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.

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” - Ibn Battuta

I’ve just come back from a trip abroad (one that was unintentionally extended by a few days due to some unexpected complications hence why this week’s subscriber letter is coming to you later in the week than usual and why I have been radio silent on Substack!) and wow, did I come back to a ton of news! Usually August is considered the “sleepy” time of year in Hollywood due to people being on holiday but that seems not to be the case any more due to our ever-shifting media landscape and production schedule.

The trip was by and large lovely, and much needed so I could recharge my batteries, as the daily grind of life in the USA these days can be rather bleak. One of the things I was most pleased to rediscover upon my travels was that we are, in fact, not the center of the Universe.

Sometimes it gets really challenging to put on a brave face and deal with the adversities we’re facing in this country and in our industry but as this trip gently reminded me, there is a whole world out there, not only blithely unaware of our struggles but also full of opportunity.

And indeed, each time I travel, my brain unlocks another part of itself and I get inspired with new ideas for stories and projects. On this particular trip, two new story ideas came to me as well as a long-term project I want to explore on social media.

I met a few interesting people on this trip and at one dinner (that came as a result of our not being able to go home on our intended departure date), I found myself seated with a group of academics and their partners, all professors at a University or working in education in some capacity.

My husband and I, the filmmakers and artists, were natural curiosities to them and after we did our best to explain what it was that we did for a living and the current state of tumult our industry is in, one of them asked if I ever used AI in my writing.

I responded honestly: for my creative writing, no. Never.

They were surprised. Wouldn’t it make my job easier?

I replied: wouldn’t that make me not a writer if I depended on a machine to do my job for me?

They replied that they used AI all the time in their job, which I subsequently found out was to design course materials for an online education platform.

I had to explain, in great detail and with great patience, that my work as a writer cannot be done by AI, even in an editing capacity. Not only do I have to sign contracts for all of the projects I am hired to write explicitly stating that I will not use AI, I again asked why I would want to give a machine the opportunity to do work that I not only loved doing, but for all intents and purposes, defines me as a human being and gives me purpose in life?

The conversation drifted to something else at that point but I could tell my response left them unsatisfied, I think because moments before in the conversation they were admonishing students’ rampant usage of AI in their classes, while admitting that they themselves used it prolifically to do their job.

It got me thinking and I want to ask the question to you, my readers: why is art held to a higher standard when it comes to the use of AI?

And I ask this not so people can make one-sided arguments as to why they think AI should be used in the arts, but rather ask the question as to why other people think it’s okay to use in other parts of the workforce?

The casual editing of a paper, the writing of lesson plans… why are those things that are considered “okay” uses for AI, but when it comes to creativity, it’s not?

There is no right or wrong answer but I’d love to hear what you think since it seems AI is going to be part of the conversation moving forward. DM me below if you’d like to weigh in!

Like I said, this week I came back to a TON of news! 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:

In a dystopian society where the state has the power to determine who can and cannot father children, four men attend a government sanctioned retreat in the remote mountains of California. When they show up at the site, only to find no guide or instructions waiting for them, they are left to their own devices and must prove to themselves—and each other—that they have what it takes to become fathers.

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

And now let’s talk about…

Many filmmakers cut their teeth on short films and the medium is crucial to learning the art of filmmaking. So why is it so damn hard to get people to take a look at short films over feature length ones? And more importantly, what can you do to stand out from the hundreds of thousands of short films created every single year?

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!

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Why is it so hard to generate PR for short films? And more importantly, how can you ensure yours stands out?

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