Grant McPhee Director

Dreams are strange beasts that perhaps reveal more than you imagine them to. I once had a stress dream about a film I made, Dreamage Bigstars it was called, being involved with a broadcaster from an obscure former Soviet country. I noted down this dream in a very detailed manner in order to remember it later on.

It turned out to be one of my more interesting dreams which at points actually became like a nightmare. Looking through my very thorough and detailed notes – and I stress they really are quite concise and accurate – I thought I’d see if I could turn them into some form of creative writing exercise. Perhaps part story, part dream-account and part fable; that in their telling may act as some form of catharsis leading to deeper truths or a warning to others.  It’s a moral tale about one small person’s fight against huge organisations and the dangers and obstacles they may face in doing so.

I thought that it might be interesting to share a few excerpts, much like those serialised stories which act as teasers to later fully published works. It’s probably meaningful to preface this dream story with the often used film disclaimer – All characters portrayed are entirely fictional and any likeness to anyone living, dead (or undead) is purely coincidental. And so here we are, extracts from my completely fictionalised story/dream/warning…

Living The Dream

This dream was absolutely, definitely and without-a-doubt set in a small former Soviet country that, much like other former Soviet lands had an unusual love of Irn-Bru. This country also had an unusual love of Icelandic pop music. And in this fictional country I was a film director who lived there. I appeared to be basing my career around the making of documentaries, not documentaries on Irn-Bru but on Icelandic pop music.

Coincidently, someone from the Obscure Former Soviet Country’s Museum, in this very far away dream land, had seen one of my films and contacted me to say how much they would like to put on a big exhibition of Icelandic Pop Music and base that around the contents of my films. I thought this all a bit odd, but as it was after all a dream I said ‘Great, I’m in!’  It sounded amazing.  I was then invited to be part of that exhibition’s steering committee. As it turned out, this exhibition would not happen for another 3 years but that did not mean the intervening dream years were uneventful.

As this completely fictional story is based around a dream, and as in dreams they allow for the flexibility of a timeline which jumps backwards and forwards, so does my creative dream story. Let’s go back…

Shortly before my dream encounter with Mr Exhibition, in fact before any of my Icelandic pop films had been publicly (dream) screened I’d struck up correspondence with someone at one of this small Obscure Former Soviet Country’s Television broadcasters. They’d asked me for early cuts of my aforementioned films, which I’d obliged them with. This correspondence was actually very lengthy. It detailed discussions surrounding two of these films, my plans for them, plans for newer films, changes, suggestions, contributors, press interest/reaction and much confidential production detail. It showed there was a lot of public interest in them..

Like with some dreams it is the boring details that you remember most and a lot of my dream revolved around these lengthy detailed conversations. They were all carefully and laboriously recorded. Sometimes however, throughout all the blandness of discussing finer personal information, some exciting, heart-pounding moments occurred:

Exciting excerpt 1:

…Time Passes….All is well…

Grant, reading the morning newspaper sees a surprising and coincidental story. Coincidences happened a lot in this dream….Mr Exhibition and Mr Former Soviet Broadcaster (the very same person he’d been corresponding with, and sending all early film cuts to) have just publicly announced that they are to be working together on an exhibition on Icelandic Pop Music. This surely must be a coincidence?

Grant’s Inner Dialogue: Why don’t you ask them?

Boring Dream Dialogue excerpt 1, from the archives of Former Soviet Broadcasting Correspondence:

Grant: You know, this all just feels a bit odd. This Icelandic Pop Music Museum exhibition, you know the one in which my already existing films were involved with , is now one in which your proposed film is involved with instead. It feels like a really big coincidence because we’d been corresponding for so long about Icelandic Pop Documentaries and I’d been telling you about how interested people seemed to be in this music, and that Mr and Mrs Exhibitions were also speaking to me about it. It just seems odd that you had the same idea at the same time and decided to contact them about it.

Or….hmmn, well if not a coincidence then that possibly someone in your organisation could…you know…possibly have been discussing my films with Mr Exhibition and this had perhaps given you the idea to ….well….make your proposed films…you know what I mean?

Soviet Broadcaster: (Shocked) I don’t know what you’re talking about there pal. Nobody here’s discussed your films with anyone, ever. While I acknowledge you have shared your private production information with me, and I have seen your films through various stages of completion, I can guarantee that this went no further than my sealed lips. Look, here’s the proof!

(‘proof appears to be a quote from someone ‘high up’ in this former Soviet TV station saying ‘I don’t recall ever discussing these films with anyone’)”. The quote also states that Mr High-Up had been meeting with Mr and Mrs Exhibitions themselves anyway so all if this is definitely just a coincidence.. Despite their meetings happening months later than Grant’s.

….cut to……

Grant immediately contacting Mr and Mrs Exhibitions. He asks one of them a very straight question…

Grant: “Did Mr High-Up, from that Obscure ex Soviet Broadcaster discuss my films with you?”

Someone from Mr and Mrs Exhibitions: Oh yes, it was the very first thing we discussed when we met actually. One of them said they really liked your films too.

Grant: I don’t like this dream….

…Time Passes…

Grant later finds a document that is an early pitch for this proposed Obscure Ex Soviet Country Exhibition Film. It describes one episode as being almost identical to one of his films. The pitch has been signed by Mr High Up and someone else from Soviet Broadcasting who had only ever been in touch with him before to tell him how much they liked his film. The pitch, remarkably and coincidentally was written very shortly after his film had been made and would be the only other potential film to cover this subject, and also the only account in any form of media that followed the same USP narrative. Dreams are full of coincidences.

Soviet Broadcaster: We love your films. We want to show them. Just stick with us and it will all be fine. None of our proposed films will be like yours – so don’t you worry.

Grant was not really wanting to upset anyone or cause trouble, what with being a new director and this organisation being one of the very few outlets for offering directing work in this obscure former Soviet country. He is very carefully reassured by the Broadcasters that it was all just a big misunderstanding and a pure coincidence that they had also been working on a similar idea at the same time, and that they just forgot to tell him they were working on this while allowing him to share private information about the making of his films with them.  And also a coincidence that despite this former Soviet Country having a large and experienced database of filmcrew,  50% of the crew of his two films on Icelandic Pop were initially approached by this former Soviet Broadcaster to help make their own films on Icelandic Pop.

It should be stressed here– much like how stressed I was becoming in my dream – that this is the recounting of a dream, an event not based in reality. Additionally, this dream has been remodelled into a very, very fictional piece of creative writing. None of the characters in this dream exist in real life.

…Time Passes. All is well (ish)…

SHORT REFLECTIVE DREAM INTERLUDE

Grant’s Internal Dialogue :  Grant, this is your inner voice speaking.  I think you really should get the fuel pump in your car seen to, that petrol smell really shouldn’t be happening…..Also, I’m getting a bit concerned that you’re getting a bit angry and bitter about this whole Ex Soviet Broadcaster business. It’s not good for you. Maybe think about having a holiday. Be positive.

Grant: (thinking)  Yes, you’re right Grant. Let’s just go along with what they say. We might just be over analysing this…

…Time Passes. All is well…

Dream dialogue excerpt 2:

Soviet Broadcaster: Could you do me a favour please Grant. Can you send me a clip of your new film, Dreamage Bigstars. I’d like to show my new boss the sort of programmes we could show on a new television channel we’re hoping to launch in our obscure former Soviet country.

A naïve but now reassured Grant: OK, that sounds great. Thank you for being so interested in it, this would do wonders for our little film to screen, this same film we made in a front room and spent ten years researching and saving up to create. You know we never really thought about money, we were just so passionate about the music that we wanted to share that passion and hopefully allow others to appreciate this music; it’s so nice for this film to get recognition but also more so for the artists featured to be portrayed in a way that’s sympathetic to their music while they receive wider recognition from a new audience. I feel like I’m in a dream!!!

