SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

By Laura P. Valtorta

www.gattafilms.com

The Danes have an adjective: tilbageholdende, which means “reluctant,” or “holding  back.” This should not apply to a director promoting a film or a writer pushing a new book.

           

Following completion of a film – the final edit, and then uploading the file onto Vimeo – the post-production work begins. Two years of it. This part of the filmmaking adventure is almost as much fun as directing a shoot. It requires imagination, chutzpah, and hard work. This “hard work” includes traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico for a jazzy film festival; building posters, and emailing your production photos everywhere.

Ah, the life of a filmmaker! What I love about post-production is that the requirements change on a daily basis, because the filmmaking industry is in such as state of beautiful chaos. Today’s web series might be tomorrow’s television pilot. Some festivals prefer shorts over 15 minutes long, while other on-line events might prefer a two-minute short that plays well on an Iphone.

Everybody is looking for independent features.

            I recently put together a list of the necessary elements of post-production:

*           File of the entire film – for festivals and additional DVDs.

*           Promo or trailer.

*           Vimeo file of the entire movie, password-protected.

*           Vimeo file of the promo or trailer, open to everyone.

*           Copyright registration: www.copyright.gov

*           Still photos from the movie itself

*           Still photos of the director, producer, and screenwriter

*           Still production photos

*           Logline and synopses of the film, English, French, Spanish

*           Website with promo for film and bio of director/screenwriter

*           Master DVD, for copying purposes

*           Master Blu-ray disc, for copying purposes

*           Releases for the use of music and art

*           Promotion through Withoutabox, Imdb, and Film Freeway

*           Follow-up correspondence with festivals, usually by email

*           Personal meetings with distributors

*           Personal meetings at film festivals

*           Contacts at PBS and local TV stations

*           Advertising – cards, brochures, website, blogs, everywhere

*           Advertising – Facebook, twitter, Linked-in, Stage 32 (all social media                      within reach)

The last two lines on advertising are relevant for fiction and non-fiction writers. Any sort of advertising helps. I like to have premiere parties where the film’s participants can meet with fans and friends. Any day at Immaculate Consumption will see me handing out my Gatta Films postcards with instructions on the back about viewing my films on websites such as Shorts Showcase.

Shorts Showcase and other festivals such as Olive Tree have told me that my reach in social network is good. They appreciate when I go on Linked-in, Facebook, Stage 32, and Twitter.

Whenever something happens with my films, I try to tell the world.