chrischen, I'm not sure that you've thought this through.

You wrote:

"I'm not trying to sell films for these producers."

but up above you wrote:

"This includes a digital distribution platform Which let's end users keep their purchases in the cloud and let's producers sell their work online as downloads."

You will be in the business of selling videos, regardless of whether you are doing the selling directly, or whether your customers are doing the selling - which means you are indirectly helping them sell. Either way, you are in the business of selling videos.

You wrote:

"I'm only trying to provide the tools to sell online".

That is what I understood your goal to be. That was our goal at iHanuman - we were giving the yoga teachers the tools to sell their videos online. And, of course, we had plans to roll that software out to other markets, and give a lot of other people the tools the sell their videos online.

2 years ago we were using nearly identical marketing text to woo a cook to consider doing a cooking-oriented web site, using our software. Really, this is almost verbatim what we said then:

"A publisher will create a film, but after they finish it, they're going to want to find a way to get it seen and probably make a return on it. This is where my service steps in. I will provide them an alternative to their current options, and I will provide the alternative via the internet. Already I have several advantages over traditional physical distribution: instant gratification, less overhead from packaging and using a distributor, easier to market because word of mouth spreads at electron speed. And if after all that work creating something and they can't find a traditional distributor, they still have to get it out there somehow. I want to catch those potential customers."

We used all of those lines: instant gratification, speed-of-light distribution, world-wide reach. We told them that we were the green alternative to creating DVDs and mailing them out, since we used less resources. Less packaging. Consider some of the text used on the Join page (which hasn't been updated since launch):

http://www.ihanuman.com/join.php

If your service is radically different from that (other than the focus on yoga) then you should explain yourself more clearly.

I think I understood the gist of what you were saying. And, as I said before, it is a very tough market.

Yes it is radically different. Initially at least. I will not have a "store" featuring indie films. This is something I don't think I can accomplish initially, and must be slowly built towards. The barrier to entry to using our service to sell digital downloads (on their own sites) is low, but if I were to launch a digital store, I would have to erect some sort of quality minimum in order to build a reputation for that store. I would want to keep such a store from turning into YouTube. Instead, what I'm trying to accomplish immediately is more like paypal. It's a tool, a mechanism to digital download distribution. Except the difference from paypal is that I'm also offering a better post-sale experience, as a feature to the publisher to attract sales, and more customized toolset for indie filmmakers, including things that will help them market.

Indie filmmakers usually have their own websites. They probably don't need a community to sell their films to. Even if they do, they can target those communities themselves.

Hey thanks lkrubner, I think I just got my answer to the "What are you making?" question.

I think I now understand your comparison to Basecamp, which I did not before. The Basecamp comparison is somewhat misleading since, when I use Basecamp, I go to the URL basecamp.com. But that is not what you are suggesting, if I understand you. You are actually suggesting some tools that will show up on the indie film makers own website. You're trying to give them the tools so that they can sell their movie, if they wish. A sort of instant, private Netflix on their own site, if they wish.

It's an interesting idea. I wish you luck.

Thank you very much. This conversation really helped me clarify my idea, even to myself. And it's allowed me to identify the things I've said which may be confusing or ambiguous.

You write:

"So marketing is not my concern."

That is an astounding thing to say. How can you possibly launch a new business and not be concerned with marketing?

No, I meant marketing their films is not my concern. I want to implement tools to help them market their films, but not to do it for them. Like I said before, this is a service to let filmmakers more easily do-it-themselves.

Obviously marketing the site itself is going to be done. I'm targeting it towards indie filmmakers. I was planning to use my connections in the indie industry to spread a word of mouth campaign.