Pre-Market
Marketing and Promotional Tasks:
- One Sheet: Obtain all slides, artwork, still photos, etc., from the producer or from a photo shoot and prepare a creative one sheet/poster based on all available materials.
- Press Packet: Prepare a folder with one sheet, photos, reviews, press notices and schedule of screenings.
- Trailer: Create a powerful trailer with sound effects, music and voice-overs.
- Sales: E-mail/or share a secure link of our catalogue of films to our data bank of buyers (currently over 60,000 individuals/companies), advising them of the availability of titles and schedule meetings in our suite at the Film/TV markets. Prepare producer pre-sale packages for upcoming film projects.
At The Markets: Contact, promote and sign deal memos! NATPE, BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL, FILMART, MIPTV, NAB (Las Vegas), CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, LA SCREENINGS, Hungary’s DISCOP, Ukrainian Content Market (Kiev), BUSON International Film Market (Korea), MIPCOM, AFM, DISCOP Africa, Singapore’s ATF FILM FORUM. Place advertising in trade magazines such as InMag, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Screen International and The Business of Film. Prominently display large posters and “One Sheets” for each film. At Cannes, Echelon Studios rented 3 spot vision video billboards to run trailers of its films and threw a party in the buyer’s lounge, as well as on a yacht. Schedule screenings of Echelon Studios films for buyers.
Post-Market: After a major market, timely follow-up is the focus of Echelon Studios telephone, fax and e-mail; contact buyers/producers/investors who were seen and those who were not; and send producer packages, scripts and DVD’s of its films. All contracts are executed in a timely manner for all deal memos signed during the markets. In-between markets, Echelon Studios promotes its films in some of the following festivals, where appropriate: Montreal, Breckenridge, Toronto, Sundance, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Hampton, Telluride, New York, London, Shanghai, Berlin, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Vancouver, Worldfest, among others. Continuous promotion and presence is an absolute: telephone calls, e-mails, faxes, press releases e-mailed weekly to over 60,000 buyers and shipping of DVD’s, marketing materials and producer packages/scripts to potential investors/buyers.
GOOGLE AD-SENSE
Why should you even be thinking of Google AdWords? Because, simply, it’s the most economical, the most efficient, and the most effective way to promote your film. It’s why so many newspapers and magazines are fighting to stay alive. It’s why the Google stock is in such demand by institutional investors.
With the Google AdWords’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program, you only pay if a visitor clicks your ad. You set the amount you want to charge for each click and the maximum you want to spend per month. You can cancel anytime without penalty.
Our ECHELON STUDIOS DISTRIBUTION program includes assistance in setting up an effective Google advertising campaign for your film.
Perhaps the rule most frequently violated by independent filmmakers is the 50/50 Rule. It states, in the clearest terms, that 50% of your budget should be allocated to making your film and 50% to marketing your film.
I’ve heard it so often in my years in the film business: After completing the film, often an exceptionally good film, the filmmaker moans, “I’ve run out of money. I’m broke. Please help!”
It’s understandable that filmmakers (especially beginners) don’t like to be bothered marketing a film. After all, they’re filmmakers, not sales people. They’d like someone else to do this painstaking job for them. But they soon find out that this can cost them as much (if not more) than making the film.
Success in film distribution requires the services of a well-connected publicist. Case closed.
Check the program guides of the major film festivals like Sundance, Toronto, and Tribeca. You’ll see that every film page lists a “Press Contact.” These filmmakers hire publicists to contact the major film critics, set up interviews, write and transmit press releases, compile and distribute production notes, pitch the film to special interest groups and organizations, and to do a lot of schmoozing. Admit it—these are not the kind of jobs you want to do.
And yet, many filmmakers resist hiring a publicist. The reason is always the same: they are simply too expensive. Call a New York or LA publicist and get a quote. Be sure to have smelling salts handy.