This report concerns a project undertaken by the Film Producer class FIL-4661 offered by the Film Department at the University of Central Florida in the Spring of 2009.
The class included a series of lectures by experts in marketing including, Shannon Lacek and Rich Grula (both are previous marketing directors of the Florida Film Festival), producer Christine Vachon, FFF programmer Matthew Curtis, former students Tom Hurter and Nick Martinolich, and Professor Randy Finch.
The class was divided into 20 teams. Each team was assigned a film that would screen in competition at the 2009 Florida Film Festival. Working with the FFF staff and the various filmmakers, the students in FIL-4661 were responsible for the guerrilla marketing of the competition films.
Our team included Andrew Hernandez (Cinema Studies, 2010), Darryl Inge (Cinema Studies, 2009) and Michael Chaney (Cinema Studies, 2010). We were assigned a documentary film entitled In A Dream. The filmmaker we were in contact with was the producer, Jeremy Yaches.
The following is a report on what we attempted, what we accomplished and, most importantly, what we learned.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Film Synopsis and History of Film
Over the past four decades, Isaiah Zagar has covered more than 50,000 square feet of Philadelphia with stunning mosaic murals. In A Dream is a documentary feature film that chronicles his work and his tumultuous relationship with his wife, Julia. It follows the Zagars as their marriage implodes and a harrowing new chapter in their life unfolds.
Jeremiah Zagar was born in South Philadelphia in 1981. The first film he saw in the theater was Love Stinks by Mel Brooks, in which he loved and has led to his passion for almost every movie he has seen in theater since. At the age of 15, Jeremiah got his first job in film as a telemarketer in the mail order section of TLA Video, but was unable to maintain the job and its responsibilities due to his flagrant dyslexia. However, Jeremiah was left with a free unlimited membership to TLA. That summer, he felt as if he was in heaven with being able to watch at least three movies a night by some of the greatest directors.
In A Dream is his first feature length film, whose initial idea was inspired by his mother that asked him to film his father. With Jeremiah trusting her more than anyone else, he asked his father, Isaiah, to share stories of his life, his secrets on camera. When Isaiah opened up with very personal stories, Jeremiah knew he might have something special. The film began production in 2001. He began filming whenever he was in town. Since he was off in college, this consisted of occasional visits for holidays, birthdays, etc. This went on for a few years before the family hit the troubling times seen in the film. This is when Jeremiah realized he had something bigger and brought in more people to make the film what it is today. The intent of the film was to capture different moments within Isaiah’s life, with almost a mosaic of different formats used to portray moments in time, reminiscent of the beauty and diversity found within the crafting of Isaiah’s mosaic murals. The 1930’s are portrayed in black and white, the 70’s in saturated super-8, the ‘80s in muddy Betacam and recent footage in HD. Thanks to the help support of IndiePix, International Film Circuit and HBO, In A Dream was able to become a major production.
The film has screened in many film festivals already. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9th, 2008, winning the Emerging Visions Audience Award. Since then it has screened and won awards at Woodstock Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Salem Film Festival, and San Francisco Documentary Festival. It has played in many more festivals and continues to have upcoming screening across the country.
With the success and enjoyment of making In A Dream, Jeremiah hopes to make many more films to come. He is currently working on a documentary with his lifelong friend and producer Jeremy Yaches, and Executive producers Ross Kauffman and Geraln White Dreyfus. Wait For Me, is a documentary film about a young man who disappeared twenty years ago and the mother who waits for him still. Another project Jeremiah, and producer Jeremy, are working on is going back to India, where he made his first short doc about the largest clinic and orphanage for untouchables in Delhi. He feels there is a much bigger and fascinating story there that was not fully developed within his 12 minute film, made while still in college.
Official Trailer
IN A DREAM: Theatrical Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.
Jeremiah Zagar was born in South Philadelphia in 1981. The first film he saw in the theater was Love Stinks by Mel Brooks, in which he loved and has led to his passion for almost every movie he has seen in theater since. At the age of 15, Jeremiah got his first job in film as a telemarketer in the mail order section of TLA Video, but was unable to maintain the job and its responsibilities due to his flagrant dyslexia. However, Jeremiah was left with a free unlimited membership to TLA. That summer, he felt as if he was in heaven with being able to watch at least three movies a night by some of the greatest directors.
