We Are The Mods: FInal Report

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

1.) PROJECT INTRODUCTION

2.) SYNOPSIS and BRIEF HISTORY

3.) MARKETING WORK

4.) CALENDAR

5.) FUTURE MARKETING STRATEGY

6.) CONCLUSION

7.) APPENDIX

1) Project Introduction

Working in collaboration with the Florida Film Festival, the spring 2009 “film producer” class played host to a relatively new concept in independent film marketing. Student groups from the class were given the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge to help market one of twenty independently financed films and documentaries selected for this years festival circuit.

The purpose of the class was threefold and beneficial to all parties involved, for it not only allowed the film students minor access and experience in the industry but it also provided the independent filmmakers with a free labor source to market their films as well as increasing the rate of attendance, and subsequent revenue, at the festival itself.

The majority of the class was spent preparing the student groups for their upcoming task. Along with multiple guest lectures from people in the business; such as Christine Vachon, Richard Grula, Shannon Lacek and Mathew Curtis, the class was also designed to provide insights into various marketing strategies. Some of these strategies included the use of online advertising, the creation of blog sites, and an overall coverage of guerilla-style street marketing.

The members of our team included Jarrod Cain (Cinema Studies major, graduating May 2009), Salvatore Depasquale (Cinema Studies major, graduating spring 2010), and Alex Figueroa (Cinema Studies major, graduating May 2009). The film that our group was assigned to market is a film by debut artist E.E. Cassidy called “We Are the Mods.” The film was produced by Cassidy and Robert Poswall, and written by Cassidy and Bruce Pavalon. This final report was intended to reflect upon our group’s failures & successes, likes & dislikes, what worked vs. what didn’t, and our overall experience with this particular assignment.

2) Synopsis & Brief History

When some kids are looking for their future, they turn to the things of the past. Sadie, a subdued, college-bound photographer, couldn’t stand to enlarge her world. She finds the perfect opportunity to expand her horizons in Nico, a fellow student who introduces her to an entirely new subculture; including the joys of ska, scooters, and the usual teenage vices of drugs and sex. A much more important influence, however, is her new friend’s confidence. Nico’s ability to navigate the world with cool determination despite the burden of Milroy’s disease (which gives her an enlarged foot and necessitates the use of a cane) begins to rub off on Sadie, who gets both an emotional and sartorial makeover. “Don’t be a victim, and never look a victim,” is one of Nico’s rules. While this fun and fresh film showcases mod style and features one of the hippest scores you’ll ever hear, it’s not just a fashion show but also a warm, realistic story of two girls sticking together in a difficult world.

Set in an urban Las Angeles background, a young nerdy student of photography is removed from her seemingly dampened life and struggles to find her true identity after befriending an extroverted, coke snorting, bisexual girl whose influences lead them both to the discovery of true friendship.

This is E.E. Cassidy’s debut film. The Sunday showing at the Regal Winter Park Village on March 29^th was the ‘World Premiere’ for this film. “We Are the Mods” was independently produced by Robert Poswall and Cassidy, and did not require the aid of a distribution company.

3) Marketing Work

Our initial marketing strategy was composed of a number of different elements that we hoped would attract attention. The film itself was surprisingly bare in terms of content, and our main target audience would be Mods. But since the people who practice this lifestyle are not quite widespread or high in volume, we needed to place some focus on separate sub-audiences. After studying the film and exploring its strengths we discovered four main hooks that we were going to push throughout the entire marketing process, including scooters, mod fashion, the gay and lesbian crowd, and the soundtrack. Given the fact that the soundtrack was the most enticing hook in the film, we originally planned on centering everything around it, but early on we received news from the filmmaker that due to some licensing issues they were having in Las Angeles we were not allowed to market the music. Needless to say, we had to modify our strategy to overcome this loss.

Other than exploiting these hooks, our initial marketing plan also consisted of online advertising using myspace and facebook, the creation of a g-mail account and blog site (since their was no pre-existing website prior to the screening of this film), a radio announcement or interview, and the cultivation of an extensive network of local street interaction. Coming to grips with the reality that our film contained no name actors, no distribution, little workable content, no marketing budget, and practically no physical marketing tools (flyers, posters, exc.), we realized that the most effective way to market this particular film was by using primarily street tactics. Taking these factors into account, we felt that it would be unwise to rely on tactics that would most likely end up in failure; but by relying on street tactics we could ensure face to face contact with many people of varying demographics.

