The ten-part series The Beginner's Crash Course In Film Distribution distills some of the information contained within The Insider's Guide to Film Distribution into a useful mini-guide for independent filmmakers.

Part 7: Festivals and Creating A Campaign

The film is shot, edited and all music has been cleared. Now it's time to seek out distribution. The sales road can be an often long, complicated and daunting one, especially given the competition out there. However, it is certainly not insurmountable and the road taken will depend of the type of distribution appropriate for your film. And keep in mind prints are expensive, so if your ultimate goal is a DVD release, then it makes no sense to go through the big expense of a film print. But if you're looking for a theatrical release then that's a different story.

The absolute first thing you want to do is make sure your trailer is up online. Like I've said before, this is your primary sales tool. Acquisitions execs would rather watch a short trailer of your film online than have it on DVD. DVD trailers are just more clutter in their office and are a waste of your time and money. The money is better spent on preparing some DVD screeners of the actual film and marketing.

If you're seeking a theatrical release, obviously you'll be relying on the festivals. While you'll want to try for acceptance into the big, prestigious festivals first, like Sundance and Toronto, they're inundated with submissions and by the law of numbers everyone can't get in. Many second tier festivals are gaining prominence though, like the LA Film Festival and SXSW, and these should never be discounted. The problem with the festivals, especially the big festivals, is getting Acquisitions execs to attend your screenings. There are so many films playing, there's no way the acquisition execs can get to them all. So how do you get the Acquisitions people to your screening? You must create an effective marketing campaign. Having your film simply playing is not enough. At this juncture it is a very good idea, and well worth the money, to hire a publicist. An experienced publicist will not only use their expertise to create a campaign to get the word out at the festivals but will also work their connections to get journalists into the screenings and may even be able to pull in a few Acquisitions execs. One of the major jobs of the publicist is to build personal relationships in many different facets of the industry and those personal relationships can often be the difference between an exec or journalist attending your screening or someone else's screening.

But even if no Acquisitions execs attend your screening, fear not -- they may look at your DVD screener at a later date, especially if you've gotten some good press on your film. So please note, it is very important to pull in as many journalists as possible to your film. I just attended SXSW and the Acquisitions execs reported that they look at press clippings on a film and what critics have to say before deciding whether to acquire a film or not. So getting press is very important. If you do not have the money to hire a publicist, then you must create a campaign on your own. It's your responsibility to network, to pull press into your screenings, and to get the word out in a way that will get attention. At this point what you get out of your festival play will depend on what you put into it.

Attending panels is a fantastic way to network. The Acquisitions execs come to the festivals to see movies, meet emerging filmmakers and will often speak on panels. The panels are not only great learning opportunities but also a good place to meet execs since afterwards you'll often get the chance to approach them, introduce yourself and, hopefully, charm them. Attending screenings and parties are also a great way to network with Acquisitions execs. The festivals are laden with opportunities - use them all to their fullest.

Even if your film is not playing, it can be worth your while to attend the festivals for networking purposes and making those "connections" with distributors. You can't just send an "unsolicited" DVD screener to Acquisitions execs and expect them to watch it. You have to find someone within a distribution company to really champion your film, someone who you have some type of personal connection with prior to sending in your film. If you have to send a cold e-mail introducing yourself and pitching your film, this is always better than just sending in a screener (and can save you a lot of money) -- many distribution companies have policies prohibiting them from accepting "unsolicited" screeners. This is for legal purposes and the rules cannot be bent. In an e-mail be gracious in your introduction and give a short, killer pitch. The fastest way to turn off an Acquisitions exec is to be arrogant and pushy. Relationships are everything in this business and a nice, professional intro, accompanied by a link to your online trailer may yield an exec giving you the okay to send over your screener.

Lastly, it's important to have plans A, B, C, etc. in place when strategizing distribution for your movie. If plan A doesn't pan out (like getting that big distribution deal), be prepared to put plan B or C into action -- even if that means a do-it-yourself strategy, which we'll cover in Part 10.