In A Dream is his first feature length film, whose initial idea was inspired by his mother that asked him to film his father. With Jeremiah trusting her more than anyone else, he asked his father, Isaiah, to share stories of his life, his secrets on camera. When Isaiah opened up with very personal stories, Jeremiah knew he might have something special. The film began production in 2001. He began filming whenever he was in town. Since he was off in college, this consisted of occasional visits for holidays, birthdays, etc. This went on for a few years before the family hit the troubling times seen in the film. This is when Jeremiah realized he had something bigger and brought in more people to make the film what it is today. The intent of the film was to capture different moments within Isaiah’s life, with almost a mosaic of different formats used to portray moments in time, reminiscent of the beauty and diversity found within the crafting of Isaiah’s mosaic murals. The 1930’s are portrayed in black and white, the 70’s in saturated super-8, the ‘80s in muddy Betacam and recent footage in HD. Thanks to the help support of IndiePix, International Film Circuit and HBO, In A Dream was able to become a major production.
The film has screened in many film festivals already. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 9th, 2008, winning the Emerging Visions Audience Award. Since then it has screened and won awards at Woodstock Film Festival, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Salem Film Festival, and San Francisco Documentary Festival. It has played in many more festivals and continues to have upcoming screening across the country.
With the success and enjoyment of making In A Dream, Jeremiah hopes to make many more films to come. He is currently working on a documentary with his lifelong friend and producer Jeremy Yaches, and Executive producers Ross Kauffman and Geraln White Dreyfus. Wait For Me, is a documentary film about a young man who disappeared twenty years ago and the mother who waits for him still. Another project Jeremiah, and producer Jeremy, are working on is going back to India, where he made his first short doc about the largest clinic and orphanage for untouchables in Delhi. He feels there is a much bigger and fascinating story there that was not fully developed within his 12 minute film, made while still in college.
Official Trailer
IN A DREAM: Theatrical Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.
Our Marketing Work
For marketing the film, we primarily focused our attention on artists and fans of art, with some attention on people from Philadelphia. The film dealt with mostly adult themes so the target audience was 18+, however we leant more towards the older crowd. As for the group members roles, we never established anything concrete. We shared all responsibilities. If something had to be done, whoever was available was the one to do it. This allowed flexibility and worked best for us and our busy schedules.
We primarily attempted to execute our marketing strategy when the festival drew closer and within the neighborhood of the 1st screening of our film, which resulted within a 2 week span to get the word out and advertise for our film. After Mike was able to immediately get into touch with the producer, Jeremy, we were given a few hundred postcards (including stickers with the dates and times of screenings for the festival) and about a dozen posters. The posters were put up on UCF campus, the communication and art buildings. A few postcards were put there as well. The majority of those postcards were passed out during Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The art festival took place March 20-22. On the 20th, Andrew Hernandez and Michael Chaney both walked around for about two hours, pitching the film and passing out the postcards. The next day, Andrew went back with a friend, who has had experience with such things due to being in a band, and they passed out more postcards. The second day was on a Saturday, so there was a much larger gathering thus many more postcards were passed out. With a whole day of approaching people, Andrew found the second day to come easier and the pitch was much more refined.
As for the online angle, Andrew created a Facebook event. With all three team members as administrators of the event, they invited all their friends. However, with no funding, it was impossible to advertise outside of their friends and the result was only 12 confirmed guests, none of which showed. Andrew created a gmail account for the group. Darryl then compiled a list of places that may be interested in the movie. This included faculty and staff of the art departments from UCF, USF, UF, Rollins College, Crealde School of Art, and Stetson University. He had volunteered for the festival last year and noticed people traveling from Tampa and Gainesville to attend the festival. So, when compiling his list of local schools, he expanded his search to those areas as well. Darryl sent out the emails to those on the list, including The Philadelphia Social Club of South Florida. An immediate response from Wallace Wilson of USF said he would distribute the email to 500 faculty, staff, students and friends. Carol Weiss-Singer, founder and co-president of the Philadelphia Social Club responded as well. She said the movie would definitely be an interest for the 400 members but Winter Park was too far for most of the members within the organization. But she hoped the film would eventually be shown in the Palm Beach County area. Darryl also contacted local art galleries and museums to promote the film. He was given permission to place posters in the Orlando Museum of Art and the Menello Museum of Folk Arts, but only in their break rooms. Michael was able deliver flyers and posters the next day.
