Your Stage : How Do You Stand Out from the Crowd? by Joe Becker

not sure...is this where you come in with advice or a service?!..

Target-who is your audience? where are there? how do you get to them? The film industry is not different from any other business-you need to market. But you have to answer those questions & more in order to figure out just what you should be doing to promote.

im most interested in finding out how to network in and around festivals...any advice, anyone?

I was really hoping people would share their experiences so we could all learn. I'm watching THE HUNGER GAMES promotions. phenomenal. if you don't have three wildly successful books you are turning into movies, you probably won't get the same results. but, we can learn from what others are doing. if you have some unique things you've done to promote your movie, this is where you can tell your story.

for networking, always carry plenty of business cards. hand them out like water. but, more important than handing out your business card, get people's business cards. also, you might try mobile marketing. you can get a 90210 address - have people text yourword to 90210 and they get your prewritten message. for example, if you text movieman to 90210 you will get my contact info. but, you could have a message promoting your movie premier, half off tickets, website... or whatever message you want to send. you get notified of each person who texts. then, you can send a message to all those people who've texted your word to 90210. they can opt out at any time. but, iv they are fans, they won't want to do that. if you don't inundate them with texts, and just keep them updated and give them insider info, they'll feel important. they'll feel like they're a part of something cool. that is one way of building a fan base. works for bands, restaurants, jewelry stores... pretty much anything that you want to promote. people think it's cool. so, it goes over well at a festival or trade show

I am going to keep coming back here Joe. Your sharing some gold nuggets!! Thank you. C

How about if you're trying to get spec scripts noticed. Any advice specific to that?

if you have a script you think has potential, get it to a producer. a producer's job is to get funding for the film. THIS PARAGRAPH IS WHERE YOU SHOULD START I suggest you first write a synopsis, log line, an introduction to your top three to five characters, and a treatment. use those tools to get a producer interested. ----- you can send the full script to producers once they show interest. always get a signed NDA and make sure your work is copyrighted and registered with the writer's guild before sharing. be prepared to put together a complete investor's packet. that would include all of the above plus a budget, exit strategy, distribution deal, letters of intent, photos and bios from actors... it's good to have a website. the more impressive the better. since you are a writer, you might just have a blog, or a website that is text heavy. but, you can hire an artist and have storyboards made. or at least a few frames of the story. or a poster. a picture is worth a thousand words. showing is better than telling. also, use pull quotes and blurbs. grab some compelling dialogue from the script for your pull quotes. use great lines from what people are saying about your script for your blurbs. try to put yourself in the buyer's shoes. what would make you want to buy? what would get you interested in the script? the more compelling you make your plea, the better chance you have at a sale. eventually, you will go from mail and email to phone and in person contacts. enthusiasm sells. be excited about your project. if you aren't, no one else will be. as with anything else that's big, break it into small pieces, do it a step at a time, and it will all get done. if it's all too much, partner up with someone who can catch your vision and share it with others. don't be afraid to hire people to do the things you can't. and finally, I'm a producer and would love to see your log line and synopsis

Thank you for the advice, Joe. I have several specs, 4 on InkTip. If the spirit moves you, I will be glad to email the log lines and synopses of all 4. My site: Storyartisan.wordpress.com. Genres: SciFi, ActAdv, Horror and a combo of both.

Check out www.onefatsheep.com for digital and cultural marketing plus how transmedia plays a key role on is !

Puerto Rico is a US territory, so you don't need a passport, and they have wonderful film incentives. you could shoot really cheap. if I was going to develop one of your stories, I'd start with that one

I'll be glad to shoot you an email with the logline and one page on Uncharted Darkness, Joe. Let's exchange emails! My email is Scriptmama@gmail.com Looking forward. :)