LACED Agency joins Digital LA's Indie Film Social Media Marketing @ HollyShorts

August 12, 2011 - Digital LA hosted the "Indie Film Social Media Marketing" panel on Sunset Blvd. at the Standard Hotel. LACED Agency's VP of Digital Marketing & Sales, Natalie Cupps, joined the panel of experts to share tips of using social media to promote indie film at the Digital LA panel at the HollyShorts Film Festival. The panel discussion was candid and really dived into the nuts-and-bolts of how to's, whys, and when/where's of successful social media marketing of entertainment properties.

Key Take-away Tips: Share assets, engage fans, reach out to influencers and niche audience online, and get everyone who worked on your film to promote everywhere, from development to film fest premiere to theatrical release.

WATCH Pre-Recorded U-STREAM Feed of the Panel here >>

VIEW PICTURES FROM THE EVENT >>

10 Social Media for Indie Film tips:
1) Get Started: Start marketing via the 3Fs: Friends, Families, Fans. Start your Facebook and Twitter pages during development, preferably using the same username. Follow your cast, crew, fellow filmmakers and filmmakers who inspire u, and hopefully they'll do the same. Tweet updates & pics during development til u wrap. Get your cast and crew to promote too.

2) Reach Influencers. USE FB, Twitter, and email to reach influencers, like movie bloggers, editors, critics. Don't just say "Please promote / RT my film." Try "Can u take a look at my trailer/site, I'd love your opinion." Find out what types of films the influencers like and tailor your message. Tell them why your film is novel or different. Be short and sweet - people rarely read past the first paragraph, so keep it to the logline and your top 1 or 2 credits; avoid a 3-paragraph film synopsis or long personal bios.

3) Reach Niche Auds. Find online communities who'd be interested in ur genre film, become a member of the community, and engage in discussion about ur film project. More authentic than "Hey I'm new here! Check this out: http://WatchMyFilm.com/" To promote the Adrian Grenier indie doc Teenage Paparazzo, Miller PR worked to promote the film on college campuses with a "u r the paparazzi' campaign.

4) Tie in with PR. Use social media and PR together. Send out press releases and tweets/status udpates at the same time. When u get a good press/influencer review, tweet it out! When Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News tweeted about @DeadheadsMovie, its social media team screen-capted the tweet and promoted it on its Facebook, Twitter page (with permission, as courtesy).

5) Film Festival Social Media. Congrats, u got into your first film festival! But don't kick back and relax - now u have to promote to put butts in seats, and sell out your screenings so u have buzz and look good to distributors and studios. Follow and #FF other films at the fest which u have a connection with (u know the filmmakers, same genre, same day, same theater, etc.), saying "Excited to be at the fest with u!" and they'll likely do the same. Find out where the film fest theater is, and use Facebook and Twitter to promote your movie with nearby malls, movie theaters, restaurants. Use FB and Twitter to reach out to local influencers and groups / organizations who'd be interested in ur movie. Get buzz on Festival Genius, a tool film sites can incorporate to track and rate film buzz. The Deadheads movie used these tools to sell out three screenings at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

6) Small Theatrical Release. Congrats, u got picked up at the film festival and are getting small-theater or platform distribution! But don't relax, continue to use social media and PR in opening cities to sell out your opening weekend.

ENGAGE
7) Be Relevant. Just don't tweet "Watch my movie" - that starts to turn fans off. Engage fans in Facebook / Twitter conversations about your movie genre, theme or your movie's take on Top 10 Trending Topics. Humor helps.

8) Engage during Development. Use social media to expose your filmmaking process, which helps fans feel engaged during development. Aaron Grasso's 30 Day Film Challenge crowd-sourced making a film (from actors, writers to even donated equipment, lighting, cameras, craft services and legal) to create the film Closure in 30 days. They vlogged progress each of the 30 days of shooting. Fans became fascinated by the filmmaking process, and wanted to help out, promoting the film to friends via social media.

9) Engage for Release. Get fans engaged with affecting the premiere of release of the film. To promote the James Franco film "Your Highness", Eventful reached out to university communities who used its Demand-It service and social media to compete for which school could host the official premiere. To promote the limited-rollout release Paranormal Activity, Eventful worked with Paramount to create a program in which cities used demand-it and social media to get release in their city.

10) Crowd-Source Funding. If ur on crowd-source fundraising sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, promote via social media. If someone's invested $ in your film, they will be engaged and help promote.