Another one of the speakers of the night was Jon Reiss, award winning filmmaker and author of the new book Think Outside the Box Office mentioned in the last post. He started off by telling everyone that he regards himself as a filmmaker, not an author, but felt compelled to write this book to help other filmmakers avoid the mistakes he made while trying to distribute his films and to collect all of the resources he used when distributing his latest film Bomb It into one central guide.

He concentrated his talk on the theatrical release. He would like to see a reinvention of the term “theatrical.” Most people consider theatrical to be an experience that takes place in a theater with a built in projection system, built in sound, starts on a Friday ends on a Thursday, sells popcorn.  And anything otherwise is not theatrical. He thinks this works fine for the studio system but doesn’t work for most independent films. The new term he would like to see in use is Live Event/Theatrical to encompass grassroots community and alternative screenings as well as screenings in a theater. Live because it takes place in front of an audience, event because it happens on a certain day or a certain number of days in a certain place with elements (explained later), theatrical because he doesn’t want to throw out the term but it should mean a communal viewing experience in  any venue, in the manner defined by the filmmaker, so in the dark or with the lights on, whatever. These events can take place in a park, a club, a community center, a cemetery, wherever. He contends that most filmmakers intend their films to be viewed in a communal atmosphere and that it is hard to create this atmosphere of an event on the internet. While he appreciates that many viewers are content to watch online, he, as a filmmaker, prefers that films be watched in a live venue and thinks that people do like communal viewing.

Reiss encourages filmmakers to create a robust theatrical plan. It is fine to have traditional venue screenings in big cities like NY and LA, but have a few theater screenings mixed with campus, community and alternative screening events. Also he encourages short runs as opposed to block bookings. He recounted his own booking experience with Bomb It where many venues only wanted to book the film for a day or two and he hated doing that. It wasn’t the theatrical release he had envisioned. But looking back on his run, he had to admit that those one or two day bookings were far more profitable with much more attendance than his week long runs. One or two nights will be more profitable and encourage your audience to make a date to attend if they can only see it on that one night. It allows for generating buzz in the local community where it is screening. It also helps you book events because it doesn’t take up much of a theater’s schedule. They will be more willing to book you for the odd night that isn’t filled rather than having to make a week long booking.

He suggests that you give your screening a sense of an event by adding special touches like live appearances of the cast or director (which is a little done, but having a Skype Q&A on screen is gaining popularity); appearances by other well known people like Age of Stupid did with their New York premiere which featured Kofi Annan, Thom Yorke and Mobi; bringing in other entertainment applicable to the theme of the film like Anvil! The Story of Anvil did when they brought the band onstage during some of their theatrical run or Note by Note which featured live music from local Steinway piano shops. He doesn’t recommend having a party unless you can find a free venue nearby and an alcohol and food sponsor because parties get too expensive in every city. Partnering with a local charity or non profit group to throw a party is a good idea if your film ties in with one because it helps build awareness for the cause and your film plus you get the party free. He also referenced Peter Greenaway’s Tulse Luper films that he would remix live in the theater while the screenings were happening as a great event screening.

Lastly, he moved to film festivals and their new role. He recommends rethinking the role of film festivals. Previously, festivals were viewed as a place to sell your film, but that isn’t happening now. Festivals should be regarded as event generators and you can use the media buzz of a premiere festival to book other venues and/or start your distribution plan. It is very hard to reenact a media blitz every time you have a release, be it DVD or VOD so it is better to utilize the initial buzz to start your distribution. You may want to use the premiere festival to get the buzz going and then use the subsequent fests to start your sales. Look at festivals as a way to market your film, build your audience and start the sales process.

DIY Days videos  are available and feature all of  the speakers from the night if you happened to have missed it.  I will be talking about Jon’s book, which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed (I’m weird that way!), in a following post soon.

This week I attended an edition of the roving conference put on by WBP, filmmaker Lance Weiler’s outfit. It followed on nicely from seminars and conversations that were going on AFM the week before. I covered AFM for Microfilmmaker Magazine and the article will be out on December 1, but I wanted to share my notes from this event first.

The first speaker of the night was Weiler and his topic was Social Media for Storytellers. “There is more opportunity now than there ever has been to reach the audience,” Weiler proclaimed. He cited examples of his own work with his film HEAD TRAUMA where he used multiple media to engage the audience with comic books,  ARG, mobile phone components and live interaction during screenings. He also cited the work that the Mad Men TV show did to target different audience segments during their seasons to broaden the reach of the show. Their campaigns grew from building a buzz in the ad agency niche, then moved out to the entertainment media, early adopters WOM and then wide audience promotions.

He cautioned before you get a conversation going you need to decide what kind of voice you want to use. Should you engage from the characters’ perspective, a location- centric perspective, the voice of your staff or your own voice? There is no right or wrong to this, it just has to be determined and stay consistent.

He also advised to be realistic about time and resources. Choose outlets and accounts to use that will reach your audience best and these will change over time as new platforms come into fashion. Interaction will take up a measurable part of the day and there needs to be a routine. He utilizes interns or a full time community manager to handle this work. This has to be a conversation, no one likes to be talked to without any way to talk back or feel that no one is listening. Give them the tools to talk to you and to each other.

Weiler insists that building trust with your audience is key. You can’t just jump into conversation with them, you must slowly cultivate a relationship and it will take time to gather your audience. You must reward your audience by giving them access to content or access to you not widely available. You must respect them by not overusing your email list or making your content only self serving. This is important because you can’t control them and what they say. They can make or break you.

He closed by listing a few of the platforms he recommends for filmmaker audience building. WordPress, Flikr, Twitter, Feedburner and Delicious. He cautioned that you should mirror your audience list details from your online platforms because you do not own that information, the platform does. If you should ever lose privileges on a platform or want to change platforms, you want to have that information in your personal files for future access.

