In addition to making great movies, you also need an audience of rabid fans to be a filmmaking success. And you can't attract an audience unless people know about your film. One aspect of movie promotion worth leveraging is getting press.
Hiring an excellent publicist can help you spread the word about your movie. A good publicist has solid relationships with the press at various media outlets. Assuming your film is fantastic and newsworthy, these influencers can then put your project in front of thousands of people.
How To Create a Press Kit For Your Indie Movie
If you can't hire a publicist, you will need to become a publicist. And you will need to create a press kit. A press kit is typically a document that tells the media what your movie is about and why their audiences should care.
Here are some things you'll want to include as you create a press kit:
- Cover sheet: The cover sheet is the top sheet that grabs everyone's attention and promotes the hook of your movie. In some ways, it's' sort of like a mini-poster that includes the title, contact info, some good quotes from previous reviews, the same cast and crew credits from the poster, and mention of any film festival awards you have won.
2. Synopsis: You should already have a pretty solid synopsis. If you do, just cut and paste it into the press kit. If not, you'll need one. So write it. Some people add action photos from the movie to this page. Doing this is okay, as long as the images look good.
3. Photos: Get some journalist friends to check out your production photos. Pick a few high-resolution images that seem incredibly interesting and do an excellent job of making people want to see the movie. Please include them in the kit.
4. Cast and Crew: This is pretty simple. Create bios for the main cast and crew and include them on the page next to a miniature headshot.
5. Anecdotes: This is the story of how the film got made. For this, you can write about memorable moments, such as when the camera broke 25 times after traffic delayed the first day of shooting for 13 hours and the lead actor caught fire.
6. Reviews: Include them here if you have any good reviews.
7. Credits: This page is devoted to the entire cast and crew credits.
Taking time to create a press kit is can help you accelerate your promotional opportunities. Reporters and journalists can utilize the information in the press kit on your website, social media, and any branding opportunities. And getting press for your film is an excellent step towards landing a fantastic film distribution deal.
