The Book Blog

Changes in filmmaking technologies have created more filmmakers, more films and more documentaries than ever before. A similar revolution has occured in film marketing. The Internet has made it easier than ever for a film to find its audience even before its finished. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and FARENHEIT 911 are all examples of films which found their market without going through the mass media first.

The following are suggestions that worked for those films and they will work for yours as well. How well they work will have a great deal to do with how much time you spend analyzing your market and planning your attack . . .

Know your fans. One thing filmmakers hate is being told to create movies people will “like”. Independent filmmakers make movies because they have something important or interesting to say and they aren’t going to invest all that time and energy pandering to strangers they don’t even know. The good news is, you don’t have to. Once your film is finished, or almost finished, sit down and figure out who is going to like it. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING was perfectly suited to the Greek community. These were people this population knew and situations they understood. So is it any surprise that the filmmakers decided to open the film first in Greek communities? Or that they made a specific effort to target those communities through their newspapers, their theaters and their churches? THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST made its first appearance on rickety screens in parish halls where people sat in folding chairs to watch it. Farenheit 911 appeared first before “liberal audiences” who already accepted its premise. Subsequent success from all these films came from making those first reviews the best they could be. Give your film the same good fortune.

Seek flattery . . . or controversy. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING turned its small fire into a huge blaze by showing it to influential audiences in Hollywood, Cannes, Aspen and elsewhere. Those media magnates loved it, told one another, told the world that this was the first of a new breed of independent films. It didn’t have big stars. It didn’t have a big budget. But it did have a big heart. PASSION OF THE CHRIST and FARENHEIT 911 both thrived on controversy. PASSION OF THE CHRIST was an unabashedly Christian film in a nation embattled over religion. It was bloody, violent, showcased torture, and didn’t protray Jews (or Romans for that matter) in a particularly favorable light. For all the people who hated the film for those reasons, others loved it. And many, many more saw the film to make up their own minds. FARENHEIT 911, and its progenitor Michael Moore, was so well hated . . . the Political Right practically sold the film to the American public and to audiences overseas. O’Reilly “advertised” the show for weeks in daily rants. Tucker Carlson mentioned it so often he should have received product placement revenue. When your film is finished, and its gotten its share of great reviews, don’t be afraid to put it in the hands of the folks who will hate it completely. You’d be surprised how that energy can churn sales.

Go wide, but not too wide. When a film is bad, it goes into wide distribution immediately. The studios try to book it into as many theaters as possible as fast as possible because its only going to have one week in theaters. When a film is good . . . get it into theaters where it will do its best and then contact theater owners as it gains market share. Make sure they see the reviews. Make sure they see the trailers. Consider working with digital cinemas which can display films created and edited in digital media. Independent feature films have some advantages over studio films. You can draw people to specific theaters or theater chains, and you can execute some unique “co-marketing” agreements that the studios can’t compete with. Exhibitors are struggling to maintain their market share. You make that easier for them when you give them a film not every theater can show.

Key to all these strategies is to carefully analyze your distribution options from a financial perspective. Distribution through large film distributors may seem like the Holy Grail, but you are giving control over your film’s distribution to virtual strangers along with a substantial percentage of your profits. Consider paying cash up front to execute a “distribution service agreement” with folks like FREESTYLE or ROCKY MOUNTAIN. You’ll retain more of the back end on your film and you’ll end up with more control over its release. If you can create and fund a feature film for hundreds of thousands or millions you can create and fund a rational distribution plan as well. No film is really finished until it has reached its audience.

Start your marketing while your film is still in preproduction. Storyboard your trailers just as you do the rest of your film film. Make sure they sell the “sizzle” that made you decide to do it in the first place.

Viral marketing for a film or documentary is relatively easy for filmmakers who can stay true to their vision for a film, demand good production values, and take time to really understand their audience.

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This is a problem in my SAT practice book that I just don’t get. I don’t get the other remainder ones either. Can anybody do it out and explain it step-by-step?

Thanks!

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Brand new book, not used!
They r not used!

My mom is the author and she got them from her publisher.

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This book was slated to be released in January 2008 and yet it is still not available anywhere. I called the book distributor and they told me that the release was “canceled” but they had no further details. Coldsmith has a series of successful books (28 released so far, not including this one) so I don’t know why it would be canceled. Anyone have any information?