Grant’s Inner Dialogue:  There you go, what did I tell you. A rest and positive thinking does wonders. They were right, you were just getting confused.

….Cut to a few dream weeks later….

A Worried Grant: Hey, I’ve just been informed by some of my key crew members that they’ve been asked to work on a programme that sounds remarkably similar in tone and story-arc to my Dreamage Bigstars, you know the film you asked for a clip from to show your new boss the sort of programmes you’d like to screen on your new channel.

Soviet Broadcaster (yes, the same person who’s been receiving all the early cuts, private production details and making the reassurances that any film they make wont be like Grant’s): Oh yes, I didn’t tell you about that one either. I must be very forgetful. Yes, I am responsible for this programme too but it really does not feellike it will be anything like Dreamage Bigstars to me. In fact, it will be nothing like it and your film can screen 6 months ahead of ours so that there will be no confusion. Don’t worry, we really love your film and we really want to do the best for it and for you. I’m so confident that they are completely different that you can actually quote me when I say ‘none of them feel like Dreamage BigStars to me’. And absolutely, your film will screen months before our film so there will be no confusion with the press, public or interviewees – not that there would be anyway as they are such completely different films.

Grant: Phew…I thought for a second that when you’d asked me for a clip of my film to show your new boss, you know the one you were wanting to show to him as an example of the kind of programmes which could screen on your new channel, that you were actually just going to go ahead and make the film yourself instead….Haha, what a crazy thought. I’m glad you’ve really reassured me. I really appreciate the time you’re dedicating to so often telling me I’m mistaken and not to worry when I hear these rumours, and also how much you like my film and want to screen it. But I most appreciate how much time you’re spending to tell me how unlike each other these films will be. You really are looking out for me and my film. It’s like any time I think one thing you always manage to somehow persuade me I was mistaken to think that. I really appreciate it. Hahaha,

Soviet Broadcaster: Hahahaha. You’re so funny Grant, imagine thinking all of that. As if we’d do something like that to anyone! Of course your film will screen first and our film definitely won’t feel like yours. I love it. I really, really love it.

…..Cut to launch of the new former Soviet TV channel, a couple of weeks later….

A programme appears in the first few weeks of launch, 6 months ahead of schedule that ‘feels‘ more than a little like Dreamage Bigstars to Grant.

Grant: I don’t like this dream….

*In the interests of clarity, I am not suggesting anything untoward happened at this Obscure Former Soviet TV channel. This was a dream after all. Neither programme exists. Nothing exists except darkness. All conversations in this fictionalised, completely made-up account are absolutely invented and not based on any meticulously recorded real conversations.

SHORT REFLECTIVE DREAM INTERLUDE

Grant’s Internal Dialogue :  Maybe you’re getting a bit bitter and angry here again?

Grant: (thinking)  OK, maybe just a little. I’ll try and think about something else…..Oh!  That fuel pump!  I better get that changed….but let’s first carry on with this dream writing, made-up thing…you should have a word…..just remember to keep calm and make it sound like it’s not got to you….It was a bit weird that the exact opposite of what you were promised happened though…OK, here we go…

DREAM EXCERPT 3:

Grant: Hey, what’s going on here? I was told by you that your film would not feel like Dreamage Bigstars but your film feels, to me anyway, very much like a condensed version of it. Actually, this all feels to be the exact opposite of what you promised me. Your film appears to follow the exact same story arc, tone and focus; not to mention has the same contributors and uses the slightly less obvious choices of music and archive – just as in my film – and most bizarrely it has the exact same randomly filmed animal. Literally, the exact same animal, sitting outside the exact same house, a house which has no relationship to the story being told. The only difference is that the animal looks really happy in my film. In your film it’s just sitting there, silently with tears in its eyes.

Of course, I understand that coincidences do happen. Often similar films are made at the same time. A prime example of this sort of happenstance would be the popular 1990s feature – The Matrix and the less successful, but similarly themed, The Thirteenth Floor.  Both of these movies explore the notion of our world existing as a computer simulation. Coincidences can happen at the same time. And of course, historically there are also other films which cover the same period of Icelandic Pop music featured in both of our films.

It just feels really odd however, that the only film or retelling of that particular story which remotely feels similar to my film is one made almost 25 years previously, a film that I quote from and credit accordingly in my documentary– but even this sole example really does not feel that similar as it uses completely different storytelling techniques and thematic focus; the only other film that is very similar to my one however, and shares the same focus and arc is yours – which was made mere weeks after mine. And let us not forget that you also has the extraordinary co-incidence of having had exclusive early access to my film’s private production details, early cuts and lengthy correspondence throughout its production, all before being made public. There is also the fact that when your films were originally mooted 50% of my crew were asked to help make them. It just feels like you wanted your film to be like my one.

 Of course, I certainly do not claim I should have any exclusivity in telling this story. As I’m sure you are aware, there are an infinite number of ways in which historical events can be retold using first hand accounts and with their associated ephemera – a creative process that has produced multiple unique works throughout the ages. all covering the same event, but with a unique and personal perspective in their construction, thus differentiating them.  This is something I greatly encourage as I believe it is of extreme importance to have alternative interpretations of historical events to present a reader or viewer with as wide an objective overview as possible. 

Taking the above into consideration It feels to me that you may have, at the very least been subconsciously influenced by my film here or there has perhaps occurred an accidental conflict of interest. Or that it could all just be an amazing coincidence…

Grant’s Inner Dialogue:   Good work Grant, you sounded as calm as a cucumber there.  Definitely not angry and certainly no bitterness poorly concealed as sarcasm…A bit preachy at times maybe but good work nonetheless.

Grant: (Thinking) yep, we nailed it there!

Grant awaits a reply, anticipating some form of apology or explanation to this seeming coincidence considering his polite and carefully worded concerns.

Soviet Broadcasters’ Heavy: Young man, we are shocked by what we are hearing here. So shocked we may have to consider taking appropriate legal action against you for these potentially defamatory accusations. Additionally, we are going to inform everyone involved in our production of your ‘concerns’. What’s most, deeply, deeply upsetting though is that we can’t understand why you would even bring these insinuations towards us, especially after all we’ve done for you. We absolutely love your film and we’ve tried so hard to help you. I don’t know how you could do this to us, it’s really upsetting. No ‘copying’ has occurred here at all. We don’t even know what would compel you to think such a thing of us. These films are so, so different. Not copies. Completely different films. 100% different films. Mr Soviet Broadcaster has bent over backwards to make this all work for you. Let me be clear when we say these films were made completely independently of each other and there was no referring to yours, despite us having seen it before anyone else and us being party to its production process. No copying occurred.

Grant: (slightly taken aback by the shift in tone). I was merely making a genuine observation – that after being reassured by you on multiple occasions that your film would not feel anything like mine but then after watching it I find, in fact it does feel like my film. Knowing this now, I certainly would never have continued to share private details of my films production with you.

I absolutely understand the need to defend one’s work and integrity but I feel as though you are acting in a way that is perhaps presenting me with what I could perceive as a threat which could then be interpreted as preventing me from pursuing these concerns further, rather than simply addressing them. You know I’m getting this odd feeling that the sudden change in tone from you has been designed to somehow frighten me to not pursue these concerns.  I need to think further upon this new development…. Also, your repeated use of the word ‘copy’ sounds weird and out of place.  You now keep on using it every time you speak to me and it always feels oddly placed within a natural conversation.

