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Filmmaking resources for indie filmmakers, including, screenwriting, financing, producing and film distribution

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5 Movie Marketing Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb

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As a movie marketing nerd, I routinely read and study every movie communication and advertisement that comes my way. And over the years, my interest in movie marketing strategy has given me tons of ideas on how to help clients reach their own audiences and sell more movies.

Without mentioning names, a few days back, I received a promotional email from a rather well known movie distribution company. And on this particular day, I regretted opening the email. The truth is, this company should have known better…

Like many traditional distributors, this is one of those companies that claims they “do marketing” for filmmakers. And unless you’re somewhat of a marketing nerd like me, you might get excited when a distribution company touts their ability to do email blasts.

“We will email your movie to our list of 50,000 subscribers.”

Taken at face value, this sounds powerful. But smart filmmakers know better than to fall for these film distribution shenanigans. And in our short time together, I am going help you avoid the 5 movie marketing mistakes that make you look dumb.

movie-marketing-mistakes

5 Movie Marketing Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb

Even if you don’t consider yourself a promoter, it is important to know a thing or two about movie marketing so you can figure out who to work with. Here are 5 movie marketing mistakes that make you look dumb.

1. Buying or Renting Email Lists: It is never a good idea to buy or rent email lists. The people receiving your email don’t know you, don’t care about you and may not be interested in your movie. Additionally, you don’t know how those people got on the list in the first place. And unless they “opted in” to receive email communication, you could be violating spam laws.

2. Using a Stupid Display Name: In the email I referenced above, the display name in my inbox was from “marketing.” I don’t know anybody named “marketing” and neither do you. Like most people, when I see this in my inbox, I immediately think “marketing” is trying to sell something. So I delete!

3. Violating The Rule of WIIFM: Real marketing is a conversation that presents value. In the message referenced above, this distribution company violated the cardinal rule of marketing. Every bit of the content was about about “me, me, me.” And while I’m sure this company enjoyed talking about themselves, (as well as touting the fact they hired a new marketing manager – not kidding) the message provided absolutely NO value for me.

Always answer this question for your prospect: “What’s in it for me?”

4. Not Respecting Your Audience: Movie marketing is all about knowing your audience and communicating value. What does your audience want? For example someone who loves romantic comedy will probably not want to watch your horror movie. So why on earth would you think marketing to these people is a good idea?

5. Fail to Measure Results: This should be a no-brainier, but unless you measure your results, how do you know what’s working? Without getting too nerdy on you, a good movie marketing strategy should pay for itself and then provide profit. In the event you are not making (at least) your advertising dollars back, then you’re in the black hole. Make sure you measure.

I spend most days consulting with filmmakers and distribution companies about movie marketing. I help clients figure out how to avoid throwing money into a marketing black hole. If you’d like to find out more about my movie marketing tactics, check out my sell your movie system.

5 Simple Steps To Help You Sell Your Movie On The Internet

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For years, filmmakers have faced uphill battles when it comes to making films and getting them out there for the world to see. Just finding funding for production on its own was (and still is) an amazing achievement. But once that a film is finished there’s still the matter of distribution. In this post, you’re going to learn how to sell your movie on the internet.

Distribution is simply the process of releasing your film for public consumption. In the past, the entire distribution process was safeguarded by a bunch of powerful conglomerates. And after a tiring tour on festival circuit, many filmmakers went into deals with these companies, lucky to sign even a crappy distribution deal. Thankfully, those days are done.

The internet has quite literally changed the game. As an indie filmmaker, you now have the ability to sell your film in popular marketplaces like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, VUDU (and more) without a distribution deal.

sell your movie on the internet

5 Simple Steps To Help You Sell Your Movie On The Internet

While access to the marketplaces is exciting, you are now responsible for managing your own promotion. So taking time to focus on the following fundamentals is a good start. With that in mind, here are 5 key steps that you’ll want to remember.

