Finishing a film is step one.

If you’ve done so congratulations. I know from experience that that can be a difficult, albeit rewarding journey.

Now that you have a film, what’s your next step?

Creating your project is step one, but if you don’t follow through with step two which is PR and marketing, you can end up with a film that no one sees.

Without building that bridge that leads from your film to the public, you’re doing both yourself and your film a disservice.

Public relations is your best approach since it reaches your target market, but also offers you the validation, credibility and trust factor of being in the news. Social media is definitely important, but there are millions of people promoting their businesses on social media. It can be a very loud messy world. By being featured in magazines, newspapers or on TV and the radio, you can use that media coverage to separate you from the rest by promoting your media coverage on the various social media outlets. By combining traditional PR with social media and online outreach, you create a very impactful and effective marketing machine for you and your film.

Once you do launch a media relations campaign, remember a campaign takes time and consistency. If you do a media outreach for one month and then stop, it’s like stopping a plane just as it’s about to take off. Once you stop, you’ve turned off the engine and the plane is back on the tarmac. Again, it’s imperative that your outreach is consistent and that you give the campaign time to work. A stop-and-go approach does not make for an effective campaign.

Because you’re a filmmaker you’re a storyteller, so you’re ahead of the game. Effective PR is effective storytelling. Work with a PR consultant to find your stories, your audience, your target media outlets and then start crafting your stories, your message and defining your brand.

An effective PR campaign can get you and your film in front of the media, the public, distributors, investors and influencer. It can help build your tribe and fan base.   It can bring opportunities to you that you don’t even know are out there. I know, I’ve experienced that PR effect first hand and have watched it happen for clients.

Now it’s time for you and your film to experience the PR effect.