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Condition: Acceptable
Seller’s Comments: This is an unread book with poor DJ. Guaranteed good reading copy. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler. Has remainder mark.~

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Few books have rocked the publishing world like Rush Limbaugh’s “The Way Things Ought To Be” (which he wrote by utilizing “talent on loan from God”.) This book, along with author’s daily radio program, literally launched a revolution – touching everything from the composition of Congress in 1994 to the resurrection of AM talk radio. Unlike his second book, “See, I Told You So”, which deals in great part with the infant Clinton administration and the current events of the early 1990’s, “The Way Things Ought To Be” is just what its title suggests – a point-by-point analysis of what ails America. The first four chapters of the book tackle Rush’s personal road to success, the birth of his nationally-syndicated radio show, and the groundswell of popular support that rose up to embrace it.

The remainder of the book deals with timeless issues such as abortion, defending the 1980’s (and specifically Ronald Reagan’s record), AIDS, congressional malfeasance, animal rights, radical environmentalism, multiculturalism, feminism, the homeless, and Hollywood elitists. For the most part, all of these issues are at the forefront of the national debate to this day, making “The Way Things Ought To Be” as relevant for our time as when it was first published.

Concluding his book, Rush inserts a special chapter titled “Ronald Reagan: Setting Things Straight”. Here, he tells the true story of the 1980’s and the Reagan presidency, one you will never hear from your friends in the mainstream media. The book ends with an optimistic look at where the nation is headed, as well as a section titled “The Limbaugh Lexicon” that acts as a dictionary for people unfamiliar with the show and its unique vocabulary. In short, the Maha Rushie (in collaboration with Bo Snerdley) writes a book certain to leave feminazis and environmentalist wackos across the Fruited Plain on the near brink of assuming room temperature as they read statements that are documented to be almost always right; 97.9 percent of the time!

If you love The Rush Limbaugh Show, this book is a treasured classic. If you’ve never heard the show, then this book may well be the method by which you are drawn in. So be warned… Read this book only on the condition that you’re prepared to become an EIB (Excellence In Broadcasting) addict – the only healthful addiction known to man!

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Searching for bona fide wholesalers is one of the biggest obstacles an EBay seller or store owner faces today. With millions of sellers going all over the Internet in this search, their products are just as diverse. Today, EBay sellers look to make a schilling off wholesale evening dresses, wholesale wedding favors, wholesale baskets, and wholesale handbags like Balenciaga and Prada. Because of the high demand, many sellers opt for finding national wholesale liquidators that sell wholesale sources with the additional service of drop shipping these products right to your door. EBay auctions can also be helped tremendously by these drop shippers.

On the flip side, typing wholesale catalogs free or a phrase like wholesale clothing to leads to plenty of scam sources. There are lots of e-books out there that claim to have lists of 1000s of drop shippers, a lot of them who expired or lost their licenses a long time ago. These wholesale list e-books have earned a rep as being dishonest with dead links to leading people like us to dirt cheap products no one would buy in bulk like key chains and teacups. Also, these wholesale sources do not sell the handbags and clothing were looking for. A search for wholesale clothes may even lead to e-books written by agents who work with the real wholesalers directly and pass the products on to you at marked up prices.

If you want to find true national wholesale liquidators and wholesale clothing suppliers, you have to put the work in. Many sellers spend lots of time finding a trustful person to work alongside of. Many times, sellers even go to the product manufacturer t themselves and ask for drop shipping services. Also, you might have to negotiate and look for deals to have these companies drop ship those wholesale beads, wholesale baskets, and wholesale clothing. Wholesale Prada handbags and other popular brands are harder to find though, but it is possible.

If you want to find wholesale evening dresses and wholesale beads, one excellent place to look is through the Yellow Pages. Close to all land based stores have listings in this bona fide directory. Searches can be made both locally and nationally. Also, sites like surplus.net has an exceptional supply of surplus items at cheaper prices than average with up to 80% savings, making for a nice tidy profit. In addition, wholesale suppliers can be located at alibaba.com (rife with scams; tread carefully), exportbureay.com, ec21.com, and globalsources.com. If you are fortunate enough, you can find wholesale people who work the third shift and are the real manufacturers of the product you are asking for.

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how many of each are bought

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