The movie business moved beyond mere theatrical release decades ago, but new distribution methods other than video/DVD and broadcast TV are now emerging, so where do people actually want to view films? “People want to download films and watch them at home,” said AOL’s research, not surprisingly. However, while it’s true that a successful movie makes more from DVD and TV sales than theatrical release (most movies lose money at cinemas), indie producers are still aware that theatrical release provides an important shop window for future sales.
Given the inevitable growth in film downloads and the continuing importance of cinema to producers, is there a way that technology can still drive the home viewing public to the cinema to see the film?
The panel suggested that it was important to start the marketing campaign early – creating a ‘buzz’ about the project while it is still in the early stages. However, Peter Fundakowski of Premiere Productions warns that a buzz only makes sense at the right time and to the right people. Having an overall sight of the project suggests marketing the film to business (trade press, sales agents) early on, while everyone agreed that expensive marketing packs and promo reels are a waste of money. Mia Bays of MIA Films suggested that the producer needs thorough industry knowledge, box office awareness and market intelligence to be ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing their film. Understanding audiences patterns and genres are fundamental in order to back the pitch.
Rupert Preston of Vertigo Films is shortly about to release the second Nick Love film, and he already has an audience hungry to see it, thanks to his carefully developed database of loyal audiences. While the film is still in production, Vertigo can use that established audience and start marketing to them directly.
Festival Fever
The panel agreed that the problem with film festivals was that there are far too many of them. In short, films are bound to get lost. Choosing the right festival means first acknowledging that every film festival and market has a specific remit and that films will fit into some festivals better than the others.
They drew attention to the three main festival: AFM, Berlin and Cannes. Venice was agreed to being very Hollywood; while Toronto gained extra points for being up and coming and having a real audience (rather than just industry). Rotterdam got the thumbs up for being a good platform for newcomers, and possible combinations of festivals suggested to create a buzz included showing a film at San Sebastian and then launching at Berlin the following year.
Crucial to receive backing for an indie film early on is working with the press at festivals. The advantage of using a PR agent is that they have a long-standing relationship with the press and the relationship between the PR and the project needs to start early on already. Communicating effectively with the sales agent allows the right pitch to the right press at the right time. For the campaign, producers should contract filmmakers and actors to be available for publicity, as access to talent is as important as good productions photos, giving the magazines that are predominantly interested in actors something to actually run with.
A depressing closing remark for low-budget filmmakers was that it is best to rely on expertise in the industry – as if budgets generally allow for producers to employ an agent to find the right middlemen to get a suitable sales agent on board…
Harnessing the hype
This panel looked at how to best exploit publicity to increase the visibility of independent films. The prerequisite when working with the media is to court only on critical editorial and shun any undiscerning press. This is one reason that employing a press agent who has an established relationships with editorial decision-makers was at the top of the panel’s agenda. The list of tips that emerged from this panel is thus short and sweet:
• Find an angle and be aware that trades drive critics.
• Get the timing right – one idea is to make use of editorially less busy times such as the summer.
• Understand the value of reviews. Avoid the reviewers’ group viewing on the Monday/Tuesday of the week of the release and try to show your film early and take critics to early screenings.
• Use the diversification of the media.
This final tip hints at the concentrating on the editorial space the media sets aside for film. Generally, to the disadvantage of independent films, many mainstream editors are seemingly playing more and more safe in their choice of coverage. As a solution to this, there are many new media outlets emerging that target specific film genres. Many of those online blogs, newsletters and genre-specific websites spring to mind.
The wow factor
First on in this session were the creatives who butcher the producer’s film down to a tag line on a poster. Seeing that each film is a prototype, their remit is effectively to build a brand in merely two or three weeks, so the wow factor needs to comprise something simple.
Often, all the audience sees of a film is a poster and an ad or two, so this means your publicity needs to be eye-catching, making people want to look twice. This implies the wow factor depends heavily on knowing who you are aiming at, not trying to reach everyone. The poster should succeed in summing up the attitude of the movie to that particular audience.
