Advertising Budget - $1 Million Dollars or $0

When a new movie comes out, whether it is the Mega Tent Pole "Thor" or the low budget indie "Insiduous" - one thing that they have in common is advertising budgets in the millions of dollars. Billboards, bus stops, TV commercials, radio, print, talk shows, web advertising, magazine articles, etc., all magically coordinated so that the weeks leading up to the release, awareness is pretty damn high.

That's what millions of dollars, and a coordination of publicists, media buyers, and advertising companies looks like.

You're supposed to put garbage on the streets!

How can you compete with that with your indie film? You can't.

In the perspective of the global film industry, your film's budget and advertising is a proverbial drop in the bucket.

Naturally, the more money you spend on your film, the less your chances are for a recoup.

For every $10,000 you spend in advertising - a formidable sum for you and I - you now have to generate 1,000 more sales/profits at $10 per VOD, disc, or download sold, each of which has its own commission structure.

Now, I am not much of a math (or advertising) guy, but spending $10,000 to get 1,000 people to buy something, seems like a drop in the bucket for such a task. (Recently, as an experiment, I spent $100 on Facebook advertising to get something like 9 "Likes" and zero sales. At that rate, to get 1,000 would be, well, YOU do the math!) And we're not even counting the budget of your film, which was probably in the tens-of-thousands of dollars as well. So we are already talking about a serious chunk of change.

So what do you do? Give up? Of course not!

No Money? No Problem!

Spend $0.

That's right. $0. In the the advertising world, your $10,000 is so close to zero anyways, you might as well keep in your bank account.

Here are a few ideas that cost nothing.

1) Become your own publicist. Publicists, especially good ones, can charge thousands of dollars a month. And if they're REALLY good - with an excellent Rolodex (do those even exist anymore?) - you probably can't get them or afford them. There are loads of so-called publicists on the 'Net pining for your indie dollars. Why pay them for what you can - and already have been - doing all along? If you don't know how to write a press release, there are plenty of websites to walk you through it.

One important tip: Take your middle name and the street you grew up on and - voila - instant publicist. My publicist for The Great Intervention is Fred Rainey. He has his own email address and I list my phone number. If someone calls asking for Fred, I know it's related to the movie.

I'm not saying there is not an art to finding your film's niche, writing an engaging press release, and shepherding it out to the media, I'm just saying you might as well do it yourself. Most likely, you came up with the idea for your film in the first place, right? Who knows more about it than you? Focus not only on the film, but perhaps the making of the film like I did (surely there are some interesting obstacles you encountered that others can benefit or enjoy learning from).

Need contacts and places to send your press release? The Internet will help you. Set up your Google alerts for key words related to your film, as well as "indie film" "DIY filmmaker" "film festival" "micro budget" etc. In your inbox every day will be a list of websites/articles that deal with these things.

2) Make the talk show rounds. Sure, you're probably not going to get on Jay Leno, or even Conan. But in your network I'm sure there are DOZENS of people that are making blogs and or podcasts. Just look at your Facebook page. Sure, they may not have huge ratings, but it is a good start. Not only can you get some video and-or audio soundbites for your EPK, but it's good practice in case one of the big shows do indeed come a-knockin'.

3) Exploit your actors. Actors are hungry - they are all trying to become famous. And you gave them a part in your movie! Most likely, because of this very fact, you won't need to "exploit" them - just give them the opportunity to promote the film. Work with them to set up screenings and make sure they are available for interviews. They may have friends that have podcasts/blogs too, so make sure they get a copy of the press release or EPK for their own use. Find out if their backstory can be of use in the publicity of the movie.

4) Return to your hometown. Everybody has a group of people they grew up with, and in this age of Facebook, the odds are good that you are in contact with them. Make an event and show your movie! The local paper likes nothing better than a story like "Local Filmmaker Returns Home to Screen Indie Movie." Perhaps you can coordinate with an alumni group or others to donate a portion of the proceeds to a local charity.

5) Pray for virility. Nobody knows how or why things go viral - that's the wonder of the Internet. Rebecca Black hoped she would become famous, but no reasonable amount of marketing could have generated A HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE MILLION VIEWS on YouTube.

This is where the playing field is "leveled" between you and the blockbuster. Create short clips of your movies - not just a preview, perhaps, but maybe a controversial/hilarious scene. Keep throwing them out there and see what works. You don't have access to Neilson Ratings or expensive marketing analysts, but you DO have access to your YouTube view count as well as some other interesting insights, including users' attention span across your video! Find other video sites to post it to, and use keywords related to your topic.