Grant decides to seek some advice on this new and unexpected turn of events. The advice he’s given is somewhat surprising. Surprising in that others appear to have had similar experiences. The advice appears to be along the lines of ‘almost the same thing happened to me’ , ‘they will never let you win’, ‘if you try to take them on they will wear you down in a financial war of attrition’, ‘just leave it, it’s what we all have to do. Put up and shut up or be blacklisted’, and ‘they just gaslight you’. This all sounded a bit ‘heavy’ but Grant believed pursuing his concerns and not allowing himself to feel intimidated was the correct and moral course of action.

THE CHANGE OF TONE TO A MORE SERIOUS INTERLUDE

Coincidentally, this former Soviet Country had an incredibly similar legal system to the UK when relating to film copyright protection. Despite what most filmmakers in this fictional country believe, there is actually very little protection available for their works existing within current copyright law, well the type one would expect to have for other forms of work – music, non fiction publishing, art etc.

Mostly, a film is only protected under copyright law if it is ‘copied’. Not copied in the way a member of the public would understand ‘copying’ to mean –i.e. nicking someone’s ideas, ‘borrowing’ the way in which a film scene is staged, finer story points and so on;  but ‘copying’ meaning the physical act of mechanical duplication without permission. i.e. Piracy – such as a bootleg DVD, but certainly not appropriating the artistic construction of a work. In these instances, ‘copy’ strictly refers to a physical duplication, as like a photocopy.

Having two virtually identically made films, despite compelling evidence of interaction between both parties is ‘not enough’ to claim plagiarism…. As discussed in this linked article – https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-no-148-mehdi-norowzians-joy/1365197 – Joy v Anticipation, from which here are some quotes:

“It ended as the subject of a landmark high court case and a ruling that not only seemed incomprehensible but drove a coach and horses through what most commercial directors thought were their rights over their ideas….”

“To those present at the start of the six-day hearing, it looked like an open-and-shut case. As Joy and “anticipation” were shown, the similarities between the two seemed glaringly obvious.

However, Mr Justice Rattee was unconvinced by the case. He threw it out and awarded costs – said to have been about £500,000 – against Norowzian.”

To have any chance of over-ruling such a landmark decision, currently would be risking over £250K and likely losing that. So far, nobody in the UK has dared to try since this landmark 1990s case. Now it could be seen as being unfair and cynical if it were suggested that unscrupulous producers were allegedly using this legal ruling to their advantage. Why, that would be like suggesting some large broadcasters could effectively – if they wanted – take ideas sent to them (or ones they overhear) from unsuspecting creatives and happily use them for their own, free from any legal consequence.  Except for dreams and fictional situations the legal obstacles to challenging such claims are so financially prohibitive that nobody is likely to take that risk.

….Speaking of dreams and made-up situations and characters, let’s get back to my dream, unreality and the (slightly bitter sounding) funnies…..

DREAM NOTES AND DREAM EXCERPT 4

In this part of the dream story, undeterred and deciding to put up a fight, Grant uncovered a surprising document which had a note from a very senior and experienced member of staff at this Obscure Former Soviet Broadcaster.

As mentioned previously, this was no easy task.  For to receive any form of document or clear answer from these Former Soviet Broadcasters would incur huge costs of time, money, stress and repeated requests for the simplest of all things.

It should be noted that this Obscure Former Soviet Country’s state broadcaster, like a handful of others around the world was funded by a public licence fee.

The document stated  – very plainly – that it would not be justifiable to their licence paying public for this  broadcaster to commission a film that broadly covered the same content as Grant’s Icelandic Pop Music films. This document seemed pretty clear and to the point. It even named Dreamage BigStars.

The question then arose ‘why did they commission their film then?’ Even if it felt like a completely different film they were given very clear guidance to not make a film which broadly covered the same story or content as either of Grant’s films. At the point of the Senior Member of the Obscure Former Soviet Broadcaster offering this warning they had already agreed to pay Grant a fee before making their own film. If they then commissioned their own version of this story the public would effectively be paying twice for the same content.

At the same time an extremely reputable expert conducted a side-by-side analysis of Dreamage BigStars and the film from the Former Soviet Broadcaster. This was in the form of an incredibly long, articulate and in depth comparison. It looked very robust.

A separate ‘expert’, who for some strange reason always made Grant think of the first verse of Virginia Plain by Roxy Music had also uncovered a loophole whereby his conflict of interest concerns may be addressed.

 He decided to send his newly acquired ‘evidence’ dossier to the Obscure Former Soviet Broadcaster.

They suddenly had a change of heart and could now see why he might see similarities in both films. They mentioned an ‘investigation’ was conducted and they suggested it may be in the best interests of both parties to now have a meeting and see if there was a way to prevent the situation escalating further. Of course, this was preferable to Grant as he still wanted to maintain a good relationship despite what had occurred. No money was ever asked for, merely an explanation as to why these two, very similar films came to be made at the same time, and under such circumstances.

The meeting was between Grant, Mr Soviet Broadcaster and a Soviet Broadcaster Heavy.

THE MEETING

Grant: (thinking) I sound really bitter

Soviet Broadcaster: Yes, you do.

Grant: (thinking) Yikes, how did they hear that?  I was only thinking.  Maybe they’ve been hearing my thoughts all along and that’s how these two films came to be so similar?

Grant: (Speaking).  How did you hear that?

Soviet Broadcaster:  You just said it out aloud. We can’t hear your thoughts.

Grant: (thinking):  Phew, thank goodness for that. I thought I’d gone crazy for a second. Haha.  (slightly darker thinking) Or maybe they’ve finally driven me crazy by the constant deny, attack and reversing the victim / offender strategy they seem to have been using. Remember that time they told me I was imagining all of this?

**much like in Easy Rider, Grant has a momentary, premonitory flash forward to being shot in the chest by a redneck representing ‘The Man’’**

Grant : (still thinking) .  Let’s not go there.  I‘ve a feeling that something I just thought about might come back to finish me off later in this story. OK,  let’s just take it slowly and see if we can bring this to an end. I’ve just spent so much energy trying to fight this.

**Suddenly the spirit of David Crosby enters the room and speaks to Grant alone**

David Crosby:  You can do this man, take them on. Don’t give in

Grant: (thinking) You’re right David Crosby. I won’t give up.

David Crosby:  Hey man, what did you mean by ‘spirit’? I’m not dead! This is a weird scene man. This is like being back in rehab. I just want to go back and argue with strangers on Twitter.

***David slowly fades away, his last few words fading silently with him***

David Crosby:  (faintly) Hey man, why doesn’t Roger like me?  (getting fainter) …I never got a buck for Easy Rider, Hopper based that character on me!!! or Woodstock….(fainter)….I hate Spotify…..

**The spirit of David Crosby finally leaves the room, his wise words swirling around Grant’s head***

A Newly Confident Grant: (speaking) This really feels like I’m telling you exact same thing again, and again, and again. I have no objection to two films telling a similar story by different means, my concern is the situation where we have our two films appearing to share many similarities which I feel could be a result of our existing relationship -i.e. it may be one coincidence for this story to be told similarly by two completely different broadcasters, in different countries at different times; but it feels strange that we have these similar films with the further coincidence of my having shared private information relating to my film with you, as well as both their involvements with a large Museum exhibition which was then later superseded by your films.

My main objection however, is that you have dismissed my concerns again and again by telling me they are actually completely different feeling films despite clear evidence to the contrary, and that I’ve somehow imagined these similarities.

What is confusing me now though, is why was the commissioning guidance from Mr Senior Employee seemingly ignored? I can’t understand why you would go on to spend a significant amount of public money – tens of thousands – to make this new film which simply appears to feel very similar to my already existing one, which you already previously agreed to pay me a fee for.

Wouldn’t this be just like getting a licence payer to pay for effectively the same content twice? Couldn’t you just have offered the public better value for money and chosen another story to tell instead? This would appear to be why your ex boss gave this guidance?  Or at least make some effort into making your film appear slightly different to mine, something you’ve seemingly not done.

Soviet Broadcaster: Well, simply this all comes down to us not having enough material in our filmed archive to tell other stories. We reviewed all our existing material and because we simply did not have enough there to tell different stories we were forced into having to use this story. It was deemed one of the very few we could use. We really wanted to tell others but we couldn’t, it’s as simple as that.

Grant: (not fully convinced) OK, I suppose that is understandable…perhaps. I’m not sure why you did not explain this to me before though. Will you apologise for how this was handled by yourself and your organisation?  There now seems to be some form of an admission that these films actually are very similar. Clearly much of what I had been suggesting all along regarding these concerns has now been shown to be true, whereas instead of acknowledging this at that time you instead seemingly decided to prevent me from pursuing these enquiries through what I perceived to be threats and obstruction. Most upsetting was continuously telling me I was mistaken in my concerns. It feels like you should offer an apology.

Soviet Broadcaster: What about as a suggestion I draft you a letter which explains the entire situation and it could act as something you may take to be an apology, if that works for you? And two commissions?. Of course they would have to go through due process – like we always do here, wink, wink. And we can offer you really great terms for your film.

Soviet Broadcaster Heavy:  I can put together some paper work.  We really now understand your concerns and why you and others may see these films as appearing to be quite similar but I should add that copyright minutiae is such a complicated area to discuss here.  (mumbling quickly) And the smaller commissioning details changed anyway.  Hopefully this will all work out and we can draw a line under the matter. It definitely benefits nobody to pursue this further.

Grant: Hmmn, OK, we’ll let’s leave it there for the moment. Of course, the apology is incredibly important to me. It’s a matter of principle for myself and for all other hardworking independent filmmakers who may not have the means or will to pursue potentially similar scenarios…

…Time Passes….All is possibly well…

This feels like another appropriate time to stress that none of these conversations actually occurred. They have been made up – they are all combinations of bits of dreams and imaginary writing. However, they are all culled from extensive records of dream meetings, dream recordings and dream emails. This meeting did not take place however and the people and conversations described are entirely fictional. Any similarity to real life events is purely a coincidence.

***Grant receives two letters***

One appears to be, not from the Obscure Former Soviet Country Broadcaster but from the actual Soviet State it was once part of.  It states that any attempt to pursue his concerns using any loopholes will mean they will have to use everything within their power to prevent that from happening.

***Grant also receives the draft letter from the Obscure Former ex-Soviet Country Broadcaster regarding their meeting***

NIGHTMARE EXCERPT 1 – The Letter

Soviet Broadcaster: Actually, there will be no apology at all, not even a hint of one. We just don’t have to apologise for anything because we’ve not done anything wrong. Definitely no copying at all occurred – absolutely no copying and although it might not seem like it to you our films were made 100% independently of yours. We’ve carried out an extensive investigation and we know those films are 100% different. I really know this to be true because I carried out the investigation myself!

Grant: Eh, hold on a second.  What, do you mean, ‘you carried out the investigation yourself’? Isn’t that a bit like marking your own homework?

Soviet Broadcaster: Well, errr no. I don’t mean that I carried it out personally. I just GUIDED the investigation to where they needed some help. Someone else, someone completely independent did all that actual investigation work, they just happened to agree with us here. Nothing untoward happened.

***Grant’s Email Inbox pings at the same time****

Grant: Hey, hold on a darn tooting minute. I’ve just been sent an email which appears to be from a few months back. It’s part of a conversation discussing which stories could be told from your existing material. Remember, how in our meeting you told me that the reason the commissioning guidance was ignored was because you did not have enough material available to tell other stories so had no choice?

Well this email seems to say the exact opposite of this– it says ‘there’s enough material actually to tell twenty stories’. It literally says this. And weirdly, good old Mr High-Up, who was the chap who wrote the original proposals, who met with the museum, and who recounted the commissioning warning is included in this conversation too. Why did you tell me something completely different in our meeting? Was this guidance even discussed when you commissioned the films? If not this sounds like the commissioning process is completely open to abuse.

***Cut to EastEnders drum roll, which incidentally Grant has to pay a full licence fee for due to not being covered by any blanket PRS licencing agreements****

TO BE CONTINUED….

Preview to next week’s episode:

Grant:  So you are telling me you actually didn’t say any of this? (Close-Up on Grant) ….. Well, luckily I recorded the entire conversation….

Soviet Broadcaster: (in extreme close up)………..

FADE TO BLACK

  – All characters portrayed are entirely fictional and any likeness to anyone living, dead (or undead) is purely coincidental. And so here we are, extracts from my completely fictionalised story/dream/warning…

DIY PR – How To Get Your Film Reviewed and Written About.​​

Democratising The Filmmaking Process Volume.

Making a film is but merely one of the many battles involved in the great movie-making wars. If you have already reached this stage you are likely acutely aware that not everyone is currently sharing your unbridled enthusiasm for your efforts.

You (and I) know you’ve created a work of genius but sadly the rest of the world has not been given the opportunity to offer their opinion yet; your phone is not ringing, your email box is empty and the trailer you posted on Youtube has only reached 100 views. Nobody seems to want to watch or write about your film, which is frustrating.

Sadly this is the case for almost all micro budgeted films. The film industry is unfairly biased towards those with money, because money allows expensive marketing.

The reason you don’t have the money to spend on PR agencies, marketing companies or advertising is because you quite rightly spent every penny of your small budget on actually shooting your film. When money is super-tight, or almost non-existent you have to prioritise where it seems better spent, meaning most micro-budget filmmakers understandably sacrifice their marketing budgets and ‘hope for the best’ later. Without large festival or distributor support you can end up hitting a wall, but if this happens you can still help your film find a respectable audience by yourself, and for free.

What can be done then?

Without money there is still a lot of good promotion which you can carry out. You might not be able to afford a 100′ poster in Time Square but by using this short guide you will hopefully manage to let a small part of the world know of your film’s existence. And because you and the friends who made the film are smart and full of brilliant ideas you can also add your own into the mix.

At this stage we should be very clear that this is not a quick fix to becoming the next Robert Rodriguez or having the world’s media suddenly appear at your doorstep. This won’t get you Empire and Guardian reviews. With some hard work however, it is an opportunity to gain a little extra international interest in your film and help it be seen, reviewed and written about beyond your local newspaper and friends Facebook pages.

Ideas and Attitude

It’s important to stress that good ideas are often more important than money when marketing, which is handy. Most importantly though, to achieve successful results you will need to follow your ideas through to the end. Everyone has good ideas but not everyone has the determination needed to fulfil them. Tenacity is how successful results will start to appear, and this type of promotion takes time and patience.

My previous guide to uploading films to Amazon is an important companion to this current one. They both symbiotically rely on each other – because to sell something you need product, and if you have product you will want to sell it. Your film is your product and Amazon will be one of your key selling markets. You just need to let people know it’s there!

I’l start with the assumption that your movie has either already completed a festival run or you have decided to start selling it without one.

***Note: A later guide will uncover the crazy world of Film Festivals which will also play another important part in your films distribution journey. Festivals can help to sell and promote your film in their own right but they need to be handled carefully as they can equally do harm, which we will discuss later ***

For the purposes of this guide we’ll use one of my own films, Night Kaleidoscope, to help illustrate DIY distribution methods. It was sold as physical copies and also released it on Amazon (as an update it will shortly appear in shops).

