Distrify and The D-Word announce strategic partnership

Hey, all. I just finally took a look at Distrify since I have yet to upload a trailer of my film to my own site – although I only finished my trailer a couple months ago.

One issue I see is that customers need to sign up with Distrify or use their FB login in order to buy. That's why I chose Paypal over Google or Amazon checkout on my site when I sell DVDs: Customers don't have to be Paypal members if they don't want to. It's my guess that a number of people would rather not go through with the transaction rather than have to go through this hassle and risk spam, ID theft, etc. And offering FB login helps, but not if they aren't FB members – which I assume is the case for many of my customers.

A second issue is the inability to configure sales tax. I'd be using this for DVD sales, and this means that while anyone in my home state (CA) who buys from my site would pay tax, if they buy from the widget, they wouldn't (technically, the tax would be included). This is another reason why I had decided to go with Paypal over the other checkout options. They allow you to configure sales tax by zipcode range, rather than just state.

(I should add that if you sell products on Amazon via their Sell On Amazon service, i.e. Amazon Marketplace, they also expect you to include sales tax in your sales price. Of course, that's easier said than done, since only some of your customers will be paying tax, and of those, there may be different rates depending on their location!)

I didn't notice that your offer Paypal as a purchase option. Could it be that the examples I looked at were by non-US filmmakers?

Your solution of automatically signing people up without them formally going through the process sounds like a good one. Is this the same if someone is buying a physical item?

Certainly, implementing tax and VAT for every customer is going to be a challenge. But, I think if you make it customizable enough for each filmmaker, then it can be done right. For US based sellers, following the way it's done in Paypal, where you can configure both a state and zipcode range, will prob cover the bases (although determining the exact zipcode range you need can be a challenge, as I learned here in LA). For sellers from other countries, you'd need to see how comparable services handle those details, but I'd guess it would be a matter of determining similar factors: country, state/territory, city, postal code. Obviously, it would be great if the software automatically figured all this out. But realistically, if you let each client configure the rules the way they need to be, that could be good enough... (although it might be nice to have some recommendations for major areas.)

The thing I'm unclear on is the digital end. Is tax ever charged for streaming & downloading? I took a look at Journeyman Pictures, after Nigel mentioned it, and I noticed that they charge VAT in Euros (and the one download I looked at cost even more than a typical DVD!).

I see what you're saying when I try to buy a DVD. However, I could swear that the first time, when I chose "streaming rental", it asked me for my name and city in addition to my email, and only then did it present me with payment options. Does that make sense?

Otherwise, I'm impressed with how much thought has been put into this. I'm considering embedding a YouTube trailer on my frontpage, but then having a link to embed the film, and using Distrify code for that. And of course, I'd use the Distrify version one on other sites.

Could you clarify how money transfers to the filmmaker typically works? Somewhere it indicated that there might be fees involved. Is that always the case with Paypal or bank accounts?

Another question: Where in the app do you link to the filmmaker's site? I don't see it in your example, but I think I saw it in some others.

In case you missed it in the IDFA craziness:

"Films Transit International has announced it is set to start making its documentaries available for public viewing on the web through a new strategic partnership with Scottish VOD specialist Distrify."

http://idfa.nl/industry/Festival/latest-news/idfa-daily-2011/news-and-background/19-11-11-films-transit-to-web.aspx

way to go Peter! You had traces of cream round your non moustache at Mezrab – didn't guess.

The reason I would embed YouTube on my own site is that I'm assuming that most viewers would watch it without clicking through to YouTube. Then, if they choose to purchase the $25 DVD, it's natural to follow the buy link on my site, which will direct them to Paypal and net me $23.98. If, on the other hand, there is a buy link in the trailer itself, they will just as likely click on that, and their purchase through Distrify will only net me $17.50.

Encountering the trailer on Facebook, a blog, or some other site, is naturally a different situation.

Regarding ZashPay, is the $1 fee their 75¢ fee + 25¢ to Distrify?

It would be good if there was a more obvious link to the filmmaker's site in the app. Many buyers want to learn more about the film beyond the trailer before purchasing. Doing a Google search for the title is one more step that may be considered to be not worth their while in the midst of a busy day. The fact that the share link brings them to my site would not help in such a case.

Well selling DVD's through Distrify is the wrong approach to me. Distrify is for instant gratification – stream now... watch now! I sell DVDs direct from my website and process credit cards in the site without leaving but DVD sales have plunged – in the last year over 40% from my site. We have cut the price 3 times and offered free shipping on my ten titles. Same with our Amazon sales – so It's across the board.
So we just moved to the streaming method and the ability to get the movie player and payment method on other websites and social networks.... thats where Distrify comes in – not with DVD's.

Chocolate cake?

Sex toys?

Congrats, btw, on the deal with Film Transit. I take it that they have exclusive digital rights to the films that they are putting up. Otherwise, one would think that the filmmakers would prefer to do it themselves, rather than having to split the money with a distributor. After all, that's the model that you're pushing.

This may be a better question for the streaming topic, but with the rising popularity of streaming/downloading, do you find that most people are watching the films on their laptops, tablets, and phones? I'm in the minority of people that have a dedicated home theater PC hooked up to my plasma TV (and both my TV and blu-ray player connect to certain streaming services), so I always try to watch films on the TV. I have a sense that most people don't connect their laptop to the TV either. That means that even if they have Apple TV or the Roku box, they won't be watching content from providers like Distrify on their TV.

Peter, can you post the other announcement here yet? I read about it before boarding the train yesterday...

This one?

Feels like we were pioneers on The D-Word once again... but who gives us credit? :-)

which saturday?

Wow, I was completely unaware of this collaboration until just now!

Yes indeed, myself as well.

Have there been new developments since November 28, 2011 that I might want to learn about?

Yes indeed, we have something pretty cool to announce very soon. Stay tuned!

Thanks Ben, will do, I'll check this channel regularly!