April Events: Monthly AMA and New Platform Webinar

Sign up today for our monthly AMA next week on April 3rd and a peek of the New Platforms Webinar April 24th.

Ask Jon Reiss Anything - Every Month

We started the AMAs back in February - but as you know my wife and I had to evacuate because of the Palisades Fire and then we decided to move to New York City! Partly to get out of the toxic cleanup zone but also because I’ve been wanting to move to NYC for some time. We had to prep our house for a family from the Palisades who had to stay with two kids still in school and then move. But I’m excited to get the AMAs started again.

Whether you're thinking about festivals, crafting your impact strategy, considering your theatrical release, or anything in between, I'm here to answer your questions and help you take your next step forward.

Note 1: I’ve decided to try to make all AMAs at the same day and time each month: The first Thursday of the month at Noon ET/9amPT. We're going to continue with Eventbrite registration for these until we have a simpler solution where people can submit questions in advance.

Note 2: The AMAs are for paid subscribers. The subscriptions help cover all of the costs of running this Substack: moderation, summaries, graphic design and overall admin. However - I don’t want to deny anyone who really wants to learn and participate. I know it is a really terrible time in film now - so if you are out of work, a student etc. - reach out to my assistant for a comp subscription: asst@8above.com.

New Platforms, New Potential: Meet the CEOs Behind Direct Distribution

I’m also very excited for our next industry experts webinar. In November, I moderated a panel at Doc NYC with Jolt, Kinema and Gathr, for them to compare their platforms. People loved that session which was only for the people attending that day.

I felt a real need for filmmakers to understand the differences in these important direct distribution platforms - and also a need to include Eventive!

So, we are bringing together the CEOs of Jolt, Kinema, Gathr, and Eventive to talk about how each of their platforms were built to meet filmmakers' ever-evolving distribution needs. We’ll be focused on how each of these platforms are different and why you should potentially choose one over the other. We’ll of course get into some of the data of their more successful releases as well as more modest releases. Most importantly - what can filmmakers do to make their films more successful on these platforms.

Hold the Date: Thurs, Apr 24th 2-3.30pm ET/11am-12.30pm PT

Registration opens next week.

Participants

• Scott Glosserman, CEO Gathr

• Tara Hein-Phillips, CEO Jolt

• Christie Marchese, CEO Kinema

• Iddo Patt, CEO Eventive

• Jon Reiss, President 8 Above

We hope to see you at these events.

Until next time,

Jon.