This film was made on an incredibly small budget for a feature (around £3K), it did not contain any Hollywood stars and was described as an awkward art-house horror, or just not very good if being harsh! Without any marketing budget or distribution the movie did not really stand much of a chance. While it was never going to become anything close to a Paranormal Activity success, with some home DIY PR I did mange to get some review (both good and terrible), screened it worldwide and had over 100 articles written about it; which seems like a decent example for other DIY Feature promotions looking for similar results. It was small but managed to lift itself up a little. At the very least it managed more than 100 YouTube hits.

Below is our guide to how I and some friends marketed a film that was not an easy sell, and because your film is probably better you will be able gain better results than me.

Initial Steps

At present you may be in a similar situation as to where I was: I’d completed a film and nobody seemed to show any interest in it.

After we had finished shooting Night Kaleidoscope I realised I didn’t really know how to market it. For various reasons of working on other productions the film had been sitting on a shelf for a couple of few years, and would still need to remain there for another year, albeit fully finished. Because it had such a distinct visual and aural style, which then appeared fresh (one of its redeeming features) it was felt to be in danger of loosing one of its selling points if it stayed there much longer; to start, we quickly decided to release a teaser trailer which in hindsight was a good move. This trailer made the film appear far more expensive and interesting than it was in reality. A good trailer is definitely a recommended move which helped us significantly with promotion! We’ll cover trailers later.​​

A less recommended move for those on small budgets was what we did next. We employed a very small PR firm to help market our trailer, purposely to dip our toes into what could potentially be achieved with the finished film. The small PR firm managed some reasonable results but moreover it made us realise that unless you are spending (and can afford) thousands of pounds on large scale promotion you can just do it yourself and save money! You can achieve the same results on your own and This will show you what I did so that you can too.

The time from our first teaser being released to our actual film release was a year. Teasers are usually the domain of large movies but they can prove useful in situations like ours. It allowed us an online presence which would later make the marketing of our final release simpler. It can be risky as often promotion is a ‘one chance’ opportunity but in our experience with small micro-budget films it can help. Especially if you know there will be a large gap before your final release.

Deconstruction Time Again

A large part of my filmmaking philosophy is based on a belief in the importance of deconstruction – for me, that means the process of showing the making of a film being an overall component of the final product. Deconstruction can help you promote your movies and is something I encourage everyone to explore. A veil of secrecy is often placed on the filmmaking or marketing process by people understandably wanting to protect their business model, which again does little to help emerging talent. Taking something apart can help you discover how something works (please don’t try this marketing theory on puppies) and you should carefully look at how movie marketing is done by the professionals to help you. Observe, analyse and deconstruct how somebody else markets a movie.

The Simple Steps to Marketing Your Movie . Step One

Learn by example. Pick a reasonably successful independent film from the last few years, not Marvel size but something you are familiar with which which did relatively well. Type that films name into Google (using quotes) followed by “Preview” or “Synopsis”.

Ignore any reviews, Wikipages or sales links which appear in the search results for the moment. A close look at these remaining search results will show they are mostly from large blogs or entertainment pages. When visiting these pages you will see they all soon start to appear very familiar: a trailer with strangely similar phrases in the article copy or headline. What you are seeing is the results of a successful and controlling press-release.

A great press release is the best friend to an indie filmmaker.

Write what you want to see. Press Releases are written with the intention that key parts – and in some cases the entire press release will be posted on a film site. You can very much use this to your advantage when marketing your movie. Think what you would like written in an ideal article and if you put this in a Press Release there’s a good chance it will end up being written word-for-word, rephrased or at least led carefully by your own words which you used in your Press Release.

It should be noted that these journalists are not being lazy. For small films, writers just don’t always have the time to dedicate their energy to unique articles and tend to base them around the press releases they receive, especially those for Micro Budget Features. Taking advantage of this knowledge can significantly help present a strong online presence and positive bias for later reviews of your film – providing you maintain the balance correctly!

Of course journalists know this too so you offer them a good balance – you help them by being realistic about your film, and providing suitable phrases and they help you by writing an article similar to your press release copy.

You will soon see that most film previews follow these fairly rigid rules based on what you send them; the press release, as discussed when sent along with a trailer, a poster and some stills is otherwise known as The Press Pack.

Let’s make a press pack which will start your movies online presence.

Creating Your Press Pack:

A – The Press Release.

There are various ways of formatting these and we often chop and change them but they should follow some set rules.

They should contain 3 (or 4) important sections for conveying information easily and quickly to a journalist and are usually formatted similarly.

1 – At the top (sometimes bottom) is your contact Information: Production Company, email address, website, Facebook. Twitter, Phone Number and a Contact Name are recommended, though you don’t need to include them all.

2 – Below this (if at top), an arresting headline containing the information you are trying to convey, or a concise statement. This can be the announcement of a trailer release, a full film release, a crowd funding campaign or whatever. Don’t just send a release with the intention of telling the world of every small detail. You only get a few chances at keeping somebody’s interest.

This only needs to be brief, a little like your films logline. Further information can be given. Just keep it snappy, to the point and sounding interesting.

Importantly, you will have to let the journalist know when this event will take place (physical copy press/newspapers/magazines takes weeks not days). Often big press releases will have embargos so they need to know when they can print.

3 – The main body of your press release is for further and fuller information. This is a little like your film synopsis compared to logline. This is where you will sell your product/announcement to a journalist and whether they think there is enough of a story to make an article from it. Make it easy for them! Don’t overcomplicate. Keep the entire release to a page.

Don’t write ‘it’s not very good’ – because that is what they will write. Don’t write ‘this is the greatest film ever made’ – it’s not and they won’t believe you. This is their daily job and they receive many press releases daily so respect their intelligence while still keeping it interesting.

Write what you’d like to see and cover up any negatives regarding your film by turning them into positives. Help them and they will help you.

For example, our film didn’t really have much of a story and we knew that would be picked up by reviewers so we put “story and logic come secondary to atmosphere and terror, a dreamy nightmare captured on film.” to give the impression this was always intentional (which genuinely was true).

For the announcement of our films availability, and because we had already put out our trailer, we had some previous online presence, and this allowed us to add some quotes from previewers/articles about the trailer release. Tread carefully if using quotes as there can be rivalries between reviewers. Not every website is equal, they all operate at different levels of experience and reach. We decided to use quotes from two of the bigger sites as a way to hopefully subtly influence other reviewers (which does not always work).

4 – A link to what you are announcing – which in this case was it becoming available on Amazon – we gave that link and also a screener for review/advertising purposes. Don’t expect reviewers to pay to see your film. A trailer and online stills links should also be added. If you forget this they won’t bother contacting you to ask for them. Don’t worry about passwords as they will not print them. Links to stills rather than clogging up someones inbox.

Most importantly….make sure you have ‘….ends’ at the end so they know that your Press Release, well ends.

Here is our own Night Kaleidoscope Press Release (apologies for formatting here):

Year Zero Filmmaking: Tartan Features

05/01/2017

For Further Information Please Contact Simon:

info@nightkaleidoscope.com

@nightkaleido

http://www.facebook.com/LandofSunshine

https://www.yearzerofilmmaking.com

For Immediate Release:

PUNK ROCK CINEMA!

Vampire Indie Horror ‘Night Kaleidoscope’ Finally Available:- On Amazon Prime, Region 2 DVD…. and VHS!

*****************************PRESS RELEASE*********************************

AVAILABILITY:

Amazon Prime:

US:https://www.amazon.com/Night-Kaleidoscope-Patrick-OBrien/dp/B06XCS9PKB

UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B06XCZ4V4R

R2 DVD and VHS PAL

https://www.xxxxxxxxxxx

*******************************************

“Breathes New Life into the Vampire Genre’ – Dread Central

‘Strange, Beautiful and Sexy’ – Modern Horrors

Just two of the quotes from the intense flurry of interest after the release of the Night Kaleidoscope trailer last year.