Michael was also able to talk to one of his teachers and she offered her students extra credit if they went to the festival and saw a movie, including ours. He was going to pitch the movie to the class but was unable to due to no time left after class.
None of the team members could attend the first screening but all three made it to the last. We all arrived about 2 hours before showtime and handed out remaining postcards and the last poster. We approached just about everyone who walked by. If people were just walking by, we tried to convince them to see the movie. If they were there to see a movie, but not sure which one, we advised ours. And if they were going to see another, we tried to get them to see ours instead. By that, we were able to get an extra 8 or 9 people in our screening. The result of focusing on a specific audience and crowd for the marketing of our film led to both of our screenings selling around 100 tickets each.
We primarily attempted to execute our marketing strategy when the festival drew closer and within the neighborhood of the 1st screening of our film, which resulted within a 2 week span to get the word out and advertise for our film. After Mike was able to immediately get into touch with the producer, Jeremy, we were given a few hundred postcards (including stickers with the dates and times of screenings for the festival) and about a dozen posters. The posters were put up on UCF campus, the communication and art buildings. A few postcards were put there as well. The majority of those postcards were passed out during Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The art festival took place March 20-22. On the 20th, Andrew Hernandez and Michael Chaney both walked around for about two hours, pitching the film and passing out the postcards. The next day, Andrew went back with a friend, who has had experience with such things due to being in a band, and they passed out more postcards. The second day was on a Saturday, so there was a much larger gathering thus many more postcards were passed out. With a whole day of approaching people, Andrew found the second day to come easier and the pitch was much more refined.
As for the online angle, Andrew created a Facebook event. With all three team members as administrators of the event, they invited all their friends. However, with no funding, it was impossible to advertise outside of their friends and the result was only 12 confirmed guests, none of which showed. Andrew created a gmail account for the group. Darryl then compiled a list of places that may be interested in the movie. This included faculty and staff of the art departments from UCF, USF, UF, Rollins College, Crealde School of Art, and Stetson University. He had volunteered for the festival last year and noticed people traveling from Tampa and Gainesville to attend the festival. So, when compiling his list of local schools, he expanded his search to those areas as well. Darryl sent out the emails to those on the list, including The Philadelphia Social Club of South Florida. An immediate response from Wallace Wilson of USF said he would distribute the email to 500 faculty, staff, students and friends. Carol Weiss-Singer, founder and co-president of the Philadelphia Social Club responded as well. She said the movie would definitely be an interest for the 400 members but Winter Park was too far for most of the members within the organization. But she hoped the film would eventually be shown in the Palm Beach County area. Darryl also contacted local art galleries and museums to promote the film. He was given permission to place posters in the Orlando Museum of Art and the Menello Museum of Folk Arts, but only in their break rooms. Michael was able deliver flyers and posters the next day.
Michael was also able to talk to one of his teachers and she offered her students extra credit if they went to the festival and saw a movie, including ours. He was going to pitch the movie to the class but was unable to due to no time left after class.
None of the team members could attend the first screening but all three made it to the last. We all arrived about 2 hours before showtime and handed out remaining postcards and the last poster. We approached just about everyone who walked by. If people were just walking by, we tried to convince them to see the movie. If they were there to see a movie, but not sure which one, we advised ours. And if they were going to see another, we tried to get them to see ours instead. By that, we were able to get an extra 8 or 9 people in our screening. The result of focusing on a specific audience and crowd for the marketing of our film led to both of our screenings selling around 100 tickets each.
Timeline of Events
We were assigned the film on February 18, in which that week Andrew and Michael were able to watch it completely, however Darryl had problems playing the DVD and was not able to view a majority of the film. We came up with our target audience and key areas to promote the film by the 25th of February. We came up with a very rough outline of our marketing timeline. Next, Michael sent our filmmaker an email to get things started and see what materials we would have. He replied by the next day saying he would send posters and postcards. He also wanted us to use the trailer found on the film's official website. We decided as a group we would not have to create a blog because this site had all the necessary information. It had a synopsis, trailer, screening dates and times, and even a blog of it's own.