Despite these uncontrollable setbacks, we were able to keep in regular contact with the filmmaker via email. It was this communication that allowed our team to have a single flyer from the filmmaker in hand before spring break. Although we were only able to acquire one flyer, we used this flyer effectively by breaking it down into all of its components, such as its images and information, in order to construct our own flyers, posters, and other creative media.

Apart from face to face interaction, a large portion of our marketing effort went into online advertising. Our online marketing was based on finding the demographic that most closely matched our film such as gays, lesbian, and mod fashion. We chose to pay per click, which was the most economic way because we paid for the people clicking on the ad instead of paying for every time the ad was displayed to a user. Using Facebook as a tool, we were able to procure an effective rate of thirty seven clicks over a twelve day period.

Altogether, we managed to spread the word effectively to the target audiences whether in person, on the web, or by visual aids and posters. Each of us is very pleased with the work we put into this project, and our strategies proved to be effective in most regards. At the Q & A with the filmmaker, the audience raved about all aspects of the film. Unfortunately for us they raved mostly about the soundtrack. Despite our many uncontrollable hindrances, we collectively feel proud of the work we accomplished as a team, and although our lack of experience in this area of filmmaking limited our abilities, we made up for it in hard work and determination.

Jarrod Cain:

Apart from being somewhat of a foreman regarding the stimulation of our work, I was also responsible for maintaining an organized marketing campaign. After creating a g-mail account specifically for this film, I stayed in frequent contact with the filmmaker E.E. Cassidy, asking her questions, providing updates, and sharing information. I also corresponded regularly with my team, organizing dates, names, tasks, and possible outcomes. Despite my administrative duties I was also part of the creative aspect of this film. I designed the flyer that was used during our local, interactive operation, and I was responsible for printing the required media, including approximately 1000 flyers and ten posters. I was also responsible for creating the “We Are the Mods” t-shirt that our group members wore during the campaign. Although the frontal image was taken from the flyer sent by the filmmaker, the concept and its subsequent success can be attributed to our team. On Sunday March 22^nd, I began my face to face interactions with the people of the Winter Park area. My specific goal was to exploit the ‘mod fashion’ hook of our marketing strategy; so I visited four vintage clothing stores in that area, targeting them specifically for their beneficial locations. I went to the Banana Republic, Dechoes, Déjà vu Vintage Clothing, and Oldies but Goodies. Apart from face to face interactions, I also tagged numerous car windshields and left copies at the stores for walk-in interests. I also took the liberty of calling two radio stations in order to further our advertisement in mass, but I was unsuccessful in securing an interested host. In regards to our post-marketing work, I was responsible for putting together the power point presentation for our oral report, as well as consolidating, compiling, and printing this final report.

Alex Figueroa:

I worked doing certain creative aspects of the process such as designing the posters, websites and facebook ads. Because of the limited art work given by the filmmaker we decided to create new images to advertise the film. I created a poster that represented mod fashion and that attracted the viewer’s eye to a focal point on the poster by adding photos and graphics. Another poster was created to give an idea to the viewer about the film by using colors to complement the images. In each poster I listed the information that was absolutely needed such as location, screening dates, and times. In addition, I created a Myspace profile that described the film. I contacted people that were interested in the mod culture; however, I was not successful. People were not very interested in being contacted by unsolicited advertising, and I received little or no attention from the people that became friends. I also collaborated in handing out flyers at Regal Cinema.

