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How can monetize a movie trailer Niche.

by leukesara
22 replies
Hi Guys,

I've been reading this forum for the past few months now and It's only now that I have found enough courage to register and post. I am sure you guys are used to newbies coming on this forum to ask silly questions and I hope you will be patient with me and thanks in advance for your help.

I have a question. I am a movie and trailer fanatic and about a year ago I created a mini website. I did not do much about it and i only ever posted once on it. But for the past 3 months I have been creating some contents that I have now added to the website.

It is mainly trailers for upcoming movies and the latest movie news and stories. I do spend a lot of time researching movies and reviews. I know the entertainment niche is super competitive but i am hoping to monetize the site in order to get residual money.

I am not really greedy and I am looking to get only $200 a month (please don't get offended for me not being ambitious). I am not sure how to go about it and what to sell or offer. Should I put adsense ? I am also not sure about how many unique visits or page-views I would need in order to get that amount each month.

I would be grateful if you could please throw in some advice .

I did look in the forum but did not find anything for this particular niche.

Thank you.
#monetize #movie #niche #trailer
  • Profile picture of the author leukesara
    No one ready to answer ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
    I'm creating a... similar site for a school project and plan on releasing it once we're done, though it's focused more on recommending a movie to watch. We plan on monetizing it with simple affiliate banners to Amazon and Netflix. This works in theory because our target visitors will be people looking for something to watch, so giving them an avenue to watch or buy a movie directly makes sense.

    If you're site is focused more on trailers for movies yet to be released, obviously this will be less effective. You could go with adsense, but you would need a fair amount of consistent traffic to make it worth while.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Aren't movie trailers considered intellectual property and subject to copyright and possible trademark law? I'm not so sure your idea is a good one. I'd do some checking before you get yourself slapped with a lawsuit.
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  • Profile picture of the author sirspray
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
      Originally Posted by sirspray View Post

      Check out this site that I frequently use to make a passive income: Here

      If you scroll down, you can see all the traffic they can convert.

      The specific way you make mney with this site called "PPI" or Pay Per Install which you should google and learn more about.

      PPI has lots of earnign potential and it all depends on how much traffic you have.

      For example I know people who make 50$ a day with this and some mega-guys can pull 3,000$ a day, but they have tons of traffic.

      Best of luck!
      Don't post affiliate link spam, you won't last long here.

      Also I believe movie trailers, like posters, fall under public domain. Buuut I'm not 100% sure about that, it would definitely be worth verifying!
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  • Profile picture of the author fast2net
    Provided there are no legal repercussions for making a site like this, and I can't see how there would be, how about selling DVDs featuring the actors that are in the movies you're posting trailers for?
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  • Profile picture of the author fast2net
    Oh! It just occured to me that there is a very popular horror movie site out there that posts trailers to upcoming films and the owner has been running the site for many years, so I assume it's legal as long as you're not streaming an entire movie and just embedding the clips from youtube.
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  • Profile picture of the author leukesara
    Hello Guys,
    Thank you for you advice.
    @Vin Venture & Fast2Net. These are really good suggestions. Thank you very much.
    @Sirspray. I am not there yet in terms of traffic but i am working on it thanks for the link.
    @travlinguy. I am mostly taking the trailers off you tube and many people on youtube post trailer on there every day. I will double check it just in case.

    Thanks.
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    • Profile picture of the author xu1
      You wanna know where you can really go well with this? make it into a mobile app preferably Android
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    • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
      Originally Posted by leukesara View Post

      @travlinguy. I am mostly taking the trailers off you tube and many people on youtube post trailer on there every day. I will double check it just in case.
      I'd say that close to half the stuff posted on Youtube involves a copyright violation. You're on thin ice, my friend.
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      • Profile picture of the author ElGuapo
        Legal issues aside, it sounds like a bit of a tough ask to me. Don't people, outside of cinemas, tend to pick and choose the trailers they want to watch?

        How about considering a niche movie site instead? There are entire websites dedicated to movies like The Godfather, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China. Or studios like Hammer, or date-based genres like 1940s film noir. Those types of sites can attract a committed audience, and you can make sales from Amazon books/DVDs, AllPosters, Netflix, memorabilia, toys, gear, etc.
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        • Profile picture of the author leukesara
          Thank you. I hear what you are saying. The fact is more than a business this website was really created out of a passion that I have for movies and wanting to discuss about the later I needed to create a platform. I am only wanting to monetize the site just for the fun of it and not wanting it to be a case of a missed opportunity.

