Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This guide can assist you in the creation o f your sho rt film or lo budget fe w ature film marketing strategy.
Professor Pebbles
Project Overview
Your marketing strategy should start with a project overview. This is a short description of your project (one or two para) including the genre, subject matter and the unique features that set it apart from other short films (e.g. first-time filmmaker, innovative filmmaking style).
Storytime
Marketing Objectives
Your marketing objectives should be three or four key aims that will define and shape your marketing strategy. The objectives should be based on your projects strengths and weaknesses and the current state of the global film economy.
While your key marketing objective should be to gain recognition and the widest audience possible you should also consider these questions when defining your objectives: Do you have other projects that you hope to secure financing for or promote as a result of your marketing of this project? Do you want to connect with a sales agent or other filmmakers by attending film festivals? Will you target film festivals or distribute the film electronically? (e.g. via iTunes) What research or consultation have you undertaken to assist with developing your objectives? Is the short film/independent film market booming or experiencing a downturn? If so, how will this affect your project?
Talkabout Walkabout
Target Markets
Identify and describe the type of market(s) that would be interested in your short film. You can describe this in relation to demographics e.g. gender, age range, subculture (distinctions based on ethnicity, class, location etc) and values. Your target markets will help to shape your film festival strategy and inform all steps of your marketing strategy.
Consider wha t media your target markets consu me/rely upon for information (e .g. print, radio , TV, internet) as th is will inform yo ur promotional a ctivities.
[ TIP! ]
Promotion
Your promotional activities should meet your marketing objectives by utilising some or all of these elements: Internet (e.g. website, blogging) and social marketing (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter) Public relations (e.g. releasing a media statement) Advertising (e.g. print, radio, television, internet) Marketing materials (posters, flyers, postcards etc) Your choice of promotional activities should also be tailored to the media usage of your target market (e.g. if your target market is middle-aged then you should utilise traditional media including newspapers and radio).
Promotion cont.
Marketing materials are not always the most cost effective way of achieving your marketing objectives. Before you produce any marketing materials you should consider these questions: What is their purpose? Will the materials direct people to a website for further information or promote a specific screening? Where will the materials be distributed? This should affect the content and type of marketing material you produce. Film festivals receive large amounts of marketing material from filmmakers; as a result this material can go to waste, especially if you are not physically at the festival to hand out the material to the public. Marketing material for short film submissions may also not contribute to the festivals consideration of the film. Your materials are more likely to be utilised by a festival if the design is strong (e.g. an eye-catching poster) or if the design matches the festivals image / brand. Some films are submitted with a designer hard-copy press kit, however this may be an unnecessary cost and only relevant if the film has been selected for a market that is attached to a film festival. An electronic press kit with good quality electronic stills is usually all that is required to accompany your film entry.
Promotion cont.
If your film is selected for a film festival, you are recommended to contact the festival publicist to discuss: Ways you can assist with promoting your project; Local newspapers to actively pitch stories for media coverage; Whether marketing material for your film will be effectively used or if it will go to waste; How much marketing material you should deliver (if required); and Also inform the publicist of previous festival screenings and any relevant territory premieres (e.g. North American premiere).
If you are sele cted to a high profile festiva l then conside r releasing a m edia statemen t. Any media clip pings should be scanned and included in yo ur press kit as p ublicity is view ed favorably by fe stivals.
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Karla
Press Kit
This is an example of the information and material you should include in your press kit: One-liner / tag line* Short synopsis (one or two paragraphs) Long synopsis (less than one A4 page) Production images** A medium close up shot of the director Directors statement*** Short bio/CV of the key creatives (e.g. producer, writer, director) Technical specifications (e.g. language, duration, ratio, shooting format, screening format, sound) Festival and award success Cast and crew credit list Contact information and link to website Scanned press clippings (include the name of the publication, page number and date)
These items should be available on request: Post production script Rights clearances Additional stills
Unless otherw ise specified by the film fest ival, all of this material sh ould be sent electronically or on a CD/ DVD.
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*** Directors statement: Include info about any projects that are in dev and mention anything unique about the director that a journalist would be interested in e.g. first time filmmaker or personal connection to the story.
My Shout
Other Tips
Continue to refine and revise your press kit and marketing strategy based on feedback received and recent news/festival screenings; these documents should not be static. Seek advice from fellow filmmakers and attend events where you can gain knowledge from pros with years of experience. Success with a short film can lead to interest from a talent agent to represent you and help you get more work. If your film is in a high profile festival it may get noticed by a visiting agent or you can submit your film to local and international agents. Withoutabox.com and ShortFilmDepot.com enable filmmakers to easily enter multiple film festivals online and receive notifications of upcoming festival entry deadlines. Save time and money by setting up a free Blog that can function as the website for your film e.g. Wordpress.com, Typepad.com, Blogger.com. Keep your short film short (10mins or less) and snappy to increase your chances of festival selection. Tips for film festival submissions: Regularly update IMDB and Withoutabox with your screenings and award wins to increase your chances of festival selection. Avoid buying cheap quality DVDs as they are more prone to faults. Before you submit a DVD to a festival, check that it works on a few different DVD players. Check that your DVD is the correct region code and that it is the correct television encoding system for the territory (e.g. NTSC or PAL). Label all DVDs / tapes clearly with the title, length, aspect ratio, contact name and contact details. Consider putting a watermark on the screener DVD for security purposes. This can be a logo or text but dont make it too obvious or distracting for the viewer; a simple visible watermark in the bottom corner is sufficient. The watermark can be set for the duration of the film or set to appear every 20mins or so for a few moments at a time.
ScreenWest Funding
ScreenWests Short Film and Self Funded Low Budget Feature Marketing Program provides funding to assist newer filmmakers in WA to cover some of the costs of marketing and promoting their film. Funding is in the form of a grant of up to $2,000 per applicant, intended to cover the creation of press kits, dubbing, postage etc. Funding is limited and applications will be assessed competitively. Films produced through a course of study are not eligible to apply. For further information read the program guidelines on the ScreenWest website.
Mabuji