Maria Antonia of New York, N.Y., writes:
“I volunteer for a small independent film company based in New York, NY. We recently completed filming for a feature film called ‘Under Jakob’s Ladder.’
“Set in the Soviet Union in 1941, it’s based on a true story about a man who was thrown into prison for praying at a funeral. We’re still editing the movie and it’s almost ready to be screened. (A photo taken during shooting is shown at left.)
“How can we spread the word that this movie is coming soon? Any ideas for unique and intriguing ways that we can use our blog, website, and our Facebook page to get people interested? What would make YOU want to go see an independent feature film that doesn’t have oodles of money for advertisements?
“Remember, we’re not studio backed. Right now, we’re looking at releasing this movie ourselves and booking our own theaters.
I was the Assistant Director of the Bluegrass Independent Film Festival (BIFF) and worked with filmmakers the entire 3 years it was in existence. One of the best ways we connected with independent filmmakers was through MySpace, and I still have many of the filmmakers as ‘Friends’ through their service. I really don’t use my MySpace page much these days (much more into Facebook), but you are certainly welcome to check out my page, then check out the filmmakers pages that I’m linked to at http://www.myspace.com/nitahelpinghand. They have also found great success through MySpace. I would also send out as many press releases as you logically can, and send them to local, national, and even international sites that are affiliated with independent filmmaking. Make sure you have a Fan Page on Facebook, and post copies of all press releases and other marketing material on your website, linking back to it from every source. Best of luck to you!
Nia Vardalos (of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding Fame”) used twitter to promote a new movie of hers recently. She tweeted details about it and also included a link to the trailer in her twitter profile. To see what she did, follow her on twitter: @NiaVardalos.
Use the social media referred to in Joan’s newsletter concerning Colin Martin’s ideas. It seems to me you could create a video promotion that you put up on YouTube, first. Then, submit the link to that video to digg.com, reddit.com, delicious.com and stumbleupon.com. Having done all that you would also want to link the video to your blog, Facebook page and your website. Don’t forget to tweet about it on Twitter.
From what I read on your website, the movie appears to be a story of courage, faith and forgiveness. And Jakob’s imprisonment begins because he prayed in public at a funeral. This leads me to think that there may be some nonprofit organizations willing to help promote it to their donors and hence bring in a larger viewing audience for you.
They’ll probably want to see it before recommending it to their donors and followers just to be sure.
I recommend you go to LinkedIn and look through the members of the AFP group (Association of Fundraising Professionals). You may find candidates there and be able to communicate with them through a discussion (make it a kind invitation without a self-serving promotional tone); and through email.
One possible organization that comes to mind (and I don’t know whether they’re in the AFP Linked-In group or not) is Amnesty International http://www.amnestyusa.org/
Faith-based organizations are another possible category of nonprofits to reach out to. I know, for example, there are a few Catholic groups that rate films and then publish the reviews on numerous websites, newspapers and in magazines for their readers. If you get a favorable rating . . . well it opens more doors. Two possibilities are: http://www.americancatholic.org/movies/default.aspx and http://www.usccb.org/movies/current.shtml
I’m sure you already have a film trailer, but animoto.com is a great tool for that. You can share the trailer on FB and other social networking sites. To go a step further, you may want to consider starting a social networking site related to the film on Ning.com.It’s free and you can blog about the film, add videos, invite others to the site, but best of all use the “Share” feature to promote on multiple social networking sites with just a click.
Jakob’s Ladder is one of the diagrams used by Kabbalists world-wide. Hundreds of thousands of people are aware of it as symbol. Assuming that there is a Jewish character in the movie (the man who prayed?) and if there is any mystical aspect, then it can be spread around the world on Kabbalistic email lists (I have one) and promoted that way on Facebook etc.
There a lot of video hosting sites that you could load a preview of the movie. Use RSS for the link and use the popular networking sites. Alexa will list the top sites. It sounds great. 🙂
It sounds like a movie history and war buffs and at least some veterans would enjoy. There are groups and clubs dedicated to those subjects. Find some, if they are local, send personalized invitations to a screening, possibly a VIP time before hand to explain more of the backstory if you have more info that wasn’t included in the movie. If folks like that enjoy it, you can bet they’ll spread the word to other enthusiasts.
Also, is it appropriate for high school or college history? If so, invite students/faculty for a special screening. You might even be able to arrange it as a field trip type of thing and make more use of your theater rental time by being able to hold in during the day.
Harness the enormous power of religious communities in both the Jewish and Christian worlds. Not just seeking reviews, but for example approaching them about using the movie as a fundraiser (where maybe they get a dollar per ticket).
A couple of thoughts…
Certainly, use of social media, especially Christian groups (filmmaking and otherwise) would be good. Also consider contacting a couple of the pastors who send out daily mass e-mails to see if they would include a blurb about a worthy movie… Bill Keller comes to mind, but there are others.
For my part, I’ll put a blurb on my Facebook account…which will be published to my 1,600 friens.
There is a VERY large community of Germans from Russia is the US – especially in North Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Alberta and other places in the midwest and much larger numbers in Germany. (Many of my wife’s family (Germans from Russia) escaped from Ukraine in the 20’s just as the purges were beginning)
There are very large and very active heritage groups in the US, Canada, and Germany.
Websites of some of the leading large groups are
“American Historical Society of Germans from Russia”:
http://www.ahsgr.org/
“Germans from Russia Heritage Society:
http://www.grhs.org/
“Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at North Dakota State Univ.:
http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/
Also, there are many active Germans from Russia organizations in Germany, notably “Der Bessarabiendeutsche Verein”:
http://www.bessarabien.de/
Contact them … I’d bet they’d be interested in showing the film and may be willing to help.