The short film that helped move the Presidential Election in the left direction
OVERVIEW
Director and Producer Dan Rybicky initially considered using Show&Tell as a way to screen STORMY AND THE ADMIRALS for the elderly women who are featured in the film. But once he saw how easy it is to use the platform and host events, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. What started as an experiment in getting exposure for the film during election season, turned into a goldmine of opportunities. The film was mentioned on air by John Oliver and Stephen Colbert and is now being considered by Hulu, Netflix, and other large distributors.
HIGHLIGHTS
— Film was featured on national late night TV broadcasts during election season
— Film is being considered by large distribution partners
— Partnered with Get Your Booty to the Poll to help 2020 election efforts
“Being able to control my own work and to reach out directly to my audience is the thing that, ironically, has helped me leapfrog over the usual tastemakers.”
— Dan Rybicky, Director and Producer
FULL SUCCESS STORY
“A lot of filmmakers think that there’s just one path to finding an audience, which is going through the festival route and waiting for tastemakers to accept your film, and that is a hard route if you’re not accepted. Show&Tell is such a great way to hustle your own work out to your audience and have an immediate result. It was really freeing and it felt really fantastic.”
- Dan Rybicky, Director and Producer, STORMY AND THE ADMIRALS
In a normal year, Dan Rybicky, the documentary filmmaker who directed and produced STORMY AND THE ADMIRALS, would have gone the traditional route of hosting in-person screenings and applying to film festivals for consideration. 2020 was anything but normal, however, and Dan knew that if he wanted to make the most of the film’s timeliness (subject Stormy Daniels is known for her affair with then-incumbent presidential candidate Donald Trump), he needed to get it out into the world quickly.
Dan heard about Show&Tell in a course about online distribution and decided initially to use it to screen the film for the film’s other subjects: the elderly feminists who support Stormy’s work. However, once he experienced how easy it was to use the platform, he thought, “If I’m going to open this up to share it with these women, why don’t I share it with their friends? And why don’t I make money?”
Using Show&Tell’s Partner Driven Distribution model, the STORMY AND THE ADMIRALS team partnered with Get Your Booty to the Poll, a PSA campaign in Georgia with the goal of increasing voter turnout with the Black male demographic. That led to mentions on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which in turn led to an inquiry from NPR and consideration from Netflix and Hulu.
“This really was a great introduction to the film for many people, because the word got out in a really wonderful way,” said Dan. “Show&Tell gave me the options that I was hoping I would get if the film had been accepted at more festivals.”
Dan is excited about the possibilities Show&Tell has opened up for independent filmmakers. He teaches filmmaking at Columbia College, and is planning to conduct some events with students in the spring to demonstrate how they can use the platform to empower their efforts.