Interestingly, the panel agreed that only 25 per cent of films have a wow factor. Hence the importance of the film matching the campaign, where the poster is a part of the overall campaign – so don’t copy an already established aesthetic, such as the posters for Reservoir Dogs or Trainspotting.
Tricks of the trade
This panel managed to extract inspiring information out of Metrodome and Dogwoof campaigns, where the challenge was to market a film on a shoestring. Predictably, the best marketing examples were not expensive campaigns that relied on effective materials such as flyers, parties and posters, but those based on ‘guerilla marketing’, which involves looking for unexpected places to put your marketing message.
Metrodome’s Richard Nixon film was supported by a blog online, where an actor took on the main character’s persona and fed information to a growing community over the weeks leading up to the film’s release. Metrodome’s current Mad Hot Ballroom campaign managed to involve dance clubs across the country, running competitions and giving away tickets for pre-release screenings to kick-start the word of mouth. Nationwide mail-outs targeted dance and drama teachers, and selected groups from the core audience were invited to 60 pre-release screenings to start a buzz. Supporting a 29-screen release, a campaign such as this does not bank on first weekend results, but is carried by sustained activity, looking to bind audiences early on, in the hope of having them queueing outside the cinemas when the film hits the screens.
A complete case study was supplied by Pathé on its campaign for Crash. Seen at Mifed 2003 and bought at AFM 2004, Crash saw its world premiere in Toronto 2004, followed by a UK release in August 2005. So what did Pathé have? A good film, the writer of Million Dollar Baby, a great cast, great acting. And what didn’t they have? A clear target audience, a clear genre, a star-led film. This posed a challenge for the marketing campaign.
With essentially nobody from the cast agreeing to be available for publicity the campaign set out to achieve the following goals:
• Make actress Thandie Newton into a star.
• Sell the sizzle, not the sausage – ie, sell Crash as if it were Studio production.
• Avoid the racism issue at all costs.
• Compete this ABC1,18-34 film successfully with popcorn blockbusters summer releases.
What Pathé achieved:
• Thandie Newton got on front covers backing the film.
• A black PR agency promoted the less well-known actors to the black community.
• One clear strong image got used alongside most reviews.
• Despite mixed reviews, the support the film received was plastered on all advertising/ posters.
• The opening weekend achieved £819,000 and the film is still growing.
Word of mouse
The final panel of the day was on viral marketing. This requires understanding the attitude that the online the audience is king. Without high street or tube station poster sites, what are you going to do? It is difficult to get people to type in a website address, so for bottom-up marketing to work the key is to entertain people in order to engage them – and to do so on their terms.
Working online and on multiple screens has opened a variety of possibilities: online ads can now fill out the entire screen (rather than the slim banner size we are used to), movie ads are placed on games sites, and blogs provide more interactive opportunities. Moving beyond initial gimmicks, the film’s own website should give the start to the story and provide more information and background for the user. Designed to interact with audiences in order to create a buzz, online virals need to create a self-propelling message.
Marketing to niche audiences
A token appearance by the UK Film Council ended the conference. Due to some technical hitches earlier on, there was only just enough time for Steve Perrin to express his hopes for distributors to feel more confident in their films. This encouragement was directed at ‘specialised’ films – those that will profit from the network of 250 digital screens across the UK, which is currently being implemented.
The day clarified that marketing is not what I assumed to be a parasitic-creative activity renowned for its pretension and mystified success and exclusively consumer facing. The conference provided enough practical tips and information to be useful to indie filmmakers.
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Johanna-Maria DammJohanna-Maria Damm was born 1976 in Berlin. She received an MA in film distribution and has worked on publicity for projects such as the Birds Eye View Film Festival, Future Shorts, European Film Promotion and Shooting People and for projects at festivals in Toronto and Berlin. She wrote a report on digital future of cinema in the UK for the Metropolitan Film School 2005 and she is currently freelance. jmdamm@gmail.com |