Workshop for the AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women Presented by Tammy Oler of StellarEngine Consulting, LLC tammy@stellar-engine.com

1. Digital Marketing for
Filmmakers
AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women
February 2017

2. 2 2
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hello
@tammyoler
• strategist
• writer
• geek
Image: Moma Propaganda

3. what we’ll
cover today
Building a long-term, durable online
presence.
Engaging audiences – including people
who want to hire you or work with you – on
an ongoing basis.
Getting your films seen and noticed.
establishing yourself online marketing yourself marketing your films
3

4. guiding
principles
4
keep these in mind
• Build long-term social capital
• Establish goals for each of your efforts
• Be realistic about your time and energy
• Try to be a rising tide
• Remember that there’s no boundary between
the personal and professional online

5. let’s talk
about you
(and your brand)

6. 6
creates an expectation of what you’ll deliver
Think about how you want to be seen. Be yourself, but
be a strategic version of yourself you feel confident
and comfortable showing off to the world. Establish a
unique and consistent voice and POV.
your
brand skills &
experience
values &
interests
point-of-view
personality

7. 7
some inspiration
Heidi Ewing
@HeidiLoki
Filmmaker and owner of
@LokiFilms. Made Jesus
Camp @Detropiathefilm,
The Boys of Baraka, 12th
& Delaware and now
Norman Lear Just
Another Version of You.
BOOM!
NYC
lokifilms.com
Ava DuVernay
@ava
Mother of 9: This is the
Life, My Mic Sounds Nice,
Venus Vs, I Will Follow,
Middle of Nowhere,
Selma, Queen Sugar,
13th, Wrinkle in Time.
Los Angeles
arraynow.com
Anna Biller
@missannabiller
Filmmaker and cinephile
dedicated to classic
movies and foreign and
cult cinema. Director of
THE LOVE WITCH and
VIVA.
Los Angeles, CA
lifeofastar.com
Leah Meyerhoff
@LeahMeyerhoff
Writer/director of I
BELIEVE IN UNICORNS
feature film (now on
Netflix) and founder of
female filmmaker network
FILM FATALES
@unicornsmovie
@filmfatalesnyc
Ana Lily Amirpour
@Lilyinapad
every day is a new
chance not to give in to
trembling.
Los Angeles

8. 8
some inspiration
Mynette Louie
@mynette
President/Gamechanger
Films,
EP/#BustersMalHeart
#TheInvitation
#Lovesong, Producer/
@LandHoMovie
@ColdComesNight
@CaliforniaSolo
@InventionFilm…
New York, NY
gamechanger-
films.com/mynette-louie-
…
(instagram)
Rmorrison
Rachel Morrison
DP Cinematographer |
Mother | Daydreamer |
Wave Rider | Junk Food
Eater | Sleep Talker |
#wileysworld
www.rachelmorrison.com
(Instagram)
reedmorano
r e e d MORANO, A.S.C.
director | THE
HANDMAID'S TALE |
MEADOWLAND
itun.es/us/pXUO9
(Instagram)
Willpowerpacker
Will Packer
Emmy Nominated
Producer that THINKs
LIKE A MAN while
STOMPing THE YARD.
Come RIDE ALONG and
get STRAIGHT OUTTA
COMPTON!!!
(Instagram)
derekmclane
Derek McLane Set and
Production Designer for
HAIRSPRAY LIVE, SWEET
CHARITY, BEAUTIFUL,
BURIED CHILD London,
THE OSCARS and a
bunch of other stuff
www.derekmclane.com

9. 9 9
KNOW YOUR
WEAKNESSES. MAKE A
PLAN TO MITIGATE
THEM OR MASTER
THEM.

10. 10
websites
still matter
Your website or online portfolio tells a more
coherent and robust story about you and your
work than a single channel can: it’s a place
for you claim all of your and link it together.
You may not get a ton of traffic on your site,
but it’s a key destination for people who are
searching for info on you or your projects.
it all comes back to your .com
http://www.storiesfordylan.com/2014_12_01_archive.html

11. 11
yourname.com best practices
Clean, organized,
easy-to-navigate
Include links to
key social
platforms
Include a bio &
pages for films
and projects
Help drive search
results:
permalinks for
pages/projects
Mobile responsive
design
Easy &
inexpensive to
update!

