Reading · Marketing & PR for Indie Films from KLA Media Group

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Kelli McNeil-Yellen is a twenty year marketing and PR pro who finally made the leap to indie filmmaking with her award-winning Slamdance film DARUMA, now available on platforms. Learn more about DARUMA here. To work with Kelli, click here.

If you ever want to see what the potential coverage is for a film festival you’re screening at, do a Google news search to see who has written about it previously. That’s going to be the biggest indicator of what kind of coverage you’ll be able to generate.

In this month's free newsletter, I'm sharing ten practical tips every indie filmmaker can use to generate media coverage for their film. The more you do before your publicity campaign begins, the easier it becomes to earn meaningful press when it matters most. Win-win!

Thanks for reading Marketing & PR for Indie Films from KLA Media Group ! This post is public so feel free to share it.

It’s not enough to just make and release a movie and expect the press and the praise to come rolling in. You need to do something around the release of your film to make people want to write about it.

That means throwing an event, a screening, a red carpet - something, so when I go to a journalist and say, “hey, look at what these cool filmmakers are doing, you should cover them!”, they seriously consider it.

That being said…

Just because you’re doing one of these things doesn’t mean that press is going to write about it. The media is not an event calendar and simply doing the event, for the most part, is not going to get you coverage.

I want you to imagine an anchor at a news desk telling the story of your film to audiences at home watching.

If all they can say is “and such and such film is screening tonight at the Amazing Theater”, that’s a huge sign that whatever you’ve put together belongs on an event calendar and is not editorially valuable.

However, if they can say, “and such and such film is screening tonight at the Amazing Theater where Famous Actor will be giving out autographs after the red carpet after they raffled off his wardrobe from set and donated the proceeds to The Best Charity in the World” then you have something that’s more workable.

Always ask “and then?” so you are working towards building a story. An event only? Not a story. An event with one other element? Possibly a story. An event with a lot going on? Now we’re cooking.

Know the difference and be honest with yourself about things.

And I don’t mean in like a day or two, I mean within hours. Reporters work on extremely tight deadlines and if you drag your feet, you’re going to miss the opportunity. They will either file the story without you or the piece will be killed in its entirety. And once an opportunity is gone, it’s gone.

This is a suggestion a freelance journalist recently gave to me: make sure that the filmmakers link back to the article on their socials or tag the publication so they can see just how many impressions it got.

It matters because if the journalist can show their stories are doing the numbers, then they’ll have an easier time selling their pitches to their editors, which is good for everyone.

If you as the filmmaker don’t know who your audience is, it’s going to be super hard for anyone else to help you find it.

The films that I have found to be the most widely appealing in terms of press are genre films, like action and horror.

Smaller, quieter dramas (which seems to make up the majority of indie films) are much harder sells.

So if you’re not making a film with a known, built-in audience, be sure you know who yours is and where to find them.

This is a big one. A lot of filmmakers forget to budget for P&A or they think they can wing it or that they don’t need it. I think that with the advent of FilmStack and the growing discourse about the collapse of indie film distribution and the need to be behind your film’s push that we all now know the importance of putting a line item in your budget for marketing and PR.

A lot of journalists are working multiple jobs and multiple stories at the same time, so if you get an interview request (a huge deal!) be flexible with your availability. If you absolutely cannot make it work, then we can ask for another time but part of your job is to make their job as easy as possible. Nobody likes a diva.

That being said…

I dread getting that email or text telling me that a client has missed their interview. I die a little inside each time. So please, unless it’s an actual emergency, set multiple reminders for yourself that you have an interview with X person on X date. I do my best to send you all of the information up front via emails and calendar invites, but you still have to get out of bed and show up.

As much as I hate to say this, sometimes even after we get a screener request, the outlet may still not review the film or write about it. Why? Because they didn’t like it. That’s not a comment on you or your film or anything else but sometimes the kindest thing a journalist or reviewer can do is offer you their silence. Remember the golden rule: sometimes rejection is protection. If we don’t hear back after two or three efforts to connect, it’s a no and that’s better than a stinker of a review which will live forever on the internet.

A lot of first-time filmmakers think that their short film playing at XYZ festival is going to generate them a lot of coverage. That could not be further from the truth. If you ever want to see what the potential coverage is for a film festival you’re screening at, do a Google news search to see who has written about it previously. That’s going to be the biggest indicator of what kind of coverage you’ll be able to generate. So know the level you’re at. The bigger the film and the bigger the release and the bigger the festival, the more opportunities for press and reviews you will have.

Want to work with me? DM me!

Every week I do a round-up of headlines that are pertinent to our business and list them here in my newsletter. I do my best to provide non-paywalled articles when possible! Here’s this week’s fresh catch:

From FilmStacker writer, director, producer Hudson Phillips comes Guacamole Yesterdays. Following a painful separation, a heartbroken woman uses an experimental technology that allows her to revisit and manipulate her memories as a means to cope.

Set almost entirely within the walls of a single house, this award-winning feature is an intimate exploration of creativity, love, and the emotional cost of pursuing both. Starring Randy Havens (Stranger Things) in the role of Mr. Clark, the film examines the fragile intersection of artistic ambition and romantic relationships, offering an honest look at the mental health struggles that often accompany both. The screenplay received the Best Genre Screenplay Award at the Nashville Film Festival, while the finished film earned the Audience Award at the Phoenix Film Festival and was named Best Feature at both the South Georgia Film Festival and the Georgia Film Festival.

Watch Here

If you have a finished feature length film (narrative or documentary) that’s available for people to watch that you’d like me to promote, click here to submit your materials. I do not promote crowdfunding campaigns but I also never charge to plug your film! This support matters and I hope you’ll spread the love around.

Submit Your Film Here

See you all next week!

Shoot me a message. Shoot me a message. We can get into the ins-and-outs of marketing, PR and distribution and talk through the best options for your film. I work with clients on both a retainer basis as well as on a one-time consultation basis and can tailor a plan based on your specific film.

Thanks for reading Marketing & PR for Indie Films from KLA Media Group ! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Filmmakers: Help Me Help You. Ten Things You Should be Doing to Help Promote Your Films.

If you ever want to see what the potential coverage is for a film festival you’re screening at, do a Google news search to see who has written about it previously. That’s going to be the biggest indicator of what kind of coverage you’ll be able to generate.

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