I produced a pilot for a TV series (There's an App for That, the Monty Python of the digital age.) and now I'm in the process of marketing it. My "data dump book" of info that I'll be working on , during that process:
THE 2020 To-Do list
Marketing takes just as much work and creativity than the writing of the work itself—if not more.
The Art of the Pitch - page 18
It’s crucial to sell a project and this is all the best info on how to do it. It’s also used in advertising and in articles written about the project. (Should have been roughed out during the writing of the work.)
The Markets - page 70
Today is a rapidly changing environment. You need to know what distributors want, where you can fit in and get ideas for ways to pitch them.
The Players in the Industry - page 108
Producer reps, agents and so on.
The Art of the Query & Meet - page 166
Query letters. Info needed when applying to contests, in a form that is expected. This is mainly for script writers, but the same info is useful to all. There’s a lot more to selling a project or getting into festivals that writing a pitch.
———
Poster - page 194
There are a whole list of rules governing this. And as the say in social media marketing, if it doesn’t grab the attention of project buyers, it won’t grab the attention of possible viewers.
Trailers - page 200
Again, it’s about the pitch. If you can’t intrigue possible viewers, who have so many choices today, you’re in trouble. And the first people you need to sell with it are acquisition people.
IMDb - page 209
This is not only your website, it’s also your LinkedIn page, and a recourse to find acquisition people or reps.
Copyright - page 224
Networking - page 2
Local and national ways of hooking up with people who just might turn out to very very useful to your goals.
Directories - page 234
Where to put For Sale signs, your poster.
—— It’s a number’s game - data dumps of email addresses, etc. ——
Literary & Media Agents - page 239
I’m selling both the books and a TV series based on them. So for me, this is the nest place to begin.
Acquisition Exes - page 276
A list of people with the right kind of job titles. They come up as judges in festivals and in other industry news. And although it may sound like a waste of time, their job depend on finding great projects, so try to impress the assistants who are screening their emails.
Pitch Sessions - page 281
Stage 32.
Festivals - page 28
Most are a waste of time, but they can be crucial to a project getting picked up. This gets into the ways to find them and the political involved.
Domestic Producer Reps - page 327
Hard to find, but there are ways to do it. They can get a project into major festivals.
Connected Lawyers - page 356
The big ones have been doing contracts for years. Now they have gotten into the
Aggregators & VOD - page 391
This is normally not where the money is at, but things are changing so fast, it’s a mistake not to know what’s going on here. For extremely low budget webseries, it may be the only option.
Podcast/Audiobook Version - page 403
A list of markets that are looking for projects that have a huge fan base.
——— after distribution ———
Publicity - page 405
Press releases, etc.
Interviews & Articles - page 416
A place to put ideas for promoting a project, after it’s been picked up. Of hand, I think that this can be an important part of the pitch process. Why is this project different, why are you an emerging talent to watch, what does this project have to say about today’s world, and so on and on. Influential publications that relate to this field, which would list writers interested in interviewing you.
Ed Toolis
That does sound like a lot of work. The marketing is continual and ever changing.
I would be more than happy to review your book and edit it for credit.