Freekstorm VFX Blog

All too often nowadays, if you want to go see a movie it becomes a nightmare trying to find one that doesn’t offer anything more than big explosions, blood, guts or puerile humour. The problem is that in the current ghastly economic climate, most production companies and film distributors can’t and won’t take a chance on smaller independent films that don’t appeal to the masses.

A lot of it is to do with contacts, of course -if you know someone who knows someone in Hollywood, that would be ideal! Unfortunately in the real world, marketing your indie movie is becoming increasingly difficult as time goes on. Way too many distribution companies have closed down due to recessionary forces and it seems as though the whole independent film market is in complete meltdown.

So how do you pimp your movie? Well, I’ve spent many hours researching this very subject, and at the end of the day I think that for small indie filmmakers such as us, trying to get the Big Boys to pick up our films will only result in years of disappointment. Unless we experience a miracle (not that I’m opposed to miracles, mind you, but they are pretty rare) we are almost certainly doomed to failure – wishful thinking won’t change that one iota. Now I'm all for trying to sell your indie film, but I do think that it is also wise to be ever-so-slightly realistic and look for additional ways to market your movie.

Why won’t the conventional film-marketing model work?

Well, even if we had been making films for years (which we haven’t) there is a snowball’s chance in hell of ever getting a distributor to pick up any of our films (past present or future.) Most indie filmmakers still try to market their film “the old fashioned way”, trying to follow up contacts in the industry and thus get their film noticed by a distribution company, but after many months or years of trying, they are forced to admit defeat. If you show your indie film to the Big Boys, they might love it, but that won’t make a blind bit of difference if there is no market for it. If your film is “too niche” then frankly you’re going to get precisely nowhere with conventional film distributors. They simply can’t afford to take the chance on you.

Do not despair, indie filmmakers! There is a huge market out there...millions and millions of viewers who really want to watch your film. All you have to do is look for the best way to find your audience. In this respect, the internet is your friend. There are amazing opportunities out there to bypass the middleman and engage with your audience directly. Self-marketing is your key to success.

You could start by showing your indie film on Open Film or U-Tube. Yes you are giving away months (even years) of work away for free, but if you develop a big enough following then there’s a higher chance you will develop a loyal fan club. The more films you make and show for free online, the more fans you get, the more they will learn to love what you do and the more they will want to see. They might even be prepared to pay for it. Remember The Hunt for Gollum which was the blood, sweat and tears of 150 volunteers, and it has a huge following of devoted fans – many of whom would gladly pay a small online fee to see a sequel (I know I would!)

Marketing by word-of-mouth is a way more effective marketing tool than any other. Don’t concentrate on making money for now, instead concentrate on selling yourself. Your passion for your movie, your ideas, both are the ultimate effective marketing tool. Share them with others and concentrate on building your fan base.

You should also submit your movies to online film festivals, and don’t forget the many local festivals around either. Some may charge a small entry fee, but it’s worth it just to get your work out there and seen. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t win the festivals – the point isn’t to win (although it’s nice if you do) – the most important thing is you get your name known. Entering lots of festivals is a good learning experience – fellow directors and filmmakers are a friendly bunch and highly knowledgeable. Not only will you get some detailed reviews of your films, but you will learn a massive amount about filmmaking and your own films will improve as a result.

What about paying for advertising? Well, IMO you don’t have to spend a lot of money on advertising nowadays because an infinite variety of internet marketing tools are at your disposal. Make sure your film has a decent web site, a blog, a twitter account, a Facebook account (we can’t bring ourselves to do the Facebook thingy yet – ugh – but alas that day is coming.) These suggestions are not an exhaustive list by any means. There are many more online resources and cool little marketing tools, as well as many web sites where you can upload your movies where film buffs will watch them. The key is exposure. Talk to your fans via twitter, your blog or forums. Engage with individuals. Be friendly, open and don’t be afraid to let your passion for your work shine through. Passion is infectious, and remember that people always love to watch movies, so pimping your own might be easier than you think.

The more you engage with your potential audience directly through online communities, the more likely they are to want to see what you do. Yes, this method of promoting your film is very time-consuming and extremely hard work, but the potential opportunities are huge. Besides, no-one ever said that building an audience was easy.

Of course the acid question which you’re asking is “Will you ever make money by giving your movies away for free?” Well, many of the top internet marketing gurus believe that you will - if your fan base is big enough. The internet is developing at a furious pace and in a few years time, I believe that many indie movies will be self-distributed this way. It will be common-place for people to pay a few dollars to watch a movie online. Or maybe you can break your movie into episodes – give the first part away for free, and charge for subsequent episodes once your readers are hooked into the story. But you’ll only be able to charge money for your films if your name is out there, if you are well known and loved by your thousands of fans, each of which you have personally engaged with at some stage. Your audience must be familiar with and learn to love your movie style so much that they are clamouring for more, and then and only then will they be prepared to pay hard cash to see it.

The key to the future of filmmaking is to use the growth of the internet as a tool for engaging with your audience directly and building your movie-fan base slowly, step by step.

So prove the big boys wrong. Make them sit up and notice just how darn good you really are.

Pimp your indie movie by using the power of free.

Labels: marketing