We had a great time last night with social media experts helping indie filmmakers crack the code on fundraising, audience-building and marketing. We especially want to thank our incredible panelists Leslie Poston, Michelle DeForest, Matthew Knell, John Knowles and our moderator Matt Gielen for their invaluable generosity and insights. Of course, the gorgeous accomodations at the Roger Smith Hotel and the free booze from Ultimat Vodka, sure didn’t hurt. I’ll be sure to pick up some Ultimat for my next cocktail party (or as I like to call it: breakfast!).
Our audience was made up of a lot of filmmakers (narrative and documentary), as well as social media afficionados, actors, directors and screenwriters. The short films (listed below) introduced some ways to use short form to introduce your vision and/or your story, as well as to start building a fan base who will contribute to your fundraising efforts, follow your work online and in person, and spread the word to their friends who will do the same.
One of the biggest lessons of the night was to find ways to distill your social media (or “adaptive media,” as Leslie puts it) strategy to 5 platforms/5 minutes each/one hour per day. This allows the filmmaker to illiminate time-sucks and to focus on the posts and replies that really matter. Try out tools like CoTweet and HootSuite that allow you to operate multiple Twitter accounts at once, allow you to schedule posts in advance and to delegate Tweets and responses to other members of your team. Create an account on Tumblr or Posterous that allows you to blog (text, video, photo, etc.) and then shoot the content out to your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. with one click!
For fundraising (get started now!) take advantage of sites like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, ChipIn and OpenIndie that allow you to post content, solicit donations and interact with your backers as you move through production. Once the film is in the can, don’t forget about the people who got you there! Keep talking to them, keep them excited about the film’s progress and expected release date - don’t leave your backers behind!
Most importantly, work to make your interactions with your audience about THEM, not about you. What do they want to see; what stories are they interested in; how can your talents cater to what they’re looking for? The more you show them the love, the more it will come back to you!
Please share your thoughts and responses in the comments below! What did you learn; what did you love; what did you not like so very much; what do you want more of; what didn’t you understand; did you have an ah-ha moment? Tell us about it!
Thank you all again! We can’t wait for the next one!
~ Holly
Short Films from the night:
- Crooked Lane - presented by Film Pop!
- Barely Digital’s Lady Gaga and Beyonce “Telephone” Parody - presented by NextNewNetworks
- “The Teabag Express”, from the Tony & Cal series - presented by Believe limited
- The winner of the 2009 Roger Smith Shorts competition, “Clean The Room”, by Dmitry Povolotsky
- And, Nailing Jello - presented by Nailing Jello Productions (airs on Logo later this month)