  • Know Your Market – You’re never going to appeal to everyone. Just because streaming video puts your film in front of potentially millions of people, that doesn’t mean they’ll all watch it. Instead, know your niche market and then promote your film to your focused fan base.
  • Trolls Talk – Like it or not, some people are just going to troll you and your work. Even the most popular filmmakers have haters. The key is knowing that even those who troll your stuff may end up seeing it just to see how much more they can hate it. The bottom line? Don’t be afraid of people hating you and your work.
  • Stand Out – What’s the hook of your movie? What really helps it stand out from all the other films people can watch? The ease with which you can sell your movie on the internet has given rise to a flood of movies. It’s vital that your film has a marketing hook that stands out and gets you and your work noticed.
  • Build A Following – It’s hard for me not to bring up music bands when it comes to modern moviemaking… Because a lot of things are similar. Just as bands often build up a following in their early days, modern filmmakers do the same. Use a mailing list, online streaming releases, and even production blogs to help get your film in front of potential fans.
  • Use Your Website – Your website is your hub for building that fan base, for finding an audience, for marketing, for networking, and even for selling your film. Simply put, you need a solid, well-made website.

All in all, it still takes a lot of work to sell your movie on the internet. But if you put forth the effort, you’ll find that today’s distribution options make it easier than ever to get your work noticed so you can further build your career. And if you want to learn more, check out this film distribution training system.

How To Survive The Movie Business

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It’s easy to fall into a rut when you’re living inside it, never realizing that things are changing around you. If you’ve spent the last few years working in Hollywood, you’ve probably see some changes. While some things are the same, there’s plenty out there that is changing in a big way. To survive the movie business now requires more than making a good movie and getting noticed.

Back in 2008, I wrote about streaming technology and how it was going to disrupt distribution. From Netflix and Amazon to satellite providers showing new releases at the same time as theaters, the film industry is changing. And as it changes, it’s vital that you change with it. So it’s a good idea to take a closer look at some key points that could help you survive the movie business.

survive the movie business

How To Survive The Movie Business

There are several disruptions in the movie business that will likely continue. These business declines are worth knowing so you can avoid common pitfalls in your plan on surviving in the movie business:

  • STOP building your distribution strategy around Blu Ray and DVD. Seriously. 
  • Foreign distribution is also going digital. So forget about robust minimum guarantees.
  • The movie business is no longer B2B. It’s B2C. Filmmakers who can be self sufficient win.
  • Predicting potential sales is a guess. Forget about comparables in your business planning. 
  • Movies will either be made on micro budgets or massive budgets. Mid-level budgets are hard to recoup.

Things To Focus On

Some of the above points are obvious. But it’s surprising just how many industry pros fail to think about this stuff.

As the industry changes and physical media declines, there are plenty of great opportunities for those in the industry to seize upon. Here are some things to think about as you push forward:

  • Casting social media influencers is a marketing investment.
  • Don’t build an audience. Find out where your audience congregates.
  • Building content that appeals to a niche audience is essential.
  • Creating an army of promoters can help push sales.
  • Internet marketing matters more and more for driving sales.

Taking The Info And Running With it

Sure. Things are changing. And you’ll have to adapt if you want to survive the movie business.

Despite this disruption, some things will always stay the same. Filmmakers will need to bring a story to life. And filmmakers will need to connect stories with audiences. To achieve these goals, filmmakers will still need to cultivate good relationships with recognizable talent, and figure out how to get a crew and equipment.

On the flip-side, production and distribution technology is finally accessible. This gives filmmakers an opportunity to finally take charge of the production, release, distribution and marketing of each film. And as a result, writers, editors, and everybody below the line will also have more opportunities to collaborate. The key is making sure that you choose to work with those who don’t force you to give up months of your time for little money.

If you like this sort of philosophy, you’ll love the filmmaker action pack.

