Amazon Goes To the Movies

By JOSHUA QUITTNER

Let's say you sank every cent you had, or maybe didn't have, into making a movie, a funny, feature-length film. Somehow, you were able to talk Teri Garr, Al Franken, Bob Balaban and Roy Scheider into acting in it. And let's say that the movie made the circuit of independent film festivals in 1998, and won a couple of Best Picture-type awards. You'd expect that one of the studios would pick up your masterpiece and distribute it, right?

That's yet to happen for New York City filmmakers Sam Sokolow and Rob Lobl, who--until last week, at least--lived in that peculiar purgatory of artists who made something critically acclaimed but commercially invisible. Then help came from an unlikely source: Amazon.com the burgeoning online book/CD/electronics/toy store and auction house, which just began a program to distribute indie films. Starting this week, people will be able to buy a videocassette of The Definite Maybe from Amazon for $14.95. "With movies, it used to be either you made it big or you ended up just showing it to your friends," says Paul Capelli, an Amazon spokesman. "This is a whole new avenue for filmmakers."

But will it be the road to riches? The Definite Maybe is unique in that it is fully owned by Sokolow and Robl, who will split the sales proceeds with Amazon. The movie was shot over 20 days in New York using mostly borrowed equipment. Sokolow and Lobl, who paid for the film to be recorded onto vhs cassettes, need to make $100,000 just to pay back investors. "I cannot impress upon you," says Sokolow, "how poor Rob and I are."

--J.Q.