Linda Brown began her career at PMK Public Relations, where she worked for five years on publicity campaigns with actors such as Winona Ryder, Andie MacDowell, and Gregory Hines; films such as Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita and My Left Foot; and television shows such as Fox’s The Simpsons. After leaving PMK in search of some kind of life, she stopped briefly at Bragman Nyman Cafarelli, then went on to become Director of Motion Pictures Los Angeles for Rogers & Cowan, where she headed up campaigns and promotions for a countless number of films, including The Mask with Jim Carrey. Currently Brown heads one of the premiere public relations firms for independent filmmakers, the Los Angeles-based Indie PR. Getting press is not just a job for Brown; she passionately believes in her clients and their films. Indie PR has been in existence since 1996 and has been successful in providing promotion, marketing campaigns, parties, festival debuts, and more for indie filmmakers.
How can a publicist help a film?
A publicist does different things at different stages of a campaign for a film. For a festival, a publicist prepares the press to receive your film (in the intellectual and emotional sense). Presentation means a lot; a publicist advises you on the look of your poster, chooses the stills you will use in representing your film and your clips for electronic interviews, and will prepare that all-important press kit—which serves as a bible to the press when they write about your film.
Equally important, a publicist comes up with a strategy for presenting your film to the public. A filmmaker’s idea of how a film should be presented may be entirely different from what is going to sell. That doesn’t mean the filmmaker is wrong; it just means that it’s only one opinion and it sometimes helps to go at it from other angles as well.
Why does a filmmaker need a publicist?
The smartest filmmaker takes on a publicist at the very onset of a project and keeps one throughout the entire process. (That can get costly, but deals can sometimes be made.)
There is so much for the press to cover during a festival, from reviewing films to covering parties to eavesdropping during breakfast for items. Unless you have someone out there vying for ink and creating a buzz about you or your movie, you run the risk of getting lost in the noise pollution. My campaigns start a month prior to the festival when I start making calls to the magazines and columnists who can put a little “pre-festival buzz” on my movie. I get the press excited about your film by letting them in on it early and in a personal way. At this point, a lot of the members of the press are friends of mine, so it is very much like my calling a friend to let them in on something they just shouldn’t miss.
What do filmmakers need to know when it comes to publicity?
Publicity is less effective when it is a “one-shot deal.” It is so much better to have continuity and a steady flow of information going out to the press throughout all of the stages of your film. That way, when it comes time to do the festival thing, it’s a matter of instant recognition for both the press and distributors. It is also essential in getting all of the materials you will need to help sell the film—whether it be a press kit complete with clippings (to show a studio that your film can get press), or photos and an electronic press kit complete with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a filmmaker doing their own publicity?
Filmmakers can do their own publicity as easily as publicists can make their own films and do it well … it just isn’t smart. First of all, it takes up a lot of the filmmaker’s time that should be spent other ways, but mostly because it’s smarter to have those who do what they do best—actually do what they do best. The only advantage a filmmaker has in doing his or her own publicity is that it will save a few thousand dollars. That’s it. Without the advice and careful planning of someone who lives this kind of work, an uninformed filmmaker could miss the opportunity to present his film with the perfect spin to catapult his campaign and film into the arms of a dream distributor. Without the forethought and careful planning that went into the PR campaign for The Full Monty, most ticket buyers would have passed it up for another film. Think of the distributor as an audience member with a checkbook. You still have to stand out and grab their attention.
What kind of advantages do filmmakers who have publicists have?
Ultimately, the more people you have talking about your film at a festival, the better your position. And who has bigger mouths and talks to more press, distributors, and festival-goers than publicists? We’re with the press at breakfast, between screenings, at the screenings, in the bathroom, in their rooms … we never stop! We get ’em while they’re drunk and make them commit. We’re relentless, and you need that kind of energy on your side when your film is at a festival.
What sort of questions should a filmmaker ask when hiring a publicist?
When hiring a publicist, the most important question to ask is, “How many other films are you working on at the festival?” I see it all the time: Bigger agencies pile on the clients telling them that they are at an advantage in being “in the company” of other big films. This is simply not true, unless you are working with a publicist who can’t get Sheila Benson on the phone without a bunch of big films.
There is no way you can effectively work with an exorbitant number of films—effectively being the key word. I don’t like to work with more than four films per festival. Part of a campaign is spending time with the filmmaker at the social function (it’s where most of the interviews are set up), and if you’re chained to a desk in a hotel room working on fifteen films, you just can’t do that. Film festival PR is not like publicity at time of release, where you can chain yourself to a desk and pump out the calls. The press is out and about … they’re at the parties, they’re at the panels. You’ve got to have the freedom to pound the pavement and hunt them down.
What can a filmmaker expect to pay for a publicist?
Most agencies charge anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000 for a film at a festival. You should allow for expense monies as well, which should cost you another couple of hundred (depending on the festival).
How important is it to get good online press these days?
The Internet has taken over as a primary way to reach worldwide audiences with current information. The key word here being current.
As publicists and promotions people, we used to rely on magazines or shows like Entertainment Tonight to get the word out. Most magazines require a three-to four-month leadtime, and entertainment shows give you three-to four-minute spots and that’s that. With the Internet, it’s happening right now. And the cyber-sky is the limit as to the amount of content you can have, so online press is becoming more important than any other form. The fact that studios now have entire departments of publicists and promoters who deal specifically with the online community is evidence to the fact.
How do you approach getting press on the Web differently?
The Web is a visual tool, and its audience is more visual than, say, the Los Angeles Times reader, who is going to sit down and read a feature, then maybe glance at a photo. When we approach a Web outlet, our job is to incorporate more interactive participation and make it more interesting for the site’s audience. With print, it’s a bit more cut and dry and somewhat more controlled.
Does a filmmaker need to hire a publicist to do online press?
I think that anyone can do online promotions themselves. But a publicist is able to come to the table with more of a strategic campaign, which will complement any promotions a filmmaker has already done online. But a filmmaker doesn’t necessarily have the relationships [with entities] that would do the larger entertainment features on their film, and as with traditional publicity, you need to have someone open the door for you.
What are the important things for a filmmaker to remember when working with a publicist?
A publicist is not a miracle worker. The ultimate sale of your film depends on how good it is. But a publicist can be an essential part of your team in creating awareness and the infamous “buzz” that everyone listens for at a festival.