Producing a film can be a magical experience, but many filmmakers get so excited about, and engrossed in, the process that they forget producing their film is only step one. Actually, the production of your film should be pretty far down the line in your initial to-do list. Particularly with new filmmakers, the excitement of making a film and all that is involved in scripting, pre-producing, casting, production, and post production, tends to become (understandably) all-consuming. Creating the film becomes everything.

But here are questions you need to ask (and answer) before the process even starts:

What are you going to do once your film (filled with joy, enthusiasm and dreams as well as blood sweat and tears) is completed?

How are you going to get your film, promoted, marketed, distributed?

How are you going to build that bridge between your finished product and your audience?

If this article were a script, we’d be having a flashback sequence here. We would fade back to before you edited, shot, cast, or wrote your film add a new focus to the process. In this sequence your new flash back approach in the past would change your future. You’d figure out a game plan outlining how to PR, promote and market your film. Your new public relations plan would act as a guide, as a roadmap as you moved forward in your filmmaking process. It would be a bridge-building process between you, your audience, distributors, potential investors and influences. It would be the focus that helped insure your film would have a strong shot at succeeding.

Sadly, most filmmakers don’t outline and budget for a PR and marketing campaign before they start production. If you made that mistake, correct it now. Put your marketing campaign at the top of your to-do list. Not always an easy thing to do, but those filmmakers with whom we have the most success start with us during pre-production. They realize that marketing is an essential part of the game plan and keep that in mind during the production process.

Ideally you want to start promoting your film and creating a buzz online and in the media before you finish shooting or editing your project. A well thought out media relations and social media campaign can serve you in a number of ways. One outreach can be directed to the general public, another to a more targeted group of viewers, another to distributors and still another to possible investors. You can also start creating a buzz for upcoming projects while promoting your current film.

So dive in to your film project. Make the very best film you can. But be smart about it. Make a PR and marketing campaign an essential part of your film’s game plan. You’ve put your heart, soul, time and money into you film project. You now owe it to the film and to yourself to give it a chance to succeed.