Movie Release Timing Is Everything

Supply and demand is not considered by our industry

In the not too distant past, George Barna of the Barna Research Group released survey results stating that Christian families desired to consume 2.5 Christian videos a month.  This announcement revealed a market big enough for 30 new Christian film releases each year, placing the demand much higher than the industry could produce.

Last month I was made aware of four Christian films releasing.  Since the market can only afford to consume 2.5 videos in a month, the films were forced into competition for market share – each film making far less money than anticipated.

The odd thing is that there will only be about 12-14 Christian films this year and had the filmmakers communicated about release dates and shifted accordingly, each filmmaker would have generated approximately twice their actual revenue.

While a little competition is healthy to force higher quality stories, there is no need for it.  The market is big enough for everyone to be profitable, if the Christian industry plans things out well.

In fact, with an organization like HOSFU connecting filmmakers together through Christ, they might naturally fall into managing industry calendars.

What would happen if HOSFU posted release dates of all Christian films?

If I were releasing a drama, I would release the same month as a comedy.  If I were releasing a shoot’em up action film, I’d do it in a month when a sobering drama was being released.  As for my experimental film, I’d release it in a month where … Continue Reading