Using Social Media As Marketing

Hey Filmmakers!

So the title of this post doesn't look very interesting, but stay with me a second!

For the past few weeks I've been in a creative rut in terms of this blog, whenever I have had ideas it's been inconvenient and forgotten (I must start jotting ideas down), or I've lacked the passion to sit down and write, but this morning whilst on Twitter I had a brainwave! So here I am, writing about using social media in terms of film marketing/promotion!

Now I am going to open with the obligatory statement - Social media is incredibly important to your film/production, it gives you an interactive audience (Which is mostly a good thing, for an opposing example see why Joss Whedon recently closed his Twitter account), but I think there's a key element a lot of similar articles to this I've seen miss out!

So usually large blockbusters will have a twitter account and they'll drearily release information and links about the film, which is great as it acts as an information hub on that movie, but the key in film promotion are the personal Twitter accounts of the Director & Cast.

Take X-Men; Apocolypse as an example, all the big reveals have been taking place on Brian Singers Instagram account, we've had a chance to see all the stars of the film announced on there, often as our first confirmation. This method is increasingly taken off as Directors are creative people, and creative people are interesting! Combine the interesting nature of these people and their work with the (mostly) unfiltered social interaction they have on these accounts and you have a whole new field of marketing that is far stronger than the traditional advert and the "Official" (Boring) company and film pages.

Another example of the personal marketing revolution is the fantastic James Gunn, interacting personally with fans on his Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat he regularly interacts with fans, and takes time out to do it all personally, this is helped by the fact Gunn is also a fun, intelligent, and rational man, which may explain how he's already building up excitement for his 2017 film Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 in 2015!

So you may be asking, how does this apply to your project? Well the important thing is to be yourself. There's no point inventing a personality, even if it's online, or in person people will be able to see through you eventually, obviously apply a filter to what you say at times, you do have to have a certain degree of professionalism, but the important thing is to remain yourself, and be exciting! Talk to any fans you may get, retweet their drawings/costumes etc. As well as posting photos from the set, even if it is you and your cast having fun/goofing off!

If you promote your film in a very personal way, you'll find you have a lot more success, and the process of making a movie is more enjoyable!

Keep on filming!

-Geraint

Introductions

Hey guys!

So seeing as this is my first post on my new suave blog I thought I should take the time to introduce myself before delving into my blog content!

Firstly I'm Geraint! I'm an aspiring Director/Producer who's currently starting out, yes I have a ridiculously Welsh name (Thanks to my parents for that one) but I'm currently delving into the world of Film, and I plan on documenting that journey on here!

So Why "An Indie Film Adventure"?

Basically I've wanted to start blogging for a few years, I've made a few posts on my Tumblr account - But you all know what Tumblr can be like, you're never too far from extreme social activism, or a post so funny that it's caused people to die... As well as that Tumblr isn't such a great place for a blog, as I found posts would get lost among the horde of reblogs, but enough about that!

The reason I started this now is that I'm currently in a place in my life personally and professionally where I am happy, I've never felt better about myself, and my self-made career in film production is really beginning, last weekend I did my first paid work, with the prospect of more coming my way in the near future from a variety of people/organisations! 

The reason it's called "An Indie Film Adventure" is that I am an Indie Film maker, and I'm just starting my adventure into this crazy, tiring, fast paced world that I'm loving more each and every day!

Tell us about your work!

Well overly enthusiastic reader! I'm a Director & Producer for my company Grumpy Hobo Films which myself and my good friend Liam (Links at the end of the post) co-founded 2 years ago, since then we've been working on a project called "Holmes" which is a contemporary take on the story of a young Sherlock Holmes, this production has had a difficult time getting into filming, I guess you could say it has been stuck in what's known as "Development Hell", but as of now we're moving that forward.

Following a change in the organisational structure of the company it allowed us to do other projects and search for external work to bring in funding to the company for our other production (E.g. Holmes) with no objection. And since we've had a fantastic time, and we're currently working on 3 adverts for a stage schools production, and we have 2 music videos in the pipeline! 

The idea for this blog is that I'll post updates on what I'm doing with my Indie Film projects, write advice posts for new film-makers, and give aspiring film-makers and general audiences a window into what it's like to get started in the film industry, and hopefully I can help a few people out!

Thanks for reading!

-Geraint

My Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/Geraint_Thomas

Liam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/liam_matt

Grumpy Hobo Films (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/GrumpyHoboFilms

Grumpy Hobo Films (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/GrumpyHoboFilms