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Hamptons International Film Festival > Leveraging Passion & Purpose at the Crossroads of Social Media and Independent Film

Leveraging Passion & Purpose at the Crossroads of Social Media and Independent Film

Post sponsored by PointBurst

“In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin

The world of independent film is in constant flux. For over 30 years, independent filmmakers have introduced theatergoers to new worlds, new ideas, or simply just a new view of the familiar. The filmmakers themselves must also be adapters – often creating impactful and meaningful art under some of the toughest working conditions and with near-invisible budgets. And indie film fans are, without a doubt, incredibly loyal. But as we continue in the digital era of filmmaking, are filmmakers capitalizing on the numerous ways to connect with their fans? Are fans still engaging with films primarily through going to theater? Both aficionados of and the filmmakers behind independent film are facing new challenges and opportunities with the proliferation of social media.

Mainstream studio films have embraced social media, challenging traditional models and making innovative leaps in marketing and audience engagement (The Hunger Games saved millions in marketing funds by focusing on social media). The independent film industry, however, has been somewhat slow on the uptake and has yet to fully embrace and adapt to social media.

To be fair, the proliferation and popularity of crowd-funding platforms, such as IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, show that myriads of filmmakers use social media to raise funds. Megan Sasaki’s Herb and Dorothy 50 X 50, the follow up to her wildly pleasing documentary Herb & Dorothy (which had it’s NY premiere at the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival, winning both the audience and Jury award) raised more than $87,000 in finishing funds on Kickstarter. Charlie Kaufman (, whose most recent work Synecdoche, NY is currently funding his first animated film, Anomalisa, on Kickstarter. In two weeks the project raised over $250,000, well surpassing its goal with 45 days remaining. And Detropia raised over $70,000 on Kickstarter allowing the filmmakers to independently distribute their film.

But, beyond crowd-funding, independent filmmakers are only just beginning to experiment with social media in other creative ways. Kevin MacDonald’s documentary Marley about legendary reggae icon Bob Marley (released this year), was the first U.S. Film to stream via Facebook during its theatrical release (garnering over 36 million fans on its Facebook page). On the audience side, Saco Drive-In Theater owner Ry Russell shifted the demographics of his theater’s attendees and grew his audience over two hundred percent through a robust social media campaign on Facebook. And at this year’s Art House Convergence Conference, a panel on how to engage and draw audiences by developing robust social media programs drew a packed house of eager theater-owners.

While social media has had and will continue to have a deep impact on independent film , it’s clear that filmmakers are still struggling with how to best get a handle on effective strategies To help both the fans and the creators of indie film understand more about the impact of social media on production, distribution, and meaningful engagement with the story, here are some questions and answers with Mick Twomey, co-Founder of PointBurst (@thepointburst) (a premiere social media syndication platform for organizations of all sizes and Social Media Sponsor of the 20^th Hamptons International Film Festival).

What should brand or film marketers, fundraisers, and the rest of us who use social media to build business think about?

Mick Twomey (co-Founder of PointBurst)

It’s all about relationships and connecting, it’s about having a conversation – and…awareness. Especially in the film world, it’s about building a sense of anticipation, some kind of sense of involvement or belonging. The ability to build passionate communities around a film, a band or a brand, that is where the power and impact lies.

It’s a requirement now to engage your consumers and realize all the benefits that flow from that engagement. You’re far more likely to see a movie, or buy a product, when a friend or family recommends it. And you’re more likely to believe them than the brand that is trying to sell it to you. Social media takes word-of-mouth to a whole new level. PointBurst enables your dedicated customer base to serve as your advocate, and it creates a whole new powerful world around opportunity and excitement and the desire to become a part of that community.

The life cycle of marketing a film has a beginning and an end, but successful social media communities tend to have numerous phases, maturing and gaining value over time, without a definitive end in sight. What, then, is an independent film’s place in the social space and community building?

It can fill a number of different roles, depending on the people involved in the film and what they’re trying to achieve. When you think about awareness, anticipation, virally spreading the word, there’s such a logical place for independent film in social. In fact, there’s never been a more powerful tool. And with social media, you can be more active and frequent than with traditional. Film is art, not business; people want to see this stuff.

How does this community that forms around the film live beyond the film? Does it cease to exist; does it morph into something else?

