Chapter 2: Marketing and Distribution - an introduction
You may be wondering why I have put a chapter on marketing and distribution so early in the book when you may not have even made the film yet. That’s because these days it is so important that you think about the distribution of the film all the way through, whether that is to follow traditional distribution methods or the new DIY options available to you now.
Actually, this isn’t the full chapter – those come later in the book. If you haven’t made your film yet have a read through the whole of this book to get you thinking.
If you’re a more established producer or director then you’ll be talking to sales agents before your film goes into production and it may well be a condition of funding. You will need to be thinking about where the film will go after it is made, what are the marketable elements, what cast is attached, which distributors are likely to buy it. Whether you are established or not you should be thinking about this.
Use a PMD.
What? It stands for Producer of Marketing and Distribution and is a title coined by Jon Reiss, which means that whilst one Producer is doing the deals to put the film together and make it, another is concentrating on getting it out to its audience- even before it is finished (read more about it in Jon Reiss’ book ‘Think Outside the Box Office').
There are great opportunities at the end of the process where having a PMD is vital (online distribution platforms such as Distrify and VODO rely on it, as well as gaining publicity for theatrical screenings) but there are also lots of things that can be done earlier in the process so each of these chapters will contain ideas of what the PMD could be doing at every stage of the journey.
Later in the book there are more detailed chapters on marketing and distribution. This is just a teaser...
Actually, this isn’t the full chapter – those come later in the book. If you haven’t made your film yet have a read through the whole of this book to get you thinking.
If you’re a more established producer or director then you’ll be talking to sales agents before your film goes into production and it may well be a condition of funding. You will need to be thinking about where the film will go after it is made, what are the marketable elements, what cast is attached, which distributors are likely to buy it. Whether you are established or not you should be thinking about this.
Use a PMD.
What? It stands for Producer of Marketing and Distribution and is a title coined by Jon Reiss, which means that whilst one Producer is doing the deals to put the film together and make it, another is concentrating on getting it out to its audience- even before it is finished (read more about it in Jon Reiss’ book ‘Think Outside the Box Office').
There are great opportunities at the end of the process where having a PMD is vital (online distribution platforms such as Distrify and VODO rely on it, as well as gaining publicity for theatrical screenings) but there are also lots of things that can be done earlier in the process so each of these chapters will contain ideas of what the PMD could be doing at every stage of the journey.
Later in the book there are more detailed chapters on marketing and distribution. This is just a teaser...
