Essential Marketing Tools for Independent Filmmakers

Your Marketing Tools

Promoting the Filmmaker in the Independent Film World

In Hollywood, the focus is on promoting the movie because the industry's business model relies heavily on the star power of high-budget productions, well-known actors, and established franchises to attract a broad audience. These films have substantial marketing budgets aimed at creating massive public awareness and driving box office sales.

Conversely, in the independent film world, the emphasis is on promoting the filmmaker. With so many independent films being produced, audiences tend to follow filmmakers whose work they admire. By highlighting the unique vision and personal story of the filmmaker, they can create a more intimate connection with niche audiences, film festivals, and potential distributors. This approach helps build a loyal following and establish a reputation that can support their current and future projects.

On our social media, particularly Instagram, our promotions showcase a filmmaker's headshot surrounded by all of their film posters and trailers. We promote the filmmaker first, offering their films as a buffet of options that cater to diverse tastes and preferences.

Promoting the Filmmaker in the Independent Film World

Here, we discuss all the essential tools available to filmmakers. These tools are crucial for the successful promotion of a movie, and certain areas of each will require your specific attention. They include:

The Movie Poster: The visual centerpiece that grabs attention.
The Opening Thumbnail of the Trailer & The Film on a VOD Platform: The first impression that entices viewers.
Professional Taglines & Social Media Posts: Engaging content that promotes and drives interest.
The Filmmaker Headshot: Personal branding that connects with the audience.

Each of these elements plays a vital role in attracting and engaging audiences, ensuring your film stands out in a competitive market.

An Attractive Movie Poster is Essential

The Aspect Ratio of Your Theatrical Movie Poster & Instagram Poster

Instagram has over a billion active users and has become a hub for independent filmmaking. It's rare to find a film or filmmaker not promoted on Instagram. Instagram’s advertising tools allow filmmakers to target specific demographics and interests, enabling them to reach potential viewers who are more likely to be interested in their films. This maximizes the impact of their promotional efforts. See our page called: “Instagram Paid Ads”

Optimizing Your Movie Poster for Instagram

We recommend that the primary movie poster for an independent filmmaker be specifically designed for Instagram with an aspect ratio of 1:1. A poster fit for Instagram also looks good on all other social media platforms as well.

Why Poster Size Matters:

The traditional movie poster, also known as the theatrical one-sheet poster, has a 2:3 ratio and is commonly displayed in theaters and on websites like IMDb. If you choose to make a theatrical movie poster, the dimensions should be at least 1600 x 2400 pixels. However, posting this size on Instagram will not fit properly, making your page look unprofessional and undermining your marketing efforts.

Avoid Dates on Your Poster

On OPPRIME.tv, our platform has been designed to host and generate income for filmmakers for years. Including a release date on your poster may limit the audience's interest in your film. Avoid dating your poster to keep it relevant for a longer period.

The Power of a Movie Poster in Social Media Marketing

In the world of social media, your fans may only catch a few seconds of your movie trailer, but they will most likely see the poster. The poster serves as the gateway to your film, making it essential for the image to be attractive, provocative, and engaging. A well-designed movie poster can capture attention and spark curiosity, drawing fans into your cinematic world.

Creating an Impactful Movie Poster:

Choose a Riveting Image: If you cannot afford an expert movie poster artist, select a still from your movie that is the most riveting or engaging shot. This image must make a powerful and truthful statement about your film, intelligently intruding into your fan's busy life.
Engage Your Audience: Your fans are not idly scrolling; they are looking for content that stands out. The movie poster needs to create immediate interest and desire to see your film.
Spark Curiosity: By carefully choosing a compelling image, you can effectively promote your film and entice your audience.

All of these posters fit Instagram dimensions (1:1 aspect ratio) and can be fully seen on an Instagram page. Properly sized posters maintain a professional appearance and maximize visibility, effectively engaging your audience. A well-crafted Instagram-sized poster is crucial for drawing attention and successfully promoting your film on social media.

Enhancing Your Movie Poster with Film Festival Laurels

Film festival laurel awards are essential on your movie poster as they signify recognition and value. A poster without laurels can devalue the film, making it seem less important to indie film fans. Display one to three laurels to highlight your achievements without detracting from the poster's imagery.

Elegantly Display Multiple Laurels on Your Movie Poster

Display one to three laurels to highlight your achievements and if you use more, ensure they are symmetrically placed to maintain a professional and balanced look.

Create An Amazing Movie Trailer

Movie trailers play a crucial role in the independent film world, serving as the primary marketing tool to generate buzz and attract audiences. They provide a glimpse into the film's story, style, and quality, helping to create anticipation and excitement. For independent filmmakers, a well-crafted trailer can be the difference between a film being noticed or overlooked in a crowded market. It can entice potential viewers, distributors, and film festival programmers, offering a compelling reason to invest time and resources into the film. OPPRIME.tv can promote your film and filmmaker brand to our extensive community of independent film fans by posting your movie trailer and filmmaker reel on our social media platforms.

Absolute Requirement: Your movie trailer and filmmaker reel must be formatted for Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

Recommendations:

Trailer Length: Keep your movie trailer under 1 minute. Make sure the best part is front-loaded, as viewers rarely watch the last 30 seconds of an online video advertisement.
Opening Video Thumbnail: The opening video thumbnail is crucial for attracting viewers. According to content marketing strategist Maria Rozhdestvenskaya, opening video thumbnails are like movie billboards or book covers in a bookstore window display. The decision to watch the movie is 99.9% based on the opening video thumbnail.

The Thumbnail for Your Movie & Trailer is Essential!

