The following is the assignment for the final report that will be required from each team. Please note, only one report per team. Your report must be presented electronically as a blog through the hosting service of your choice. You can place all the information below in one blog post or be creative with your blog and utilize its features to enhance your content. Refer to the document How to Create a Blog for help.

Project Introduction

The Project Introduction should contain a title that includes the name of your film. Then you should provide a brief explanation about the report and project. For example:

“This report concerns a project undertaken by volunteers working with the Film Festival Marketing Project for ORGANIZATION NAME GOES HERE.

Each team was assigned a film that would screen at the FESTIVAL NAME GOES HERE. Working with the Festival staff, and the various filmmakers, the volunteers were responsible for the guerrilla marketing of the films.

Our team included _________________ (list names). We were assigned a _________ (documentary or narrative) film entitled ___________________ (your film’s name). The filmmaker(s) were/was ____________________ (the director, producer, etc).

The following is a report on what we attempted, what we accomplished and, most importantly, what we learned.”

Synopsis and Brief History

Include the synopsis of your film.

Describe the production and distribution history of your film.

Also provide a bio of your filmmakers.

Marketing Work

What did your team attempt in the way of marketing? Be specific about why you attempted each kind of marketing. In other words, list the marketing techniques and explain the reasoning you used to market your film this way.

Were you successful in attracting interest? Did you get butts in the seats?

Describe in detail what each team member actually did. How did it work?

Be candid about your successes and failures. This report is intended to reveal what you’ve learned.

Calendar

Provide a timeline of what your team did during this course, starting with being assigned the film. Does this timeline differ from the marketing plan you put together earlier in this course? Explain any differences.

Conclusion

A clear and concise statement concerning your experience. Conclude by telling us what you learned.

Appendix (e.g., Supporting Materials)

List everyone you met (or should have met) related to your film. You may also include people who attended the Festival who were not related to your film, like other filmmakers or people on the juries.

Provide the data on screening attendance.

Include any links, excerpts, audio clips, or scanned images of reviews and press about your film.

Include any links, physical copies, or scanned images of materials you created or distributed, e.g., flyers, posters, press releases, blogs, etc.

Include any additional links, e.g., any websites, videos (embed them in the blog if possible), pages or blogs you created, official film website, Festial website, or other resources.

Examples

For examples of past report blogs refer to the following resources:

• Obselidia Final Report
• The Lottery Final Report
• The Attic Door Final Report
• Poundcake Final Report
• Earth Days Final Report
• In A Dream Final Report
• Smile Til It Hurts Final Report
• We Are The Mods Final Report

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

Instructions

Begin communication with your filmmakers. In the first e-mail (or phone call) introduce your team and inform the filmmakers why you are contacting them. Your filmmakers should be aware of the project and be expecting your e-mail. It is best to choose one individual in the team who will start the communication between the two parties. We’ve found filmmakers prefer to hear from just one member of the team to start. Refer to the document How to Write a Business/Cover Letter for help in drafting a professional business letter.

Once the filmmakers have responded favorably to your initial contact, then you can send a second email, presenting your draft marketing plan for approval. Typically, your team and the filmmakers will then begin a dialogue about how to market the film.

It is also suggested that you create a Gmail account specifically for promoting your film. This will help all of your team’s e-mails stay organized and archived in one location. Refer to the document How to Utilize a Google Account to become familiar with Gmail and the entire Google online suite.

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

Create a marketing plan for the film that was just screened or the one you previously blogged about. Refer to the document How to Build a Marketing Plan for detailed instructions.

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

Create a blog (using Blogger) about a feature length film. Research your film as best you can on the Internet and then post the following information on your new blog:

• A short pitch (three sentences or less) for the film.
• Include an image of the film’s poster.
• Include an embedded trailer for the film.
• Indicate whether you have seen the film or not (it doesn’t matter either way). List the main cast, director, and producer.
• Did the film play the festival circuit?
• Are there reviews available? An official website? Provide links.
• Finally, what were the angles they used to market and sell this film? Do you think they were correct? What would you do differently and why?

