IN THIS FINAL LESSON

Well done! You’ve made it, we’re almost at the finish line.

You’ve shot your film and now is the time where momentum can dip. It’s important for you and your Director to regroup to get the project over the line.

While you’re in the edit, now is a good time to take stock, get all your ducks in a row and prepare for the film’s release!

Getting the Project Over the Line

Ensure that all the post-production crew have been briefed, and have a schedule with hard and soft deadlines to keep the project progressing
Make sure that footage has been backed up on to 1 or 2 hard-drives (and that the hard-drives are kept at separate places)
Keep in contact with crew and funders to regularly update them on the progress of the film (this includes any mandatory reporting)
Get to grips with the release and marketing strategy for the film!
Check in with the Director about the edit, and ensure things are staying in budget.

You’ve wrapped the film, now what?

Developing a Marketing / Release Strategy

A marketing strategy is really handy in helping steer the release around the film and helping it find its audience. Hopefully you would have already done some of the thinking around the marketing already, but now is the time that you’ll most likely be giving it the most attention.

Your marketing strategy is a document / series of documents / maybe even a spreadsheet that outlines:

The target audience(s) for the film
The key themes of the film
Any significant dates that could align with release (e.g - Earth Day or Pride Month)
Where the film will live and be viewed (e.g a film on Vimeo or Youtube will have a very different marketing run compared to a film with a cinema release). Make sure this correlates with the primary audience for the film.
The marketing campaign for the film (how will get the buzz out, e.g will you start a dedicated instagram account, will you do guerrilla marketing or a poster campaign in your city)

Again this document doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated, it just needs to be clear!

Creating a Media Pack

The edit is always a really useful time to start pulling together the film’s media, publicity or press pack. This is a suite of documents or a folder that contains:

The film’s poster
Film Trailer (once you have one)
A document containing the film’s log-line, short synopsis and the credit list
A screener link (an unlisted video link)
Key quotes from the writer / director and producer
Cast and key crew biographies
Key marketing photos or alternative poster

Having these all together will make it so much easier when you’re sending the film out to festivals or sharing it out with press releases etc. Trust me!

Festival Strategy

Film festivals can be a great way to get your film seen by audiences locally, nationally and internationally.

Many festivals are categorised by themes, country or issues e.g - ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ and are great ways for you to see what else is out there and meet other film-makers and film lovers.

Remember when I said that nothing in this life is free? Well neither are film festivals and many require you to pay a submission fee for your film to be considered (and it doesn’t guarantee that your film will be accepted). This can be anything from £5 - £200 depending on the festival, the length of your film and the time of year that you’re submitting. You’ll be able to submit your film via. Film Freeway by creating a profile and scanning the festivals that are open to submissions.

If you are thinking of submitting to festivals, allocate some money for film festival submissions in your budget, then create a simple spreadsheet (like the one above) where you can track the different festivals that align with your film and make a decision about which to submit to.

What a Producer Does During Post-Production