Mike Hall & Chris Sakr | A Radical Experiment in Direct Distribution

Filmmaker Freedom

Chris Sakr and Mike Hall are the founders of Shohawk Media, and the creators of Generation Freedom, a documentary about online business that's being distributed using online business principles. Pretty meta, right?

But it's working, as the film has already broken even, and these two are just getting started with the process of monetizing it.

Here's just a sampling of the fun stuff we covered in this conversation.

• What Chris and Mike learned from their fairly disastrous first attempt at making a feature film.
• The story behind their new film Generation Freedom, and why it's often a good idea to follow your curiosity and make the films you would want to see yourself.
• How the film breaks free from commodity pricing by providing significantly more value to its niche audience than other films.
• The innovative tiered business model that's helping them earn more from every sale of the film than they would otherwise.
• How they're using their many hours of raw material for the documentary to add additional value to their audience members.
• Their approach to email marketing that's driving even more revenue.
• How Mike and Chris reached some of the biggest names in online business to appear in their film and give it massive credibility within the niche.
• A handful of tactics they're currently using to promote the film and build a business around it.
• And plenty more.

So I hope you're excited, because this is a damn good conversation with lots of useful takeaways. Enjoy.

Full Transcripts & Archive

Each solo episode of Filmmaker Freedom (not the interviews) has a complete written transcript so that you can revisit the ideas quickly and easily.

You can find those transcripts, as well as the full archive of shows, right here:

www.filmfreedomshow.com

A Weekly Newsletter for Ambitious Filmmakers

Every Sunday morning, I send out a handful of stories, carefully picked to help you make films you care about, build a business, and master your psychology. Plus I share a short film I love, and various other bits of inspiration. Get it here:

www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter

A Community Just for Entrepreneurial Filmmakers

Want to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurial filmmakers who will push you to grow and succeed? Then Freedom Fighters is the place for you.

Here's where you can learn more about this one-of-a-kind community and apply to join our ranks. (Don't worry, it's totally free, but there's an application process to make sure this community is full of the right people.)

www.filmfreedomshow.com/community

Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time!

-Rob Hardy