Refer to the document How to Create a Blog for detailed instructions on building a blog. Feel free to customize your blog as much as you please – including themes, pages, and widgets.

Resources

Refer to these documents for help on adding links, images, and video to a Blogger blog:

• Blogger Support – Adding Links
• Blogger Support – More with Links
• Blogger Support – Adding Images
• Blogger Support – Adding Video

Refer to these resources for help in researching your film:

• http://www.imdb.com
• http://www.indieWIRE.com
• http://www.FilmThreat.com
• http://www.RottenTomatoes.com
• http://www.FilmFestivalToday.com
• http://www.FilmFestivals.com
• http://www.boxofficemojo.com

Review the following blogs from previous students for reference:

• http://justforkicksfanblog.blogspot.com
• http://brantleysjunoblog.blogspot.com
• http://pontalexandre.blogspot.com
• http://laurenstockner.blogspot.com
• http://historyboys-jehle7.blogspot.com
• http://thetvsetblog.blogspot.com
• http://bellafilm.blogspot.com

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

When the festival begins make sure that flyers and posters have been placed out by the festival staff. If not, ask a festival employee about where flyers and posters can be placed.

It helps to work the lines (e.g., outside of film screenings), handing out your flyers where potential patrons have gathered. To sell your film, you should try to create numerous impressions. If you and your team are handing out flyers around the festival, you will begin to build relationships.  You and your team will become identified with your film and you’ll be surprised at how many familiar faces will show up at your screenings.

Network

Attend film festival events and parties. Talk about the film you’re promoting and engage with as many patrons and filmmakers as you can. Don’t be surprised if your efforts result in increased attendance for your screenings.  You might even build relationships with other filmmakers that can help you after the festival is over.

Unique Promotion

You can get attention by going above and beyond handing out flyers. Another great way to promote is to come up with an unexpected strategy or gimmick. At the 2010 Florida Film Festival several teams came up with truly unique promotions to build interest in their films.

For example, in 2010 the team promoting Cleanflix (a film about a religiously motivated campaign to offer edited versions of popular Hollywood films, without the R-rated content) came up with a great cheap way to catch patrons’ attention. The Cleanflix team worked the lines at the film festival distributing DVD boxes. Each box (obtained by the street team for free from a video store that was going out of business) featured a front cover that the street team had made offering a “PG Version” of a blockbuster film.  The front cover included catchy artwork promising a desirable (if edited for content) DVD. But the box was empty and the back cover explained the promotion, listing Cleanflix screening times at the festival.

Another great promotion involved “lost keys” that were left around the festival by the team forHomewrecker, a film about a man on work-release from prison as a locksmith. Attached to the keys (obtained for free from a locksmith’s trash) were a small flyer that listed screening times for the film.  From a distance, the keys and flyer looked like a lost key ring. The keys were left in public spaces around the festival, where they were found and picked up.  People who picked up the keys inevitably read the promotion.  Some patrons actually returned the keys to the box office as they bought their tickets to Homewrecker.

Finally, the team for Obselidia, a film about an encyclopedia salesman writing a book cataloging the once-beloved things that end up obsolete, came up with a unique promotion that resulted in an original work of art.  For the festival, the Obselidia team created an actual book of obselidia. To start this unique promotion, the team purchased a large beautifully-bound artist’s sketchbook. On the blank pages of this book the Obselidia team asked patrons and filmmakers at the festival to write an entry about something that was “obsolete.” Every day the list of obsolete things in the book grew.  The Obselidia team was a constant presence up-and-down the lines outside screenings and at the festival parties.  After several days, page after page had been filled and the book itself became an attraction, with people lining up to read the entries and to add their own creative touches.  This actual book of “obselidia” helped to explain the concept of the movie (not an easy task) and created its own buzz that helped to promote the film.

