Marketing & PR for Indie Films is a reader supported publication: if you’d like to upgrade your subscription for $5/mo or $50 a year, or to learn more about marketing and PR for your #IndieFilm and work with me, click here.
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.
“We are disappointed that Mayor Bass has chosen to join Paramount’s pressure campaign on public enforcers, to push through a merger that is being rightfully challenged as illegal and will lead to job losses in the entertainment industry.” - A statement from the Writer’s Guild on Mayor Karen Bass’s recent comments regarding her support of the Paramount merger.
There’s no way of knowing if Bass will lose to challenger Nithya Raman in the fall but her incredibly tone-deaf statement of support of the merger might have cost her a large number of supporters in regards to her re-election campaign. Suffice it to say, the guilds are not happy with what Bass said and are speaking out.
Bass previously opposed the $111 billion merger but held a press conference one day after a report from the L.A. Department of Economic Opportunity estimated that thousands of corporate, creative and production jobs would be at risk if the merger goes through. Bass said in her conference the delay in reaching a deal has put production in a standstill, which is, quote: “not good for workers or for the future of the industry.”
The report estimated potential lost wages as a result of the merger at $1.26 billion and lost economic value at $2.78 billion. The WGA was quick to respond with the above statement and it’s pretty clear that the workers that make up the backbone of this industry are not happy, regardless of the spin the Mayor’s office is trying to put on her remarks and might take out their frustrations at the polls this fall.
If you’d been following this Substack for a while then you know I’ve been in support of the Block the Merger initiative, which is hosting a party in September. If you’d like to go, the link to get tickets is below.
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:
Theater trade group Cinema United calls on Paramount and California AG to settle
California Pledged $750 Million a Year to Hollywood. But a New Law Has a Big Catch
Theater Chains Back Paramount-Warner Deal That States Say Will Hurt Them
‘That was fun.’ As L.A. burned, online gamblers bet on how much the fires would destroy
Katie, Craig, and Mikey are the final three members of a cult that has prepared for years to achieve transcendence by stepping through a luminous portal in the woods. After completing their final duties, the trio enter the portal... only to find themselves back at the start of the previous day. In an attempt to transcend, the trio must figure out why they are unable to get through the portal as their fellow cult members did. Will adhering closely to the cult's teachings help them finally achieve perfection, or will they need to learn more about themselves - and each other?
In each of my weekly newsletters I promote one indie film per week at no charge to the filmmaker. Films must be available for public viewing and must be feature length. Why do I do this? Because promoting indie films is hard and this is one small thing I can do to help the indie film community and show up for it.
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.
And now…
Sorry this week’s subscriber newsletter is coming to you at the end of the week but it’s been a VERY busy time even though we’re in the doldrums of summer. But I hope this week’s newsletter proves to be helpful to you by providing resources that you’ll actually use for your indie film.
Making and releasing a movie is HARD. Trust me, I know! Not only have I done it myself and am preparing to do it again, but I’ve worked with over forty films in varying capacities on their releases and been through the ups and downs of all of it.
I’m sharing a list of ten tools that made my life as a filmmaker and marketer so much easier in this week’s subscriber newsletter. This list includes everything you’ll need to find and connect with audiences and the best part is that they’re free to use.
Content below is for subscribers, so please consider upgrading your subscription! As a reminder I do four in-depth posts per month and a subscription could save you time and money!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.