Let's Talk About... The Importance of Screening Theatrically for Indie Films. Plus: a new shared resource for indie filmmakers.
Now that my theatrical run for DARUMA is over, I've got some perspective to draw on and am sharing a new resource in this week's paid post. Plus: check out KATIE'S MOM (the film, not literally).
I took way way way too many photos on this theatrical tour and will be making a reel for social media soon but one of the highlights was our screening in Washington DC when Christopher Reeve’s oldest child came out to join us.
As a long-time supporter of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, I was moved beyond words that she came out to our screening in Washington DC. After meeting her twice now, it’s so clear that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree at all. It truly was one of the highlights of this experience, as was being discussed on Film Week on LAist/NPR. This newsletter is going to be a lot but it’s important and it’s also going to discuss something called premium foldering.
I’ll be doing a longer post about how the theatrical went but first I want to share a new resource thanks to fellow filmmaker Jules Bruff.
The Indie Filmmaker Review Exchange Sharegrid
Anyone who has made an independent film knows how HARD it is to get reviews of your film (even from your closest friends and family). Fortunately, Jules Bruff, producer of The Good Side of Bad, has created this sharegrid for indie filmmakers to exchange reviews.
The concept is simple: sign up for the sharegrid and review other films on the list on IMDb, Letterboxd, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon and more. Ping the filmmaker on social media and let them know you’ve done a review and they in turn will reciprocate. Or ping them first and see if someone will engage in a review swap.
However you want to do it, these reviews are more critical than ever, which is a topic I’m going to dive into in December.
You can sign up for the sharegrid here.
Community is going to be the key to success for your film and this is an easy way to generate not only reviews but commune with other filmmakers in the same boat.
Rent Indie Film Katie’s Mom: Available Now
This week I want to highlight a film I’ve screened with called Katie’s Mom. Written by Meryl Branch McTiernan, and directed by Tyrrell Shaffner this duo crushed not only their distribution deal but have sustained interest in their movie long after their festival run ended.
ABOUT KATIE’S MOM: A recent divorcee's holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter's charming new boyfriend. Loosely inspired by a true story of an ex boyfriend who had an affair with his girlfriend's mother and the beloved film, The Graduate, the film stars Dina Meyer and Aaron Dominguez.
Click here to rent the film on Amazon.
And now…
Let’s Talk About The Importance of Theatrical Screenings for Indie Films
In today’s post I want to talk about the importance of theatrical screenings and some of the things this unlocked for me and my film that without it, we would not have had.
Let’s dig in. The main thing that the theatrical screenings provided to my film was—