PRESS RELEASE
Screen Australia's Head of Marketing, Kathleen Drumm, today announced the launch of the agency’s Short Film Marketing Guide at the annual Raw Nerve initiative in Tasmania. Authored by industry aficionado Sandy George, the manual offers filmmakers comprehensive practical information on how to effectively market short films internationally and how to negotiate the festival, sales and self-distribution environment.
“There are some fantastic short films being made in Australia, which is a proven medium for emerging filmmakers to showcase their talent,” said Ms Drumm. “The guide was created as a tool to encourage filmmakers to adopt marketing strategies early on, and to think carefully about what they want to achieve with their film, whether it’s building a fan base, finding an audience, establishing a path to a feature film, winning acclaim at major festivals or achieving some return on their investment.”
Film journalist Sandy George describes the guide as a ‘dos and don’ts’ of selling and marketing short films, and adds, “I have encountered many filmmakers that didn’t know putting a film online makes it automatically ineligible for certain festival competitions and after a lot of hard work it is disheartening to see how one mistake can mean missing out on a chance to win the prize most likely to reap benefits.”
The guide is the latest addition to Screen Australia’s suite of practical marketing guides to support filmmakers with valuable industry knowledge and advice. The Screen Australia marketing guides, including the new Short Film Marketing Guide, can be accessed via the website at http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/marketing/guides.aspx
Now in its seventh year in Tasmania, Raw Nerve 2014 is delivered by Wide Angle Tasmania and is a national production initiative of Screen Australia and Screen Network. Raw Nerve provides first-time funded directors with a unique opportunity to develop high quality short films on a micro-budget.