Let's Talk About... Ten Things You Need to Do to Give a Great Interview
PLUS: Check out MY HOME UNKNOWN and... Cards Against Humanity is supporting the launch of DARUMA with swag. ALSO: press in The Hollywood Reporter for IMC
Hello everyone! I promised two paid posts this week and I’m trying to deliver! We’ve got a chaotic week ahead of us gearing up for the launch of DARUMA in theaters and on streaming so I’m fitting in the newsletter where I can, hence the Saturday delivery. Enjoy reading it over coffee tomorrow or a glass of wine this evening!
I wanted to start by giving a shoutout to Cards Against Humanity for contributing some of their Movie Night Boxes to the swag bag giveaway for the launch of the DARUMA trailer on November 8th. Five lucky winners will win a set!
If you haven’t signed up yet… why not? Check out all the great swag from our brand sponsors and join us at the online event hosted by comedian Christopher Titus.
Join the online event on November 8th, here.
So far the gift bag contains:
Opalescence GO Teeth Whitening Kits
For Bitter For Worse Non Alcoholic Spritzers (which tastes amazing)
NaturoBath relaxing soaks
Neuro Gum & Mints
DAX haircare products
La Roche Posay lip balm
$50 gift card from Slickchicks
LONE WOLF survival kit which contains a water resistant dry bag is engineered with a 4-in-1 multifunctional tool (whistle, compass, flint, striker) and contains extra storage to carry personal belongings in a disaster
Silvex Wound Gel
And I have a few more items coming! All told… the MSRP value of the gift bags is pushing $250 which isn’t bad for a little indie film. Enter to win one of the bags and come to the trailer release event: I hope it inspires some ideas for your own films and demonstrates that yes… brands and advertisers DO support indie films and that there is an audience and value in what we do.
International Medical Corps in the Press
I’ve been working with International Medical Corps for a while now, and I absolutely love this organization. As you might have gathered from the work I do, I tend to gravitate toward projects that are issue driven and impact the world in a (hopefully) positive manner.
This past week I had the honor of attending and working with IMC on their 40th fundraising event, which was hosted by Judy Greer. It was an incredible night with doctors, volunteers and philanthropists raising money to help those in disaster-stricken areas around the globe, including the recent hurricane victims in the US.
The attendees raised an incredible $1.3MM that evening, all of which goes to helping the communities around the world that need it most, and we got a nice little mention in The Hollywood Reporter:
It was a fantastic night and speaking of storytelling that makes an impact….
Check out MY HOME UNKNOWN, Now Streaming
Directed by Yaz Canli, MY HOME UNKNOWN is a raw and unflinching story of a female artist experiencing homelessness through a mental health crisis and the courage it takes to accept help. And if you live in Los Angeles, you know that the crisis is real.
Click here to order on iTunes.
Congratulations to Yaz and the Wallybird Team! Yaz and I screened together on the festival circuit last year so it’s great to see so many filmmakers get distribution at around the same time. I’m happy to try and help them make them most of it by promoting their movies here in this newsletter.
If you have an indie film you’d like me to promote, click here to submit your materials. I do not promote crowdfunding campaigns but I also never charge to plug your film! This support matters and I hope you’ll spread the love around.
So now let’s talk about…
Ten Things You Need to Do Give a Great Interview
This post is for everyone who is planning on promoting their film or projects to the media. And by media I mean press, podcasters, bloggers, anything that’s going be promoting your project.
But securing the interview is only half the battle — I know of filmmakers who have lost their interviews because they didn’t go well and worse, burned relationships. So here’s how NOT to do that, and how to make sure you get press that’s going to do what you need it to do: elevate your voice and position you in front of audiences and make the most of the time and resources you invested into getting said interview.