Last week we talked about the 4 major types of Media Entrepreneurship, so this week I thought I’d expand on the most common production company that my readers seem to run. That’s the small production company that they hope to scale into something bigger. Here’s why your production company is a small business, and how to treat it like one so you can see it grow.
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, so you’d think it should follow that you shouldn’t judge a film by its title. You would think wrong. Title is a hugely important part of your film marketing, and it should be something you think about from the very beginning, not simply as an after thought. So here’s how to go about creating a title that will stick.
The Distributor’s job is largely to make your film available for sale, and set it up in such a way that people are likely to buy it. Some will work to market your film, but most won’t. Even when they do market your film, you helping market your work will make the marketing your distributor does much more effective. However, there are some basic rules that you should follow to make sure everything goes as well.
If you think your work is over when you finish making your film, and someone will just give you a few hundred grand more than it cost to make it so you can make your next one then you’re in for a real wake-up call. Sadly, there’s no money in making films, only in selling them, and the work of selling them is no longer solely on your distributor. Or, at least you shouldn’t count on it being that way. Here’s why.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing about and how we used to market movies, vs what works in marketing them now. So to expand on that, here are the most important things in marketing your movie in todays day and age.
Last week I wrote about how distribution has changed over the last several years. This week, I thought I’d expand on the number one most important thing for independent filmmakers when it comes to building their brand and marketing their movies. What is it?
 Part of what I do through the consulting arm of Guerrilla Rep Media is review peoples Decks and business plans. One thing that I keeps coming up in these documents is that entirely too many filmmakers list their distribution strategy as sole their festival run. There’s a lot of issues with this line of thinking, so as I do with any question that keeps coming up I thought I would write a blog about it. So without further adieu, here’s why you probably won’t get distribution from your festival run.
Most filmmakers only think about festivals when they’re getting ready to market their film. There are lots of reasons that this line of thinking is flawed, however it would take far more than a 600-800 word blog to even begin to touch on them. However, if you’re going to have ANY level of success from your festival run, you’re going to need some bomb printed materials. This blog outlines a couple of examples I’ve used personally and had success with.
Most filmmakers hate the idea of crowdfunding. While nobody likes constantly having their hands out and asking their friends for money for a whole month straight, it’s something that most filmmakers are going to have to do early in their careers. It’s very possible that most filmmakers will have to do it more than once. But the reason you crowdfund isn’t just about the money. There are lots of other reasons crowdfunding can be a boon for a filmmaker’s career. Here are 4 of them.
In a follow-up to last week’s blog on self distribution platforms, I thought we would step back for a minute and try to understand what filmmakers should consider before they decide whether or not to self distribute their movie. This blog is a list of potential parameters you might want to go by. It’s not the only things you should take into account, but they are some factors you’ll need to consider
This is a topic that’s a little basic, but it’s a fundamental building block of understanding how to market your film. So I thought I would do a breakdown of why genre is so important to independent filmmakers in terms of marketing and distribution. I do touch on in my book The Guerrilla Rep: American Film Market Distribution Success on No Budget, but even there I only cover it in a sense as it pertains to the market. Let’s get started.
 I’ve had to reach out to a lot of press recently for the theatrical release of Goodland. It’s not the first time I’ve had to try to get some press for a movie, but it is the first time I’ve had to do it recently. So I had to brush up on a couple of tactics, and thought I would turn those tactics into a useful blog for all the people who follow me. So without further ado, here are 6 rules for contacting press about your movie
We recently came to the close of the theatrical release of Rockhaven Film’s Goodland. It played in a total of 7 cities. This was the first time I’ve been a key part of making a theatrical release work, so I wanted to share some of what I learned along the way. So here it is: 9 things I learned from my first theatrical release.
 Most of my work these days is as a consultant, distribution representative, and marketer for a great little tech company. However, there was a time when I was a filmmaker, and a regular (as opposed to executive) producer. In that time, I raised a total of 33,000 on kickstarter of two projects. This blog gives you some of what I learned on those two campaigns.
While those two projects never went as far as they could have due to a parting of ways between myself and my former business partner, there’s still a lot of information I learned in running these campaigns in the early days of kickstarter. Here are 5 of them. 
I sell a lot of stuff on social media. In fact, that’s probably how you’re reading this blog right now. Since I’m very active, I also get a lot of people trying to sell stuff to me on social media. This blog is an amalgamation of some of what I’ve found works on social media, and some of the stuff I’ve found does more to harm your brand than build it.
A lot of what I write is geared towards helping filmmakers better understand how to make a living in film and media. But without the support of their community, audience, and fans it’s impossible for a creator to make a living. So this week thought I’d break the mold and write a post for the fans and followers on how you can support your favorite content creators.
Since money is tight for most people, the majority of this list will show how you can support your favorite content creators without spending any money, or at least money you wouldn’t have spent otherwise.  Starting a career as an independent filmmaker is exceedingly difficult. Essentially, you’re starting a company from scratch. It may only be a company of one or two to start, but a lot of places start that way.
Due to the fact that your early days of being an independent filmmaker, your early days will be primarily sporadic gig work at odd hours, filmmakers who choose to take a full time day job can often lose out on many opportunities. Even when they do, they're often underpaid, and exposure doesn't pay the rent. |
AuthorMy name is Ben, I'm an Entrepreneur, Producer's Rep, and Author. I'm the founder of Guerrilla Rep Media, Co-Founder/CMO of ProductionNext, and founder of Producer Foundry. Together, the organizations seek to help make filmmaking a more economically sustainable endeavor. I am dysic, I have capitalization issues, and the blogs are often unedited. opinions all my own. 
Join my Mailing List for FREE Resources!I'm happy to offer a FREE Resource Package to anyone who joins my mailing list. You'll also recieve monthly digests of my articles and other valuable resources.
My Books
Audiobook Free through Audible.com
Available exclusively through Amazon.comArchives
May 2020
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
Home |
About |
Services |
Menu |
Contact |
Copyright © 2019 Guerrilla Rep Media. All rights reserved