How To Distribute Your Film Without Going Broke

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If you’re looking to make and distribute your film without going broke, you’re not alone. Independent filmmaking is often considered one of the riskiest businesses in the world. This is due, in large part to the inefficient nature of our business. Think about it. Indie film is one of few vocations where people create a product without any idea how they are going to market or sell it.

Despite this reality, most indie filmmakers still make movies, subscribing to the belief that it’s impossible to enter the marketplace without finding some 3rd party movie distributor to “pick up” a movie. But thanks to modern Video On Demand distribution, this belief is eroding.

As an independent filmmaker, you now have options. You can choose to take the conventional route, go it alone or combine a little of both models to create a hybrid distribution strategy. While these options allow you to distribute your film in mainstream marketplaces, this paradigm shift creates new challenges. Namely, if you chose to become your own distributor, you will need to become comfortable with internet marketing tactics, social media and audience list building.

For most indie filmmakers, what I’m describing is a huge learning curve!

distribute your film

How To Distribute Your Film Without Going Broke

I frequently share marketing and distribution tactics. As a consequence, many filmmakers think of me as the “self-distribution guy.” If you share this opinion, you might assume that I no longer value traditional distribution. But here is the irony. When it comes time to distribute your film, you need to evaluate all options.

A few years back I was hired by a producer to help sell a movie at the American Film Market. During the market, we were able to schedule over 20 meetings. The reason we had so much interest from distributors is because we DID NOT actually need a distributor. This is because (in addition to an awesome film) we had a plan for marketing and selling our movie, ourselves.

Taking time to do our homework and create our own marketing and distribution plan eliminated all desperation and provided us with confidence. Because we didn’t actually need a distributor, we were able to go into each meeting with the patience to work towards a balanced win-win.

Regardless of the route you choose to distribute your film, the first step of the process is to sit down with a pen and paper and answer the following questions:

1. Who is Your Target Audience?
2. How Large is Your Target Audience?
3. How Will You Reach Your Target Audience?
4. What is Your Marketing Strategy?
5. How Many VOD Sales to Break Even?

While this may seem like an overly simple task, taking time to answer these questions is an exercise most filmmakers ignore. And by not having a marketing strategy (that you control) prospective distributors will have no choice but to present you with their standard offer. And because you will have no leveraging power, odds are good you’ll take it.

Creating Film Distribution Leverage

My clients took a different route. The producers did their homework. And as a result, we knew what we had and how we were going to market and self-distribute. By having a plan, we were able to minimize the risk for a prospective distributor and emphasize the potential upside.

In response to our plan, prospective distributors correctly perceived our movie as less risky than most. As a result, we received close to a half-dozen solid offers for the movie. (Some even included a substantial minimum guarantee and advertising spend.)

From there, we narrowed down the selection into final negotiations. While I’m not yet at liberty to talk about the actual deal, I can tell you that things are going well.

If you’re just learning about distribution, here is what the process looks like:

1. You pitch the movie.
2. Distributor expresses interest.
3. Distributor sends proposal / term sheet.
4. You negotiate terms to (hopefully) find a win-win.
5. From there, a long-form agreement is drafted.

It’s Never Too Early To Learn Film Distribution

The truth is, my articles would be a lot more popular if all I wrote about was cameras and gear. That stuff is sexy. Learning how to distribute your film is not. But here’s the thing. The reason you can’t close your prospective investor or land a dream distribution deal is because your movie project is too RISKY.

You think you’re ready for the pitch, but you’re not.

In fact, you shouldn’t be talking to anybody about your movie project until you have a clear marketing, sales and distribution strategy. This may seem extreme, but knowing how you’re going to distribute your film is essential. And I’m not saying you need to become a world class social media marketer.

You need to know a little about a lot.

You need know who to hire and why.

And you need to start planning this TODAY.

