DIY Hacks to Distribute Your Next Documentary, YOUR WAY!! A Case Study on Invisible Nation with Filmmakers Vanessa and Ted Hope

It's time to take matters into our own hands.

With Sundance upon us, the whirlwind begins again: a new crop of films arrives in the world as the hordes (and me!) descend on Park City to consume them along with as many free drinks and canapés as possible. (For those at the fest too please message me!)

But instead of writing about Sundance (and the Oscars) right now, I actually want to talk about something even more important than those two shiny things. In this column I will share news you can use. This one is for filmmakers who want (or need!) to make films independently — from the team that made Invisible Nation, director Vanessa Hope and her producer Ted Hope. (Que the Sex Pistol’s version of My Way.)

This film is as political as it gets–it is about the politics of Taiwan and China–and they made the film without corporate backing at any stage.

Vanessa started developing the film in 2016, it premiered Fall 2023 at Woodstock, and she spent the last fifteen months taking it on the road worldwide. During our two-and-a-half-hour conversation, this dynamic duo revealed with candor, humor, and wisdom how they managed to make their movie their way.

President Trsai of Taiwan (Credit: Invisible Nation)

As we know, unless a film is about Melania Trump, whether doc or fiction, it is impossible to set up or distribute right now.

So to meet this moment, film guru Ted Hope coined the term “Non-Dependent Distribution” and writes in his substack about how filmmakers can create their own distribution strategy. Ted believes the key to a successful movie (and career as a filmmaker) is to be independent from the constraints and obstacles of relying solely on corporations. His message to filmmakers is: find your audience early and keep them engaged over the long haul to support your current and future work if you want to make independent movies.

Of course actually doing this is really, really hard!

The reason most filmmakers prefer to just sell their films is that distributing and building an audience require different skill sets than making a movie. I think I can safely say that most filmmakers would much prefer to have professionals take their movies out to the world. But in this day and age not many of us have that luxury.

So keep reading to learn takeaways from Ted and Vanessa Hope about how they were able to make their project a success. Spoiler alert: It took 15 months on the road, 38 films festivals, 40+ theatrical bookings and being in 17 countries.

Their secret sauce? Themselves.