Over at
The Workbook Project Lisa Salem has launched a new section of the site entitled
"How to Build and Audience and Keep it." It's a multi-faceted section, containing both a blog as well as more organized content areas covering different aspects of audience-building and retention.
Here,
in a Preamble, she explains what led her to this area of specialization:
I speak from a particular form of experience. In 2005 I set out to walk the whole of Los Angeles - I’d lived there for most of ten years. I pushed a baby-stroller with a video camera attached to the end of it, facing inwards. When people approached me, I invited them to walk with me while I videoed our conversations.
My ultimate goal was to create an authentic portrait of the city – a film based on my experience of it on my walk. I wanted to see Los Angeles ‘anew, with clear eyes, at a human pace, as if for the first time.’ At that point, video blogs were just gaining momentum and I realised that was the missing link in my project. I decided I’d post videos of my walks with people and other experiences from on the road, mix them with writing and photographs and start an open conversation on what it means to live in a metropolis – and especially Los Angeles - in today’s world. A project that would be a part of my film but also independent of it. I had no idea what I was setting in motion.
Check out the site -- in addition to reading Salem's posts on the page, you can subscribe in a RSS reader and also receive email updates.
The latest blog posts reports on last week's
DIY Days event in L.A. and links to this embed of the panel discussion.
The future of independent film is not in content aggregation, which is quickly becoming commoditized, but in audience aggregation. Sustainability for filmmakers lies directly in the hands of the audience. Direct to audience models have shaken the core of the music industry. But the power of Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 true fans” seems good in theory but where do you start? What are the steps to building an audience around your work and most importantly how do you keep the conversation going? Discussion Leader: Saskia Wilson-Brown (Current TV) - Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) - Micki Krimmel (expert in social media and online community) - Alex Johnson (digital media strategist / filmmaker) - Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma)
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DIY DAYS LA - When the Audience Takes Control - panel
fund, create, distribute and sustain
Hat tip:
Chuck Tryon/Chutry Experiment.
Comments (4)
I would rather live in a cave and create great movies than to aggregate a huge audience while distributing vapid slosh.
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posted by @ 8/03/2008 4:10 PM
I think there is a conversation to be had about the placement of artistic energies and whether or not a focus on marketing by a director during the a film's pre-production helps or hurts the final product. I won't go along and call all this work "vapid slosh," but I'll admit to being skeptical that some of these ideas are right for every filmmaker. There are plenty of filmmakers who I think are much better directors than they are marketers, and I think that's fine.
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posted by Scott Macaulay @ 8/04/2008 10:29 AM
Oh, I wasn't talking about filmmakers promoting their work. That comes with the territory. I was specifically slagging on AC. All I ever hear him talking about is building audiences. I don't think I've ever heard him talk seriously about movies or filmmaking in general. It was his FEM series I tagged as "vapid slosh," suggesting he spend more time polishing his filmmaking skills than worrying about maximizing viewers and promoting himself (which is all that series really was).
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posted by @ 8/04/2008 10:35 AM
In terms of a director's time towards building an audience and / or marketing a film the difference between prep, production and post all bleed into one. I think the mistake is thinking that the director has to be the one who drives it and invest all their time in the effort. Similar to how you crew up these new needs will create "crew" positions of their own. Also it doesn't have to be limited to just marketing I think that's where the term needs to change. I see these as natural extensions to a story, something that can entertain, lead to additional revenue streams and as a result promote.
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posted by lw @ 8/04/2008 3:50 PM
