I’ve met several actors in the past six months who were a part of a feature film that haven’t released. They were adamant about the award winning film’s quality being high and didn’t understand why there was a problem getting distribution. In each case, the reason the film wasn’t picked up was obvious, considering its weak marketing strategy.

Independents are on pace this year to produce just shy of 5,000 films in the United States. Based on history, about 400 of those films will be released. The average person will hear about 20 of the films and they will see 1.5 of them. This is due to the lack of marketing focus given to the films.

Most filmmakers lack marketing skills and never create an affective campaign. Some filmmakers create a campaign, but miss the mark in connecting the film’s message to the right audience. Still others understand how to market to the right audience, but they forget the principles of marketing to the right distributor.

Understanding the basic marketing principles will advance the film to its place in the market. Here are a few basics:

Match the Story to the Audience

Films typically have up to five plotlines, but it’s the “A” (action) or “B” (theme) plotline that is used to market the film. These two plotlines answer the question, “What is the film about?” The next step is getting that answer to the right audience.

I recently watched the trailer for Return to the Hiding Place, an award winning film that should be aimed at Millennials. Its message is, “As the will of the students go, so goes the will of the nation.” However the title uses the word “Return” to reference The Hiding Place which Millennials know nothing about, since the film came out in 1975 – A decade before they were born.

By using the word  “Return” in the title, the filmmakers are going after the Baby Boomer generation who may have seen the original film in their 20s or 30s. However, the audience was extremely small due to the film having a four walling release.

This mismatch of Baby Boomer nostalgia combined with a story line aimed at Millennials will make it difficult for the filmmaker to find distribution. Adding to this mismatch is the film’s Nazi backdrop, which most Millennials know little about. A recent talk show host took to the streets and interviewed Millennials about Hitler. Sadly, none of those interviewed had any idea who he was.

By changing the trailer, promotional materials, and title (although this might not be possible since its already winning awards) to aim the film specifically at the Millennials, the film is more likely to get a broader distribution. Thereby educating Millennials about the Holocaust.

Use Word of Mouth

The average person impacts 200 people a year. Those who participate in social media impact 500 people on average. Since most people in the film industry are into social media to promote their work, a cast and crew of 100 people can instantly reach 50,000.

If the message is executed properly, the fans can reach an additional 10 million people by using the first degree of separation. Since many messages can pass through six degrees of separation without fading, the potential is global. This out pouring of media about the film always excites potential distributors.

Developing a preproduction, production and post-production campaign takes advantage of the word of mouth process. Every cast and crewmember can be instructed on the exact phrases to use when promoting the film to family, friends and interviewers.

A Cry for Justice, another award winning film without immediate distribution, had a huge out pouring of publicity when the film was placed in the can. This was due to social media and an enthusiastic cast and crew. Unfortunately, the filmmaker didn’t provided promotional marketing phrases to the team, which may have caused incorrect information about distribution efforts to circulate.

Create A Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is typically created during the development stage of the film. It focuses on a primary audience and will address secondary demographics as well. Unfortunately, most filmmakers don’t build a marketing plan, and those who do typically build it after the film is finished, which is too late to control the message.

The plan must include vision statements and phrases that can be used by cast and crew to promote the film. It will also include social media content and schedules. An advertising plan would also be included. The key measurement on the plan’s success is the number of impressions it generates to the right audience.

Distributors were in charge of how films were marketed until the industry became decentralized. Filmmakers know more about their niche markets than the studios, who now make distribution deals based on the filmmaker’s marketing plan. In fact, distributors don’t even need to see the film if the marketing plan is well prepared.

Based on my conversations with two major distributors, the number one reason they turn down an award winning film is due to them not having a clue how to market it. They have also taken films they know nothing about and give it a solid test market release on 150 – 450 screens when the filmmaker’s marketing plan is sound. This accentuates the importance of a solid marketing plan.

As the old adage suggests, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail,” is applicable in today’s film market. There is no one more qualified than the producer to establish the marketing plan or see to its creation by a marketing team. By establishing a plan, it will move the film into the top 10% of independent films being released and make the investors and distributor happy.

