Jon Reiss

Jon Reiss to Speak at UFVA Conference August 11th, 12th

This month I will be appearing at the University Film and Video Conference which is being held at Champlain College in Burlington VT. Both presentations will center around the core Think Outside the Box Office (TOTBO) principles with an emphasis on how and why to teach this material to film students. I have a solo presentation on Wednesday afternoon and am on a panel with Linda Brown Dave Grotell and Andy Opel on Wednesday. I will focus on how the distribution and marketing landscape has shifted and that film schools must teach their students how to connect to audience: Teaching only how to make films is no longer enough. In addition I will focus on how filmmakers need to become more entrepeneurial, focus on career as opposed to project development and finally – of course – the creation of a new crew position – the Producer of Marketing and Distribution – and that we need to teach how to be a PMD in film school (and business schools) and what that curriculum might look like. If you are coming to UFVA – I hope to see you there!

Totbo Twitter Question Winner 2: What Skills Does a PMD Need

From @Jakestetler #dist2010 What skills and/or experience do you look for in a great PMD for a film project?
I chose this because I really love when I see people adopting the PMD concept. I love this because I see this as one of the keys toward helping filmmakers cope with their new responsibilities of distribution and marketing, while understanding that they have a film to make:

A PMD should have good sales and marketing experience, should be a good salesperson, personable, good on the phone, enthusiastic. Those qualities will usually mean that they they most likely have a love of social media and connecting with people on line and in person. Additional good qualities: organized, hard worker, gets stuff done, has an understanding of the distribution world, a good numbers sense.

Alternatively especially on very small films – should posses the qualities the filmmaker does not. Eg if the filmmaker is already a good salesperson but is scattered – a PMD should be organized and focused almost more than anything.

Time to start the PMD Academy. The first step of the PMD Academy will be www.ultimatefilmguides.com. A centralized hub of information and resources about distribution and marketing.