Let's Talk About... Press Releases and Why They Don't Work
Plus updates about the project in New Mexico, news about Dances with Films projects I'm working with & a list of helpful links for those of you about to screen in film festivals this summer & fall.
Shout out to my husband Alexander Yellen for his cinematography work on this project, THE SUMMER MACHINE, from none other than George R.R. Martin. I was honored to play a small part in this production by handling the PR for this project and enjoyed meeting this literary legend more than I can say. What an experience!
For those of you about to enter the festival circuit, here are some helpful links, in case you missed them in the past:
Let's Talk About... Rotten Tomato Reviews for Independent Films
Your Film Festival Checklist: A Guide to Surviving Film Festivals for Indie Filmmakers
Because this post is meant to help filmmakers in regards to strategizing their PR plans and specifically talks about press releases, it’s a free post. I’ll prepare a new paid post for next week and trust me, it’s a topic you don’t want to miss!
Welcome to Summer, 2024: Survive till ‘25!
Well, it’s officially summer, and I guess that means that it’s the most opportune time to announce the George R.R. Martin project we’ve been sitting on for over a year, a project announced in Deadline last week called, THE SUMMER MACHINE.
My husband Alex was the DP and we schlepped out to New Mexico with our beloved Westie, Bogie, to go film with George and Alex’s old Z Nation team for over a month.
It was super fun to get the gang back together and work on this project in a state that holds a very personal and special place in my heart. For those who don’t know, I was born and raised in Texas and spent a lot of my childhood in New Mexico, so this was a bit of a homecoming for me and it was lovely.
Additional project details are forthcoming but summertime also means… Dances With Films Los Angeles is here!
I can’t say enough good things about this festival as it was where my own film premiered in the summer of 2023 and set me off on this incredible adventure. (More on DARUMA soon… big news coming!)
But this year, I have the privilege of repping two stellar projects at the festival: first, a short film called STORY OF THE SUN by Phillip Gladkov. It’s an animated film made entirely out of birch bark and let me tell you - if you aren’t familiar with the cultural symbolism and importance that birch bark plays not only in Indigenous but Scandinavian cultures, you’re in for a treat. I’ve never worked with a filmmaker like Phillip before, someone who has so prized and cared for his materials like a real steward of the earth. It’s so refreshing and genuine.
Phillip’s animation work is so fluent and tangible and delicious… it’s reminiscent of animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger (a female German animator who predated Disney, hem, hem), and whose work I was actually familiar with before starting work with Phillip. This is one of the reasons I was drawn to the project.
Get ready to see some amazing things from this filmmaker who makes incredible ecologically driven films and pieces of artwork. I’m more than happy to help this burgeoning voice get his POV heard in the world because if all of us were a little more like Phillip, the world would be a much better place.
The other film is a pilot called BURNS & SONG and I have to say it is astonishingly good. Like… shockingly good. The moment I saw it I went holy sh&t, this is so reminiscent of Nia DiCosta’s work (who I am also a huge fan of) and I’m so glad I get to rep this film.
I’ve screened a LOT of pilots and films as a programmer and this is a film that was so nuanced and fully fleshed out I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. It’s a horror story so the fact that it haunted me for days (no pun intended) and the fact that I could NOT get that opening song out of my head bodes extremely well for this talented team.
The film is from writer/director Tendayi Nyeke and producer Dikelo Mamiala and is their love letter to the horror genre but the story goes so much deeper than that. Can’t wait to share more info and updates about both of these projects!
But the thing I want to talk about today is press releases for films (or really press releases for anything) and why they don’t work and why you shouldn’t waste your time and money on them.
Let’s dive in!
Why Press Releases Don’t Work
What is a Press Release?
A press release, in case you don’t know or if it’s not apparent, is an outward-facing document that contains information a company or individual wishes to get attention for via the media. They will send this document out to news outlets either via email or by using something called a “wire service.”
A wire service gathers releases like this and sends them out to media outlets on behalf of the person sending the release. There are benefits to using wire services, particularly if you’re a large corporation and your release is only intended to circulate information meant to be copy and pasted and you’re using it to fulfill legal requirements regarding publishing certain information (say a stockholder’s report or something).
Most wire services offer tiered pricing plans that vary from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. This should indicate to you, indie filmmaker and small business owner, that the use of a press release on a wire service isn’t going to be for you and won’t generate the results you’re hoping for.
You spending money on a press release to snap it out on “the wire” ala PR Newswire or another service is going to one thing and one thing only: take your money and give you no earned media.
What happens is you get something that looks like this with a backlink:
So yes, your news WILL be searchable on the search engines, but it won’t appear on any news sites you’re hoping will pick it up except maybe the odd aggregator.
Why is that?
Because journalists and writers literally do not have the time to sift through newswires looking for stories. PR (like the entertainment industry) is a relationship driven business and the best way to ensure your news get to the outlet you want it to appear in, is to work with a seasoned professional who can reach out on your behalf.
But know that even then it’s not a guarantee your news will be picked up. There’s a million reasons why an editor or writer will pass on a pitch and neither you nor the PR pro you’re working with has any control over it.
If you want control, take out a paid ad.
Why & When Press Releases are Useful
Press releases are useful in that they can help you organize your thoughts around your messaging and come up with a clear and concise way to get your point across. If you’re targeting a trade publication, like Deadline or The Hollywood Reporter, you want to be as factual as possible because you don’t want to make the writer or editor you’re targeting sift through a lot of useless information and accoutrements.
Why Press Releases Don’t Work
So yes, you’ll have a release but you won’t be blasting it out across the wire. But you never want to send JUST a press release; you want to send a personalized pitch. This lets the writer you’re pitching know that you spent time and energy researching them to make sure that not only do they write about the topic you’re pitching, but that you’re not papering every media outlet you can get in touch with with your release.
What to do Instead of Sending a Press Release
As outlined above, you want to take the time to send targeted pitches to media who will write about your project. But be aware, they may have already covered what you’re pitching via another story and therefore not be interested, so be sure to do your research.
This is why working with a seasoned media strategist is important: it helps your pitches and your story land and it helps you not burn any relationships and opportunities in the process and look foolish.
Writers and editors get hit up by THOUSANDS of publicists and marketing people all the time, so you want to be en point, professional and stand out with your pitch.
After all, they’re human too! (For now at least… let’s aim to keep the arts and creative human powered by supporting artists!)
Work with Me
If you’d like to book a session with me to discuss marketing and PR for your film, project or small business contact me here.
I can work with you on a one off basis to develop a strategy or on a retainer basis if you need something more involved.
Shoot me a message if you’d like to connect and be sure to check out my other posts!
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