12. 12
getting digital
Establishing Yourself Marketing Yourself Marketing Your Films
• Website / Online Portfolio
• Social Profiles
• Crowdfunding Sites
• Email
• Facebook Profile
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Vimeo/Youtube
• Crowdfunding Sites
• Other Site
• Film Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Vimeo/Youtube
• Crowdfunding Sites

13. engaging
your
audiences
(aka: marketing
yourself)

14. your
audiences
14
who are they?
• Viewers (in seats and on screens)
• Fans (of your work, your genre, etc.)
• Other filmmakers
• Industry professionals who might want to hire
you or work with you
• Festival goers!
• Media, critics, press

15. 15
emailget in their inboxes
old-timey, still powerful
• An essential tool for building your
industry network, engaging your
fanbase, and powering your
crowdfunding.
• Start building your email list right away.
You’ll start with a few contacts, but this can
grow substantially over the years.
• Integrate with your web presence.
• Remember that emails can be forwarded!
• Your email communications should
always add value to the person you’re
sending them to. Don’t become an
accidental spammer.
• Use direct emails to your own contacts list
to help launch your crowdfunding
campaign.

16. 16
facebookbuild your home team
keep facebook’s limits in mind
• The newsfeed algorithm means that not all
your content will get seen, and it’s increasingly
a pay-to-play platform.
• Hashtags are supported, but users haven’t really
adopted them and they don’t have the same power
for discovery that hashtags have on Twitter and
Instagram.
the dominant social platform
1.86 billion monthly active users, and most interact
primarily with people they know personally.
• Connect your network of friends and family to your
projects, use that network to spread the word.
• Show off your credibility by surfacing mutual
friends and associates.
use your profile and pages
• Create pages for your films and use your network
to spread the word about them. (More about pages
later!)

17. 17
twitterget conversational
the place to see what people
are thinking & saying
Twitter has a decreasing user base, but more visibility
as a platform than ever. Users mostly interact with
people they DON’T know. Use it to:
• Build perceptions about your knowledge,
experiences, POV
• Join conversations about issues or topics with
people you may or may not know
• Increase your visibility among among users
tweeting about topics (such as festivals!)
having a strategy is key
• Twitter is not intuitive, and can be hard to use.
• Create a handle for yourself instead of your short
films or short-term projects.
• Commit to sharing tweets from other users and
being conversational.
• Identify topics that you feel are important to discuss
or relevant to your work. Use Twitter as a listening
tool or join the conversation to drive interest in your
work. Examples:
• Industry/film discussions: #womendirectors,
#directedbywomen
• Genre discussions: #horror, #scifi, #fantasy
• Film festivals: #sxsw, #sundance, #fantasticfest
• Twitter is known as a text-based platform, but
images receive more engagement and retweets.
• BEWARE THE TROLLS.

18. 18
instagrambe interesting looking great for discovery…
• Not great for re-sharing. People will like your
photos, but won’t typically re-share them.
• Links aren’t supported in posts; put them in your
bio.
• Use hashtags and tag users and locations! 2-5
hashtags per post is fine.
• Note: Facebook owns Instagram, and has started
applying an algorithm to posts, which will impact
your reach.
fun, intuitive, visual
600 million monthly active users who follow a mix of
people they know and don’t know personally. People
LOVE Instagram.
• Great platform for building a brand for
professionals in visual disciplines.
• Also useful for associating yourself with other
filmmakers and events, and sharing behind-the-
scenes images.
it’s all about “authenticity”
• Users value authenticity, even if it’s a highly
constructed sense of authenticity. Make your
content feel personal and distinctive.

19. 19
video
platformsget eyeballs on your work
stay tuned!

20. 20
other
platformsit’s a big, big Internet
crowdfunding platforms ***
blogging platforms
messaging apps
linkedin

21. 21
link it all
together

22. marketing
your films
getting seen

23. plan before
you do
23
key considerations
• Fish where the fish are
• Consider the reach of your creative team and
decide who will do what
• Don’t spread yourself too thin
• Eyes on goals: 1) get people in seats; 2) get
eyeballs on your film; 3) generate interest; 4)
build your brand; 5) establish and support
your industry connections

