How Can I Get More People to Watch My Movies? - Part 1

For some time now I've struggled with the best way to promote my movies. With millions of people all screaming for attention on the Internet, it is difficult to compete.

I find it very hard to articulate my thoughts on this subject. I don't think I can cover the full range of the issue in one post, but I'll take a first stab at it. Maybe people's comments will give me more insight and I can write a part 2.

Last week a TV report and an article prompted me to write this blog post.

Generation Like

The TV report was a PBS Frontline report on the development of Internet celebrity called "Generation Like".  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/

The report covers the growth in internet celebrity; mainly focussed on young people. Internet celebrity can be very lucrative. What bothers me is the ways in which they have become successful.

I am very uncomfortable with promoting myself and my movies. I have been tempted to use techniques like misleading and sensationalized titles, stunts and outrageous behaviour, and various Search Engine Optimization tricks, and have even tried some of them a few times.  Afterwards I always felt bad about what I had done, and so I now avoid anything that strikes me as pandering.

I am also unconvinced that these techniques will work for me. The kind of people who would find my work of interest are unlikely to be drawn in by tricks.

I have tried to build up followers on sites like Twitter. While it is fairly easy to gain followers, even if you don't pay for them, it is much more difficult to gain followers who really support you. I have 1,558 followers on Twitter, but I doubt that more than a few dozen ever bother to read my tweets.

No one cares about your novel

The article was a Salon articled called "No one cares about your novel: So writers, don’t be boring!" http://www.salon.com/2014/03/12/no_one_cares_about_your_novel_so_writers_dont_be_boring/

This article looks at the difficulty writers have in gaining readers. An important issue is the need for writers to make money from their writing in order to be able to continue their writing career.

Again, there are many many writers who struggle for attention, but I get a sense that the goals are not the same as with the Internet celebrities. Writers seek attention so people will read their books and seriously consider what they have to say. With the Internet celebrity culture it seems that they want attention for the sake of attention.

When I read this article I was reminded of something I read about Alfred Hitchcock. He wanted his films to be successful as art, but he also felt that in order for them to be successful art, they needed to be successful commercially.

I believe that in order to be a successful creator you need to enjoy the activity of creation. But, unless other people appreciate your creation, the job isn't done yet.

I've always thought that if what you create is good, then people will watch it. But, even if you do create something good, it is still hard to get people to pay attention to you. You can't be successful without supporters. A few dozen supporters who really believe in your work are far more valuable than a few thousand who don't bother to read your tweets.

I think it is important to promote your work, but you must also continue to work to improve the quality of your work. With the technology available now it is much easier to make and distribute a film, but it is still just as hard to make a good film.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Do I Have The Personality To Be A Successful Filmmaker/Writer?

Much of what I read about filmmaking and writing focuses on how to sell your work. While I see the necessity of this, I don’t think I am good at it, and I certainly don’t enjoy it. I’ve always thought of selling your work in negative terms, which I think of as “self-promotion”. In the end, I go back to the belief that if my work is good enough, then it will sell itself.

The Art of Asking

Recently I watched a TED talk by Amanda Palmer: “The Art of Asking” that got me to re think how I promote my own work.

In some ways, her talk didn’t have anything new to me, but it did open my eyes a little to a different view of what was involved. Whereas I thought in terms of self-promoters, I’d describe her as a connector. Her approach is more like the way you make friends than selling yourself. She describes it as trusting people. I think her approach works very well with her type of personality.

Her approach doesn’t seem as crass or self-serving as what I’d heard before. It does seem to be a nicer approach to making your way as an artist. For myself though, I still can’t see that I can take this approach. I just don’t feel comfortable when I ask people to support me.

I can’t really change my personality in any major, or even minor, way. I supposed I could train myself to behave otherwise, but it would seem artificial and come off as phoney. That would be worse than if I’d not tried at all.

Let the Art Sell Itself

As I noted above, in the past I’ve tried to rely on the inherent interest of my work to gain an audience. That only works with special ideas, and not all of my ideas are special. It isn’t always possible to recognize if your own idea is special or not.

The success I had with some of my ideas made me a little spoiled. Both the Hundred Dollar Film Festival and “Line of Taxis” were projects that quickly found supporters. I didn’t really need to push them; they took on a life of their own. That is something I can’t always count on.

There is also a good argument that if your work can’t sell itself, then it just isn’t worth your while to make it. I have abandoned many ideas that didn’t catch other people’s interest. Some ideas are harder to give up than others are. Maybe those ideas would catch on if I developed them further.

Involve Others

Another approach I could use is to involve people in my projects that do have the desirable personality traits that I just don’t have. Most commercial films are like this. They usually leave the promotion to the actors and not the writer or director. The exceptions are notable for their rarity.

I haven’t really tried this approach and I’m not sure how well it would work. The closest I came was when Keith Humphrey attended the screening of “Line of Taxis” at a festival. That wasn’t really a case where I tried to promote the film though.

Other Approaches

I am sure I haven’t exhausted all the ways that I could promote my work. However, I am not sure what other approaches might work for me. 

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog