Creating an independent film isn’t an easy task, nor is finding a way to get it in front of as many viewers as possible. The unfortunate reality is if the masterpiece you have been working on for years is to find an audience, you — the independent filmmaker — has to put in the bulk of the legwork.
In addition to focusing on the screenplay and your cinematography, you ought to also focus on your film promotional activities too. Without a good promotion, you would be setting your film up for failure. Below are just a ways you can properly promote your film and hopefully reach a wider audience:
Create teasers and a trailer
Creating teasers and a trailer for your indie film should essentially be a no-brainer. While teasers are effectively short clips with little to no concept shots and released throughout production, trailers are edited post-production and feature a general premise of a film.
If you want to generate hype about your film early on, you have to invest the time into creating attention-grabbing teasers, followed by a well-produced trailer that further hooks an audience. You can share these on YouTube and other video-sharing platforms to increase your reach.
Set up a website and social media presence
Any venture one embarks on these days has to have a social/digital presence for it to be seen as the “real deal” to its potential audience — films are no different. Since your indie film isn’t under the banner of a large production, you have to cover all of your bases, maintain an active presence on all social media platforms, and make sure to have a dedicated website.
You can use all of these platforms to make important announcements about your film schedule, its releases, and regular updates. You may also choose to run your blog on said website and update it with content throughout the production process. One example of an indie filmmaker/production website is Bardya Ziaian’s bardyapictures.com. While the website itself is a production site, it heavily features two of the amateur filmmaker’s titles, as well as blogs covering both film production and general indie film information.
If you want to find broader inspiration for how to design your website, you can check out IndieWire.com. IndieWire is a hub for all indie filmmaking news and updates in the industry. It offers a great platform to point you in the right direction if you need help finding that initial spark.
Run a dedicated blog
As mentioned in the case of Bardya Ziaian’s website and IndieWire.com, running a blog is a good idea for promoting your film. Whether you dedicate the whole thing to your production or just the movie itself, you need to run an updated blog regardless. The blog should function as a setting stage where you can promote your film.
Here, you can write about the process of what went into your indie film’s creation, the inspiration behind it, the behind-the-scenes activity, and the thoughts of the cast and crew. By conveying what went into the film and its overall production, you’ll be able to portray your work seriously as a producer and increase the chances of your film’s success.
These are just a few of the most common ways you can promote your films as an indie director and producer. Be sure to do your research and check in with other indie filmmakers within the space to see how they promote their work. Don’t be afraid to emulate what has previously been successful. Good luck out there, and film on.
