REPLAY: Content Creation for Filmmakers & Artists Who Hate Content

Two things are true:

1. I’m a sensitive, all-nerve-endings sort of artist.

2. I want people to see & connect with my work.

I used to think those two truths meant there was only one way to get attention (hack the algorithm) and it was beneath me as an artist to try (how embarrassing, shouldn’t I just be focused on my art?).

If the above resonates with you, then this Town Hall was made most especially for you.

00:1:36 — Do you need the algorithm to build an audience?

00:2:18 — What repeatable cycles do an audience need to experience to become fans of your work?

00:2:58 — What is “audience self-identification” and how does it work with content?

00:4:37 — Why does content need to build a world and why develop loyalty instead of volume?

00:5:32 — What’s the difference between a content formula and content form — and why do formulas eventually go stale?

00:8:03 — How do you “meet your audience where they are”?

00:10:27 — What 4 stages of awareness and competence must you move your audience through for them to become aware of and interested in you?

00:13:06 — How do you create content for an audience who doesn’t know you yet?

00:25:13 — How do you speak to an audience who is somewhat aware of you, but you want them to be more fully “bought in”?

00:33:17 — What are the last two stages of awareness and consciousness for your audience?

00:35:18 — What if I don’t want to make MORE content?

00:36:12 — Why is “spiral, not funnel” a better model for content — and how might you structure the stages of awareness across a year?

00:39:02 — How do you translate your film’s theme into a content idea?

00:51:32— How can you create a foundational marketing campaign for a new-to-the-scene voice?

00:52:46 — Why does creating content with extreme specificity (instead of “this is for everyone!) work 1000x better?

00:58:40 — How do you share authentically with an audience when the feeling of “self-promotion” feels so uncomfortable?

1. The algorithm won’t work but content marketing will. The thing I personally hate about the idea of content marketing is the notion I need to be consistent, do more, and squeeze my brain/curiosities/proclivities/weirdness into a strict set of rules built by tech companies with the goal of keeping us all scrolling. I’ve tried those tricks, and they never work as well (that’s a feature, not a bug) as good old content marketing. Content marketing is a free, word-of-mouth building, platform-agnostic way of communicating with your audience. You can do it anywhere, at any time, with your own ~je nais se quois!~ to create awareness for your project.

2. You don’t need a formula, you need a form. Audiences are sharp, and they pick up on patterns right away. If you’ve ever downloaded Notes “hook templates” you realize, they’re all saying the same thing. That’s why formulas get so stale — because they’re repeated to death! Content form, on the other hand,