When do you pitch the media for your film?
This post shares information about what writers say they wish publicists would do when pitching media and hopefully will help YOU plan and prepare for your own launch.
Disclaimer: There are many ways to approach PR and marketing and these are just suggestions based on what's worked for me: there is no one-size-fits-all model or template to follow. Your mileage may vary!
I hear complaints from writers and journalists all the time about last minute pitches that come to them and how they are unable to cover or even take these pitches seriously. I’m supplying screen shots from various writers I know of and work with so you don’t think this information is coming solely from me in regards to how and when stories should be pitched:
Notice a pattern? Each of these writers who cover specific beats is literally telling publicists and their clients to not pitch at the last minute because it’s impossible for them to cover their stories.
And what you may not be aware of is that many writers are freelancers for specific publications, so it may take 2-3 weeks for them to even get approval from their editors to write about a specific topic or cover your story.
So what does that mean for you?
It means you need to plan in advance. If you have news coming up - say a distribution deal, a screening date, or participation in a festival - you need to be seeding that announcement or release at LEAST 3-4 weeks before said event.
Ideally it’s 5-6 weeks in advance because that will give you a week or two to work with your publicist or marketing team to put the relevant information together in press release form, build your media list and begin pitching.
I know many festivals have embargoes on when information can go out but that doesn’t mean your publicist or whomever you hire cannot begin to reach out to their contacts or media list and let them know something is coming down the pipeline. And they can embargo the information too when they reach out: journalistic code means that if something’s embargoed, the outlet that breaks the embargo is going need some serious reputation management and their credibility is going to be discounted.
So let’s say you get into a film festival and you know it’s coming up.
What does your timeline look like?
Immediately when you get into the festival get your EPK in order.
Start vetting publicists
Whomever you want to hire you want to give them 6-8 weeks leading up to your screening
In these 6-8 weeks, the following should take place:
Create press release
Create pitch angles
Develop media list outside of festival media list
Massage contacts and let them know something is coming
The day the embargo is lifted, the pitches need to go out as soon as you can
From the time the embargo is lifted till your screening date, the publicist will be working on securing interviews and reviews of your film
Rotten Tomatoes reviews are SEPARATE from this and should be treated as such
Give the publicist at least one week after the screening to attempt to get any additional juice out of the screening / event. Many people forget that they still have a window once the screening is over to nab additional mentions
KEEP IN MIND: if this is for a film festival, the only outlets that will be interested in reviewing your film are the ones that will be on the film festival’s media list.
The only way to get a big publication like the New York Times or Los Angeles Times to look at your indie film is to play in those markets for at least a week in the theaters: their reviewers will not review indie films otherwise. It’s a filtering process.
Rotten Tomatoes reviews are a whole other animal and if you’d like to discuss them with me, send me a DM or fill out the contact form on my website.
The bottom line is that this is one of THE most critical junctions of your film’s release and you should treat it as such. Many filmmakers make the mistake of fumbling the ball at this stage in the game and you risk losing valuable traction and interest in your film because you either didn’t handle the release properly or phoned it in, thinking a half-assed approach was going to work.
Newsflash: it’s not.
I’m reminded of the saying that lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
And certainly, writers and editors will feel the same way because there are PLENTY of filmmakers and publicists who know this going in and plan accordingly.
Did you get into a film festival recently and need help but don’t want to pay for a retainer?
Book a one-hour strategy appointment with me.
In our session we’ll cover EVERYTHING. I’ll give you feedback, ideas, advice, traps to avoid and more. It’s my hope that your time with me will save you a ton of money and heartache down the line. I work with clients at ALL stages of production or development in multiple verticals: film, publishing, tech, fundraising, small business start ups and more.
You benefit from my lived experience in ALL of these fields and you leave being armed with knowledge and insight to move forward from a position of strength and clarity.
Want something more? Fill out the contact form on my site to discuss hiring me to work with you on a retainer for your project.