filmmaking Archives - Page 5 of 8

New Article: How Do You Measure PR?

The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations thusly:

“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Which is just an awful definition, reeking of the stale conference room and whiteboards crowded with b-school jargon. Merriam-Webster has a slightly better explanation:

the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution

PR is about getting the word out about your product, cause or service. I’d consider myself a semi-professional PR practitioner, busy trying to “induce” the public to do something increasingly unknown in 21st century America: read a book. And not just any book. My book, fiction, of all things, by an unknown author.

So, I’m always interested in new ways of “inducing” (why not just say “persuading”?) the public. I attended a session on movie marketing put on by the DC Film Salon. A pair of PR stars gave a presentation on how they got the word out about indie films, including some creative tactics like having screenings for “tastemakers.”

But the room was filled with cash-poor independent filmmakers. How could they afford these PR services? And, moreover, would this be a good use of their limited funds? I asked if there was any way to connect the parties and screenings to the most important metric of all – ticket sales. But there’s no way to accurately measure the impact of PR.

Which is what inspired me to write How Do You Measure PR? It’s on the blog FlackRabbit, published by my friend Margie Newman, who is perhaps the smartest PR person I know. We’ll see what answers her readers come up with.

How to Market Your Movie: Tips from Allied Integrated Marketing

The March DC Film Salon offered tips from Allied Integrated Marketing on promoting your independent movie or documentary. The salon is a free monthly networking opportunity for film and video professionals.

The meetup began at six, allowing filmmakers plenty of time to mingle before the presentation started at 7. There were about forty people at the super-hip Gibson Guitar Room, one of my favorite venues in DC. Located near the Verizon Center, it’s a beautiful space complete with a piano and scores of electric guitars.

After showing a “sizzle reel” (a flashy intro movie about their agency), Ivory Zorich and Gloria Jones from Allied Integrated Marketing shared their expertise on how to bring a film the attention it deserves. Allied Integrated Marketing is a marketing agency that specializes in the entertainment industry. They have offices around the country, including a small one in DC.

Ivory and Gloria shared examples of how they promoted the films that they represented. Their talk held some interesting tips for anyone promoting a product:

All marketing is local these days. Even in Washington, newspapers want to see a local angle. You can’t just have a story about a movie – you have to tie it to the local community somehow. For example, if one of the stars is from the area.
Secondary press partners are key. These are smaller publications like the City Paper that are easier to pitch too.
Use niche marketing. For example, with the film Sin Nombre, they targeted Latino audiences. Milk was aimed at the LGBT community.
Tastemaker screenings are another useful marketing tactic. These are preview screenings for “tastemakers” in the community, i.e., influential people who love movies.
Partnerships. If you have a documentary about AIDS, then you should partner with AIDS organizations to get the word out.
New media. They mentioned Brightest Young Things as a “hipster” site to reach out to. (I am not hip – I find BYT to be unfathomable.)

One question I had was, “How do you measure results?” That’s difficult to do, according to Ivory and Gloria. It’s hard to tell if a movie’s success comes from PR or something else. I think that’s part of the reason why the field can be so frustrating to people – if I bought Google Ads, I can track how they’re performing. But how do you measure schmoozing tastemakers?

Still, these are all excellent ideas for getting the word out about your movie, or your product. The most important thing is to think about your movie from the perspective of the audience, and tailor your efforts accordingly.

New Article on Silent Code Features

Check out my latest article for the Pink Line Project on local filmmakers – this time I look at Silent Code Features. This local production company is helmed by Anthony Greene, a screenwriter I’ve known for a couple years now. He writes very punchy, topical scripts.

Out of the four films by Silent Code that I saw at a special screening on March 12, the one that I liked best was “The Favor.” Greene handles controversial material with a deft touch. It’s also a very funny film.

New Article: How to Get Your Movie in DC Festivals

Want to see your short film included in a festival like DC Shorts, DCIFF or Rosebud? Then check out my article for the Pink Line Project on how to get your movie in local festivals.