Fresh from its preview screening at the Atlanta Days of the Dead Horror Convention, you can finally watch Night Kaleidoscope on Amazon Prime, buy on Region 2 DVD and even purchase a very limited VHS edition. Region 1 and NTSC VHS and Very Limited Betamax to follow….

Night Kaleidoscope is the third feature from director Grant McPhee, following on from the success of his Post-Punk Documentary – Big Gold Dream, listed as one of Sight and Sounds best films of 2015, an Edinburgh International Film Festival Audience Award Winner and a recent screening on BBC TV.

Night Kaleidoscope is a very different film but maintains a similar punk rock attitude throughout.

Bridging a fine line between the trashy 70s Euro Horror of Jess Franco, the British Art-House miasma of Nicholas Roeg and the underground experiments of Kenneth Anger Night Kaleidoscope manages to become a unique film of its own.

The film is a treat for the eyes and ears – trippy, psychedelic imagery flashing against a pumping 80s synth rock score – story and logic come secondary to atmosphere and terror, a dreamy nightmare captured on film.

It is the story of Fion, a hardened psychic detective (Patrick O’Brien) who is happy to work for the highest bidder. His latest case proves to be his toughest challenge yet when faced with depleting powers – which he tops up by smoking a mysterious psychedelic powder – Fion encounters a mysterious wave of murders across the city’s poor and deprived. With the aid of Isobel (Mariel McAllan) their investigations lead them to enter a world of ancient evil in the form of a beautiful but deadly couple – Carrie and Lewis. Set against the backdrop of a decaying city viewed through a Night Kaleidoscope.

Night Kaleidoscope is a brash, bold, surreal, stylish and hip entry to the aging Vampire Genre. One where all rules are broken and is part dream, part nightmare.

Shot on a budget smaller, and a time-frame less than most films have for their trailer, Night Kaleidoscope manages to elevate itself above its limitations by use of imagination and a desire to challenge the perception of Micro Budget Feature Filmmaking.

Night Kaleidoscope is not like anything you’ve seen or heard before.

********************************************************************************

Screener for Review:

password: xxxxxx

TRAILER:

Stills:

ENDS****************************

.

The purpose of your Press Release is two-fold. No journalist is going to jump in and review your film because you have bestowed upon them the honour of your screener link. It has to be written to interest them and make them want to watch but also, as we discussed, to also appeal to a reader – and buyer.

Sell them a story, cover over any flaws which could potentially cause a negative reaction and absolutely make it stand out from the hundreds of other press releases they receive every day.

Below are a few articles which have used the Press Release we made in various forms. Some have just copied from it directly, others have taken phrases while others have reworded it significantly, but all have used it. Take advantage of what you want to see.

Night Kaleidoscope (2017)

https://screamfix.com/night-kaleidoscope-amazon-prime-dvd-vhs/

https://letterboxd.com/film/night-kaleidoscope/

http://www.infernalcinema.com/2017/03/07/night-kaleidoscope-gets-uk-dvd-vod-and-vhs-release/

http://decaymag.com/movies/reviews/night-kaleidoscope-film-review/16327/

All of these articles are perfectly welcome and all equally useful to you. The journalists are busy and what they can afford to spend on your film depends on how much time they have on a particular day, and understandably bigger films will be their priority. Anyone who prints ANYTHING about your small film is helping you and you should thank them for that. They are doing you a very big favour – they are essentially advertising your film for free.

Building a relationship is critical to your marketing and maintaining that relationship is crucial to the success of your later films – and career. You will make friends and you will meet people who love your film, you will also meet people who hate your film. Don’t be defensive and attack them. What they write actually may sound ideal to another reader/potential viewer. While it is nice to have good reviews bad reviews are better than no reviews!

All of the journalists who created the articles above (and this was a random selection from many) are now friends or associates whom we contact directly regarding other films. Be loyal to those who help you.

Our final tip on Press Releases – save them with an appropriate and identifiable filename – not just ‘Pressrelease.doc’. And use multiple formats for different software they may be using. A reviewer will have many press releases in their download folder – make sure they can recognise yours at a later date.

The Press Release is the first impression of what you are offering, the second will be a trailer and then poster or stills. Once you have their attention from your press release, to really stand out you need to make a good trailer.

B – The Trailer

There is a fine balance between cheating your audience and building audience support. To further make a point – for small films and a sustainable career you need to build friendships so think carefully about your trailer and how it relates to the full film. Don’t cheat reviewers by presenting a different story in the trailer to that in the final film – and most importantly don’t cheat your audience. Nobody likes to be cheated and it will reflect badly on you. As mentioned, you need support because as soon as somebody offers you the courtesy of watching your trailer and deciding to review it; if the full film is a completely different genre they will react negatively. This is different from an unexpected plot twist.

When a journalist becomes interested after reading your Press Release you are still on shaky ground as to whether it will still be picked up. Don’t loose out on a review or article by messing up with your trailer.

Market your film within a recognisable genre!

Of course not all films fall directly or easily within a set genre so it is completely acceptable to nudge it a little if it lies on the border. Our film had enough horror elements to easily fulfil that criteria but it also had a style which could be classed as experimental, or art-house. Theses sub-genres allowed us to later market to a wider and slightly different audience. Take advantage if your film falls into other categories. Just be cautious.

Trying to market a film as something which it clearly isn’t may have short term gains but you will eventually set yourself up for a fall. If your film is a light-hearted comedy but has a trailer which suggests it may be a slasher you are heading for a negative review, or worse – no review or article at all. Think of your audience and remember that journalists are part of that. And respect them.

As with your press release, show what you would like to be talked about. Use your best material and leave the audience wanting more. If you don’t have a lot of great material then keep it short. Two minutes or under is a good time length.

Don’t use material which may lead to negative reviews. Be creative with your flaws. Our film was not very strong on dialogue so we left most of it out of the trailer. This is not cheating an audience, just being a little creative in how you polish it. Big up what you have. There’s a world of difference between a great trailer for a poor film that’s honest and a trailer that tries to market an entirely different film. Reviewers and audiences expect the best material to appear in a trailer and they accept films don’t always live up to them but they don’t want to be sold a different film. Gone are the days of Roger Corman where it’s too late to ask for your money back.

Follow the steps and lessons from your Press Release. Offer enough information, make is seem interesting and present the important details – Title, Cast, Whatever. Imagine yourself writing how you would like your trailer described and work backwards from that.

After you are happy with your snappy trailer be aware where you upload it to. If it is on YouTube make sure your channel is tidy and the appropriate film details are clear. Don’t have titles like ‘201123axbs.mp4’. A solid description with metatags is also recommended.

If you send a Dropbox link consider this may be a deciding factor to whether a journalist will pick up on it. They likely don’t want to have to download it and then upload it to their own site for sharing. Make it easy for them.

C- Set Stills, Behind-the-Scenes Stills and Poster

I’ve made the mistake of not getting enough set stills. I’ve made many poor decisions before, and will do so again but not generating enough stills is much more harmful than you may expect, and certainly one of our bigger filmmaking regrets.

As touched upon earlier, online previews often all follow a similar set of rules – they use a press release to form a large part of their copy. As you can imagine this leads to many similar articles being created, which is not a bad thing but can cause you small problems. As a rule of thumb, the more coverage your film has, then the better, but unfortunately Google has an annoying habit of hiding some of these results if they appear similar to others. On the last page of Google results you will find a small hyperlink called ‘Repeat Search With Omitted Results Included’ which will reveal any hidden articles which make use of your Press Release. Obviously, by being tucked away after the very last result means not everybody sees this option which results in a lot of pages about your film being overlooked.