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

By placing printed materials in shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and other areas of interest around a festival you can reach a demographic that may not be using the Internet. Even if your online promotions have reached your target audience, placing your printed materials in several locations increases the possibility for multiple impressions upon members of your film’s demographic.

Flyers (also known as handbills) can also be placed directly in the hands of festival attendees to create interest in your film. These face-to-face encounters that include a printed take-away have proven to be a very effective method for building an audience.

Designing Printed Promotions

In many cases a filmmaker will already have flyers and/or posters printed. When you contact your filmmaker, be sure to ask. If there are printed materials available, leave ample time to get them for distribution before the festival. This will be discussed further in this document.

In some instances a filmmaker will not have pre-printed materials, or even a design completed for them. This is where you will have an opportunity to contribute some creative and useful work to the promotion of your film.

Even if a filmmaker has flyer and poster designs already completed, it may be necessary to make slight alterations of the art for this Festival. For example, a filmmaker may have designed a single piece of art in a 4″x6″ format. This size is great for professionally printed glossy postcards. But if you need to quickly print off some cheap paper flyers, you might want to convert the 4″x6″ artwork so that a 8.5″x11″ page could reproduce that art four times. You can then cut four cheap flyers from one sheet.

When designing a flyer that is intended for high quality card stock (for example, the glossy postcard that will be used at numerous festivals), savvy filmmakers include only general information about the film. Typically a space is left blank on these glossy postcards where a sticker can be applied that contains information about specific screening times and theater locations for this festival. By leaving a space in the flyer design for festival specific information, mailing labels (that contain the screening times, locations, etc.) can be attached at the last minute. While it may take a little while to place individual labels on each flyer, the money and resources that can be saved will be appreciated by you and your filmmaker.

If your design is intended to be printed in a low quantity run on cheaper paper stock it will be okay to include the specific festival screening information in the design. In fact, it will save you time to do so.

Higher-end graphics programs like Photoshop are great for designing these sorts of materials, but free and open source solutions such as GIMP will provide an affordable solution.

Remember to design all printed promotions in 300 dpi.

Printing Promotions

Whether you have designed the materials yourself, or if they are already designed, there is still the possibility that you will be printing materials for your filmmaker. If the cost of shipping is too high, or the filmmaker’s busy schedule prevents them from tending to the issue, you may end up taking artwork to the copy shop or to the printing company.

Utilizing a Printing Company

If you are looking into printing a large quantity of flyers or posters, particularly on card stock or high quality paper, it will often be most economical to use a printing company that specializes in large quantity jobs. Several companies offer such a service and some even offer reduced rates or free materials in exchange for advertisement on the back of your flyers such as ClubFlyers.com.

When submitting your art to a printing company, make sure to meet their exact requirements for format and quality.

Printing Locally

For smaller quantity print jobs, most likely on regular paper stock, you can utilize chain store print centers such as Staples or Office Depot. University students can look into what economical printing options are available to them through student print centers.

For paper flyers it will be cheapest to print in black and white. To get the most out of one sheet of paper, you can place four copies of the flyer art on one sheet and then cut it. Most stores offer cutting services as well, but if time permits cutting them yourself could save some money.

Printing 11″x17″ posters in color can be considerably more expensive than smaller black and white flyers. To save money, you can print just a few large posters in color to be placed in key areas, with the rest being in black and white.

Shipping Promotions

Depending on the requirements of your festival, promotions being shipped to you may need to be routed through the festival first. Check with your instructor or the festival staff to see what procedure they favor. Some festivals prefer that all printed materials from the filmmakers be shipped to the festival. That way, the festival staff can take the materials they need and leave the rest for you and your team. Often times a central location such as the festival office will act as a repository for the materials, allowing course participants to check out materials as they need them.

Distributing Flyers and Posters

Before the Festival

Placing flyers and posters in various locations around the festival city will help make your film’s presence known. First identify all the locations you want to visit and make a list by distance to minimize your drive. Break up the distribution of materials between your group based on where they live.