And then pray something hits Numa Numa land.

***

So there you go. I'm not saying doing this is better than hiring a publicist or spending a gazillion dollars on billboards. But these are some things you can do own your own without maxing the credit cards that may give you some satisfactory results. At least you tried.

Waiting For Something To Happen

It seems like a lot of the film marketing/selling business is waiting. You send a DVD to a film festival, which gives you a notification deadline - you mail a DVD to a potential distributor - you hand a DVD to a famous celebrity...

And then you wait.

Wait for that call, or, in most cases, an email which says "Thank you for your submission..."

I have attempted all of the above with The Great Intervention. Today is the deadline on two festivals I entered that seemed appropriate - Dances With Films and The Los Angeles Comedy Festival.

I am not optimistic about my chances.

This is not due to the quality of the film - I think The Great Intervention is good enough. I'm beginning to feel that film festivals are parasitic enterprises that feed off the entry fees of indie filmmakers and then program their festivals using inside connections.

Maybe this is sour grapes - I have no inside information. To this date, the only film festival rejection was from Tribeca, which was not a surprise. Thinking back, that $120(!) entry fee (I think there was some overnight delivery involved) could have maybe been spent on advertising or postcards, or some other tangible product associated with the film.

I also recently sent the film to a collaborative distribution company, which filmmakers can pay a fee and receive access to counseling and discounts with their partners. They also directly distribute a small, but impressive list of titles, a few of which I had actually heard of or seen.

I was curious if they would be interested in The Great Intervention. The initiation fee, while not huge, would definitely be worth it if they helped me distribute directly. I started my conversation with them via email, which was promptly and courteously returned, offering to watch the film even before I joined, which was cool. So I sent a DVD.

And waited.

One month went by, and I courteously emailed back saying "Did you receive the DVD?" I received a prompt reply; yes we have received it - please be patient and we will get back to you.

I waited again.

Two months passed. At this point, it seemed clear in my mind that the film had been forgotten - a three-month wait seemed a little excessive. So I wrote politely back, asking for an update.

And waited.

The following response came after about two days - enough time, it seems, to finally watch the film:


"Hi there Steve:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Thanks SO much for the opportunity to watch your film.
As a non-profit, we only have a certain limited number of films we can take on for direct distribution at any one time. Right now, our slate is quite full.
We'd have to pass on direct distribution of your film.
However, we can provide distribution education and consultation if that interests you....meaning we could talk to you at great length about what opportunities are out there for you to distribute the film in the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) space."

Gee thanks SO much for your reply.

I'm going to pass on joining your collaborative.

It seems to me, this generic answer could have been given to me within a reasonable time frame, where I might have at least felt my film was properly considered. They might have also found one tiny specific thing to say about the film to let me know that they did, indeed, watch it.

And finally, I have had the lucky opportunity to get it personally to some A-List celebs that I have had contact with over the years, as well as an unbelievable opportunity to hand it to a very prominent TV show creator (always have a copy of your project on you, people!)

Will any of them watch it? I don't know. But I will continue to try and get the word out in any way I can.


And then wait for some good news.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook

The old Real Estate motto was "location, location, location." Today, we modernize the slogan. Let's "Face" it - Facebook is everywhere. With over 250 million people connected, odds are you either have an account or are going to get one. And, if you're an indie filmmaker or musician, you need to be on there stat.

But if you are reading this, you're probably not an idiot, you surely know what Facebook is. Here's just a few tips to help you maximize your usage.

1. Create a Fan Page and Like it. Once you have a regular account, you can fairly quickly and easily create a Fan Page for just about anything. This can be the home page for your movie! Fill out the information and suggest that your friends "Like" it and you're off and running.

2. But that's just the beginning. A static Fan Page is boring and will get few interactions. Conversely, a page that does nothing but advertise itself over and over again with postings will also turn people off. Instead, think of a creative way to post regularly - either using a quote from a character in the movie, posting an article or video somehow related to your subject matter, or even creating a weekly blog (such as this one) to add fresh content. Facebook will let administrators see right on the page how many times your update was viewed, amongst other things.

3. Snazz up your page with new profile modifying applications. Have you gone to a Facebook page, and it stands out from normal pages because of a snazzy design? Companies are popping up everywhere to add functionality. Sites such as Wix.com and Thrusocial.com offer free apps that can increase functionality. Wix's site has limited Facebook designs, but this company's other applications (its Flash and now iPhone-friendly templates) are so great that this surely will be as well. For a start, pick out a few free apps from Thrusocial (such as the link maker, which can link to a DVD page or official movie site) and the video player, which will enable you to embed your trailer right on the landing page.

