Written and Directed by Tze Chun (Film Independent Fellow 2008)  and produced by Mynette Louie (Film Independent Fellow 2009)

After premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Children of Invention began an exciting year on the festival circuit where the filmmmakers engaged in active promotion and DVD sales, which included a streaming window on YouTube during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.  As part of their DIY (Do It Yourself) and DIWO (Do It With Others) distribution strategy the film is now having a limited theatrical run in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York.  Film Independent conducted a case study of the film in October of 2009 and will publish a follow up with the filmmakers after their theatrical run in late March. As more and more filmmakers are embracing new distribution solutions -trying different new ways of getting their films to an audience-- Film Independent will be following their experiences and sharing them with our members through these written and live case studies once a month.

Case Study: Children of Invention

Narrative Feature

Director: Tze Chun

Producers: Mynette Louie, Trevor Sagan

Budget: Under $500,000

Financing: Private Equity

Production: 25 days in July-August 2008

Shooting Format: HD on P2 Cards and HDCAM Tape media (Panasonic HVX-200 with Letus 35mm adapter and Panasonic HDX-900)

Screening Format: HD Cam

World Premiere: Sundance 2009

Awards and Nominations:

15 Awards: Grand Jury Prizes for Best Narrative Feature at the 2009 Newport International Film Festival, Independent Film Festival Boston, and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival; Grand Jury Prize for Best Film and Best Narrative Feature Prize at San Diego Asian Film Festival; Best Narrative Feature at the Ojai-Ventura Film Festival; Special Jury Prizes at the 2009 Sarasota, Nashville, Indie Memphis, Los Angeles Asian Pacific, and San Francisco International Asian American Film Festivals; Honorable Mention for Editing at the 2009 Woodstock Film Festival; the George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2009 DC APA Film Festival; the Puma Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2009 Hawaii International Film Festival; and the Visionary Award at the 2009 Austin Asian American Film Festival.

Development and Financing

Tze Chun was working in Los Angeles as a writer on the TV show Cashmere Mafia (and simultaneously participating in Film Independent's Project:Involve) when the Writers' strike hit. Finding himself out of work, he moved back to NY and began to work on the screenplay for Children of Invention.  The idea originated from a plot thread in his short film Windowbreaker, in which two children, left alone by their mother, are forced to fend for themselves.  That short was well received at Sundance and Tze wanted to expand the idea of two children forced to fend for themselves into a feature.  He wanted to write something that could be shot locally and cheaply, with non-actors.

It took Tze four months to complete the first draft of the script (Nov 07-Mar 08). As soon as the draft was completed, he sent a copy to Dan Cogan from Impact Pictures, whom he'd met at IFP's No Borders market the previous September when Tze was pitching his feature project You're a Big Girl Now; if Dan liked the script, Tze would ask him to be a reference for his Sundance Labs application.  About two weeks later Dan responded, saying he loved the project, and felt it was something he wanted to be involved with and that he thought he could raise money for it easily. 

Tze also sent the script to a friend of his, Trevor Sagan, who runs Sasquatch Films, a film financing company in San Francisco.  Trevor liked the project and wanted to be involved.  Together Impact Partners and Sasquatch Films co-financed the film.  The filmmakers split the profits 50:50 with their investors, once the investment is recouped and deferrals are paid.

Realizing that the film might actually be getting made sooner than he'd expected, Tze began approaching producers.  He sent Mynette Louie the script, and that night, she'd already broken it down and drawn up a detailed budget.  Tze was impressed; he needed someone who could move fast and clearly Mynette had already proven this.  She agreed to come on board as a producer.  They quickly pinpointed the 2009 Sundance festival submission date as the date they should begin working backwards from, and thus slated production to start three months after their first meeting.

Production Highlights

Children of Invention is set in Boston, but the filmmakers decided to shoot New York for Boston wherever possible.  They shot for 25 days in July 2008; 20 days in New York, and 5 days in Boston (for exterior work). They used parts of Queens and New Jersey doubling as Boston. It was a local, non-union crew, though the film was produced on SAG and WGA agreements.  In order to make the Sundance application deadline, they hired editor Anna Boden (Writer/Producer/Co-Director/Editor, Half Nelson, Sugar) to cut the film while they were still shooting, like most studio films.