Remember to respect the locations you are visiting and ask for permission first. Then only place promotional materials in approved areas. When placing posters, be sure not to tape on painted walls or surfaces that might cause damage.

Make a plan about the distribution of materials. Printed materials need to be distributed ahead of your screenings. Placing all your flyers in a few stores one day before the screening probably won’t have the desired effect.

During the Festival

To learn more about distributing promotions during the festival refer to the document How to Promote During the Festival.

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

Getting Started

A press kit can be presented as a hard copy in a folder, on a CD-ROM/DVD or other portable media, e-mailed, hosted online, presented through a website, or a mixture of delivery options. In the past all the elements of a press kit were physical hard copies placed in a folder. As the use of computers and digital technology increased these physical kits were replaced by CD-ROM and eventually moved to an online environment.

The method you choose to utilize is entirely up to you, and may rely on the requirements of the recipient. By digitizing a press kit into an EPK, or posting online, you can easily provide high resolution photos, easily replace outdated information, and have the convenience of quick delivery to an interested party. The various ways to transfer a press kit digitally will be discussed further on in this document.

There is no set standard for the organization, visual style, or formatting of a press kit. However, care should be taken to have a uniform look throughout all the documents included. An unorganized and sloppy press kit can discourage the recipient from even reading a kit.

Remember to keep a master copy of your press kit at all times. You must be prepared to reproduce it if needed. Also, keep the information in a press kit honest. It is okay to present some showmanship and make your film sound great, but don’t stretch the truth.

REMEMBER, always check with your filmmakers before you send out a press kit or contact any media.

Elements of a Press Kit

Cover Sheet

The cover sheet to a press kit should include:

• The logo for the film, if available.
• Publicist contact. In the case of this course, most likely a participant.
• Filmmaker contact.
• Festival contact. If a press kit is being sent to a journalist in relation to a local festival, include the contact for the festival.

Contact numbers provided should be cell phones when possible, as you will need to be available easily.

Each film has a unique situation or need when it comes to contact information. You can make changes to the information included as necessary.

While most of the content in a press kit will stay the same, the cover sheet may change often depending on whom it is being sent to. If sending a press kit to a journalist in reference to a specific film festival, create a custom cover sheet with the contact information for that specific festival.

Synopsis

A short paragraph or two that describes the plot of the film. Remember that this synopsis will be used by festival staff and journalists to build interest in and promote your film. Often times your filmmakers will be able to provide this synopsis.

About The Production

Include details about the production of your film. This can be behind the scenes footage, interviews, or anecdotes about the production. Check with your filmmakers to see if any such materials are available.

Bios

Bios about the key players in a film’s production will be helpful to journalists when building a story. Include the director, producer, cinematographer, actors, and other crew members that are of note. Check with your filmmakers to see if any such materials are available.

Credits

List the credits for the key crew members of your film. Remember to verify the spelling of their names as this document will be used as a reference by journalists. Check with your filmmakers to see if any such materials are available.

Other Press Clips

It will help to include positive press about your film, particularly from a well respected source. Check with your filmmakers to see if any such materials are available.

Photos

A press kit should include at least one photo representing the film, if not more. The subject can range from behind the scenes, to a poster image, or a frame taken from the film. Often times your filmmakers will already have these photos ready.

Include caption information identifying the actors, their characters, what is depicted in the photo, photographer credit, copyright, and any other pertinent information. Always name your photos so that the caption information can be associated with them.

For the purpose of this course, digital formats delivered through e-mail or online will be the most used option due to time and budget constraints. If time permits, ask the recipient what formats they require.

More on photos will be discussed further in this document.

Building a Press Kit

While physical press kits do exist, and are still used, this course will focus primarily on electronic and online press kits.

Electronic Press Kit

An electronic press kit will save both time and money and allow quick delivery to interested parties.