It could even lead to the Oscars! God of Love won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short. But before that, it won the Audience Choice Award at DC Shorts.

Catching Up Preview

Check out the trailer for the short film “Catching Up”. It’s a film by an American University film student, Mary Ratliff.

I first encountered this script during a live reading at Arlington Independent Media. At the time, I thought part of it seemed unrealistic – a little girl in a prison? But it’s based on a real story. Truth is stranger than fiction.

The script for this film was a finalist in the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition, where I got to read it as a judge for the competition. Mary is just one of our talented finalists who have gone on to make movies and do other great things.

She’s also part of what I like to call the “AU mafia” of filmmakers, including Colin Foster, who just filmed Man with a Bolex Movie Camera. As an AU grad myself, I think this is awesome.

Official Trailer for Catching Up from Mary Ratliff on Vimeo.

Sneak Peek: Man with a Bolex Movie Camera

Check out my article on Man with a Bolex Movie Camera. This short film was recently accepted into the Cinekink Film Festival. It’s a local production, written and directed by students from American University’s MFA film program. I went to AU as an undergrad so I was glad to write about this production for the Pink Line Project, where I contribute articles about the DC filmmaking scene.

I first encountered Man with a Bolex Movie Camera when it was a script. It had been submitted to the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. I was one of the judges and we selected the script as a finalist. Local actors performed this funny and sexy story in a theater in the round setting on a rainy night in October 2009.

While the script didn’t win the competition (Annie Coburn, another AU student did), writer Colin Foster benefited from the experience. Based upon hearing the response from the audience, he shortened the script and tightened it up a bit.

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: Man with a Bolex Movie Camera”

How to Win the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition

DC Shorts finalist Colin Foster enjoys a table read of his screenplay, The Man with a Bolex Movie Camera.

The DC Shorts Screenplay Competition is a different kind of screenplay contest. What makes it unique is that the winner receives $2,000 toward turning their script into a film. The film is also automatically admitted into the following year’s DC Shorts Film Festival. Continue reading “How to Win the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition”

2010: My Year in the Arts

Several years ago, I was sitting in a bar with a bunch of coworkers. We went out a couple times a week for beer, always to the same place. They were fine people but, good lord, how many times can you hear the same old stories?

While we were rehashing the same old petty little workplace dramas, a group of staffers from the Portrait Gallery came in. They had more interesting things to say than me and my coworkers, for they were talking about art.

It was then that I vowed to get more involved in the creative scene in DC.

In 2010, I was fortunate to not only sample a lot of what the city has to offer, but also participate in it. Continue reading “2010: My Year in the Arts”

Gift Ideas for Aspiring Filmmakers

Check out my Pink Line Project article on gift ideas for aspiring filmmakers, including membership in local organizations, such as Women in Film and Video and Arlington Independent Media. Making a short film doesn’t need to be expensive and DC is filled with filmmakers willing to help out.

One thing I’ve learned as a judge for DC Shorts over the years is that there are plenty of good technical people. They can get the sound right and light a scene correctly. And every city, it seems, contains talented actors who can make your script sing.

The hard part is getting the story right, in making sure that you have a script with a beginning, middle and an end. Something with an identifiable protagonist and stakes that really matter. My article concentrates on the storytelling part of filmmaking. It’s easy to pick up a camera but much harder to tell a good story.

DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Summary

screenplay reading — A table read at the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition.

The comedy Interview Date won the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. This was a funny script, with some great lines highlighting the similarities between looking for a job and finding love. It was performed with five other scripts on October 16, part of the ScriptDC screenwriting weekend. The audience at the reading voted for their favorite and selected Interview Date, as a I wrote for the Pink Line Project.

I’m glad that they won. The writers, Grant Lyon and Mike Lemcke, are really nice guys from San Francisco. Grant is a stand-up comic, which was really evident from the script and how they performed it. Continue reading “DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Summary”