I.
Ah… New York City.
Oh man, I couldn’t believe I was actually here, touring the city. It was February. It was cold. But it was thrilling. The trip was full of anticipation and promise. That’s because my senior collegiate film was screening at a festival in the heart of the city.
I had made the trip with my wife (of only one year at the time), my long-time friend and his wife, and a college buddy from my college film classes (who was also the Producer and Co-Writer of our student film). Attending a film festival in New York City? No way would I miss that.
The week was going to be filled with sight-seeing, networking events, parties, and screenings. I just knew that getting in to that particular festival was going to be the launchpad for my filmmaking career.
At the same time, however, I couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by a city the size of New York. My only other trip to the Big Apple was with my high school band for the 1995 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Navigating a city of 8 million people with hundreds of friends, dozens of adult chaperones, seven charter buses, and a set itinerary just feels more secure than doing it with just one other person and a couple of friends.
II.
My wife and I arrived at LaGuardia Airport and as we came out of the main entrance we were approached by a driver who asked if we needed a ride out of the city.
“Fantastic,” I thought. “How convenient.”
He grabbed our bags and led us not to the taxi stand, but out into the parking lot where a black Lincoln sat.
Hmm. Odd.
As my wife and I settled into the back seat, the driver asked us our destination and we responded “The W Hotel.” What followed was a long, circuitous route via surface streets down into the city.
“He probably just knows a better route,” I thought as I watched the price of the ride tick up and up and up. I squirmed. Then my mind went in a slightly less than positive direction.
“You know, this is how people end up getting murdered.”
Of course, because I’m writing this and you’re reading it, you know that neither myself nor my wife were murdered. But I was glad to get to our hotel and get out of that car. It was only later when we were talking to our friends that we learned never to accept a ride from someone at the airport who approaches and asks.
“They made an announcement about it on the P.A. system at the airport!” my friend’s wife lectured.
I couldn’t help but feel as though we both came a hair’s breath away from certain death and lived to tell the tale. In reality, we just overpaid for a car ride, which is bound to happen when you take a 20-something Alabama kid out of his natural habitat and throw him into the deep end of a concrete jungle and expect him to swim on his own.
III.
One of the film festival events on our agenda was billed as a networking opportunity not only for the filmmakers in attendance, but also for TV & film executives, agents, buyers, and distributors. It was to be a film market, where filmmakers could meet up with aforementioned movie high-rollers with the chance of selling their films and making deals.
At the same time I found out about this opportunity, I learned that I would need a press kit for my short, complete with movie poster. This left me scrambling a bit, as I had no prior experience in creating marketing materials for any of my projects. Up to this point I didn’t need any P&A (Prints and Advertising; basically movie marketing) because all of my movies were made either for me and my friends or for school assignments. This was my first real-world experience in having to market myself and my work.
Since I didn’t have a lot of time between the time I learned of this necessity and the start of the festival, I leaned on another college friend (who had a degree in graphic design) to make a poster. From there I did my best to pull together a rudimentary press kit.
Lesson Learned - It’s never too early (nor too late) to learn how to promote yourself and your work.
See how others have done it.
Bookmark online resources.
Read success stories from others.
Talk to people in the industry about how to do it well and what pitfalls to avoid.
Set up your own website where you can showcase your work and your skills.
IV.
With a bush-league, cobbled-together press kit, combined with a striking suit & tie combo and a can-do attitude, I set off from the hotel to the film market venue. This was it. My chance to really make an impression on the executives who would be on the lookout for some new talent.
My moment had arrived.*
I’ll see you next week for part two of my New York film festival experience.