Find Your Audience Part I:5 Keys to Building your Movie Brand

By Jon Fitzgerald, co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival

Back in the day, filmmakers would focus primarily on the creative aspect of making movies. They composed the shots, directed the actors, and reviewed the edits. If they were really lucky, they had a producing partner with good business sense. Together, the team would devise a festival strategy and begin the process of finding an audience. And, if the film was deemed worthy, it would be invited to play in film festivals. For those lucky 5% who found a distributor, they wouldn’t be burdened with marketing. That was the studio’s job.

Then, along came Amazon. Even without a top festival, or the ever elusive distribution deal, filmmakers would find a home there. The Problem was, and still is, that Amazon soon had over 100,000 titles swimming and lost on a murky platform. Films inevitably had a hard time being noticed.

Next entered iTunes and Netflix. Both offered a home to many indies, but you needed the help of an aggregator or vendor to even be considered. They still piled up thousands of titles. Together with Amazon, they changed the distribution game forever. The the wild, wild west. The streaming wars were on, and indie filmmakers were caught in the crossfire. How would they survive, and find an audience?

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It’s 2020, and there are now over 2,000 streaming channels! The good news? Content is king once again, as all these platforms need movies to fill their pipelines. The bad news? It’s easier than ever for a film to get lost on their digital shelves. That’s where branding comes in.

This article is the first in a 3-part series to help you Find your Audience. The best place to start, of course, is at the beginning, before your film is even finished. Given the opportunity, plant your flag (please note: If your movie is already done, these 5 Keys still apply).

If you remember one thing, remember this. Your movie is a product, it is a brand, and should be treated as such. This requires the development of a handful of key elements that will play a role in finding your target audience, your buyer. It’s best to start with the end goal in mind. You must ask yourself — Who will want to watch my movie, and how will I connect with them?

Key Art

Think about the look and feel. The tone. The look of your poster, the thumbnail and color scheme. In addition to establishing your artwork, you have an opportunity to make a lasting impression on the consumer, your customer. Think of how the look of posters and font choices, for movies in the same genre, have resonated with you over the years. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Do some research and think of your images and color scheme. What spoke to you in creating this film, will likely speak to your target audiences.

Messaging

You will need a good tagline, and a synopsis, to help share the story. These are critical, whether used as an elevator pitch to get a buyer or agent interested, or for your interviews during your glorious festival run. Know your story, and be able to share it verbally, but also be prepared for all the festival applications, your website and eventual distribution platforms. Use your messaging and your art and leverage the power of social media to build an audience along the way. Pick the tool that works best for you here. Some say Facebook. Others say Instagram, which is more visual. Twitter is also a great tool. You may not master them all, but really nail one. This leads to your Press Kit.

Press Kit

There are examples everywhere, and you can see dozens from Tribeca’s films here. In brief, you need the following: Your one-liner, a short and long synopsis; cast and crew list; and Production (or Director’s) notes. It’s always nice to have some great production stills ready as well. Photos will be used in offline reviews and articles, but will also be necessary for the festival guides and distribution platforms. When you get festival invites and any awards, you can use the laurels. And if you get any positive reviews, you can include those as well. If you’re lucky, you have an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) which will have the above elements, along but also with a video trailer.

Trailer

We all know the value of a good trailer. It cannot be overstated. Many an average movie has opened with good box office numbers, thanks to a great trailer. And most festivals and reviews will link to trailers. You need a good one. You may be far enough down the road that you have a solid preview or sizzle, but be sure it’s the best it can be. Sadly, this job is often tossed into the film editor’s lap and (a) this person is too focused on deadlines for the finished film to shift gears, with the right focus, to the trailer and (b) making good trailers is its own unique art form. Not every narrative or doc editor has the chops. That’s why the studios pay trailer houses to do this for them, and it’s money well spent.

Website

While it is possible you will land that ever elusive distribution deal, and the buyer will build your website, it’s always best to have your own storefront, your own identity. Your website is an opportunity to present your look and feel, your trailer and build your brand. You can seed audiences from here. This is where you drive traffic from social media, and where you can harvest emails for future buyers. The site can evolve over the course of your festival and distribution journey, but secure that Url right off the bat, and use one of the free drag and drop web builders, Weebly or SquareSpace. Further establish your brand with a website, your window to the world.

In summary, your movie is a product, a business line and has an identity. It’s important that you celebrate your movie in the context of its brand. This is the foundation you can build upon, and market with, as you begin to share your story with the world.

Keep these elements in mind as you anchor your brand with your target audience. We’ll share more tips to consider on your film festival journey in Find Your Audience Part II. Stay tuned.

The co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, Fitzgerald has directed a number of festivals (AFI, Santa Barbara, Naples and more). He has consulted to many other festivals, while providing festival strategies to indie filmmakers. A published author (Filmmaking for Change: Make Films that Transform the World), Fitzgerald recently launched iGEMS.tv as an internet guide for audiences to discover quality movies and series.