Media coverage

It’s vitally important as an indie filmmaker to constantly be pushing your films.  There are many ways to do this.  Contact websites that cover the indie film world and tell them about your film.  Contact websites that review indie films.  When you start getting some coverage in these areas, move on to the print media and see what kind of coverage you might be able to get from them.  Contact podcasts.  Contact everyone you can think of who might be able to continue to spread the word about your film.

Once you start making some in-roads in this regard, you can maybe get people with more prestige to talk about your film.  Last week a syndicated newspaper critic reviewed Midget Zombie Takeover, and even though he didn’t like the film, tens of thousands of people heard about the film for the first time.  Last week we were also able to get a critic with a daily newspaper to review our psychological thriller Evil Intent.  He loved the film, and I was able to use his review to land the film its first theatrical screening, which is on Saturday, June 29 at 11:59 p.m. at the Cinema Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

You’re going to get a whole lot more no’s than yes’s when you contact media outlets, but don’t let this deter you!  Keep pushing your film(s), because if you’re not willing to stand behind your film, no one will.

 

Great news!

I’m in Kansas City right now attending Panic Fest 2013 where Midget Zombie Takeover is screening in a couple hours.  The great news already is that I arrived in town last night, started talking to some people, and by this morning we had an agreement with CrypticTV (www.cryptictv.net) for them to begin broadcasting Midget Zombie Takeover!  Woo-hoo!  Thanks so much to CrypticTV for being so awesome about this!

This is just another example of how, if you’re ever going to make a living as a filmmaker, you have to do everything you can to get your film seen.  And this agreement with CrypticTV comes on the heels of us landing a Canadian TV deal for Midget Zombie Takeover to be shown on the “Fright Night” program on VCTV.  While VCTV is a smaller station, it is carried on the Bell Satellite network that reaches 1.35 million households across Canada.  Yippee!

Keeping pushing your films.  You never know where the next good piece of information will come from!

 

Contact me

With all that’s going on with Midget Zombie Takeover and my book The Independent Filmmaker’s Guide: Make Your Feature Film for $2,000, I want to let everyone know that I can always be contacted through my production company email address, which is info@drivingeyes.com.  Contact me there about interview requests, screening locations and dates, to obtain a screener, or for just about anything!

Keep the ball rolling!

One of the things that happens to many indie filmmakers is that when their newest film is completed, their previous films get forgotten.  Don’t let this happen to you!  While your previous films might now seem suddenly old and out of date, keep in mind that many of the films you watch each week are from five, ten, or twenty years ago.

I’m constantly trying to get critics to review my earlier films in an attempt to keep the films fresh and alive.  In fact, just last night a new review appeared for our 2011 film “The Worst Movie EVER!”  And the review is fantastic!  Check it out at http://stevethemovieman.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=reviews&thread=3608&page=1.

Keep fighting for your older films!

Spend your filmmaking money wisely

I spoke with another filmmaker recently and found out that she spent well over $10,000 to make a six-minute short film.  I haven’t seen this film, and it might be quite good, maybe fantastic, but had I met this filmmaker last year, I would have talked with her about a different way to make films.  A more efficient, cost-effective way.

There are so many ways to trim your expenses when making a film.  Don’t bring in a lighting expert.  Don’t worry about gaffers, key grips, make-up artists, and a whole host of other crew members – I typically have a crew of three that consists of the director of photography doing the filming, a guy to hold the boom, and me.  Sometimes it’s just two of us – the guy with the camera and me with the boom.  It’s not glamorous, but it gets the job done.

With the more than $10,000 this filmmaker spent to make her short film, I could have made five to seven feature films (my feature film The Worst Movie EVER! was made for $1,100 and received a theatrical release).

If you want to learn about the dozens of ways you can go about saving money on a shoot so you too can make a feature film for a small amount of money, buy my book The Independent Filmmaker’s Guide: Make Your Feature Film for $2,000 (http://www.halleonardbooks.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=333699), and you’ll be well on your way to making your next (or maybe first) film in an efficient, economical manner.

 

“Midget Zombie Takeover” and overcoming the odds

A little earlier today I spoke with reps at the Laemmle NoHo 7 theater in L.A. where “Midget Zombie Takeover” is screening this Saturday night at midnight, and they said that they’re expecting such a big crowd that they’re setting up a page where people can buy their tickets in advance.  If you’re planning to attend, get your tickets now at https://www.laemmle.com/purchasetickets.php?m=ODk5NC0wMjItMDMyMzIwMTMtMjM1OS01.

I also just found out that my many emails to “L.A. Weekly” have resulted in a headline-grabbing article on their website regarding the screening this Saturday.  While the article is small, the headline is big, so that should bring out a few more people out to the screening.  Check out the article at http://blogs.laweekly.com/arts/2013/03/midget_zombie_takeover.php.

While I would say that at times only 10% of the websites, newspapers, bloggers, reviewers, etc., who I contact even so much as respond to my inquiries, let alone end up doing a review or article, by sheer volume (contacting ten or twenty media members a day) has lead to a lot of coverage for the film.  This tenacity, even in the face of long odds, is what you need to have if you’re going to get your film seen by a lot of people.

 

Great press for “Midget Zombie Takeover”!

This weekend two fantastic articles appeared on prominent websites that promoted “Midget Zombie Takeover.”  The first article appeared on Saturday, and it was the direct result of me contacting this website and telling them about “Midget Zombie Takeover” and my other films.  You can read this article at http://movieline.com/2013/03/16/the-worst-movie-ever-director-glenn-berggoetz-new-film-midget-zombie-takeover/.

About twelve hours later the second article appeared.  This article was a direct result of the guy who runs the website seeing the first article and following up on it.  This article can be read at http://www.zombiegift.com/zombie-blog/the-worst-zombie-movie-ever-the-worst-movie-ever-filmmaker-tackles-the-zombie-genre/.

In the last 24 hours these two articles have generated over 6000 viewings of the trailer for “Midget Zombie Takeover.”  They have also led to people from all over the country emailing me about the film, and to another very huge website requesting a copy of MZT so they can review it.

While certainly not all websites that I contact end up writing an article about my films or want to write a review, about 25% of them do end up getting back to me and want to write up something about me and the films.  This is all free publicity for your films, and all it requires is you putting in the time on your computer to find the websites, contact person, and email address that you need to make your inquiry.