The post-production schedule was tight, but thanks to a generous three-week extension from the Sundance Film Festival programmers, Tze and Mynette were able to complete a cut, and submit it to the festival.  Sundance accepted Children of Invention, programming it in the Spectrum section of the 2009 festival.  The total time from first draft to premiere was 10 months.

Festival Preparation and Strategy

In preparing for Sundance, Tze and Mynette hired Glen Reynolds and Zac Reeder from Circus Road Films to rep the film. 

They also hired David Magdael & Associates to handle publicity for Children of Invention's Sundance run.  The film received great coverage during the festival, including a great feature in The Boston Globe.

The film's investors technically had final say on business decisions, but they allowed the filmmakers to lead the charge on finding, negotiating, and assessing deals.  Both investors went to Sundance with the film (Impact had three other films there that year).

Tze and Mynette went into Sundance with realistic expectations about the possibilities of a sale, instead thinking of the festival as a launching off-point for a ‘slow burn' on the festival circuit.  As the film wasn't playing in competition and had neither stars nor a genre hook, it wasn't one of the titles that received a lot of press attention at the festival.  The filmmakers and investors felt that the film would need to build buzz over a longer period of time in the festivals that followed.  They knew that everyone responded well to the kids' performances and they would become festival discoveries, so they decided to exploit that angle.  Tze designed a poster with both children on it, and Magdael approved the design and the two young actors were brought to Park City and were in attendance at every screening.

At Sundance there was interest from several buyers, but no sales.  However the filmmakers received many invites from other festivals--the film will have played at over 40 film festivals and non-theatrical venues worldwide by the end of 2009.  As is customary with these solicitations, the filmmakers had the submission fees waived and even secured screening fees from some of the festivals.  In total, Tze and Mynette have submitted or been invited to submit the film to over 100 festivals, and have only paid four submission fees.  They tried to submit to the most high profile festivals in each state and major city.

Children of Invention has won fifteen awards and has received only positive reviews on the festival circuit, leading to good word of mouth and indie film and niche audience buzz.

Festival Circuit and DVD sales

While touring the festival circuit, Mynette and Tze decided to sell DVD copies of the film themselves after consulting with Peter Broderick and Ted Hope, and getting encouragement from their investors.  They designed and made DVDs (for around $1 each) to sell after festival screenings.  Additionally, Mynette designed an online store on the film's website (www.childrenofinvention.com) to help push DVD sales. Ever committed to keeping costs low, their DVD sales efforts remain a two-person operation. 

At festival screenings, sales of the DVD have been steady: Usually between 10% and 17% of the audience buys a copy of the film after they have watched it.  In the first three months of selling DVDs, the filmmakers have made back 10% of their budget from their own DVD sales.   In fact, their profit from DVD sales has exceeded the typical distributor advance offered to films like "Children of Invention."  They hope that with the proper release strategy, they can make back the entirety of their budget over the next three-five years, while retaining most of their rights.

Mynette and Tze are now investigating the upside of self-distributing Children of Invention theatrically.  They have drawn up a budget for a NY/L.A./Boston release. To them, a theatrical release is important to help promote a proper DVD and VOD release, but the numbers have to make sense. 

Internationally, they are represented by foreign sales agent Forward Entertainment. They were also made offers by several other foreign sales agents, including one with a small Minimum Guarantee, but ultimately they decided that it did not make sense to tie up their rights so long for so little, especially given the rapidly changing distribution landscape.

Advice from the Filmmakers

Check www.childrenofinvention.com in a few months when we have more results from our DIY efforts!

Watch the movie at the L.A. Downtown Independent or the BIG Cinemas Manhattan from March 12-18,  and stay tuned for more on the distribution of the film later this month!  For more information on the film including screening times and links to purchase tickets, or to purchase the DVD, go to http://childrenofinvention.com/screenings.htm.