That is for the community to define over time. So many independent films are very thought provoking and multi-level. You can see conversations going on around character motivations, potentials of follow-ups or new films; communities form around concepts. Where these communities will go is yet to be determined. These groups always surprise me on creativity and motivation to take it to the next level.

It seems like the film industry’s lagging behind other industries with leveraging social to build awareness, community, and even sales and distribution. There are some great case studies, but the potential still seems greater than the reality.

Yes, I agree, and in fact, I’m surprised. In a recent conversation with someone from Lions Gate, it was mentioned that they saved $15-20million in ad expenditures for Hunger Games (I believe it was). They saved because they decided to leverage social to create buzz and virality. This will start happening more now, though. Beyond just saving money, there are massive opportunities to leverage passion.

The rise of crowd-funding platforms, like Kickstarter, is creating a sea change for independent film projects. But not every Kickstarter campaign is successful, and in fact many don’t reach their target in the time frame of the campaign. How could Point Burst help to get the word out and manage crowd-funding campaigns?

Awareness. PointBurst is all about is making it easier for anyone to get a consistent message out to a much broader audience via social media. Because we leverage the social connections of your friends, fan supporters and partners and seamlessly get these messages out on everybody’s pages, your potential to build awareness without additional effort is tremendous. To be successful, you have to have a good product and marketing plan. But more than anything, you’ve got to have people see that product, and to do that you’ve got to have that passionate group of supporters. You can then invite these supporters to help you get the word out on our platform.

Beyond the fundraising aspect, many filmmakers and marketers are building audiences before making feature films by garnering attraction on social media platforms with short teaser versions, and then leveraging supporters to demonstrate that interest already exists. What advice would you have for aspiring filmmakers who want to leverage social media platforms as a kind of incubator for their film?

So many companies are experimenting now with open-ended questions. It is a unique space, in its infancy. I’d say, run with it. Leverage friends and followers’ opinions. And, figure out how to get a message out as effectively as possible to build a community and demonstrate numbers and passion: proof for your story and potential for your film. Get a following early on, get people to buy into the characters and story even before the film is created. The potential is huge, its just about making sure the strategy is on, and making sure you’re leveraging the tools and platforms that are out there.

So, demonstrating passion is just as important as showing numbers?

The more passion and engagement, the more the numbers will follow. Passion is a step in the process without question.

As you know, this is the Hamptons International Film Festival 20th anniversary. What would you say is the most significant change in film marketing over the last 20 years and how has technology played a role in these changes?

Back in the day, you’d see the preview just before it was released in the theatres, and the billboard. But in the last 10 years, the Internet has changed so much for fans: allowing them access to real-time footage, details on actors and the story. Now it’s become so much more inclusive. You’re allowing your consumer, to be part of the process of getting this movie developed, and ultimately released. You have people who are bought in at the core level to what’s upcoming, they feel like they’ve been a part of it, a sense of belonging or even ownership. It’s more about having a conversation with your consumer as opposed to an alert of availability at the end… I really think it’s all about engagement.

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Takeaways

Collaborate and improvise. Darwin was on to something. Independent film industry may have been slow to adapt to the new digital social universe we now live in, but filmmakers and fans will surely adapt and find new ways to use social media more effectively and with surprising results.

More than just being a tool for collaboration and engagement, Twomey believes that social media is a potentially powerful storytelling platform for filmmakers and film fans alike that can help them to explore film narrative in an entirely new and fun way. Now, more than ever before, is the time for independent film to seize the social media bull by the horns and to explore the endless possibilities beyond crowdfunding. Without a doubt, we will continue to see developments in social media engagement that will further close the gap between filmmakers, theatres and fans.

To learn about Hamptons International Film Festival’s recently-launched social media initiative this year which will enable the film community and festival attendees to engage with each other and the festival across multiple media platforms including live, real-time social media coverage throughout the festival, click here.

ABOUT POINTBURST

Founded in Dallas in March 2010, PointBurst provides the industry leading cloud-based social media syndication platform that streamlines every aspect of social media brand, communication, and, message control. The PointBurst technology uses a cloud-based library of approved content that can be easily accessed and published by organizations, partners (distributors, resellers, and franchisees), brand ambassadors and their target audiences. Implemented by organizations of all sizes, PointBurst clients are able to cost effectively gain maximum exposure by reaching audiences they never thought possible. To learn more about PointBurst and see it in action, visit http://www.pointburst.com.