How A Blog Can Boost Your Filmmaking Career

I talk a lot about blogging and marketing your blog on this space, but I also throw in the odd film marketing post as well. As a blogger and film graduate, I've come to see how the two can work hand in hand to really boost each other. 

Blogging is usually seen as a very personal space, more like an online diary than anything truly productive, but that is so far from the truth! Blogging is quickly becoming a must have digital marketing tool. Creating useful and interesting content around your business subject can hugely enhance your visibility and boost your sales. This is also true in the world of filmmaking. 

During our final year at University, we were encouraged to write a blog around one of our projects, we were to write about what inspired us, what are processes were and document the overall production of the piece. This is an excellent way to gain exposure for any filmmaking project but also shows your skills as a filmmaker. So what can a blog really do for your filmmaking career? 

Positions you as an expert in your field. By showing that you have a knowledge and passion for filmmaking and film in general, people will start to see you as an expert in that area. Make yourself the place to go, for people who are also passionate about filmmaking, to get their information when they're stuck or need inspiration. 

It can be used as your online portfolio. Many filmmakers have showreels but very few of them show their processes. If you are a cinematographer, director or editor, it can be hugely beneficial to document your processes and sources of inspiration. This will give any potential collaborators an idea of who you are, how you work and wether you will be a good fit for their crew or as a collaborator on a project. 

Increases your visibility as a freelancer. Most filmmakers, no matter what area they work in, will be freelancers. Being a freelance filmmaker is all about who you know so it can be difficult to really get yourself out there and get work. Creating a blog and promoting your content will greatly increase your reach and will get you noticed by people you never would have met under normal networking circumstances. Using Twitter and Facebook to promote new blog posts (the helpful and informative content mentioned in my first point) can open you up to an international audience and will show that you are active in the world of filmmaking. 

Blogging is a great way to support your brand and it should always be considered in any digital marketing pal, wether that is marketing your film, marketing a product or marketing yourself.

Have you ever considered starting a blog to support your filmmaking? Have you always thought of blogging as a bit 'wishy washy'? 

5 Things Your Film Pitch Could Be Lacking

One of my favourite modules in University (there weren't that many to be fair) was Producing and Marketing. I loved learning about how to sell your film to potential buyers and I was fascinated at all the little details that could make or break a pitch.

If by some chance you're reading this and you are not a filmmaker, don't click away just yet. A lot of the points I'll be making can easily be transferred into other creative professions, in which you have to pitch a project to a potential buyer or client.

For those filmmakers who have never pitched before, it can be very confusing to know what your film pitch should include to really sell your idea. The most common form of pitching an independent project these days, is through crowd funding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter. This gives you a few options when it comes to pitching, a written pitch, a verbal pitch, a video pitch or a combination of all 3.

You may already have a pitch written up and ready to go and you're wondering if there's anything else you could add or anything you could improve to really make it successful? Below are a few key points my producing lecturer drilled into us when we had to pitch our own scripts.

Reveal the key points of the whole story. This will probably be argued against as there seems to be some debate as to wether you should reveal the end of your story. Personally I think yes. You have to remember that you are not pitching your film to an audience, you're pitching your film to someone who is going to give you money to make it. Those people want to be reassured they're investing in a good strong story and they can't do that if you don't tell them how it ends.

You need to make sure you have identified the key plot points in your script that really make it interesting. Then, when you start your pitch, you will have the most exciting parts of your story ready to entice the buyer/investor.

Make sure you have a catchy logline. A logline is a short sentence that sums up the plot of your film. It needs to be short and to the point, explaining the general premise of what happens. e.g. 'A lonely young small-town girl is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.' - The Wizard Of Oz

What is your genre and what existing films does it resemble? It's essential to know exactly what genre your film falls into when marketing your project, all films will fall into a genre or cross of genres. It helps to think of similar films already released, this allows you to really narrow down your genre. For example, in university I wrote a script about a young woman who believed she was little red riding hood and how that innocent belief began to spiral out of control. I pitched this as a cross between The Game with Michael Douglas, as it had thriller elements but it was also similar to the film Red Riding Hood with Amanda Seyfried as it was also a dark fantasy. 