© 2013 by CJ Powers

Photo © Brian Jackson – Fotolia.com

Writers have told me that dialog is the key to a great script. Producers have paid little attention to dialog, especially since they can hire an expert dialog writer to spruce up the draft. Top selling writers pay a lot of attention to story structure and little attention to dialog.

Why the  disconnect, especially when the industry needs more writers?

Since we’ll never figure out the answer, I’d like to at least encourage writers to understand the top five things producers look for in dialog. I’ll use Quentin Tarantino for the examples, since he is one of the best writers in Hollywood with nine prestigious awards including two Oscars^®.

Dialog is NOT about Telling the Story

Tarantino never tells the story through the dialog, but rather uses dialog to reveal depth within his characters. Tarantino tells the story through structure, situations and action, leaving the dialog free to enhance his characters.

Dialog is About Characters

In Pulp Fiction, the dialog revealed the interesting quirks of the lead characters, while their actions revealed that they were hardened hit men. The characters were so fascinating that the audience was willing to sit through all of the hits in order to learn more about the men.

Dialog Entertains

Tarantino toys with the audience using dialog and gets them to laugh at circumstantial humor, rather than being grossed out by the violence that is prevalent in many of his films. He is one of the few writers that can get a person who is soured by violence to laugh during a violent moment, due to his entertaining dialog.

Dialog Alludes to Subtext

D’Jango Unchained was loaded with subtext. This attribute makes an actor’s job easy and fun. It creates multiple levels of story without being spoken. In fact, actors appreciate it so much that Tarantino never seems to have a problem bringing actors back for another picture. There are two and a half dozen actors who have had roles in multiple Tarantino films including Samuel L. Jackson who performed in five of his films.

Dialog Creates Anticipation

Tarantino’s films are filled with moments of anticipation. Reservoir Dogs was the first film packed with moments that forced the audience to wonder what was going to happen next. Each subsequent film raised more questions and generated all the more anticipation. The unknown or unexpected helps heighten the anticipation.

Producers purchase scripts where the dialog is not about telling the story, but about setting up intrigue, entertaining the audience, alluding to subtext, and deepening the characters. Using dialog in any other way reduces the writer’s opportunities to sell their script.

            © 2013 by CJ Powers

A new screenwriter falls in love with his first draft because he labors over it with heart. The story resonates within the writer’s soul because of the connection made with the characters he creates. Sometimes the writer feels like he is on a roll, elevating the work to a divine level, which he thinks should never again be touched once reduced to writing.

These feelings are prevalent among first time writers, which makes it difficult for them to scrap the first draft and dive in for a second time, creating a more universally acceptable and impactful story.

If the writer is like me, he has a problem getting every important element of the story out of his head and onto the page. I sometimes find my mind filling in the gaps of missing character elements when I read the script, rather than realizing the information never made it to the page. The rewrite process helps me to cover for those missing elements.

There are three key reasons for a rewrite:

Fulfill the Vision

The rewrite process allows the writer to compare his pages to the original concept or logline. This brings the story back from possible rabbit trails and refocuses it onto the original motivation. Professional writers keep the logline or concept by their side to regularly check their work against the vision.

Solve the Problems

Scripts tend to meander when screenwriters shift from character to character, especially if he has a favorite that isn’t the protagonist. This creates a structural problem in the story that must be corrected at the base level, rather than at the dialog level. By checking the structure, theme and over all story concepts, the writer is able to fix the problems by cutting what doesn’t work.

Elevate the Quality

To elevate the quality of the screenplay, the writer must tweak the screenplay from the most important elements down to the least important. The below list is in order of importance:

1. Story (Verify and clarify the concept, structure, plot, and theme)
2. Character (Make lead characters special and interesting)
3. Situation (Turn talking head scenes into interesting situations)
4. Action (Make entertaining scenes with movement)
5. Subtext (Create a layer of subtext)
6. Dialog (Write character based dialog)
7. Wordsmithing (Consolidate and tighten words used in the script)

The above elements of 1-5 give the greatest bang for the buck in achieving a great story. Elements 6 & 7 make the least amount of impact, even though most writers prefer spending their time in that arena.

By putting a workflow together that includes an analysis of the important elements, the writer is able to improve his script with every rewrite. This avoids the feeling based tangents that typically cause him to reject the needed rewrites, leaving him with a script that won’t sell or succeed financially.

© 2013 by CJ Powers