There are a ton of Facebook modifying pages, each of them with intriguing offers, although some of them can start being quite expensive ($19.99 a month and up.) Tabfusion.com seems like a good compromise, charging a yearly fee ($10/year $20/3 years) per app, which is good esp if you only need one or two. There is a pretty good list at http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/23/1-best-ways-customize-facebook/ but there are a few newer and better ones in the comments section, so be sure to read that.

4. Advertise your page. Getting people to "Like" your page outside of your close circle of friends is always a challenge. But now you can advertise cheaply and effectively with Facebook Ads! These tiny targeted ads are like the ones that dot our Facebook pages already. It's a snap to create an ad - they even give you a preview - but be cautioned that the ads are not automatically approved. Ads that show nudity or imply nudity are not allowed, as well as curse words, of course. Another no-no is implied functionality, with phrases such as "Click here to watch a preview!" probably won't be allowed. Once your ad is approved you can fund it very easily via Paypal. One trick to getting more "Likes" is targeting "Friends of people who already Like your page." This is an option in your ad display preferences and it seems to work best. When someone sees that one of their friends already Likes something, they are more inclined to click. Also, go with a per-click campaign rather than just impressions (appearing on a page) as it will be more results-oriented.

5. What does this all mean? Nobody is quite sure, actually. A "Like" isn't a sale, and even if someone does like your page, there is no direct way to reach them, save for a status update, which they may or may not see. As an experiment for my film The Great Intervention, I purchased $100 worth of advertising to see what would happen. To be honest, my head starts spinning when we get in to all this analytics stuff, which, I guess, I should attempt to tackle in another post. Suffice to say, "insights" or "analytics" as it's called over at Google, does give you a breakdown of how your advertising dollars were spent, much of which I can't make heads or tails of. But, a simple breakdown seems to be that I got 30 "New Likes" - yet somehow that only increased my "Lifetime Likes" about 10 people (which seems to be the number which appears when it says "XX People Like This". Then we get in to the CPC, CTR, and all those other crazy numbers I don't understand. For anyone inclined or interested, here is a screenshot of my $100 campaign.

If anyone would like to offer their expertise as to whether this was a "successful" campaign, please let me know. In the meantime, I'll keep trying to drum up support for my film using a combination of these ideas, and I suggest you do for your project as well.

YouTube - The Web's Biggest Free Marketing Tool

No, it's not just for videos of surprised kitties or bizarre music videos. YouTube has become the world's television set - why isn't your indie film on it? Here's a few steps/ideas on how to best utilize this free service.

1. Create a YouTube account if you don't have one, and make a Channel. Call this channel thenameofyourfilm. People visiting your channel page will see your latest video and will be able to subscribe to updates from there.

2. Put up previews and clips, using keywords associated with your content. You might put up an extended scene, or music video related to the film. Try out different trailers and get people's opinion. YouTube has a built-in insights page that is pretty informative as to who is watching your videos, what links or keywords they are following, and even how long their attention span lasts on your video.



3. Do you already have earlier, more popular videos on Youtube? Use the Annotation feature to create your own free ad! Click on the  Edit Annotations button at the top of your video's page. Be sure to place the annotation across the entire length of the movie by sliding the blue slider so it makes a solid line across the timeline, and give a quick pitch for your film by typing in the box on the right. You can link to a channel or playlist by clicking the link button and pasting in the video url. My video Satan Lend Me a Dollar has over 130,000 views on YouTube. You can see how I use it to try and pump up views on my movie The Great Intervention.



4. Of course, share these videos on Facebook, and you can even use new flash-based widgets to embed them into your Facebook page. (More on that in a later post.)

5. Finally, create a weekly podcast and upload it to YouTube as well as to your blog. You could have it relate specifically to your film, if you think there's enough material to do something every week. Or, you might want to expand a little, maybe make it a podcast about your film company, maybe do bios of some of the actors.

6. Create your OWN demographic with your show. The key is volume and regularity (that's what my doctor said too!) The more videos you put up, the more views you get, especially if they're all linked via the previously mentioned feature. I decided to create a weekly pop culture/politics-type program called The National Toilet. Every Friday, I create a short, five-minute podcast lampooning the worst of society as reflected in the headlines. This keeps my videos relevant and tied to popular keywords. So far, I am only on my second episode and I have more than doubled my viewership from the first! And with my annotation, I place a link to my promo for The Great Intervention, hoping that people who enjoy the podcast may be of like mind to enjoy the movie.




Give some of these a try and leave your own suggestions as well.