If you’re interested in learning how to distribute your film (so you can raise money and or sell your movie) you’re in luck. Based on my experience marketing and distributing movies, I created a system to help you understand the marketing and distribution process. My system is called The Independent Producer’s Guide To Digital Self-distribution.

Once you know this stuff, you’ll probably never consider a crappy distribution deal again.

How To Sharpen Your Movie Hook (So You Get Noticed)

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In business they have this thing called USP. A USP is your “unique selling proposition.” It is the one distinction that makes people buy one product over the next. In Hollywood we call this your movie hook. And without a strong movie hook, most filmmakers find themselves lost in a sea of other filmmakers clamoring to rise above the noise of mediocre movie making.

movie-hook

What Is Your Movie Hook?

When defining your movie hook, one of the first questions people ask is, what is your movie about? While this seems like a pretty easy question, if you find yourself rambling on about a complicated, character driven story, full of people reflecting on love and loss.

Don’t do this. A long description is confusing.

A confused mind doesn’t buy (or invest) in your movie.

To sell your title, your movie must be distinct and memorable. You need to make your movie REMARKABLE.

What do I mean by remarkable?

Here’s a brief story to explain how your movie hook influences word of mouth.

Picture this:

Let’s say you’re at a party. You chat with someone and they ask you about your movie.

Your Response: It’s about this guy who falls in love with a woman. Then they have issues. They break up. Then they get back together. It’s really a romantic comedy marketed to every man, woman and child in the world.

Do you see the flaw here? There is no real movie hook.

Do you understand how there is absolutely nothing in this description that makes me want to share your movie idea with other people?

And let’s use another example. Let’s say we start talking and you find out I love martial arts and that I’m really into Bruce Lee. In response, you tell me about the original Ip Man movie. (Ip Man was Bruce Lee’s mentor.)

Then you pull out your phone and share the following fight scene with me:

httpv://youtu.be/MCoH4FVgi7M

You can bet I’m going to remark about this. (I might even figure out a way to add it to a Filmmaking Stuff article about finding a movie hook so thousands of people can see my remarks.)

The point here is this. You can have the best movie in the world, but nobody will care about your movie until they care about your movie.

And you have to make them care.

The only way to make people care is to show them something remarkable. And the only way to do that is to make sure there is market for your movie and that you have a sharp movie hook.

In the Ip Man example above, the market is: Martial Arts Movie Enthusiasts.

The movie hook is: The story of Bruce Lee’s Mentor

How To Find Your Movie Hook

Finding your movie hook revolves around taking your broad movie concept and distilling it down to the bare, yet memorable essentials.

For example, let’s say your movie hook is described as “A boxer fights for the title.”

Obviously this is a succinct log-line, but it lacks memorable detail.

So your next job is to incorporate some flavorful elements into your movie hook.

Here is the same example with added detail: “An impoverished boxer is given a once in a lifetime chance to fight for the world heavyweight title.”

Can you guess what movie I’m describing?

With this movie hook example, you can see how the extra detail adds sizzle to the description.

Taking time to sharpen your movie hook will help you in two arenas.

Firstly, with this description, your prospective audience will immediately understand how your movie differs from all the other boxer movies. And from a marketing perspective, the words “boxer,” “fights,” and “heavyweight title” will help you to target your core audience and later, these keywords will help you jump-start your internet search engine optimization campaign.

Finding your movie hook is the start of your movie marketing. Once you have a movie hook, you can then answer the next, very important marketing questions. Take a moment to answer:

  1. Who Is Your Target Audience?
  2. How Large Is Your Target Audience?
  3. How Will You Reach Your Audience?
  4. What Is Your Marketing Strategy?
  5. How Many VOD Sales To Break Even?

For many filmmakers, the benefit of creating a movie hook, as well as marketing, sales and distribution plan saves TONS of headaches when you actually take your movie to market. And putting together a distribution plan is a lot easier than you think. For more information on how to market and sell your movie, check out my newly updated distribution system at www.HowToSellYourMovie.com