This just gives people a better idea of how your script will play out and what kind of tone and audience you're trying to target. 

Examples of visual style. This ties in nicely with the previous point. Talk about what visual style you want your film to have, what kind of camera shots do you want to include? Is it going to be all hand held? Is it going to be graded in a specific kind of way? 

Think of directors whose style you really want to emulate and talk about how you would use that style to tell your story. 

Gather a list of FAQ's. This can be from family and friends or you can have a think of what kinds of questions people not involved in your project might ask you. It's always handy to pitch your idea to a family member or friend first and get their feedback. Take any questions they ask and come up with detailed answers, this just makes sure you're covered if your client or investor asks you loads of questions you're not prepared for. 

If you're making a video pitch for a crowd funding site, you still need to include all this information, even if you've already got it written down. The main thing you have to think about when pitching your idea, is to create a visual in their mind. Films are all about visuals, so your investors need to be able to see it clearly in their heads before they can make a decision. 

These are just key points of pitching a film, but what else would you say is important to include in a project pitch? 

Find Confidence In Being Your Own Brand

One thing you have to accept when you decide to work for yourself, is that you immediately become your own brand. This can be a horrifying thought, especially for those of us who hate to talk about ourselves, as being your own brand means marketing yourself as a product. You have to be the sales person of you, you have to make yourself the best thing anybody could ever want and that isn't everyones cup of tea. If you've not even thought about branding yourself as a freelancer or blogger yet, head over to my post on Personal Branding and Why It's Important to get an idea on how to get started. 

So how do you find the confidence to really sell yourself as a brand? You might already be the most confident person in the room, but for those that are shying away in the corner at the thought of selling yourself (and I mean that in a non illicit sort of way) here's a few things you could do to boost your brand confidence. 

Create a list of all your achievements up till now. Focusing on your achievements and the goals you've reached so far can really boost your confidence. You'll be able to clearly see where your strengths and weaknesses are and it'll give you a better idea of what you need to improve on. The better you know what you're good at, the more confident you can feel completing those particular tasks. 

Plan, plan, plan. Create a plan of where you want your business to be in 1 months time, 3 months, 1 year or even 5 years! Then come up with the smaller steps you need to take to get to those milestones. Having a strong idea where you're going will give you a better idea of how your brand should develop month by month. If you can create a detailed plan for just the next month, then you will feel a lot more self assured about what you should be doing to get there. It'll also give you points to get back to if you find yourself straying off the beaten track, which you most likely will at some point.

List your USP's. One of the hardest but most rewarding things to do. If you can pinpoint your unique selling point (USP), creating your brand will be a hell of a lot simpler. You'll be able to structure your content/business plans around your USP and know what areas to push on with. 

Don't compare yourself to others. Something that every body says when talking about confidence and self esteem, but it's so important to drill into our own heads. Comparison is the thief of joy as good old Theodore Roosevelt once said, if you keep comparing yourself to others in your field, you'll never feel confident with what you have. Admire, take inspiration and network all you like, but when it comes to comparison, put those blinkers firmly on and focus on improving your work based on your last project, not someone else's. (something I still need drilling in to me as my last Sunday Strip Down post suggests)

Have you developed the confidence you need to grow your own business yet? Are you struggling to really sell yourself to your clients? 

*Wondering what some of the more technical words and acronyms mean in this post? Head to my glossary page for a full list of technical jargon and some explanations on what the hell I'm talking about. 

What To Include In Your Film's Press & Publicity Portfolio

If you're a student, graduate or freelance filmmaker, you may find that all your focus and energy goes on actually creating your film and you forget about all the stuff that comes after. Maybe you're ready to submit your amazing short into a festival, but you need a press & publicity portfolio to do so.

The good news is that if you've been as professional as possible during production, you will already have the majority of the content you need for your portfolio. It's always best to think about distribution and marketing before and during the production of your project, but let's be honest, us creatives never think about the paperwork.

So for all of you filmmakers panicking about what information you need to gather, here's a handy checklist and a few reasons why you need to include all these extra elements.

