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Outreach Journal: POPaganda: Guerrilla Style DIY Distribution

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Posted on May 11, 2005

POPaganda: The Art & Crimes of Ron English is a feature length documentary about the culture-jamming and billboard-liberation antics of Ron English. The modern day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue; Ron paints, perverts, infiltrates, reinvents and satirizes modern culture on canvas, in songs, and directly on hundreds of pirated billboards. Shot entirely guerilla-style, the film chronicles the evolution of an artist who offers an alternative universe where nothing is sacred, everything is subverted and there's always room for a little good-natured fun.

Pedro Carvajal, Director of POPaganda: The Art & Crimes of Ron English

As I start to write this article, I wonder how many filmmakers making indy docs have been discouraged by the fact that their journey does not end when editing is complete, but that in fact the final cut is just the beginning. For me, the festival circuit and the path to distribution has been a lot of work and a lot of fun.

Defining Your Audience

In order to get your film seen by as many people as possible, distribution is the key word. But how do you get your documentary accepted into a major festival, get a sales agent and a distribution deal?

No matter how you bring your film to market, the first step on the road to distribution is truly understanding the nature of the movie that you have made. The world may see something entirely different than what you intended when they watch your film. Understanding what strangers see when watching your film -- and how to use this information to talk about your film in their terms -- is a critical first distribution step. In the world of independent film distribution, niche product rules. To effectively market your film, you should be promoting a very specifically-targeted film to a very narrowly-defined audience.

Understanding these factors made the job of promoting and distributing my feature documentary POPaganda: The Art & Crimes of Ron English a lot easier.

Making the Most of the Festival Circuit

Before the feature-length film was completed, an 8-minute version premiered as part of MediaRights' fourth annual Media That Matters Film Festival. MediaRights' festival is yearlong grassroots outreach campaign for shorts that includes web streaming, broadcasts, DVD distribution and community screenings around the country. Being part of Media That Matters helped generate interest in my longer film and convinced me that a multi-tiered grassroots approach to distribution is ideal for my film.

Once I understood that my film had an audience out there, I focused on my distribution and promotional plan. My first move was to find the best festival to premiere my feature film. When POPaganda was selected for the AFI Festival in Los Angeles, I had my editor Kevin Chapados cut a kick-ass 30-second trailer for the film. Then I met with a top-notch graphic artist who designed my postcards and the poster. I was already 98% ahead of the game as I used one of Ron English's original painting as the centerpiece for both the postcards and the poster.

Artist Ron English, Arts Engine Director of Operations Kibra Yohannes and Pedro Carvajal, Director of POPaganda: The Art & Crimes of Ron English, at the fourth annual Media That Matters Film Festival Awards Ceremony.

Once I got my trailer, my postcards and my posters made, the next step was to contact the media to let them know about my world premiere in L.A. I filled my press releases with as much information as possible, and I used the Internet to reach thousands of people with the news about the AFI Festival screenings. The distribution company Cinema Libre came to see my film at the festival, and the next day I went to visit their studio in Canoga Park. I met with Adam Chapnick who gave me a tour of their various facilities. Cinema Libre would later become the theatrical distributor for the film.

If you visit Ron English's website www.popaganda.com, you will find a well laid out site that is both rich in content and visually-engaging. I was lucky that Ron had already built a strong audience for his site, so I just asked him to add an extra link for the film. We get thousands of hits to the site everyday, proving that it is a great marketing platform for the film.

In general, the internet is a powerful tool that filmmakers should use to the fullest to promote their films and generate a word-of-mouth following. Also creating a strong DPK (Digital Press Kit) with eye-popping images makes your life easier in terms of getting noticed by the press. The more work you do for film critics, the greater your chances of being reviewed. Remember, you're competing with thousands of other films out there. Do your homework so you won't be left behind.

My second break came when the film screened at the US Comedy Arts Festival in February 2005. This highly competitive festival is top-notch event attended by Hollywood power brokers like HBO, New Line Cinema, Fox Searchlight, etc. I was listed in Variety magazine, a trade publication that is read by Hollywood industry professionals. US Comedy Arts offered me another chance to get reviews and increased my chances of landing a distribution deal.

Then my third break came in March 2005 when I won the Jury Award for best feature documentary at the 12th Texas Film Festival, the largest student-run film festival in the world. This was very important for me, as I believe that the college population will be my biggest market once POPaganda is released on DVD.

POPaganda recently got selected to screen at the 31st Seattle International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in North America. I already contacted Seattle Weekly to ensure that the film is listed among the many other films being presented at this prestigious festival. I also sent the Weekly's top film critic a DVD screener and a press kit with high-resolution images. Now it's just a matter of following up with him as the festival launch approaches on May 19th.

Culture-Jamming in Action: Ron English's Kiss Kids billboard

To date, POPaganda has screeened at over 25 film festivals around the United States as well as at numerous international venues from New Zealand to Slovania. I have attended most of these events in person and brought the artist Ron English with me to many, offering audiences an opportunity to both watch the film and meet the subject. And a number of these screenings have been accompanied by exhibitions of Ron's work.

The film is being distributed theatrically by Cinema Libre and in Europe by CinemaNet Europe.

Lessons Learned

Understanding how others see your film is, without a doubt, the MOST IMPORTANT STEP in the independent film distribution process.
If you, as a filmmaker, cannot describe your movie well verbally and in written form, then you won't be able to find your audience. You should be able to define your film in one concise sentence.
Find your hook: The one key element that you'll use to promote your film.
Niche films rules. Creating films for targeted audience streamlines the distribution process.