The films screenings were March 29 and April 1. We felt there wasn't too much we could do early so our main focus was two weeks before the screening, just enough time for people to plan ahead to see it. While we waited for our material to arrive, we began work on the online campaign. Andrew created a Facebook event on March 16th. Michael found the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival from March 20-22 where he and Andrew passed out postcards. Darryl researched schools and local establishments with potential interest in the film and we waited until it was closer to the festival to send them out. By March 23, those emails were sent. Darryl was also able to contact local art houses that permitted us to hang up poster and flyers within their break room. Michael was able to drop the materials off by March 26th. Finally, on the 2nd day of screening, all three members promoted the film outside the theater.
The proposed timeline we initially posted onto Basecamp seemed to follow the schedule in which we executed each action. The only difference within the schedules was the initial date we had planned on distributing collateral materials. Our timeline on Basecamp had us performing this a week prior to its actually execution date. However, we as a group decided against this and felt our film would be better received if we waited one more week to implement our marketing strategy.
The films screenings were March 29 and April 1. We felt there wasn't too much we could do early so our main focus was two weeks before the screening, just enough time for people to plan ahead to see it. While we waited for our material to arrive, we began work on the online campaign. Andrew created a Facebook event on March 16th. Michael found the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival from March 20-22 where he and Andrew passed out postcards. Darryl researched schools and local establishments with potential interest in the film and we waited until it was closer to the festival to send them out. By March 23, those emails were sent. Darryl was also able to contact local art houses that permitted us to hang up poster and flyers within their break room. Michael was able to drop the materials off by March 26th. Finally, on the 2nd day of screening, all three members promoted the film outside the theater.
The proposed timeline we initially posted onto Basecamp seemed to follow the schedule in which we executed each action. The only difference within the schedules was the initial date we had planned on distributing collateral materials. Our timeline on Basecamp had us performing this a week prior to its actually execution date. However, we as a group decided against this and felt our film would be better received if we waited one more week to implement our marketing strategy.
Ideas and Thoughts for Future Marketing
Had we been in the position to market for making money, I would have wanted the entire film to be in high definition. People want their films to visually impress them, and the times that the film had HD work looked absolutely amazing. At a film festival stand point, the variety of cameras was different and not normally seen in documentaries. The director has said in interviews that he liked the variety and wanted to use every format he had available.
Another challenge was that the father, Isaiah Zagar, and at times the mother, liked to be naked. This is how he is. But if you want to make money, don’t have him naked in part of the trailer. He also discuses nudity, as well as a gay experience he had as a child. This definitely made some uncomfortable in the theatre. Film festivals are normally a little more accepting, but if you want this shown in theatres and not have some walk out, cut out the nudity/gay experience.
Had we been in the position to market for festivals there were a few things we would have marketed differently. Getting people into the seats and getting people interested requires big time promoting. For example newspapers, magazines, while on top of that getting the director/or Isaiah into the theatre to do a Q/A would attract more people to the theatres. Having a producer show up is not as enticing to go. The final thing I would suggest is the very thing this class provided… free marketing. Students love being a part of something, and free marketing allows more people to hear about it.
Another challenge was that the father, Isaiah Zagar, and at times the mother, liked to be naked. This is how he is. But if you want to make money, don’t have him naked in part of the trailer. He also discuses nudity, as well as a gay experience he had as a child. This definitely made some uncomfortable in the theatre. Film festivals are normally a little more accepting, but if you want this shown in theatres and not have some walk out, cut out the nudity/gay experience.
Had we been in the position to market for festivals there were a few things we would have marketed differently. Getting people into the seats and getting people interested requires big time promoting. For example newspapers, magazines, while on top of that getting the director/or Isaiah into the theatre to do a Q/A would attract more people to the theatres. Having a producer show up is not as enticing to go. The final thing I would suggest is the very thing this class provided… free marketing. Students love being a part of something, and free marketing allows more people to hear about it.
In Conclusion
One of the main advantages of being a part of a major independent film festival is the satisfaction of the hard work put into the marketing of your film and the festival itself, and the positive results of your efforts. As avid moviegoers, every member of our group enjoyed watching movies being made by people who love making movies. Although, we were not able to attend many of the other films screenings within the festival, we were very satisfied with the documentaries we were able to help market and view.
The Florida Film Festival, itself, is growing as a major festival within the world of cinema and this year seemed to show no signs of slowing down. The audience that attended the screening of our film was extremely into the making and development of the film. We were able to attend the 2nd screening of In A Dream, where the producer was able to be present for a Q&A. Almost the entire audience of about 100 people, stayed after the screening to interact with the producer, with showing an overall love and enjoyment for the film. The staff and members of the Enzian were also extremely helpful and seem to enjoy having us be a part of the festival.
