Gotta be an easier way to make money in film

Recent coverage in the NY Times on the lack of distribution deals going down at Sundance says a lot about the film distribution business as Hollywood works it. A data point: "Grace is Gone" picked up by Weinstein for $4M last year has made less than $37,000. That's a return of 0.9%. Think deeply about this number.  Will the filmmaker see any of that $37,000 or future ticket sales? Not likely - the marketing and distribution expenses have to be covered before anything goes to the filmmaker. At Caachi, we've come to the conclusion that taking the traditional route of pushing a film for nationwide theatrical, broadcast, and video release costs too much for most independent filmmakers - way to much to make a real living out of it anyways.  We think online distribution is the way out, where filmmakers can get better exposure and better pay for their work. Nobody (including us) right now has a complete understanding about how online film distribution should work but we at least know one thing: filmmakers need to get paid.