Many journalists are aware of this and try and tweak the copy so they don’t risk having their page fall into this abyss, but not all do. One way to help yourself is by having a large variety of photos to help distinguish articles.

Regardless of Google’s tendency to hide some pages a wide selection of photos is great for journalists anyway.

A Dropbox link is great for sending photos (unlike your trailer) as journalists prefer to upload directly. A good tip is to name your photos well. Rather than img1002.jpg or whatever, name them after your film title and the actors seen. Other than making it simple for the journalist and lessening chances of misidentifying your cast, it works well for Google searches. Google will identify and log the information. Flickr is also a good option for sharing but you lose the metadata when a journalist downloads.

Good quality photos are essential. Screenshots from your actual film are OK to use as a last resort but often problematic. Even at 4K they often lack sharpness due to motion camera shutter angles. It is always a struggle to generate enough publicity stills due to time and crew restraints. Your social media interactions are going to require that you have a very large selection – for your own Twitter/Facebook/webpage promotion and also for sending to journalists. The wider a selection you have, the more opportunity for diversity for journalists – and more articles. In a perfect world, after each set-up when filming you should allow a professional stills photographer the opportunity to capture high resolution, high quality set stills. Behind-the-scenes photography and video is also going to be incredibly helpful. Please, please, please do not ignore this. I’ve made this mistake and know how much it will hinder your later promotion. There is always the argument that it is better to complete your filming at the expense of onset photography, but I’d always say that you will regret not having sufficient promotional material. If you are struggling then have your crew take snaps throughout the production on iPhones. It is not ideal but better than nothing. Properly set up, high quality promotional stills will be worth the time spent, even at the expense of dropping a shot. Reviewers love these and a potential article will rely on having them. If you’re crew are taking stills for you gently remind them to not post onto social media.

Your poster will be another of your key marketing tools. Other than being used to send to journalists it is the first impression – after the title – that potential buyers will see. I try to make a unified ‘house look’, inspired by independent record labels and use a Swedish record cover designer to use garish and bold colour palettes to stand out. They don’t always follow the film poster rules but people can spot them easily. A distinct poster will help you – with reviews and buyers.

Now that you’ve created your Press Pack you need to get it out to reviewers.

Step 2– Next. Where to send your press pack.

This is the million dollar question. Where to send it, and how to send it.

It’s very important to stress that you have to be realistic with expectations. Your film will not be reviewed in the next edition of Empire, Total Film, Sight and Sound, The Guardian, The Times or anywhere on the high street for that matter. There are always exceptions to the rule (like winning the lottery) so there’s no harm in trying but your efforts will be better focussed on other options. Use your time and energy in these other ways and you may find they benefit you more.

The Internet

The internet is a great place. It’s democratised publishing and opened up a whole new outlet for film reviews and advertising. Luckily for us it is still mostly free and we are going to take full advantage and focus our own efforts there.

One of the internet’s greatest achievements is simplifying bringing like-minded people together and we’re going to try and find people who will like our film.

Almost everybody loves watching movies. Because of advances in technology some like-minded folk are able to switch that love of watching films into making our own, but others will use that love to write about movies. And these are the people we want to connect with and get to write about our film.

Because we have already defined our film within a set genre this makes finding people who will like our genre easy. In many ways a niche film, counter intuitively may actually be more beneficial to you.

Twitter is probably going to become your new best friend. It is effectively a giant database, one which can be used to open up a very large marketing opportunity.

Having a horror movie to promote is probably the the easiest genre of all to market. Horror Film fans are incredibly loyal – and helpfully – incredibly forgiving. Actually they seem to be far more open minded than mainstream film reviewers and much more accepting of the rough edges often seen in independent filmmaking. There is an incredibly large community of horror fans very willing to write about your film.

Finding Your Reviewers – This is VERY time consuming!

You probably already have a Twitter account but I’d advise to either setting up a specific one for your film, or one for your production company. There are pro’s and con’s for either which you can work out for yourself later.

Like with your Press Release and trailer you need to make your Twitter page appear interesting. Have a nice clearly displayed poster, title and an exciting sounding bio.

Post a few stills on your page. If the purpose is to promote your film being released on Amazon then you can post your trailer too – just do something which makes your page stand out from the hundreds of others. If your initial purpose is to promote a release of your trailer, or a crowdfunding campaign perhaps leave your trailer until a little later when you have built up more followers.

Use the search options which Twitter kindly provide and start following targeted accounts. Start with a more focussed and select group first. The search criteria ‘Horror reviews’, under the ‘people’ tab will bring up thousands of Horror Film Review accounts. Follow them all. With luck some should start following you back.

Once an account follows you back you have then reached ‘stage one’ in your new friendship. More often than not these Twitter accounts will form part of a separate blog or webpage. If there is a link on Twitter then follow it, if not then use Google to search. When visiting a linked website navigate to find their contact email and note it down using a spreadsheet, along with the websites name and address. Ideally you should find an actual persons name to go with that email address. Names offer a greater chance of successful reviews or articles later as they offer a personal and friendly touch. And it’s just good manners anyway. If the contact page does not offer any names then check the ‘about’ section, or even look for names under reviews.

Looking again at Twitter, after being followed back, if you have not directly communicated with your new contact, at some point send them a direct Twitter message asking if they would mind you sending them a Press Release for your new film. Often people don’t tend to like receiving direct messages from unknown people but if you make your message personal and sound like you have done a little research it is often a great introduction. You may often get a more direct email address using this route rather than merely looking at their website, especially useful when the website just has a contact form. Kevin@xxx.com is better than info@xxx.com. There’s a fine line between just spamming people and building up a normal and human interaction. Don’t just send people an unannounced press release as a message the second they follow you back. It’s not polite. A lot of these accounts are just like you. Look at peoples work, they put a lot of time and effort into it, just like you did with your film so appreciate it and like/interact with it. Everyone is ‘hustling’ to an extent but take a deep breath.

When building up contacts, detail as much of your notes onto your spreadsheet as possible. They will be invaluable later. Names and just knowing who people are is nice.

This is not a quick process. Results are slow and this is where your tenacity will determine whether your film will receive some kind of recognition. But enjoy it, enjoy interacting with people and regardless of whether someone reviews a film you might find some people you like.

At some point you will have built a very large spreadsheet of review contacts to hopefully try sending your press release to. Some will be direct email addresses for your new Twitter friends – make a special note of these. Some will not have replied to your direct Twitter message at all– also note down. And some may not have even followed you back on Twitter – if this is the case you can still try and obtain their email address from their linked webpage/blog route. Create a system of ranking these. You will be using your notes to determine how likely someone is to help you, or if you have to do some extra work.

Next, follow as closely as possible the same process for Facebook. Create a page (you should ideally create these social media pages before you reach this stage, especially for including them on your press release). Look for Facebook pages for horror film reviews you can’t find elsewhere initially but also follow/like those you already follow on Twitter. Don’t do this with anyone’s personal pages.

Perform Google searches for other review sites. Build up as extensive a contacts spreadsheet as possible, with as many detailed notes on your personal interactions.

This will have taken you a very long time but you have now created an incredibly useful, highly focussed list of people to send your Press Release to. All you need to do is send it.