In part II, I will talk about Jon Reiss’ talk on theatrical releases and why the term needs to encompass more than cinemas. He has a new book out now called Think Outside the Box Office, the ultimate guide to film distribution and marketing in the digital era. I have read it and highly recommend it. He talks about his new philosophy in it in detail but highlighted it in this talk.

I spent some time at the American Film Market this week wearing my badge with my name and company on it. Most of the time when people read it, they said “oh, you’re a publicist” and I thought, “no, that’s not what I am. Why do they think that?” I guess a publicist is most often associated with films after they are made, but I do not really think of myself this way. I use publicity as one element of a marketing plan. So, it is more accurate to say that I am a marketer who uses publicity, among other tools, to build awareness of a film, gather an audience and ultimately make money for the filmmaker and their investors. I do these activities before, during and after the production process. What’s the difference between marketing and publicity? I mean all of it is promoting a film, right?

Marketing is a combination of all the activities that help to increase the sale of your film,  including a mix of public relations (publicity), advertising, online marketing, social media marketing and other promotional activities. It encompasses two basic things. One, identifying your audience. Who they are; why would they be interested in your film; and how to reach them? Two, building a plan for how to make the audience aware of your film and see it or buy it.

Publicity is one  tool in the mix and it uses the media to reach the audience. This includes reviews; print, radio or television interviews; blog mentions; Twitter mentions; Digg/Linkedin/Deli.ci.ous mentions, etc. Publicity is a less expensive method to advertising and a less visible process, but when successfully used, its effects are long-lasting in helping to build up a reputation for the film and the filmmaker. A publicist is the the film’s advocate and a conduit to the media, essentially the informer to journalists and bloggers that their audience may be interested in your project because of various reasons (angles) and that they should consider checking it out. This is known as a pitch. There is no guarantee that the journalist will decide to make that connection with the film and write about it but the chances that they will are increased if they have been made aware. I do this work and have been successful in getting press attention, but it isn’t the only element I focus on.

I am mainly concerned with creating an overall plan to use as many outlets as resources will allow to build awareness for the film that will lead to increased sales and recoupment of costs with profit.

Here is a good visual to explain the differences between the elements in product promotion.

This is a repost with some adaptation of a post on digiday:DAILY by B.L. Ochman. I thought it was important to emphasize the points she made here because I talk a lot about the wonders of social media marketing for the independent filmmaker and how it gives the power to reach niche audiences like never before. But it isn’t the end all, be all of your marketing strategy. The use of social media is just one tool in the marketing mix and should not be the only tool relied upon for spreading the word about your project.

Social media can’t:   

Substitute for marketing strategy
A Twitter campaign, or a Facebook page that announces your latest activities is not a marketing strategy. Marketing strategy encompasses the type of film you have, the audience you are targeting, where you find that audience and how you connect with them. Campaigns only use the tactics (like Twitter and Facebook), but they don’t define what you are trying to accomplish. A complete strategy must be defined. 

Succeed without top management buy-in
Social media requires a way of thinking that includes willingness to listen to customers (that would be your audience), make changes based on feedback (changes to your script, your trailer, your rough cut etc.), and trust employees to talk to customers (this would be your cast and crew or other members of your production team). Using social media is meant to be collaborative and engaging, so if you aren’t going to put in that kind of time or trust someone else to do it, do not use social media.

Be viewed as a short-term project
Social media is not a one-shot deal. It’s a long-term commitment to openness, experimentation, and change that requires time to bear fruit. This is why I advise to set up your platforms as soon as possible, even during script stage but for sure during production. It will take a long time to gather attention and a core following. It also must be fostered on a regular basis or it will not gather an audience.

Produce meaningful, measurable results quickly
One of the complaints about social media is that it can’t be measured. But in fact there are many things that can be measured: including engagement, sentiment, and whether increased traffic leads to sales. Those results can’t be produced or measured in the short term. Like PR, social media marketing often produces its best results over a long period of time, like a year or two.

Be done in-house by the vast majority of companies
A successful social media campaign integrates social media into the many elements of marketing, including advertising, digital, and PR. Opinion and theory are no match for experience, and the best social media marketers have experience incorporating interactivity, blogs, forums, user-generated content, and contests into online marketing. You need strategy, contacts, tools, and experience–a combination not generally found in-house, so you are forced to reinvent the wheel or choose the wrong tools.

Provide a quick fix to the bottom line or a tarnished reputation
Social media can sometimes provide quick results for a company (or filmmaker) that is already a star. That’s why you see well known celebrities and directors gather large followings for their projects, seemingly overnight. However, there’s a lot of desperation these days and many seem been convinced that a social media campaign can provide a quick fix to sagging sales or reputation issues. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

Be done without a realistic budget
Building a site that incorporates interactivity, allows user-generated content, and perhaps also includes e-commerce doesn’t come cheap from anyone who knows what they are doing. Even taking free software like WordPress and making it function as an effective interactive site, incorporating e-commerce, creating style sheets that integrate with the company’s branding, takes more than time. That takes skill, experience, and money.

Guarantee sales or influence
Unless your effort can pass the “who cares” test  – and most simply can’t – your social media efforts will fall flat.  Unless you know how to drive traffic to your contest, video, blog, event, etc. you’ll have little more than an expensive field of dreams.

Be done by “kids” who “understand social innately”
You can climb Mt Kilaminjaro without a sherpa guide, but why would you? Experience and perspective can make the trip easier, or even save your life. Companies (or filmmakers) trying to run social media without experienced consultants waste time, money, and reputation on their efforts. And then, sadly, many decide that this new-fangled approach doesn’t work.

Replace PR
No matter how great your website, video contest, blog, Twitter strategy, etc. you still need publicity. Just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come.