually oriented sites got caught in the gears Google’s ongoing fight against spam. Not only did we lose returns on [real sex], we lost returns on [comstock films] and nearly everything else. 

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Remember back when “unpublished” meant things that have never been published? Titles and blurbs from 23 blog posts still sulking around in draft-mode.

Building a Sustainable Definition of Success: Living the DIY Life
An essay/self-assessment about building a constellation of marketable skills that will get you through the lean times that are an inevitable part of being a professional artist.

Internet Rhetoric 101
A post of Canadian funny-man, and viral video genius Kirby Ferguson’ FAG BOMB.

Why You Can Thank Marc Wallice for Comstock Films
A recollection of how I arrived at my decision to depict real sex only with couples who were already intimate.

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You remember the Tate, don’t you? Sir Quinten of the BBFC decided that DESTRICTED should get an R-rating so it could play in the Tate. The can of Artist’s Shit a few posts down is from the Tate Collection. Behold the latest Artistic Merit from the Tate. According the art critic/host of the video, the runners are “having the time of their lives!” I think he need to get out more…

Long time readers may remember my post from early January of 2007, The Secret Formula for Making Boring  Porn, Part 2, and may also remember that it ended up linked to a Boing Boing post entitled “Media overestimates porn industy’s girth.”

The reason we got that traffic-driving, google-rank improving link is because I spoon fed the information in the post to Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin. I sent her the link to my post. I sent her the links to the ADT post she quoted, I sent her the link the the Luke Ford post she quote. I gave her the Forbes links. And I put them all in context so it would be easy for her to turn it into a news item. This is how the modern world of media works. You send out notes to gate keepers like Xeni Jardin or Andrew Sullivan, or Richard Corliss, and sometimes you get a mention. This is how a guerrilla operation like the Comstock Films public relations department (i.e. yours truly) monetizes expertise, experience and cunning. Read the rest of this entry »

My previous post was about DAMON AND HUNTER and ASHLEY AND KISHA appearing in the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival, and how film fests do and don’t figure into our marketing and distribution strategy. In a nutshell, we put out the DVD so that we can take advantage of whatever publicity the film make generate at film festivals, on the internet, in magazines, etc. This runs contrary to the traditional film fest, theatrical release, then (finally) DVD release approach.

But who am I? And why should you listen to me? I’m just a ultra-low-budget filmmaker, and besides, my films are about sex, so the usual rules don’t apply to “regular films”, right? 

Maybe, but maybe not…

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Okay, I’m not actually going to be in Tel Aviv, but tomorrow night both DAMON AND HUNTER: DOING IT TOGETHER and ASHLEY AND KISHA: FINDING THE RIGHT FITare going to be playing in the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival! Here’s the info:

Tel-Aviv Cinematheque, TLVFEST – Israel International LGBT Film FestivalYair Hochner2 Sprinzak StTel Aviv 64738 Israel
3:00 AM, theater L for ASHLEY AND KISHA3:15 AM, theater G for DAMON AND HUNTER

I don’t know why these films haven’t had more success in the US LGBT Festival circuit, no Reeling, no Frameline, no Philidelphia, none of the big gay and lesbian film fests. The whole film fest thing is a bit of a crap shoot, and after our submission blitz for ASHLEY AND KISHA, I decided that reaching for the film fest brass ring wasn’t the best place to put our money and energy.

Don’t get me wrong. We are thrilled thrilled thrilled when our films get a chance to play in a theater! And we’d never turn down a chance to be in a festival. But we’ve completely given up on the idea that first you do the film fests, then theatrical, the DVD. Both DAMON AND HUNTER and ASHLEY AND KISHA went out to the people first, then on to the film festival circuit. (We put the festival laurels on the second or third pressing.)

This is a contrariun marketing strategy, but it’s worked for us. Our DVD sales are on par with some of the most recognized documentaries of the last couple years. I think one of reason for this is that we don’t cannibalize our DVD sales with endless low or no paying festival appearances or a money-losing theatrical run. Apparently we’re not alone. From a recent Business Week article:

OPTING OUT OF THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
But like musicians who shun record labels (BusinessWeek.com, 10/10/07) to sell their music themselves, anecdotal evidence suggests documentary filmmakers—already an entrepreneurial bunch—are foregoing the conventional path of shopping their films to a distributor. They’re skipping such deals and using the Internet to get their stories in front of people who want to hear them.

But while DVD sales might be the financial backbone of Comstock Films, I still think there’s something special about seeing a film in a theater. I still think there’s something magical about the power of a film to turn a group of strangers, sitting in the dark, into an audience. And I because we’re inculcated in the notion that sex is a private, shameful act, I think that’s something wonderful and unexpected when that happens with one of our films.

So meet me in Tel Aviv, meet me there tomorrow night! If not in person, then in spirit!

Coming Soon!

I’m sure I flatter myself too much when I think that my films stand on George Carlin’s gigantic shoulders. His voice will be missed!