Through taking this course, we were able to learn the basics and fundamental roots of marketing and face-to-face interaction with nearby communities, organizations and institutions that love being informed of films that are made with passion, with concern for its content. As young future filmmakers we were able to get hands-on experience with what it actually takes to market a film, to become successful, for a independent film festival. Although we were not able to be that social within the festival, we were very satisfied with our film’s result and our efforts.
The Florida Film Festival, itself, is growing as a major festival within the world of cinema and this year seemed to show no signs of slowing down. The audience that attended the screening of our film was extremely into the making and development of the film. We were able to attend the 2nd screening of In A Dream, where the producer was able to be present for a Q&A. Almost the entire audience of about 100 people, stayed after the screening to interact with the producer, with showing an overall love and enjoyment for the film. The staff and members of the Enzian were also extremely helpful and seem to enjoy having us be a part of the festival.
Through taking this course, we were able to learn the basics and fundamental roots of marketing and face-to-face interaction with nearby communities, organizations and institutions that love being informed of films that are made with passion, with concern for its content. As young future filmmakers we were able to get hands-on experience with what it actually takes to market a film, to become successful, for a independent film festival. Although we were not able to be that social within the festival, we were very satisfied with our film’s result and our efforts.
Appendix
Contacts
-Jeremy Yaches, Producer
-Jon Jones, Florida Film Festival
-Randy Finch, Producer/Mentor
-Shannon Lacek
-Christine Vachon, Producer
-Rich Grula, Florida Film Festival
Poster
Official Website and Blog
Facebook Event
Florida Film Festival
Reviews
Jeremiah first feature documentary seemed to have a very respectable reception from major critics. His film was seen as an artistic portrayal of an artist that was captured very expressively and managed to mix the visual aspects of cinema and mosaic murals into one film. There were some negative reviews, but Jeremiah cinematic crafting of the documentary was still very respectable.
“Their lives are laid bare, in broken bits, like the ceramic that Isaiah uses for his art, and they come together in ‘In a Dream’ with sadness and beauty, rage and insight.”
-Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
31/2 stars.
“Bursting with vivid home movies and loving appreciations of Isaiah’s artwork…. ‘In a Dream’ abounds in visual pleasure.”
-Nathan Lee
NY Times
4 stars
“Director Jeremiah Zagar’s doc ‘In a Dream’ is described as a ‘a stunning portrait of love and betrayal and the strength of family bonds.”
- indieWIRE
“What’s onscreen is vivid and compelling…”
-Nathan Rabin
A.V. Club
Grade: B-
“...this documentation of the lives of a troubled artist…comes across like a mockumentary of cinematic self-discovery.”
- Eric Monder
Filmjournal.com
-Jeremy Yaches, Producer
-Jon Jones, Florida Film Festival
-Randy Finch, Producer/Mentor
-Shannon Lacek
-Christine Vachon, Producer
-Rich Grula, Florida Film Festival
Poster
Official Website and Blog
Facebook Event
Florida Film Festival
Reviews
Jeremiah first feature documentary seemed to have a very respectable reception from major critics. His film was seen as an artistic portrayal of an artist that was captured very expressively and managed to mix the visual aspects of cinema and mosaic murals into one film. There were some negative reviews, but Jeremiah cinematic crafting of the documentary was still very respectable.
“Their lives are laid bare, in broken bits, like the ceramic that Isaiah uses for his art, and they come together in ‘In a Dream’ with sadness and beauty, rage and insight.”
-Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
31/2 stars.
“Bursting with vivid home movies and loving appreciations of Isaiah’s artwork…. ‘In a Dream’ abounds in visual pleasure.”
-Nathan Lee
NY Times
4 stars
“Director Jeremiah Zagar’s doc ‘In a Dream’ is described as a ‘a stunning portrait of love and betrayal and the strength of family bonds.”
- indieWIRE
“What’s onscreen is vivid and compelling…”
-Nathan Rabin
A.V. Club
Grade: B-
“...this documentation of the lives of a troubled artist…comes across like a mockumentary of cinematic self-discovery.”
- Eric Monder
Filmjournal.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
