Obtaining screenings at major film festivals like Cannes, Sundance, and Toronto allows films to get immediate reviews from journalists that can either boost a film's reputation or damage it. Smaller budget films can also screen at smaller festivals to generate some attention. Film websites are another popular promotional method, especially for blockbuster films, as they allow audiences to find information, watch trailers and behind-the-scenes footage, and eventually purchase the DVD. Websites can also generate revenue through ads. Synergy between a film and its soundtrack, featuring popular artists, can create publicity by getting audiences interested in listening to songs from the film. Billboards are another traditional technique used by large studios, but they can be expensive

1. Alexander Simpson

2. Another method of promotion revolves around
getting your film into main stream media. A
popular way of doing this for major
blockbuster films would be to attend a film
festival. Popular film festivals known all over
the world include Cannes, Sundance and
Toronto. Obtaining these film festivals and
screening your film allows journalists to give
an immediate opinion of what they thought of
your film, either giving it a good review or
destroying its reputation . Although some
people may see this as a risk, it can be a
great way to get the name of your film known.
Smaller film festivals can be easily attended to
by smaller budget films hoping to give their
film some attention also.

3. Film websites have become more and more
popular among major blockbuster films as
they are a great way to gain an interest
from an online audience. Websites often
found easily amongst generic search
engines such as Google or Bing. Film
websites are amongst the top destination
for fans to find information about the film,
watch the trailer, watch behind the scenes
footage, download wall papers and
eventually purchase the DVD when it is
available for purchase. Film websites also
can be used to obtain revenue by putting
ads on the website, making them a lot
cheaper to run. This also means that films
websites would be a viable option for
independent films with smaller budgets.

4. Synergy is a popular technique used by many
large conglomerate film companies as a
method of promotion. Synergy involves
one product promoting another product.
An example of synergy in a major
blockbuster would be The Great Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby contains a soundtrack
containing popular music artists such as
Beyonce, Lana del ray and Jay Z. As the
target audience for The Great Gatsby are
more then likely to be familiar with these
artists, pre releasing some songs which the
audience could listen to created publicity
for the film, working as a method to
persuade the audience to watch the film.

5. Another promotional technique mainly used by
larger film companies would be billboards.
Billboards have been a popular method of
promotion for a large period of time due to the
sheer amount of footfall they can obtain.
Having a film add on a billboard in a area with
high amounts of footfall (for example, a city
centre) could inform a large number of people
about your film. Common issues with
billboards are that they can be expensive to
rent out for a large period of time, as well as
also being subjected to vandalism. Another
issue I find with this method of promotion is
that it is very hard to pinpoint your target
audience, as high areas of footfall have a mix
of different people from different demographics