A thumbnail for a movie or trailer is a small, clickable image that visually represents the content and serves as a preview designed to capture viewers' attention and entice them to watch the trailer. Thumbnails are crucial for attracting audiences on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, as they provide the first impression of the film or trailer.

The thumbnail is the first image a person sees of your film, whether they are browsing the OPPRIME.tv library, Hulu, Netflix, or any other VOD platform. It competes for the viewer's attention, and if your movie or trailer thumbnail stands out and beats its competitors, you have won your audience's attention. This makes the thumbnail an essential element of video marketing and a key factor in driving engagement and views.

The Power of an Engaging Thumbnail

As viewers scroll through our library of films, their eyes are drawn to compelling thumbnails that stand out. These thumbnails are the first to capture attention, leading viewers to click on and watch these films. We recommend using the best movie still from your film as your opening thumbnail. If your thumbnail is unenticing, viewers may assume the rest of the film is the same and move on.

Attention to detail in creating an outstanding thumbnail demonstrates a high level of professionalism and leaves a lasting positive first impression. This focus on quality can significantly influence viewers' perceptions of your film and your filmmaking abilities.

Crafting the Perfect Thumbnail: Clarity and Conformity

OPPRIME.tv's aspect ratio for opening thumbnails on its page layout is 1024px X 512px.
Do not use the movie poster as your opening thumbnail if it doesn’t fit this aspect ratio.

An Engaging Tagline is Necessary for Your Film.

Crafting the Perfect Tagline for Social Media

A tagline is not to be confused with a movie synopsis. The tagline accompanies the marketing post on Instagram, Twitter, and all other social media platforms. It must be catchy and concise. In a tagline, less is more. Taglines are challenging because they require careful editing. We believe that taglines are personal to the filmmaker and their film.

Guidelines for Taglines:

Twitter: Taglines should be no more than 150 characters.
Instagram: Taglines should be no more than 200 characters.

If you need to include the designation of the artist (filmmaker, director, producer, writer, etc.), use hashtags to save on the character count of the post. For example: #filmmaker, #director, #producer, #writer. This approach optimizes your content for search engines and enhances visibility on social media platforms.

Format for a Tagline:

Instagram Tagline

NAME OF MOVIE by #filmmaker FILMMAKER’S NAME @INSTAGRAM-HANDLE “TAG LINE.” (Tag Line in quotations)

Twitter Tagline

NAME OF MOVIE by #filmmaker FILMMAKER’S NAME @TWITTER-HANDLE “TAG LINE.” (tagine in quotes)

Examples of a Tagline in This Format:

Goodfellas by #filmmaker Martin Scorsese @martinscorsese_ “About three decades of life in the Mafia.”

Father of the Bride by #filmmaker Gaz Alazraki @gazalazraki "The Bride gets the thrills; the father gets the bills."

Double Indemnity by #filmmaker Billy Wilder @billywilder1944 "From the moment they met it was murder."

Tagline Options:

1. Down-edit the name if the filmmaker’s name is recognizable from their Instagram or Twitter handle(s):

Goodfellas by #filmmaker @martinscorsese_ “About three decades of life in the Mafia.”

2. If you are the producer with the rights to the film:

Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin by #Producer @officialspikelee “It will make you feel as if you’ve seen the face of God.”

3. If you are the producer and will add the director:

Amazing Grace - Aretha Franklin by #Producer @officialspikelee & #Director @alanelliott “It will make you feel as if you’ve seen the face of God.”

4. If you received awards at multiple film festivals, we recommend that you select only one or two to list. Name the award and the film festival's Instagram and Twitter handle in the format:

Golden Voices by Layne Marie Williams @directorlmw_ “A paranormal investigator seeks out the source of some mysterious voices.” #Winner #BestPicture @IndianaFilmRace

Unprofessional Taglines:

It is imperative that you spell-check your tagline. Do not use ALL capital letters to emphasize or highlight your message. Do not use irregular combinations of capital and small letters. Please follow standard English grammar.

Boosting Filmmaker Visibility: Key Tactics in the Independent Film Market

Promoting the filmmaker is essential in the Independent Film Economy. Unlike mainstream Hollywood productions that rely on star power and large marketing budgets, independent films thrive on the unique vision and personal brand of the filmmaker. Highlighting the filmmaker helps build a loyal audience, attract niche viewers, and secure distribution deals.

Promoting the Filmmaker in the Independent Film Economy

Social Media: Use platforms like Instagram, where compelling visuals and engaging content can elevate the filmmaker's profile and create buzz around their work.
Focus on the Filmmaker: By focusing on the filmmaker, independent films can stand out in a crowded market and achieve greater success.

Your filmmaker headshot is essential for the marketing of your film and your professional brand as a filmmaker.

We RECOMMEND that your headshot be designed for Instagram (aspect ratio of 1:1).
A filmmaker's headshot should be artistic, and engaging, but professional for the independent film business. Please NO headshot that would be used by the CEO or VP of Finance at Citibank - you are a filmmaker! Look cool.
Some of the best filmmaker headshots are behind-the-scenes action poses. Here are some examples.

Making the Perfect Headshot for Filmmakers

There are two types of headshots for filmmakers:

Artistic and Engaging Headshot: Ideal for filmmakers comfortable in front of the camera.
Behind-the-Scenes Action Pose: Perfect for those who may not be as comfortable in front of the camera but want to convey their personality through their work.

Both types of headshots play a crucial role in promoting the filmmaker's brand, enhancing their online presence, and connecting with their audience on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Choosing the right type of headshot can significantly impact how a filmmaker is perceived and remembered by viewers and industry professionals.