• Film title and name of Director - Pretty self explanatory really, you can't market a film with no name! And everyone knows the director is the most important part of the crew (that is, the director likes to think so ;P) 
• Synopsis of your film - People need to know what your film is about, so let them know in a short paragraph. Film festivals will usually use your synopsis when showcasing your film in their own marketing materials as well, so this is usually a mandatory field. 
• Cast and crew bios - They don't have to be pages long, just a one or two sentences about who your cast and crew are and if they have worked on any other impressive projects in the past. 
• Publicity stills and behind the scenes shots - Publicity stills are always handy to have, especially when it comes to making things like DVD covers, posters and flyers. You will usually have to provide a HQ image for film festivals, again for their own marketing purposes. Behind the scenes shots can be very useful for the marketing of your film, but are also handy to keep in your personal portfolio. 
• Reviews of your film - Showcase your film to family and friends or even your local movie critic and get some raving reviews to really big up your project. 
• Length and year of production - Sometimes festivals will have time limits on entries, or both film time and age of the film, so they may ask you for this information off the bat. 
• Funding information - State how your film was funded, was it through crowd funding, self funding or investors. 
• Copyright details - State who owns your film, music, press images and any other media used in the production of the film. 
• Contact details - Email addresses of the producer and director, URL of your production company etc. 
• Any other festivals/awards - Make sure to state if your film has been involved in any other festivals, screenings or has won any awards. Filmmakers love a good shiny award!

You can always add any extras you have that you feel could really make your film stand out from the rest. This is for a hard copy of your portfolio, which film festivals still tend to ask for. However, film is slowly moving into the digital age and electronic portfolios are becoming more and more popular. I will be doing an electronic portfolio post in the near future, but they basically include everything I've listed, in digital form. 

Do you keep your films marketing and distribution in mind during production? Or do you rush the paperwork at the last minute? 

Personal Branding & Why It's Important

When you think of branding, what do you think of? Big businesses? Fancy logos? Coca Cola? 

It can be hard when you're a freelancer, blogger or small business to think of yourself as a brand, but you are one. If you offer any kind of service, whether it's informative blog posts or a small Etsy shop, you need to start thinking of yourself as a brand if you want to push your business to the next level. 

Personal branding can take a lot of time and patience, but a lot of it is all about the planning. You might feel eager to get straight into the interesting creative part of branding yourself visually, setting up a website and getting those all important business cards printed. Before you can do any of that, you need to create a brand identity for yourself. So where should you start?

Personality
You first need to understand the personality of your business. I find that the easiest way to do this, is to think of my business as a person and ask a few important questions like:

What would they wear?
How would they talk?
What kind of music do they like?
What's their favourite colour?

That way I can get a clear idea of who this business is and what style it should have, both visually and its tone and approach to clients.

Goals and beliefs
What are your businesses main goals? what do you want to achieve with your venture?

Make sure you know exactly what kind of service you're offering and why you're offering it. Is it because you want to help others like you build a career? Is it because you want to be the best in your field? Once you know the reason behind your actions, you will have a better idea what tone of voice you want your business to have.

Having the right tone of voice is crucial as it determines what kind of clients and readers you attract. For example, if you decide your business should have a very formal and serious tone, then you will most likely attract corporate clients. If you decide you want a more informal and friendly tone of voice, you may attract more laid back creative types.

Visual branding
This is the fun part (well, for me anyway). Getting the visual part of your branding right is extremely important, as it tends to be the way people remember and associate with you. It's also extremely difficult to finalise!

To help you come up with the visual aspects of your branding, take a look back at your personality profile and keep it in mind whilst building a mood board. You can use a few different tools to do this, my favourite being good old Photoshop, but you can also use PicMonkey's collage tool.

Some of the things you want to touch on when making a mood board are:

• Fonts for main body text, headers and logo
• Your colour scheme
• Any design elements you want to include e.g. logo images 
• Any patterns and textures you want to use
• Any images of style inspiration

Once you have that you can use it to design business cards, newsletters, emails, blogs and websites. Or, if that seems a little daunting, you can always look at getting a professional graphic designer to take a look and come up with some awesome ideas.

These are just the foundations of personal branding and you may find that once you get going you come up with a whole notebook of ideas for your brand. These little notes should give you a firm idea of who you are as a brand and hopefully get you noticed by your target audience.

What would your brand look like? Have you sat down and really thought about your personal branding yet?