Chill.com and digital downloads

[Ryan Douthit]

Recently I started using a "new" service called Chill.com. But it's not really new. They launched several years ago as a "Pinterest for Video" and that's when I originally found them. They had a lovely interface, and they amassed a decent user base, but as a producer, I didn't get much value out of that incarnation.

Last November (iirc) they relaunched (or, "pivoted" using VC speak) with a new focus on providing producers a plug-and-play option for selling digital downloads. I posted a couple items on their site, and just yesterday had a long Skype talk with Chris, their Content Partner Manager.

Overall, the experience for producers is excellent. You can have a complete digital download page setup in minutes. It's a nice set of tools to sell or pre-sell productions online. Buyers get a DRM-free download and commercial-free online streaming. Sellers can set price, upload a trailer, and bundle "add ons" like stickers, shirts and whoatnot that include the digital download. (you'll note the similarity to Kickstarter in this fashion.) Chill charges 30% of revenue, similar to Apple. Outside of taking their cut, Chill doesn't charge a fee.

The downside is that right now, there's not of exposure baked into the site. If you go to the main page, you'll see a few videos promoted, but there is no way to browse all the videos available. In fact, if you're not promoted to the main page there is no way to find your video. By default, promotion falls to the producer. Not saying that's bad - it's just how it is right now.

They know they don't have a strong offering for episodic at this time, but it's something they're looking at. I suggested pre-selling season packages, which I think may be the direction they're going to go. With my own stuff, I've had the best success selling seasons in advance (with at least one already available) versus selling single video downloads.

It's a (fairly new) work in progress, but based on my interactions with a couple folks on their team they have a lot of good ideas and seem really focused on expanding the offering.

Here's a couple listings I have right now:
Livin' the Dream: Noble Star Rally | Chill
Crossover Megatest | Chill

This link explains their offering to producers:
Chill | Projects

Anyone else use this service yet or another service like it?

[Josh Bass]

Props to you if you're able to make it work for you, but I have had exactly zero luck making money on any of the stuff I've got under digital distribution.

I have a slew of short films, some of which are under distribution from multiple sites just like the one you mentioned. I've made literally no money on anything, and don't ever see that changing. I think these sites are neat IF YOU ALREADY HAVE AN AUDIENCE/MARKET FOR YOUR WORK (which I don't--if Kevin Smith put a film up on any of these sites, I'm sure make a billion dollars). I just don't think people randomly go looking for short films and if they do, they certainly don't want to pay for them.

Maybe the problem is exactly that my films ARE shorts, and not features. Features are at least a known marketable commodity that (some) people are wiling to pay for. The same cannot be said of shorts, despite anyone's marketing materials to the contrary. Only exception might be stuff at the very top of the food chain with cool things like "celebrities" and "budgets," like episodic stuff on Netflix or something.

My opinion anyway.

[Ryan Douthit]

....and Vimeo is now in the game with a self-service Vimeo On Demand (see what they did there?) system. I've already set up both my shows (I already hosted screeners on Vimeo, so it was easy.) Now I sit back and let my adoring fans throw money at me. (har har)

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/drivingsports
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/subiesport