          That is why I am really not ambitious in terms of what I could achieve. I know there are probably a million sites like mine on the internet that is why I am a bit realistic about how far I could go with it. I figured that if everything done right and with traffic and adsense i could get $200 a month. I am not sure how to go about it really. Where I should start really.

          I have received some good tips on this thread and shall explore these avenues.
          If someone has another idea please feel free to share.

          If that copyright issue is true, it could be a bit of a bummer but if there are million sites doing the same, earning much more that the meager $200 and still in existence I do not see how they will come after me.

          Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author fast2net
        Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

        I'd say that close to half the stuff posted on Youtube involves a copyright violation. You're on thin ice, my friend.
        Movie trailers? The distributors themselves post the trailers and as long as they have the embed feature enabled I think he's okay with reposting. After all, the companies want their movies to be seen, don't they?
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        • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
          Originally Posted by fast2net View Post

          Movie trailers? The distributors themselves post the trailers and as long as they have the embed feature enabled I think he's okay with reposting. After all, the companies want their movies to be seen, don't they?
          First, I think it's wonderful that you think he's okay, especially because if he does get called out you have no liability. And yeah, the distributors want them to be seen. But this guy wants to monetize them.

          Besides the legal crap that comes in the event someone does call him out, some people have an issue with simply grabbing something because it's not nailed down and profiting from someone else's property. In some circles that's considered intellectual property theft and the owners of such properties are getting far more aggressive in coming after the thieves.

          But I guess it's okay as long as you get away with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author leukesara
    I have been looking around on the internet to study similar website. I have noticed that many of them use the amazon movie affiliate which makes me want to ask. How many of you guys buy movies or dvd's on amazon? I am asking that because most people I know use netflix or the free unauthorized streaming websites. And I am perplexed as to how this method could bring in money when all the movies are available on line for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author tonyharte
    I do not think you could make it the main focus of your site but I do think you could use the trailers in the context of a larger 'Movie Lovers" site that you could monetize in any number of ways. I think making Trailers the main focus could draw too much attention to the issues above if you start getting any real traffic going.

    Best of luck!!
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  • Profile picture of the author quadagon
    I'd contact the distributers and request a copy of their epk (electronic press kit) you can then get graphics, videos and even interview segmens from the movie which you can use to promote the movie.

    Also contact independent film makers, they are much more open to getting exposure and you could carve out a little niche.

    Also look into PD works in your country and host and discuss these, for example 'the last man on earth' ppredates the omega man which predates i am legend. Indie film makers asylum produced there own vesion called i am omega. In one way or anothe they were based on the 1954 Richard Matheson book I am legend.

    I am legend is set for a reboot.

    So by providing news and content you've openned up 5 possible affiliate links without being intrusive.

    Its not going to earn you a fortune but consistent quality topics with references to previous work can drive some affiliatr commission.
    Signature
    I've got 99 problems but a niche ain't one
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  • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
    I'm usingThe Movie Database (TMDb) - you can get pretty much anything you want, from trailers to posters to overviews to cast lists etc... super easy to implement if you're a developer.
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    • Profile picture of the author fast2net
      Originally Posted by Vin Venture View Post

      I'm usingThe Movie Database (TMDb) - you can get pretty much anything you want, from trailers to posters to overviews to cast lists etc... super easy to implement if you're a developer.
      Another one similar to this one is imdb.com
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      • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
        Originally Posted by fast2net View Post

        Another one similar to this one is imdb.com
        imdb doesn't provide an open API though. I'm pretty sure themoviedb just scrapes imdb and allows everything to be grabbed programmatically through their API. For instance I use PHP to send curl requests for a movie or a movie list and get a json object in return.
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  • Profile picture of the author leukesara
    Hi Guys,

    Imdb is definitely a great source for information. Vin Venture do you actually use Imdb synopsis for the movies you are showing on your website or do you write your own?
    Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
    I don't use imdb at all. As mentioned before, I use the API over at The Movie Database (TMDb). I wrote a PHP script that basically makes a call to the API with a specific movie ID grabs the trailer link, poster link, backdrop link, and synopsis, which I display in a template. I'm almost done with my project for school, so I'll post it once I've got a domain linked to the vps I'm using ( rather not post a direct IP link ).
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  • Profile picture of the author Vin Venture
    Here's my site, might help clarify what I'm doing with the API a bit. Still plenty of work to be done, but it's what we'submitting for the project. Suggest a Movie!
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