Jon Reiss

TOTBO Tip of the Day 14 Responsibilities of the PMD

Responsibilities of the PMD include:
1. Identify and engage with the audience for a film.
2. Development of a distribution and marketing strategy and plan for a film in conjunction with the entire team.
3. Create a budget for said plan.
4. Assemble and supervise the necessary team/crew elements to carry out the plan.
5. Audience outreach through organizations, blogs, social networking, online radio etc.
6. Supervise the creation of promotional and (if necessary due to the lack of a separate transmedia coordinator) trans media elements: including the films website script and concept for transmedia, production stills, video assets – both behind the scenes and trans media, promotional copy and art.
7. Outreach to potential distribution and marketing partners such as sponsors, promotional partners, various distribution entities, publicists.
8. When appropriate, engage the distribution process as designed.
9. Supervise the creation of deliverables.

My workshops start this week in London and next week in Amsterdam. Check out the TOTBO site for more information. Sign up for London HERE. Comment here or on my blog, or @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 13 Introducing the Producer of Marketing and Distribution or PMD

As a filmmaker, I have thought a lot of about complaints from filmmakers of all these new tasks that we are responsible for in distribution and marketing. And this is how I came up with the concept of the Producer of Marketing and Distribution or PMD. Just like you most likely did not make the film on your own, you should not be distributing and marketing the film on your own. I would argue that from now on, every film needs one person devoted to the distribution and marketing of the film from inception, just as they have a line producer, assistant director, or editor. I gave this crew position the official title of PMD since we need to train people to do this task, give classes in it, write books about it, just as people are educated (or learn on their own) to become DPs.

My workshops start this week in London and next week in Amsterdam. Check out the TOTBO site for more information. Sign up for London HERE. Comment here or on my blog, or @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jon Reiss Interview with Nat Mundel

This was published on voyagemedia.com today.

Author Jon Reiss on the Death of the Film Festival AND HIS BEST KEPT SECRETS THAT COULD MAKE YOUR NEXT INDIE FILM A SUCCESS!!

In his interview with Nat Mundel, independent filmmaker, author, and educator Jon Reiss unabashedly confirms one thing: the film festival acquisition model is dead or dying.

But Reiss hasn’t sat idly, waiting for his films to get picked up. Instead, he throws up his middle finger to would-be buyers. Taking matters into his own hands, Reiss has booked his own theater screenings for his film Bomb It across 27 cities, and has even sold bootleg DVDs of his film along the way (yes, he bootlegged his own film; in so many words, badass.)

Since 2007, Reiss has become one of the go-to experts on Do It Yourself (DIY) film distribution, publishing the DIY Bible Think Outside the Box Office in November of ’09. We got Reiss to open up about his book, his DIY workshops, and his predictions about the future of independent film.

Watch and listen for 4 major tips to get your next indie film project an audience before you even lens up.

The Producer of Marketing and Distribution

This is my article published on screendaily.com.

The Producer of Marketing and Distribution
BY JON REISS

In my first guest column for Screen Daily in November of last year, I introduced what I call the new 50/50. This idea is to convey to filmmakers that half of their work is making the film, half of their work is connecting the film to an audience.

As a filmmaker, I know how difficult adopting these new tasks of marketing and distribution are. I also know how they can interfere with making new films – and there have been a fair amount of complaints lately from filmmakers about being responsible for doing this additional work.

However, just like most filmmakers do not make their films on their own, they should not be distributing and marketing those films on their own. I would argue that from now on, every film needs one person devoted to the distribution and marketing of the film from inception, just as they have a line producer, assistant director, or editor. This person is part of your team from inception, not tacked on at the end of the process.

This is why last autumn, just before sending Think Outside the Box Office to print, I came up with the concept of the Producer of Marketing and Distribution or the PMD. I gave this crew position an official title of PMD because without an official position, this work will continue to not get done. I gave this position the title of producer because it is that important. (For someone learning the ropes, you can start them at coordinator then move them up to associate producer and so on).

Creating a crew position will cause people to seek jobs as a PMD, train to become a PMD, apprentice as a PMD just as people do this for any film crew position. (I’ve already received emails from people excited to become PMDs.) Without a title, it won’t happen. The creation of this crew position should spur schools and institutes to create curriculums in order to train people to fill this role and other people will write books about it (just as there are a plethora of books on how to be a line producer).

I look forward to a near future in which filmmakers/directors will be able to put out calls for PMDs just as they do for DPs and Editors – and that they will get an equal volume of applications. Directors will develop long term relationships with PMDs that “get them” just as they do with DPs, Editors, and Producers etc.

Responsibilities of the PMD include:

1. Identify and engage with the audience for a film.

2. Development of a distribution and marketing strategy and plan for a film in conjunction with the entire team.

3. Create a budget for said plan.

4. Assemble and supervise the necessary team/crew elements to carry out the plan.

5. Audience outreach through organizations, blogs, social networking, online radio etc.

6. Supervise the creation of promotional and (if necessary due to the lack of a separate transmedia coordinator) trans media elements: including the films website script and concept for transmedia, production stills, video assets – both behind the scenes and trans media, promotional copy and art.

7. Outreach to potential distribution and marketing partners such as sponsors, promotional partners, various distribution entities, publicists.

8. When appropriate, engage the distribution process as designed.

9. Supervise the creation of deliverables.

I have created a number of educational activities to help recognize the creation of this position and help filmmakers take control of the distribution and marketing of their films. The first was the book mentioned above which I feel is the first training manual for the PMD. The second is a distribution and tools website www.ultimatefilmguides.com. Finally, I am beginning a series of Think Outside the Box Office (TOTBO) Workshops throughout the world kicking off in London next week on May 8&9 followed by Amsterdam, New York, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco and Boston. All of these resources should help define the position and the duties of the PMD and I encourage filmmakers to take advantage of these opportunities to learn and grow in their abilities and their craft.

Book Review: Think Outside the Box Office by Jon Reiss

From Jake Thomas | Blogcritics.org

Book Review: Think Outside the Box Office by Jon Reiss

Let me save a few of you some time. If you are at all considering creating or producing an independent film, stop reading right now and just go ahead and buy this book. Jon Reiss’s Think Outside the Box Office is not only well-researched but well lived in, as Reiss himself has used many of these techniques with his graffiti documentary Bomb It. It’s an invaluable resource for strategizing what to do with your film once you’ve made it. Though not always uber-detailed, it does provide a fairly exhaustive layout for how to market yourself and your film in this age of ever-evolving digital media landscape. It also has plenty of references for further information and a website that is a frequently updated resource for more advanced research.

Read the full review…