How to build an Indie Audience:

A lot of people out there have mastered how to film an indie movie, but few have thought far beyond the editing phase. As Dylan Leiner from Sony Pictures Classics likes to say “marketing your film is the other 50%.”

You may not have the big budgets that the big studios do for marketing, but hell, you didn’t have it for the production either! So, take a cue from the big guys, copy what they do and just do it on a lower scale, with a bit more elbow grease and leg work. And the main rule of thumb? Start small, and keep building bigger.

1.    PR in the Heartland. Get every main person who worked on your movie to tell you what their hometown is. Then, draft up a general press release, customize it for each production member who is from a small hometown and start contacting their local papers. Small towns love this kind of stuff and they will glady rally around you. Plus, you’ll get some great quotes, and press clippings to use for the bigger papers and markets.

2.    Screenings. Host screenings everywhere you can and make sure to TALK to your audience, and introduce the film, and do a Q&A session afterwards. And do it ANYWHERE! Coffee shops, libraries, someone’s basement; just get a crowd and show it! Then, after, interview people and have them talk about what they liked about your project. Get it on VIDEO. Just like the big guys do, you’ve seen the ads.

3.    Build a website. It doesn’t have to be fancy, in fact, it can be extremely simple! The important thing is people have a place to go to find out about your film, who is in it, where they can see it, what is is ABOUT. You get the idea. Build a FiveSprockets project folder while you are at it, and get insider feedback and commentary!

4.    Make a trailer and post it everywhere. It’s FREE advertising. Put it on your website, Facebook, YouTube, FiveSprockets, anywhere and everywhere people can watch it and fall in love with it.

5.    Have a premier. Since more and more theatres are going digital these days, you can just call them up and say “I want to have a movie premiere.” Work out a deal where you can guarantee a set amount of people so the theatre makes some cash and you can screen your movie. Invite the actors, take some photos, talk afterwards.

The moral of the story is, you can promote your own movie, just start small and keep building bigger. With a little legwork and some sly talkin’ you can get the word out and build an audience for your film… then, you can sell it to the big guys. If the offer is right.