Why Beer Wars Matters
OK, this may seem self-serving coming from me but before you judge, please read on for at least another paragraph or two. Obviously Beer Wars matters to me. After all, I invested 3 years of my life making the film and another year securing distribution and promoting it. And as many of you know, I don’t (can’t) drink beer because of my alcohol allergy. I made this movie because I believe in its bigger message –consumer choice. (If you want to skip to the “call to action” then click here.)
And speaking of choice, Beer Wars is now available to virtually everyone with a TV or computer through several distribution deals with major media companies who obviously think the film has merit. So let’s take a minute to celebrate that. Woo hoo! After all, distribution (like in the beer business) is step one. After all if it’s not available, people can’t buy it.
The bigger issue is AWARENESS. It’s one thing to have the movie available along with hundreds of well-known movies (on cable and satellite on demand) or among thousands of films (on iTunes, Amazon, Netflix) but it’s another for people to actually buy or rent it. Just like in beer, the “shelf” is dominated with big names. Sure it’s easier to engage viewers on Netflix because people see it as “free” with their membership. But getting people to plop down $3.99 on a film they’ve never heard of, well that’s something else entirely. Read the rest of this entry »