Preparing Text Based Documents

Instead of making hard copies of all your documents, you will create digital copies that are organized in a folder on your computer. Save all the text based documents to PDF format. PDF has become a standard format for both PC and Mac operating systems and can be read by the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Some programs offer the feature to save to PDF. If not, try PrimoPDF which can print any document from any program to a PDF document. Google Docs will also export documents to PDF format.

If you are sending a journalist your standard EPK in reference to a specific festival it may be a good idea to attach the cover sheet, with region specific contact information for the local festival, as a separate e-mail attachment or in the body of correspondence. EPKs can be large files, and to create duplicate copies just to change a festival contact can take up a lot of online storage space.

Preparing Press Coverage

Hopefully your filmmakers will already have press coverage prepared. However, if you need to prepare any coverage consider taking these steps.

For copies of press coverage, include high quality scans or content saved from the web. If scanning printed articles, make sure the scans appear clean and the articles are isolated on the page, with other non-related information removed. If saving articles from the web try to utilize the “print” feature now offered on most sites, as this will isolate the article content and remove much of the site’s graphics. You can then use the PDF printing solution mentioned above to get a PDF file. Or copy and paste the article’s content into a word processor where you can format it to match your other documents, and then print to a PDF document.
Preparing Photos

Include a PDF document that lists the name of each photo along with the caption, credit, and copyright information for each. Make sure all digital photos are are provided in a high resolution, 300 dpi.

For more information on including digital photos refer to these resources:

• LUX Distribution Guide
• BBC Exhibition and Distribution

Compiling the EPK

Clearly name your EPK folder to identify your film’s name and that the folder is an electronic press kit. The organization of the files within the folder is up to you but it may be best to place the Synopsis, About the Production, and Credits documents in the main folder and create separate sub-folders for Bios, Other Press Clips, and Photos. Place your folder into a ZIP file to compress the contents and provide a single file for easy distribution. Or burn the folder’s contents onto a data CD-ROM/DVD.

Due to the high resolution images included in your EPK, even the compressed ZIP file will have a large file size. While still possible to e-mail the ZIP it is recommended to host the file online and then e-mail a link to the file. More on hosting files will be discussed further in this document.

Some also decide to compile their entire EPK into one single PDF file such as this one for the Sunscreen Film Festival.

Online Press Kit

Taking the electronic press kit one step further, an online version can be created. The line between an online press kit and a film’s general website can be blurry. While a film’s website and online press kit can be one and the same, it is important to ensure that the online press kit is free of complicated navigation.

The main purpose of an online press kit is to direct an interested party to the information and allow them to quickly process it. This being the case, if the film’s website is quite flashy you may want to create a separate area of the site for the online press kit or simply offer the electronic press kit as a download.

The online press kit for Wesley Willis’s Joyrides is good example of a website incorporating a press kit area.

Hosting

You will need online server space to host the files for your online press kit. Unless you have some intermediate knowledge of web development, the simplest way is to utilize a blog. Blogs offer the perfect mix of customization and structure to quickly create a clean and professional online presence.

Several blog services such as Blogger and WordPress offer free hosting. Refer to the document How to Create a Blog for more information on using these services.

Another option for large files are free hosting services:

• RapidShare
• MegaUpload

Posting Documents

Instead of creating hard copies, or even PDF versions of your documents, you will post them on your blog. If your blog offers the ability to create static pages you can create a separate page for each section of your online press kit. If not, they can be provided in news posts.

Posting Press Coverage

For copies of press coverage, include high quality scans or content saved from the web. If scanning printed articles, make sure the scans appear clean and the articles are isolated in the final image, with other non-related information removed. If saving articles from the web try to utilize the “print” feature now offered on most sites, as this will isolate the article content and remove much of the site’s graphics. You can then use the PDF printing solution mentioned above to get a PDF file and then host it on your blog/server. Or you can link to the original article online. You should back up the article to your computer in case the link becomes broken in the future. You can also copy and paste the article’s content into the your blog as text. Be sure to give proper credit.

