[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: How is marketing a movie different from distributing a movie?
Jon Reiss, Filmmaker, Author, and Media Strategist: There are two sides of the same coin. Distribution is how an audience engages with a film in terms of watching it, either in a community screening, at a festival, online or even on a DVD (which some people still do).
Marketing is what makes someone want to see the film because it doesn’t matter if the film is available on multiple platforms. You can put a film up on YouTube and it’s available, but if no one is incentivized or you don’t have a way to motivate people to watch that content, it doesn’t really matter.
Film Courage: What are some simple and easy ways for a filmmaker to market their movie?
Jon: I don’t think anything is that simple or easy, but the path to simpler easy in a sense is understanding what your goals are so that everything is directed towards achieving those goals because if you don’t do that you’re headed to a path of hardship. You’ll be trying bunches of a lot of different things and some of them might work and some of them might not achieve your goal.
Even understanding your goal, you’re going to be in a situation where some things work and some things don’t work. But if you’re trying five times more because you have no direction then that’s a problem.
I think the best answer to this question is, this is why I came up with the concept of the new 50/50, is that distributing and marketing your film is as much energy, time and money as creating your film. While that’s not a hard and fast rule…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BUY THE BOOK – THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing for the Digital Era
About:
Jon Reiss is a critically acclaimed filmmaker, author, and media strategist. His experience releasing his documentary feature, Bomb It, with a hybrid strategy was the inspiration for writing Think Outside the Box Office, the first step-by-step guide for filmmakers to distribute and market their films. He has given workshops and spoken at conferences and festivals throughout the world. Jon has worked with numerous filmmakers, companies and organizations that are looking to connect with audiences and distribute their work in the digital landscape. Jon Reiss invented the concept of the Producer of Marketing and Distribution (PMD) which has become a new crew position in independent film. He has worked with and consulted for Paramount Pictures, Screen Australia, Film Independent, Creative Scotland, The South Australian Film Corporation and numerous film schools and festivals. He the year-round distribution and marketing lab leader at the IFP Filmmaker Labs. Reiss also contributes to Filmmaker Magazine, Huffington Post, Indiewire, Screen Daily, Moviemaker Magazine and other publications. Jon Reiss got his start in filmmaking and distribution at the infamous San Francisco documentary collective Target Video. Reiss not only shot seminal bands such as Black Flag, Iggy Pop, Throbbing Gristle, The Cramps, TSOL but was one of the first – if not the first person to conceptualize and execute video tours throughout Europe, carting 500 lbs of video deck and projector in a VW Bus across 15,000 miles.
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