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THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX: LORIE MARSH
Last week on the newsletter I posted a request for Sundance-bound filmmakers who are doing anything outside of the ordinary to promote and distribute their films (i.e., anything other than making a poster, hiring a publicist and waiting for the sales to come in) to email me and I’d post their efforts on the blog. Well, so far, no Sundance filmmakers have replied, but a couple of others have, and they’ve expanded my question to include their own efforts in production and theatrical release. Here’s the first of the responses I received in what will become an occasional feature here on the Filmmaker blog. It’s from producer Lorie Marsh (Jumping off Bridges).
I’ve currently just signed on to produce another indie feature narrative by another Texas writer-director, Jentri Quinn Chancey — it will be her first feature. We’re looking to shoot in TX. in April of 2010. In the meantime, a big part of my producing strategy for it is to build community around the project and its characters before, during, and after we shoot. As such, Jentri has begun a blog in the voice of her main character, Lyn.
We’re figuring things out as we go, but I anticipate that we’ll incorporate some monetizing aspects eventually into the blog (links to amazon.com to books that Lyn references (?), and other ideas), and/or we may figure out a way to serialize secondary stories from the blog entries that will complement the film when it’s finished. Plus, we’re building a website for the movie, and I’m planning for direct sales of DVDs from it as part of our distribution strategy. The theme of the movie is about people running away from themselves, so I’ll also be figuring out ways to incorporate elements from that theme into the blog and website so that we can cultivate search engine optimization and attract readers and community who’ll vibe with the story and characters.
I’ve been posting to my own blog about my efforts. I really like what you, Ted Hope, the Workbook Project, and others have been posting/writing/saying about sharing info, ideas, experiences, etc. I’m tracking my own efforts on my blog, but I’m also working hard to post entries that might shine some light for other producers.
I hesitated to write to you, because all this stuff is so formative right now, and part of me wishes we were more “polished” before showing our efforts to anyone. But, I wanted you to know that there are folks out here who do see opportunities in the current state of the industry and are attempting to embrace them at the earliest stages of their projects.
