Happy Bloo Monday 👋

The weekly newsletter for business owners, organisations, team members, and solo entrepreneurs (freelancers) — designed to add some colour to the Monday blues and replace it with a touch of Bloo.

This week in our Fintech x Film Series, we’re diving into a crucial but often overlooked part of the filmmaking journey: marketing, selling and thinking about your film as an asset.

Because here’s the truth: making a film is one thing. Selling it and making sure it reaches the right audience, finds distribution, and generates returns is another story entirely.

Here’s what’s inside this week’s edition:

🎬 Meet Matthew Sive the founder of Blue Gum Media, a sales & acquisitions agency built for filmmakers
📖 Lessons from the Thinking Like a Sales Agent workshop why distribution is where the business of film truly begins
📝 When the Film Ends, the Business Begins by Grapefruit Gardens why your film is an asset with long-term value
💸 Free Resource: Funding & Festival resources for South African indie filmmakers to start planning for 2026

🎬 About Matthew Sive & Blue Gum Media

Next up in our Fintech x Film series, we had a guest at our workshop who knows the business of film from the inside out.

Matthew Sive cut his teeth assisting producers on one South Africa’s highest-budget TV series, Shaka iLembe, where he tracked finances, analysed budgets, and researched everything from box office performance to distribution deals.

That experience gave him a deep understanding of how stories move from script to screen and ultimately, to audiences.

Today, Matthew is the founder of Blue Gum Media, a Johannesburg-based film sales and acquisitions agency dedicated to connecting filmmakers with the right opportunities to get their projects sold and seen.

At Blue Gum Media, Matthew and his team specialise in:

• Sales representation: Designing personalised strategies that match films with both traditional as well as unconventional distribution and exhibition opportunities.

• Acquisitions & market analysis: Using in-depth data, audience insights, and local + international trends to identify new opportunities for filmmakers.

• A filmmaker-first approach: Working closely with creators to understand their film’s identity, potential audiences, and long-term commercial prospects.

Their goal is simple but powerful: to help South African stories find the best possible home locally and internationally with the care, commitment, and strategy that every film deserves.

📖 Lessons from the Budgeting to Bond Workshop

Matthew kicked things off by mapping out the value chain of the film business — from development → financing → production → sales → distribution → exhibition.

🔑 The big insight? Most filmmakers focus heavily on the first three stages (development, financing, production), but the real long-term value of a film lives in the sales and distribution stages. That’s where your project shifts from a passion to a business.

From there, Matthew unpacked a few core lessons:

• Distribution starts before production. Just as a film as pre-production, it’s just as important to have “pre-distribution”. Thinking about sales after the final cut is too late. Start working with a sales agent/distributor at an early stage. This could unlock opportunities such as pre-sales and minimum guarantees early.

• Marketability matters as much as creativity. Storytelling is the art, but packaging (genre, cast, runtime, audience fit) is the product. Do market research early and don’t leave it until you’ve finished production.

• Audiences aren’t one-size-fits-all. Ask yourself what audience your project would appeal to during development and the pre-production phase. A romantic drama, a festival doc, and a commercial action film each require different strategies. Knowing who you’re making the film for makes it easier to find the right home for it.

• Budget for distribution when closing funding. There are substantial costs involved in distribution a film such as; festival entry fees, travel related costs to festivals, DCPs, marketing material and public relations.

💡 Matthew’s closing point: A film doesn’t end when production wraps. That’s when its journey really begins.

🎬 Blog Spotlight: When the Film Ends, the Business Begins

Wrapping a film might feel like the finish line but in reality, it’s just the beginning.

Our partners at Grapefruit Gardens have written a brilliant article highlighting why the moment your camera stops rolling, is actually the moment the true work begins.

From multiple distribution “windows” to intellectual property (IP) and merchandising opportunities, this blog explores how filmmakers can extend the value of their work long after the premiere.

Key takeaways:

• Treat your film as an asset with long-term value, not just a one-off release.

• Your IP is gold → characters, titles, and stories can power sequels, spin-offs, and merchandise.

• Distribution is evolving. Turn tickets and merchandise into ongoing digital touch points with your audience.

• Shared ownership matters. Backend pools and fair structures keep crews invested long after the film is finished.

🎥 Free Resource: Film Funding Sources for South African Filmmakers

We know securing funding for your next project can be challenging — but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why we’ve put together a FREE Airtable list of film funding sources 🇿🇦.

Whether you’re in development, production, or post-production, our curated database of grants, funds, and incentives will help you find the right support to bring your vision to life.

📊 What’s Inside?

• First-Time Filmmaker Grants

• South African Film Grants & Incentives

• International Funds backing SA projects

💡 How to Use It

• Filter by project stage (development, production, post)

• Match the right funding type (grants, funds, incentives)

• Search by focus/sector (documentary, feature, social impact, etc.)

🚀 What’s Next

That’s it for this week’s edition of Bloo Mondays.

Next week, we’ll keep wrapping up the Fintech x Film Series and sharing more collaborations with creative entrepreneurs shaping the future of the creative industry.

Until then, keep building and keep creating.