Salvatore Depasquale:

My responsibilities during the course of this semester, involved street advertising, conversing and persuading, and putting together some of the internet works. Most of my contribution was physically speaking with people. First, I met with Jon Jones about the flyers’ the filmmaker had made to advertise her world premiere. Also, I went out into the town to tell individuals and companies about our film. I visited many places, and at each one, the owner’s were always willing to assist me. Whether it was to hang a poster or keep a stack of flyers to handout to customers – I came across only the most helpful people. Since we did not devise specific places to advertise, I had to drive around and search for those pertaining to the target audiences we concluded from the film. The locations I went to include: Ride Green Scooters, Frames Forever, the Art Gallery, Vespa, Back Booth, Austin’s Café and Film, The New Phoenix, and UCF. Aside from individual handouts and posters, I also spent many hours tagging garages and parking lots with flyers for our film. These garages and lots were located at Rollins College, Downtown Orlando, as well as UCF. Not only did I go out on my own, but as a group we also went around the Regal Winter Park Village for some time before the first screening for last minute advertising, which we were quite successful in. I also took it upon myself to print out more handouts since I was going through them so fast. Throughout the course of the project I printed approximately 450 handouts. Another contribution I made to my group was taking care of the blogs we used. I assembled the “We Are the Mods” blog, my group utilized to direct people to all the information for the film and the screenings. Lastly, I created the blog to showcase this final report.

4) Calendar

One of the most successful aspects of our marketing experience was our ability to stay on schedule according to our original marketing timeline. Although most of the work took place within the two weeks leading up to the first screening, this was in no way unexpected or unplanned. We achieved everything we set out to do according to our initial strategy, as well as adding to it some aspects that were not conceived at the outset of our campaign.

Timeline (in list format)

-March 6^th

pick up flyer from the Enzian

-March 14^th

creation of a Myspace website for online advertising

-March 17^th

creation of the first draft of the posters

-March 18^th

creation of the second draft of the posters

creation of a blog site for the film

(wearethemodsmovie.blogspot.com)

-March 19^th

creation of a usable flyer

-March 20^th

copies made of flyers and posters

t-shirts designed and produced

-March 21^st

Sonny’s local circuit

creation of a Facebook advertising account

-March 22^nd

Jarrod’s local circuit

call radio stations

-March 28^th

Alex’s local circuit

-March 29^th

world premiere screening at the Regal Winter Park Village

-April 1^st

second screening at the Enzian

5) Future Marketing Strategy

We found the content of the film to be the most challenging aspect regarding our marketing strategy. The film simply did not have the material needed to attract large groups of people. However, it was our job to look beyond the actual film in order to enhance those few attractive elements that it did have. The hooks that we found, although comparatively weak in terms of the actual film, were exploited to their fullest potential in order to attract our very small target audience.

One of the biggest setbacks occurred when we received instructions not to market the soundtrack due to licensing issues. This was a major blow to our initial marketing plan because we had centered our campaign around the music of the film. We initially wanted to use this hook as a means to attract radio attention, but our inability to provide the necessary musical information resulted in our failure to interest the radio stations we contacted.

Oddly enough, one of our most successful marketing techniques was the creation of a t-shirt. The “We Are the Mods” t-shirt attracted attention to our cause while providing the necessary information concerning the festival. We effectively became a walking advertisement, and the louder we made ourselves, the more people became interested. We discovered that people have a tendency to relate to a shirt better than a piece of paper because a shirt has value and is something that can be worn over and over again.

If we were in a position to fund a film like “We Are the Mods” with the single motivation of making money, we would demand that the film be approached from a more daring angle. By taking bold steps, such as maximizing the amount of teen sex and drug use, we would hopefully stir up enough controversy and appeal among the public. The phrase “sex sells” would be applicable to the films content while enhancing the attraction of our target audience. We would also request that the film choose either an R rating or a PG-13 rating instead of balancing between the two. In other words, instead of jumping between the two ratings throughout the film, the filmmaker should go all out on either one or the other. Also, if this film was purely made to generate a profit, the filmmaker should incorporate a stellar soundtrack that would be attractive to a mass population (which she did), and also a celebrity or a well-known name. This was the first film for most of the actors, and they were all unrecognizable.