24. 24
what goes where?
• Film Website: Trailer, Info, EPK
• Yourname.com: Trailer/Reel, In
fo
• Vimeo: Trailer, Possible Post-Festival Film Relea
se
• Youtube: Trailer
• Facebook Native Video: Trailer
• Facebook Page for Your Film: Relevant news,
awards, screenings, press, video/trailers,
photos. Think about what types of content
you welcome in your newsfeed.
• Facebook Profile: Invite your network to like
your page and spread the word. Promote
your work as you feel most comfortable.
• On Your Handle(s):
Relevant news, awards,
screenings, press,
video/trailers, photos. Use
relevant hashtags.
• On Your Account(s): Awesome
photos that look like they belong on
Instagram: candid/BTS pics, photos
from events/festivals/screenings
Paid Media Options:
• Facebook Ads
• Facebook Promoted Post
s
• Promoted Tweets
• Google Adwords
• Emails to key contacts,
subscribers, donors

25. 25
crowd
fundingfund your films
tips for a strong campaign
• Indiegogo finds that 30 day campaigns have the
highest success rates for films.
• Enlist your team: increase your reach, share the work.
• Put your email list to work: soft launch with your
contacts list and raise as much as you can within the
first 3 days.
• Make a strong pitch video.
• Refresh your campaign with meaningful content:
milestones/deadlines, exciting updates, press/media,
new perks, talent news, etc. You should do this at least
once per week, but you can do this more frequently if
there is sufficiently interesting/exiting news to share.
Make your backers part of the process.
• Perks, perks, perks! Make them appealing to your
potential audiences. Be distinctive and experiential.
• Have low-end perks! Remember, you are building an
audience and fan base with your campaign. Invite
people in and keep them invested.
• Add new perks!
• Be responsive to questions and comments on your
campaign.
• Personalize your campaign. People give to people.
• Fulfill your perks in a timely basis.
• Keep updating after your film is funded!

26. 26
multi-platform approach
video
filmmaker
focus
native video
gets priority
in news feeds
mass
reach
Consider the pros and cons of video platforms and
make strategic choices about where to put your video
content and when. Remember that you will need to
look at view counts across all platforms to see the
total reach of your video content.
 High quality
 No ads
 Industry audience
 Staff Picks (Curated content)
• Put your teasers/trailers on
Vimeo before release
• Good option for post-festival
release to reach an
interested audience
 Google = search &
discoverability
 General audiences look here
first
 Offers HD uploads, but most
videos are presented in
lower res for quicker loading
 Ads!
• Put your teasers/trailers on
Youtube before release
 Priority in news feeds
 Relatively good quality
• If you are uploading video to
Facebook, upload it directly
instead of linking to Vimeo or
Youtube

27. 27
electronic
press kitget in touch with your inner publicist
add to your website, prep for
festivals
At a minimum:
• Film Poster/Art
• Links to Teasers/Trailers
• Synopsis
• Format Information
• Cast & Crew
• Contact & Website

28. what’s
unique
about your
film?
28
know your story’s story
Great content marketing is all about telling a
story. In this case, it’s the story of your film.
Figure out what’s unique and interesting about
your film and bring it to life with your content.

29. 29

30. 30
plan and
create
content
1. make a content calendar
• Write down the platforms you will be using to
promote your film and create a schedule for
when you will proactively post content.
• Have several pieces of content ready to go before
you launch a new platform or page. A channel with
fresh content and engagement helps build
momentum.
• If multiple people from your team are posting,
assign roles and responsibilities and make a quick
list of dos and don’ts.
2. pace matters
• Spread our your content so that it’s a steady
stream throughout the promotion/festival period vs.
a barrage.
• When you have exciting updates and news, step
back and consider when to share within your larger
plan vs. just posting right away.
3. optimize content
• Shorter is ALWAYS better.
• Use eye-catching visuals.
• Consult each platform’s best practices.
• Check what’s trending before you post anything
anywhere; make sure you’re not posting when it’s
inappropriate.
Stay organized. Dropbox,
Google Drive, etc. are
your friends…

31. 31
3
1
EVERYONE INVOLVED IN
YOUR FILM IS A POTENTIAL
CONTENT CREATOR, EVEN
IF YOU DON’T WANT THEM
TO BE.

32. 32
evaluating your efforts
1
Did you meet your
goals?
2
Expectations vs
reality?
3
How efficient
were you?
Measurement Tools:
• Website: Google Analytics
• Video: Vimeo Stats, Youtube Analytics, Facebook Insights
• Facebook: Facebook Insights
• Twitter: Twitter Analytics
• Email: Analytics available if you use Mailchimp, Tiny Letter, Constant Contact, etc.

33. Let’s
discuss!

34. Thank you!
34