More on eBaying Film Rights

Vince Lozano, one of the star/writer/director duo behind "Alvarez & Cruise", debuted the film at the Ohio Independent Film Festival in late 2000 ("The response was pretty amazing from everybody who attended the screening" commented Lozano), generated some positive reviews for the work, then took the film to Slamdunk in Park City in 2001.

"We didn't think we were getting fair offers from distributors," Lozano told me via email. "So we decided to try something new." So they auctioned the global rights for a minimum $15,000 bid on eBay over three years after their festival debut (the films budget was reported at around $28,000.) "We feel that eBay could be an electronic alternative for self-distribution of low-budget films," filmmaker Vince Lozano told AuctionBytes (an online auctions news site) when the auction was posted. "We're excited by the prospect of selling our film online during the American Film Market and possibly creating a new avenue for other do-it-yourself filmmakers."

And they got a most unlikely buyer in Girl and A Gun Films -- essentially a new company founded by Alan Zimmerman, Joe Todaro and Jason Royce. Girl and a Gun was unfamiliar with the film until they heard about the eBay auction. "Frankly, we stumbled across it, purely by accident," wrote Zimmerman in an email interview about the acquisition. "With very little press, these two filmmakers were able attract a lot of attention for their film and were able to attract us as buyers."

Their original plans were to begin raising money to shoot a film of their own, and instead they've taken their savings to acquire this already-complete-but-unreleased film, in the hopes that the proceeds from its exhibition will turn a profit that can go to the funding of their next project.

As filmmakers just starting the fund raising for their own first feature production, Girl and a Gun Films' acquisition of a film seems risky business, but Zimmerman is optimistic: "We hope to raise capital for our future film productions from the revenue generated from the distribution of this film, and through capital investments from other indepedent parties."

"We saw this as an opportunity to gain exposure for our fledgling company, as well as an opportunity to prove the internet as fertile ground for global film distribution," said Zimmerman.

So is auctioning your rights via eBay the independent film deal of the Internet age? Probably not ... but it is an interesting new model of independents working with independents, and I for one will be rooting for Girl and a Gun Films to see a return.