Most independent filmmakers forgo hiring a unit or film publicist in pre-production. There are many reasons they do this, but the most common one is that they don’t think they have it in their budget. The truth is filmmakers can’t afford to make that mistake. Planning your publicity strategy in pre-production will give your film its best chance at success. Here’s a deeper look into why independent filmmakers should have a film publicist on their team from the get-go.

Procrastination Gets Your Film Zero Likes On Social Media

I’ve never understood the inclination to ignore creating a marketing and publicity plan. The argument I usually hear from filmmakers is, “We don’t have the budget,” “That’s for the distributor to do,” or sometimes I hear, “We didn’t have time.” But that’s short-sighted.

If the goal is to make a movie that a distributor will buy and that people see, why would you wait to start attracting an audience to your film? The time to start creating buzz for your film is the day you decide to make it. Well-planned and well-executed public relations will set your film and its team apart from the herd. Building an audience will only make your film more attractive to distributors—they love films with pre-buzz and a seamless transition with deliverables. This is also true if you’re planning to go the festival route—film festivals love it when films can help promote and attract audiences.

In today’s constant stream of content, audiences learn about and choose to view a film largely due to its publicity. Whether you like it or not, your film is competing with viral videos and influencers as much as it’s competing with blockbusters.

Besides the obvious difference in budget size, the other big difference between blockbusters and most indie films is that studios don’t wait until post-production to start planning their publicity and marketing strategies.

Skimping On PR May Mean Missing Out On Funding

Publicists who work with independent films know you don’t have an unlimited budget for publicity. We know you don’t have time to plan for it, manage it, or do it. And we know you have the best intentions when pushing publicity off until post-production. We also know we’ll be spending time cleaning up the publicity mistakes you make during production. And that costs money.

Personally, I love working with media-savvy filmmakers. They understand the value that publicity, marketing, and PR bring to their film—and they know their limitations. These are the independent filmmakers who look to bring on an experienced film publicist who has added training in marketing, advertising, and business.

These unique publicists can pull complementary tactics from each discipline and build strategies that yield more bang for limited bucks. These are also the publicists who can help with finding PR dollars either through tactics like co-marketing or help streamline business efficiencies. In bigger-budget films, publicity is often an area that can get bloated with inefficiencies and waste. As much as I may enjoy working on a bigger-budget film project, one reason I enjoy working with independent filmmakers is that I dig the challenge of making a film known with limited resources.

Experienced and budget-conscious independent film publicists are not only willing to work with you on your budget—within reason—but we can also be essential in helping you raise it. Well placed announcements and news articles can help in pitching investors, distributors, or with crowdfunding.

Activate Your Fans! #FilmLife #SetLife

When I take on a project, I consider all the potential publicity wins and blind spots. For me, publicity strategy goes way beyond crafting a solid press release. It’s also about finding the right publicity opportunities and avoiding the publicity pitfalls.

I look for ways to capitalize on and create buzz around the deal announcement and main cast attachments. I look to partner with organizations relevant to the film project. I also look for strategic ways to increase the film’s future marketing potential, which may include social media or, more strategically, email list building. I help filmmakers, along with their cast and crew, activate their individual networks around the project, creating fans in the right and lasting way.

The PR Story Behind The Scenes

Hopefully, you’re already planning to do BTS. And if you’re not—what?! Capturing BTS is more than capturing the bloopers. It’s about capturing the story of production and giving yourself enough marketing materials to sell and promote the film—for years and years to come.

With unit publicity, the publicist is typically in charge of managing all the pieces and parts that go into BTS and the film’s deliverables. Scheduling BTS interviews and photo shoots, figuring out which stills photos need to be captured, and creating initial marketing concepts for the poster or social media are just some of the elements publicists take on to help give the BTS material a relevant shelf life.

Have A Publicity Plan For Your Film’s Long-Term Success

Publicity is a marathon. Success happens most often when there is enough time to plan and execute a strategy. If you start working with a PR team early on in your process, you can best curate the right content that shows your film in its best light and take advantage of every opportunity—planned and unplanned. Whether that’s jumping in on a trending topic or just making sure all your media assets are ready to go when you need them, being proactive rather than reactive is the difference between controlling your message and building your audience—which can ultimately lead to long-term career outcomes.

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