Posting Photos

Most blog services allow you the ability to upload and import photos right into a news post or static page. Typically the blog will offer you the option to insert a thumbnail of the photo into the post, linked to the full-sized image. Make sure the photos you begin with are in 300 dpi. Be sure to include the name of each photo along with the caption, credit, and copyright information.

Posting Video

If you would like to include video clips or the trailer for your film consider using an online video hosting service and then linking to or embedding the video from their site. Refer to these resources:

• YouTube
• Vimeo

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Licensed by Randy Finch and Nick Martinolich under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This license allows you to copy, distribute, and transmit this work as well as create derivative works. Any copies or derivative works may not be used for commercial purposes, must be distributed under a same or similar license, and in addition must contain the following language: “The Film Fest Marketing Project was developed by Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Sam Torres, Alex Bowser, Morgan English, Masha Murakhovsky, Jeph Alexander, and the faculty and students of the University of Central Florida’s Film Department, working with the Florida Film Festival, and with the support of the Sarasota Film Institute.”

Because social media is cheap and allows the user to target their message, we think these tools should be explored. Once your film has a presence online, it costs very little to include links to your social media profiles in your e-mail signatures, promotions, and on your business cards.

Networking on Facebook

First set up an account. They are free and anybody can get one at Facebook.com.

• A Facebook Profile is meant for individuals only.  With Facebook Profiles you can connect with others as Friends. If you’re one of the millions already using Facebook, you already know about communicating with your Facebook Friends by posting on your Profile, commenting on posts on their Profiles or by sending Messages directly to a Friend’s Facebook Inbox. For marketing a film, we suggest that you learn about Facebook Pages.  To build a fan base on Facebook, you can set up a Page. Facebook Pages can be for individuals, such as authors or celebrities, but Facebook Pages are also for non-human entities such as products, companies, organizations and campaigns. To promote a film that will be screening at a festival, a Page (and not a Profile) is currently the best first step on Facebook.
• Facebook Pages are intended to be created by official representatives of a brand. If you are taking a course (where you aren’t the filmmaker, but are simply representing an assigned film), be sure to get the filmmaker’s permission before creating a Facebook Page. You may find that your filmmakers have already created a Facebook Page.
• This tutorial will introduce you to Facebook Pages and their function.
• Here is an example of a Facebook Page for the film The Attic Door.

Mashable provides a Facebook Guidebook that includes help on utilizing apps, building a community, optimizing your page, and more.

We recommend starting with a Facebook Page for your film but, to mobilize an audience, we also suggest that you make your screenings a Facebook Event. Refer to this Mashable article on creating a Facebook Event.

Once your team has been assigned a film and you open a line of communication with your filmmakers, the next step is to present them with a marketing plan. Presenting a draft marketing plan allows your filmmakers to review the marketing ideas your team has developed and then approve the parts of your plan that fit their own ideas and budget.

Marketing Plan Content

Your marketing plan should include:

• A short pitch for the film.

• A profile of your target audience(s). You may want to start with details such as: age, gender, marital status, location, income, etc. But expert film marketers, like Sheri Candler, will tell you that: “The demographic information of your target audience is worth less than the psychographic.  So rather than age and gender, think about the interest characteristics of your target audience. What motivates them, what do they care about, what interests them on a deep level? And then speak to that in the context of your film. So ages and sex and location matter less than the feeling they can connect to in the film.”

• A list of keywords that would be used to reach this audience via Social Networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) or search engines.

• A list of online resources that are within your target audience: online groups, networks, media outlets, mailing lists, etc.
• A list of local establishments that are within your target audience: local organizations, businesses, media outlets, groups, etc.

• Perhaps most importantly, make a timeline of what you intend to do to market your film and the dates these tasks will be completed.

Your marketing plan must be organized on a timeline. Even if you only have a week before the festival, you need to plan your time carefully and set goals for specific days.  Marketing a film is a time-sensitive project. There’s no point in getting attention for a screening too soon or too late.