Distribution : Ask Me Anything (AMA) Wednesday 10/30 to Thursday 10/31- Leveling Up Your Marketing Skills To Promote You & Your Projects by Deborah Gilels

Great to meet you, Deborah Gilels. Congratulations on all your success! I can’t wait to see Werewolves! Thanks for taking time to answer our questions. How can indie filmmakers who don't have a lot to spend market their projects?

Great question - I think that connecting your social media to the social media of like minded projects, friends, contacts is really helpful. Also building up your own following and that of the project can make a huge difference in the outreach. And this really only costs you your time. Then find clever ways to promote.

Thank you for the answer, Deborah Gilels!

Hi Deborah! How did you decide that being a publicist was what you wanted to do and what are some tips you can give to someone who may want to go that route with their career?

I just fell into it, after a job I had in the international sales market- and love doing it! Great ways are to try and work at one of the firms as an assistant and you can move up or start helping out other publicists on red carpets and they will get to know you. Also, teach yourself, via online seminars, how to market and publicize.

Hi Deborah Gilels thanks for doing the AMA. Let me jump in to it with repeating your first question example:

How do I determine the best PR and Marketing plan for my project?

Depends on the nature of the project and how you think the media will play out. Marketing is always necessary - standard PR is great but you need to look at where you think you will have success. Can you give me more info on your project and I'll give you some specific ideas.

Thanks Deborah Gilels the project is called Seeing Rachel and it’s a story about human trafficking, which goes against the grain of the action hero rescuer format and the educational ‘this is how it happens’ paradigm. SR is a psychological drama about a detective and an MI5 Spook who search for a missing schoolgirl, Rachel.

As part of our strategy we are adopting a UK and a US charity that work in that area and to what some call social impact entertainment.

If you are seeking funds, you can do a crowd funding and get a fiscal sponsorship from some of the charities involved - and/or they can send out word to their mailing lists about the project- there is obviously some inherent marketing with the charity that you ultimately partner with - and for standard PR is would make for an interesting story to news outlets- more realistically when you are further down the road.

Deborah Gilels thank you Deborah. That’s a great idea, re the mailing lists. I’ll add that to the strategy.

Hello Deborah Gilels thank you for taking the time for the AMA! Do you have a formula for how much to set aside for a marketing budget? I'd love to start working this into my budgets from the get-go. Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks for sharing your experience and insights, Deborah. Question -- If someone's got projects in different genres [e.g. rom-com and horror / action films and art films, etc. ], do they need to completely shift the emphasis for the different target markets? Not mention their other works in the promos? And how common are cross-over visual media artists?

Hi Keely, thanks for reaching out. It really depends on the nature of the project, budget, etc. One thing i would do from the get-go is invest in building your social media following, as with lots of digital releases your audience will be the key to your success. Down the road, you can determine how much to spend on standard PR and that will largely depend on cast visibility - as well as what the project is about.

Hi Pamela, in that case I would focus more on self promotion and build out from there.

Thanks, Deborah. That does sound like a sound way to go about it. Make it about the Creator and not just the silos of creations.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this AMA, Deborah Gilels ! I have a podcast that I'm trying to expand the audience on, and I have two self-published YA novels. People who listen/read say they like them, but I'm terrible at self-promotion. What advice do you have for people who are, say, more introverted and not very good at selling themselves?

Hire someone who can help you - to get your novels reviewed and promote - to expand the outreach of your podcast - you don't have to hire a full on PR person, you can utilize an assistant or intern to do this outreach.

Hi Deborah Gilels , nice meeting you and sharing your expertise in this AMA. Have you worked with composers and their need for marketing ? If you're over 6o, is it better to outsource for an Agent ? ha ha. - not really laughing. I'm in the Music world performing and writing mode most of my days, though have been doing short samples here and there. Some success with making perc. with an engineer to HBO show and a lady wanting to use one of my perc. samples in her movie short. New guy looking for Marketing help and anything else you may know this side of the creative world. Thanks again for your willingness to share this week's AMA.

K. Kennard

A few years ago I hooked someone up with a friend who is a music supervisor and he game the advice to go after the job that you want - if there's an agent sending out your work, I would welcome it- you should also announce when your work is presented on any media - and use to help market yourself.

Don't really worry about your age - I know its hard in this business - but your work is what is really important.

Thank you Deborah Gilels . Appreciate the advice ! KK

Deborah Gilels I was late to the table, but I thank you so much for sharing your insight. PR and marketing is so important for content, especially when there are so many options. A what not to do list, like David Letterman's top 10 lists in a book form or blog is something that way too many could use. :)