Though it sounds like an acronym for some sort of pre-menstrual disorder (and possibly carries the same kind of stress level!) the PMD is a term currently being bandied about the indie film world and stands for Producer of Marketing and Distribution, a new concept created by John Reiss for a role that, I believe, will become one of the central necessities of having a sustainable independent film career.
Jon explains in his blog that:
“..every film needs one person devoted to the distribution and marketing of the film from inception, just as they have a line producer, assistant director, or editor. I gave this crew position the official title of PMD since we need to train people to do this task..”
PMD’s will be the lead role in what could become a number of new exiting crew positions as a team is established to fully actualize each film’s journey to it’s desired audience and beyond, handling each step of the process and garnering enough income and/or exposure for independent filmmaking, long struggling with the old school system of festivals and distributors, to become a self sufficient savvy form of business.
It’s a task that needs developing carefully for such a key long term relationship with the project and it’s creators, a task that would begin ideally from inception and continue long into the life of a film. How the role evolves will depend on those who first step into those boots and can successfully walk the distance in them. Much will depend on personalities as well as skills and training, but also I believe on open communication amongst early PMD’s and filmmakers to form a coherence in the concept so that the role has a specific quantifiable identification that is respected.
It’s all new stuff and could seem daunting to some. It won’t be a breeze in these tough times. Existing Producers & Directors will need to learn as much as fledgeling PMD’s in order to be able to work with them to budget and plan for the good of the projects, and a lot of trust is involved, however having a dedicated partner to take the bulk of the work and ongoing time consumption off filmmakers hands and get the monetizing, exposure & other goals happening efficiently, will be worth ten times the effort. John Reiss has already begun the process and there is more about the evolving role of the PMD and modern marketing & distribution to be found at TOTBO.
We live in a changing world my friends. That can sometimes be a good thing.