If we worked for a distribution company and were given the task to win attention and awards at film festivals, we would probably suggest the same things stated above. The problem with this film isn’t that it is a particularly bad film; the problem is that it is lacking. The film does touch on subjects and content that are intriguing, such as teen sex, drugs, mod fashion, teen rebellion, coming of age, exc., but each one of these categories are just barely scrapped upon in the film. The filmmaker tries hard not to push that cinematic edge that separates one film from another – a scene from one film compared with a similar scene from another. By taking what the film does have and maximizing its potential on screen, the filmmaker can finally cross that boundary between films that are “just ok” to films that are either really good or really bad.

Some advice we would give to the filmmaker regarding the marketing of their future films would be to exploit the reliability of recurring themes. Instead of changing their style of filmmaking as suggested above, the filmmaker should incorporate recurring themes, such as gay and lesbian tendencies, in order to procure a fan base. Fan base’s are a reliable source of information regarding the success and failure of a film, and by selecting themes that are already popular that fan base will expand. Also, the soundtrack was the most attractive aspect of the movie. So by further exploiting the music in the film, the people marketing it can reach a much wider and much larger demographic than we did.

6) Conclusion

Jarrod Cain:

This experience, although fairly stressful, has also been fairly useful. Unlike a student film or class project, we were responsible, in large part, for the success and failure of someone’s actual feature film. Since this responsibility extends outside of school boundaries and into the professional world I have gained practical knowledge concerning not only the marketing of an independent film, but also incites into the production of such a film. I learned that the marketing for a film should be one of the first elements considered instead of the last as many people believe. The most important job of the producer is to ultimately attract attention and to get butts in the seats, so it is important to look at one’s film from this point of view before, during, and after production. This experience has also improved my skills regarding teamwork. My work ethic and frame of mind usually comes to the forefront in any team project I participate in, and I habitually assume most of the work in order to give me peace of mind concerning the final grade. Even though I assumed a large part of the work for this project, I still kept in regular contact with the other members and we all chipped in reasonably equally in the end.

Alex Figueroa:

I have learned that selling a film can be a difficult task to achieve, but having a good team to work with makes it much easier. Also, I have learned that researching a film before you actually sell it is crucial, and it’s important to know the market for your film. When pitching the film, it is important to be familiar with every aspect of its story in order to convince the people that there is entertainment value in the film that you are selling. Consequently, the elements of our success in selling the film “We are the Mods” was planning and preparation.

Salvatore Depasquale:

Enrolling in The Film Producer course has allowed me to learn a separate aspect of film, which I have not been taught in such detail before. In my time here at UCF, most of my education has been placed in the process of developing a film. Finally, I have been given some insight and experience into the business side of the entertainment industry, and I now possess the tools to effectively market a film. Defining a film’s target audiences, and knowing how to spread the word to them – is a skill in which I now have a foundation. Also, I was given the opportunity to work with an up-and-coming filmmaker, E.E. Cassidy (director of “We are the Mods”). Along the way, I also met some helpful individuals; those who worked as well as volunteered for the festival. The two that stand out are Jon Jones, who assisted me with the filmmakers’ flyers; and a volunteer named Barbara, who became familiar with our group and provided us with tallies at both screenings. Besides those who were affiliated with the festival, I also received help from the local companies and stores. Every store and location I visited to street-advertise was happy to help in some way. This was truly a fulfilling experience, which I do not take for granted. I leave with the knowledge and tools to market mine or other’s films using different forms including internet ads. The entertainment industry is changing and the world is becoming more global as well as internet based. This course was able to teach guerilla marketing with a mixture of both in-person and online advertising. Thank you to all who made this a wonderful semester.

7) Appendix

Our first screening time was on Sunday March 29^th, and we were able to attract 47 spectators. Our second screening, which was on Wednesday April 1^st, that number dropped to about 45 spectators. Without statistical knowledge of prior festival attendance rates and given the enormous marketing challenge that we faced from the outset of this campaign we as a group felt confident and content with the numbers our film brought in.

Notable figures:

-E.E. Cassidy (second screening), Jon Jones, Randy Finch, Nick Martinolich, Richard Grula, Melia Renee (actress), Lance Drake (actor).

Links to reviews and press about the film and filmmaker:

-E.E. Cassidy's article on Filmmaker Magazine

-Mod Culture highlight of the film

-Orlando Sentinel article on We are the Mods

MySpace Website: created by Alex Figueroa