Let's Talk About... There Are No Cheat Codes in Filmmaking. PLUS: Do You REALLY Need a Website for Your Film? And if so, what platform do you choose?
Also: A great panel I did with Easterseals DFC about film distribution, an invite to a trailer watch party with free swag + real talk from the producer of Dinner in America: there are no cheat codes.
Every time I think I’m going to run out of topics to discuss for about film marketing and PR on this Substack, I come across something that I think would make a good post for this growing community, which is now up to almost 200 subscribers. That’s just incredible to me! Thank you all!
I started this Substack almost exactly a year ago with zero followers, not knowing if anyone would find what I had to say of value, and I’m so pleased that it’s been helpful.
If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, please send me a DM!
And please don’t forget to say hello if you’re going to be at Gotham Week in New York the first week of October. I’m speaking on a panel with Minorities in Film about Innovative Exhibition. The link to sign up and learn more is here.
Trailer Release Party for DARUMA = FREE SWAG!
I’m planning a trailer release party in the coming weeks for my film DARUMA and would love to invite you all to the Zoom watch party! Details about the event are shaping up but I will be giving some very cool swag to some lucky winners attending the Zoom and will have some very special guests.
Sign up for the watch party here!
Film Marketing & Distribution Panel with Easterseals at AFI
I want to start today’s newsletter giving a shoutout to a great panel I was asked to be part of via Easterseals Disability Film Challenge at AFI. I was really happy to chat with this group of up and coming filmmakers who asked a lot of smart questions and seemed energized and excited after the panel.
I love doing things like this and would love part of your panels as well so if you’re putting something together and need someone to talk about film marketing and PR, give me a shout and let’s see if we can make it work!
The Producer of Dinner in America Gets Real on Twitter: There are NO Cheat Codes in Indie Filmmaking
I had a call recently with prospective filmmaking client that left me a little rattled and it took me a few days to figure out why. I realized later that the root of the call wasn’t about them asking for advice on how to improve their process or looking for ways we might work together. Instead, I realized that they looking for me to provide them with cheat codes to leapfrog over all the necessary steps it would take them to successfully launch their project, and acted as if I was keeping this information from them for some reason. (BTW please please don’t ever ask if you can ‘pick my brain’. I find it an abhorrent expression and no one, no one, likes to have their brains picked.)
As much as I wish I had the cheat codes to filmmaking and to life, I don’t. If I did, I’d put it all into a book that I hope would be a best seller, but I don’t think cheat codes exist outside of video games. The truth of the matter is that making a movie and launching it into the world is hard and the only way out is through.
And the only cheat code I can offer is that it would behoove you to learn as much as you can about sales, marketing, PR, audience building and distribution.
But I’m a filmmaker! you reply.
Yes. You are.
And every time you make a movie, you’re building a business and you need to cultivate an audience for it. Making and launching a movie costs a TON of money and time. So if you don’t have the money to pay someone else to do what needs to be done to launch your film, you’re going to have to use your time to learn things outside of your preferred craft and do them yourself.
I came across a Twitter thread recently from one of the producers of Dinner in America and it really hit home. The film screened at Sundance in 2020 but failed to find a buyer, so the team did the best with what they had to work with and released the film via a self-distribution model (I know, I know, self-distribution IS distribution, but I say this to make a distinction regarding how their efforts unfolded using the language they used).
The filmmaker details the heartbreak and realities that went into the process on his thread and the relief he felt now that the film is going viral thanks to a TikTok (four years later), but I think these Tweets of his toward the end summed it up the most for me:
His statement about distributors not spending a lot on marketing stuck with me, no doubt because of all of the work I’m doing for my own film and because that’s what I do professionally to pay my bills so I know how hard it is.
I’m lucky that I know how to do what I do (lucky might be a stretch, I got into this field out of necessity!), because honestly? If I was paying me to do the work I was doing on my film, I couldn’t afford me. That’s just the truth. Even I’m surprised at how all encompassing and time consuming this process is, so to expect that someone else will care even a fraction as much as I do or have as much on the line regarding its success, is pretty out of touch with reality.
And to put things into context like that, to realize how much time, money and effort needs to go into bringing a film out into the world, and to really grasp that the effort to do that for indie films just isn’t there any more from distributors is sad, but it’s kind of a relief, if I’m honest. It’s freeing.
Because it means you’re not chasing your tail, trying to convince someone that there’s value in your project. You KNOW what you have and why it’s special and meaningful, otherwise, you wouldn’t have made it or be spending all your waking thoughts on HOW to make it and get it out into the world (what? Who does that? Not me…)
And once you understand that the calvary isn’t coming and that that DOESN’T mean your project isn’t good, and once you realize that things are NOT going to change for indie films any time soon and that you have ZERO control over this industry, you can focus on the one thing you do have control over: yourself.
Stop trying to bend the spoon. There is no spoon.
And if you need me to spell it out for you even more, the Spoon is the idea that there’s a magic bullet or secret circle you’re being kept from as an indie filmmaker. There’s not one.
Maybe for your next film you can catapult yourself into the upper echelons of boardrooms at CAA and Netflix but for THIS film, there is only hard work, planning and execution. Lather, rinse, repeat. And the sooner you realize this the sooner you can save yourself from unnecessary heartbreak, additional stress and wasted time chasing something that doesn’t exist.
Do not try to bend the spoon. That is impossible. It is not the spoon that bends, only yourself.
So can you bend? I think you can.
You can do this. You have tools at your disposal available to you now that can help you plot a course. And if you need more tools, you can always expand your knowledge base and learn the skills you need.
So now let’s get into whether or not you should have a website for your film and what platforms might be best for you. This is actually going to be incredibly helpful information and save you a ton of heartache.
Do You NEED A Website for Your Film?
The answer might surprise you! ;)