Market Plan

As post-production continues on First Signal (we are on target for an April completion), I’ve been developing the marketing plan for the film. With the majority of independent films there’s no studio marketing department, no retained agency or staff.  Marketing is another skillset that filmmakers need to develop. Thankfully during my years of publishing magazines, and my own consulting business, marketing is something I’ve been doing for years. I had some excellent mentors in my early years.

I firmly believe that an independent film needs a central online destination. Building a website used to be a task that required a special set of design skills. Thankfully that is no longer the case. Wix is my preferred platform. If you know how to click a mouse, type copy and upload a video, you can have a website in no time. I no longer use their templates, but rather build my sites from scratch. Case in point my own personal website and First Signal’s.

While I was marketing First Signal through AFM’s platform, I came across one filmmaker who was promoting their project to attendees. This was not an inexpensive film. It had some known actors from the 80s and 90s. When they posted to check out the website, all the visitor found was the dreaded “under construction” notification. It was never fixed throughout the entire market. You spend all that time and money making a film, talk about a lost opportunity to introduce it. I can’t begin to tell you the thousands of films that are marketed through AFM—all looking for a home. As time is literally money at these film markets, you only really get one chance at a first impression. One critical component of first impressions is the trailer.

This past week I started to write the trailer. A trailer is perhaps the most important calling card of a film. Yes, a poster introduces the film, but a trailer brings it to life. As First Signal is what I hope to be a series of films in the “First World Universe,” getting it right is vital. In two minutes the goal is to condense the story, without giving it all away and to convince your audience to see more. There’s certainly no pressure to deliver!

While writing a trailer is challenging, it’s one that I do enjoy. It challenges me to look past the linear script and film and see how it can be presented to (hopefully) thrill audiences.

As screenwriters we all start with an idea. We look blankly at a white page on our monitors hoping it speaks to us. Our hands at the ready on the keyboard. Our notes, if any, to the side for glance. Then suddenly, the following happens:

Intro Logo/Intro Score: The Ashton Times

“This satellite intercepted a signal that originated from Lagrange Point Two.” VO General Reager over Milstar satellite.

First Trailer