Sending Your Press Release

Larger scale publications mostly deal with a small amount of PR companies. Reviewers and journalists usually recognise these PR company names as they pop up in their inbox, or have good relationships and recognise the individual publicists. Unfortunately more attention will be paid to them than you, this is where the personal touch comes in. Providing a personal touch is why it is important to have notes on your interactions. Knowing somebody’s name is helpful and knowing a little about what they do also helps. All of these companies once started out in the same position as you and you will soon start to form relationships.

Bulk emails are quicker to send compared to time-consuming individual emails. The individual, time-consuming approach has by far the greater positive response rate. Emailing potentially thousands of people individually is a long process so a good compromise is to do a little of both. For the reviewers with whom you have had little contact with, try sending your press release in bulk but for those you have started forming relationships with, use the personal approach. A very important tip for mass emailing is to use the BCC – Blind Carbon Copy ‘send email’. Everyone loves to feel special and there’s little more off-putting than receiving a cold email asking for help and seeing 500 other email address also copied in.

You should also think carefully about the email address which you send your Press Release from. A Hotmail/Gmail address looks far less professional than a private one. There will be a cost implication attached so decide whether you think you can afford this, likewise having a matching website may help look more professional. Ask yourself this questions ‘Will a potential great review gain you more sales?’

Press releases are often sent without a covering message. This is very common for large companies but my experience has always been that a short personal, not too informal but concise message helps. Certainly if you are looking for reviews then mention that.

Don’t overload your recipients inbox with large files. Copy the press release into the email body, attach a .doc and pdf version along with a poster. A nice eye-catching poster helps when receiving an email. Think about adding a few stills in a compressed folder. Add a Dropbox or similar link to the entire press pack and stills as a good backup. Most of this is personal preference and what feels natural to you so there are no hard and fast rules here. Do what works for you.

It’s also important to know when to send. Think about which country your recipients are in. Do they have a different day job? Would it be better for them to receive at night or first thing in the morning? Will other filmmakers or PRs send a Press Release at 9am on Monday morning meaning yours may get put aside? There’s a lot to think about and not everyone will be the same. There’s a lot written about this and available online.

And send, send, send….

I think that reviews are more beneficial to you because they can be shared as a third party resources such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. However, any promotion is better than nothing. And it’s also reciprocal. A Twitter page benefits from you sharing their article/review.

Here are a few of the many we received for Night Kaleidoscope:

http://decaymag.com/movies/reviews/night-kaleidoscope-film-review/16327/

https://www.ukfilmreview.co.uk/single-post/2017/05/27/Night-Kaleidoscope-indie-film

http://toxicfletch.blogspot.com/2017/05/movie-review-night-kaleidoscope-2017.html

https://www.transylvania-cinema.com/film-review-night-kaleidoscope

http://www.hollywoodinvestigator.com/2017/nightk.html

Night Kaleidoscope (2017)

What Can You Do To Help Your Film After You Send a Press Release?

There’s a lot you can still do to help promote your film.

Previous reviews (as seen above) will be invaluable for quotes.

It’s a always good idea to thank anybody who gets back to you from your mail-out. And again, note these interactions on your spreadsheet, especially if they agree to post a review, trailer or article. They will become invaluable and reliable contacts for your future films and Press Releases.

You likely will not hear or see too much online for the first few days.

After 24 hours start checking Twitter and Facebook to see if anybody has picked up on your Press Release. A search for your film title, in brackets is a good start. Use Google’s Time-Period search function.  Once you start seeing articles appearing you should start sharing and liking, and thanking. This will take you onto another important step of your promotion.

If you are promoting a full film release, such as availability on Amazon, this is an exciting moment for you. Once you start seeing articles and especially reviews you should start re-tweeting/re-posting. This will now offer you the opportunity to target the public towards your film.

The Twitter pages who are creating articles and reviews for your film will also be posting these themselves. They will usually tag you into a tweet/post which will allow interested parties to hopefully be led by an amazing write-up to watch your film themselves. If the article is based on your own press release then it reminds you of the importance to make it interesting to the public. A more in-depth article or review is preferred, especially if they are good reviews. Once you start getting good reviews you can tweet extracts or interesting sentences such as “This is a fantastic film you should watch”.

Your Twitter, Facebook and if you have one – website will now start to be filled with articles, tweets and reviews of your film. And you should start gaining more followers. If your film is available on Amazon then copy the links into your Bio.  It is a slow process which relies on traction and repeating your steps again and again. The more you post these on your website then the more Google will rank it.

Start performing more Google searches for your film. As discussed earlier, often many results will be hidden due to Google algorithms. Always perform another search with hidden results shown.

If you are lucky a large site will pick up on your film. Often reviews are cascaded. If somewhere such as Fangoria does something with your film then smaller sites may use that as a reference for their own reviews without any contact at all with you. If this happens you will be in a fantastic position. That credibility for your previously unknown film will potentially sway other reviewers who received your Press Release to revisit your film and write an article.

For smaller sites, they are in a very similar position to you and your relationship can be mutually beneficial. You need exposure and so do they. Always retweet, like and thank them to increase their online presence, which in turn will increase yours.

You are now starting to build up a really good online presence of your movie which is very useful for somebody hopefully creating a Wikipedia page or later searchable coverage.

Because your Twitter page now has reviews, articles and links to your film you need to direct the public to them instead of just reviewers. The purpose of your online presence it to sell your film.

You are almost going to be going back to square one again and it will feel like it. Remember tenacity! Search Twitter for Horror Fans this time as opposed to Horror Reviewers. You will have a greater chance of people interested now in your film because you have content for them to see.

Summary

I have never been especially good with online interaction but it is a fantastic way to build up more followers and direct more people to your film. Search for like-minded filmmakers, retweet their progress, reviews and Amazon links and they will hopefully do the same. Interact with fans. Look at followers of films you like and follow them.

My other film, Big Gold Dream almost solely had its Twitter following based on audience interaction which helped it to receive reviews in high-street magazine, high street DVD sales and a television screening. I didn’t really have to follow any of the steps from this article, and a friend was more than happy to run its social media pages. I dip in occasionally and it’s always a great experience to interact with those who have helped us. Every film is marketed slightly differently.  

If you can Tweet directly to celebrity filmmakers or actors you may be able to get them to retweet a link to your film, or even a quote you can use. Many Tweets us multiple @’s or tags and it can pay off very well.

If you have some great quotes from celebrities or respected film review sites then take advantage. Tweak your press release as you go on, use your detailed spreadsheet to resend to reviewers who did not initially pick up on your film when you first sent. Having some extra marketing point may just be enough for them to now review or feature your film. Again, this will not be simple or quick, it may take months.

I suggested near the start of this guide (which seems a long time ago) that you and your filmmaking friends have the best ideas. Use those ideas now. There is so much scope for you to promote your film on Social Media that this is only touching the tip of the iceberg:

Release your film for free for a week, hopefully somebody will review or promote it. Use Reddit, use Instagram, post set-photos, have competitions. There is so much you can do for free, you just need to use your good ideas and follow them through.

For a small amount of hard work you can create an effective online presence for your film completely for free. If you have had a festival run (which we did for Night Kaleidoscope) you will be able to add any awards or screenings to your reviews and quotes. These are so incredibly helpful for drawing potential viewers and buyers towards your movie. If your overall film budget was small you should be able to easily generate enough press for your film to lead customers to be able to pay for it.

I’m not suggesting I’m and expert at this by any means. I’ve made many mistakes along this journey, and certainly could have done far more work in promoting my films. By adding your own ideas to these thoughts I’d love for it to work for you and for you to take your films further. And if you have success please share your own ideas with everyone in the community.

There are so many exciting possibilities for using the internet – with your great ideas – to further your filmmaking and allow you to create a completely self-sufficient and sustainable DIY film industry. Barriers between traditional distribution and independent are now being broken.

Just remember it takes time….