Media Matters

Lots to do before I catch a flight to L.A. in a few days to complete post production on the film. So far every phase of Beautiful Noise took place here on the Suncoast...but the one thing I can't do here in Sarasota is add Dolby Surround Sound to all the audio tracks...which is such a huge thing for a Musical...so I'm SoCal-bound soon to direct the Final Mix of a Musical-Drama that I'm extremely proud of. But first, I'm editing the opening & end credits; presiding over a crucial Sarasota & St Pete film festival marketing meeting Friday so our BN Team can help our movie get the most mileage out of our Official Selections to these great events; and I'm finishing off the week preparing for the media onslaught that's about to take place.

Tomorrow morning I'll appear live on Sarasota's WTMY 1280 AM to promote the film and the April 1st Beautiful Noise Live! Concert - then I'll work with Mandy on copy for the radio spots and discuss the upcoming slate of print and TV interviews lined up for Jay, Danielle, Kimber and me. It's really great watching the media sources from Ft Myers to Venice and from Sarasota to St Pete getting so charged up about BN. Shooting the film entirely on location here in southwest Florida automatically gets the media's attention...but now that word is seeping out that we might have a 'sleeper hit' on our hands just serves to create an even bigger buzz. A positive response from our hometown audiences and media will go a long, long way to help me showcase BN around the country and indeed in overseas markets.

Mandy and I attended the Sarasota Film Festival's Sponsors & Media Reception yesterday and we were greeted warmly by the film fest folks and local feature writers. Everyone is anxious to see the movie. I still couldn't believe my eyes when I paged through the Film Guide that listed all the Movies, Documentaries and Shorts set to screen at the SFF. Most every film is being screened twice, but Beautiful Noise was the only one scheduled for a record-setting six showcases from April 9 to 17. I knew we had a shot to make the cut to get into this world-class film festival...but I never dreamed we'd be embraced the way we are...and our 7:00 April 9 World Premiere screening is already Sold Out! Pretty cool stuff...

As to the publicity side of things, don't let anybody kid you...the media matters. It's important for you up-and-coming indie filmmakers to work hard to meet with every media source of any kind that's willing to discuss your film. From the terrific local newspapers to the TV stations right down to the high school radio stations...you just have to work tirelessly to promote your film whenever the opportunity presents itself. It's all an indie production can do just to make the film...so in most cases there's zero budget for marketing. Don't let that sobering thought depress you. Tweet and Facebook your tail off like there's no tomorrow and accept every invitation to talk about your movie. You can get the word out and you can find the audience for your film...but you have to be as relentless to get the attention of the media as you were to get your movie made. Actually, even more so.

One look in the mirror tells me I need to get my tan together fast and lose the bags under my eyes before our World Premiere and the media spotlight shines on us. That brief window of media attention has to help us launch our movie and build for the future...so I suspect that it might be helpful to the cause if the writer/producer/director of the film looks vibrant and is able to articulate all the wonders of making Beautiful Noise without dropping off to sleep in the middle of an interview!

Gotta pace myself. Once the sprint of completing post production is over next week...it's right back to running the marathon of marketing the film. It's a race that needs to be won and there are no shortcuts. Just peaks and valleys to negotiate. I'm thankful I grew up playing ice hockey. Indie filmmaking is a full contact sport...and vivid memories of those winning, ultra-competitive years of my youth guide and serve me well today on this Beautiful Noise Journey.