I wish I could put into practice more of my recommendations and all the good ideas others have bought me. I wish I could raise money for the marketing as well as the production of my films. I wish I could plot out a six to nine month marketing & publicity campaign for my films, particularly when I don’t have a distributor to collaborate with. I wish I could slow down and take it one film at a time. I wish that I could engage in more experimental innovations that could pave the way to the future.
I believe in strategy. I am all about planning. Yet this world we are currently living in, just like the world I got my start in, requires action above anything else. We need to make this happen. We need to bring ideas into reality.
To large degree, I am a facilitator first and foremost. Sure, I am pleased when I contribute creatively to a project, but I don’t always, and I certainly don’t have to. Sometimes I am a second set of eyes; sometimes I am a sounding board. Sometimes I am the strategist, and sometimes I am the instigator. The list can go on, but the key thing is I am generative. I get things done. I make them happen. I bring it forward.
[...]
I am prepping a new film with the shortest amount of time I have ever had to prep a movie. It is also one of the more ambitious projects I have been involved in. There is so much to do I can’t afford to squander any time (luckily I have been prepping some blog posts in advance, so this doesn’t take time — it expands time!). The short prep is also unfortunate because now is a time that the producer has to do even more than ever before.
- Recognize it is about audience aggregation: Collect 5000 fans prior to seeking financing. Act to gain 500 fans/month during prep, prod., post processes.
- Determine how you will engage & collect audiences all throughout the process. Consider some portion to be crowd-funded — not so much for the money but for the engagement it will create.
- Create enough additional content to keep your audience involved throughout the process and later to bridge them to your next work.
- Develop an audience outreach schedule clarifying what is done when — both before and after the first public screening.
- Curate work you admire. Spread the word on what you love. Not only will people understand you further, but who knows, maybe someone will return the good deed.
- Be prepared to “produce the distribution”. Meet with potential collaborators from marketing, promotion, distribution, social network, bookers, exhibitors, widget manufacturers, charitable partners, to whatever else you can imagine.
- Brainstorm transmedia/cross-platform content to be associated with the film.
- Study at least five similar films in terms of what their release strategy & audience engagement strategy was and how you can improve upon them.
- Build a website that utilizes e-commerce, audience engagement, & data retrieval. Have it ready no later than 1 month prior to first public screening.
- Determine & manufacture at least five additional products you will sell other than DVDs.
- Determine content for multiple versions of your DVD.
- Design several versions of your poster. Track how your image campaign evolves through the process.
- Do a paper cut of what two versions of your trailer might be. Track how this changes throughout the process.
- Determine a list of the top 100 people to promote your film (critics, bloggers, filmmakers,etc)
- Determine where & how to utilize a more participatory process in the creation, promotion, exhibition, & appreciation process. Does it make sense for your project to embrace this?
- How will this project be more than a movie? Is there a live component? An ARG? An ongoing element?
- How can you reward those who refer others to you? How do you incentivize involvement? What are you going to give back?
- What will you do next and how can you move your audience from this to that? How will younot have to reinvent the wheel next time?
- What are you doing differently than everyone else? How will people understand this? Discover this?
- How are you going to share what you’ve learned on this project with others?
Todd Sklar has finished has Range Life tour has a lot to tell you about what he’s learned. He’s posted it up at the indispensable Workbook Project: Part One, Part Two.
- You jump the gun on building buzz and then lose momentum and interest before it’s time to utilize that buzz.
- You jump the gun on your release and can’t support it with the necessary content or resources & planning b/c it’s a full time job just maintaining whatever momentum and interest your gaining from the film’s release.
In part two, Todd expands upon new rules:
- You need to have a solid website 5 minutes after you’ve written the script.
- You need to have a solid trailer 5 days after you’ve wrapped shooting.
- You need to release your DVD within 6 weeks of your premiere.
- You need to start making your DVD 6 hours after you’ve made your final cut.
- You need to do your theatrical release within 2-4 weeks of your festival premiere You need to implement a festival premiere into your release platform, and there’s no better/other way to do it than utilizing it as the springboard for your theatrical release.
- You need to look at the theatrical release as a brand building and audience building campaign and focus on exposure and press secondly.
- You need to be ready to make your next one before your release this one.
- You need to roll with the punches and remember to focus on your planning your work and working your plan.
- you need sell DVD’s during your theatrical release.
This site could not have been built without the help and insight of Michael Morgenstern. My thanks go out to him.
Help save indie film and give this guy a job in web design or film!
