Fall Week 14

Over this past week, we have been wrapping up this semester as it comes to a close. Our Facebook page is seeing much improvement, I believe the class helping with sharing and liking the posts has really given them a boost. Our thanksgiving animation was able to reach over 700 people! That is crazy compared to our past posts. And already with the start of this week, our Monday post reached over 300 people. So it seems as long as I keep up the schedule for when the class needs to share/like, that our page will see increases across the board. I am thinking about also using the next animation on Instagram also, I'll have to work with it and see what I can do. Over the holiday break I plan to continue research with social media. I recently read an article by Working Films, called "Maximizing a Film's Outreach with Social Media." This was an interesting read, though dated a little bit (MySpace was included), but it discussed using a website and also the beneficial apspects of social media and blogs. These tools can be used to create a following over time, and I felt that this could relate to Visions. On another note, I will be assisting Zoe with the op-Ed piece and giving it final editing for publishing. Zoe and I will also be meeting near the end of the week to work on our manual updates. We've learned so much this year and feel that we can greatly improve the marketing manual for next years group.

Cucalorus Response

My Cucalorus Experience

Screenings Attended:

1. Wilmington On Fire

2. Jwala Finger Shorts

3. Sweaty Betty

4. Devil's Tongue Shorts

5. The Frontier

I truly enjoyed my time at the Cucalorus 21 Film Festival. This was my first time, not only for Cucalorus but also really for film festivals in general. Although I have volunteered at Visions, I have never fully experienced a festival until this one. This really is a great opportunity for filmmakers and film fans, and I wish I was able to purchase a larger pass but I settled for the small pass. Cucalorus seemed like a place where everyone there had something in common, the love for films and what they contribute. To start things off about what I liked and found interesting at the festival, was that they decided to implement a conference (entrepreneurship) this year. Most of these blocks were during the first few days when I was stuck in class. This idea and addition seems be step in new and “branching out” direction for the festival. Also I like the special programs that included audio and visual experiences. We have talked about doing something like this and feel like we could build off that concept. 

            Throughout the festival, although I was not able to attend as much as I wanted, I was able to follow everything on their social media. Obviously they have multiple people behind their social media team, as they have constant posts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. I watched their pages to see how often they posted and also the content of their posts. As most organizations, they included many pictures and some videos for most of their posts. They used their social media to promote upcoming highlight events, capture memories with images of the experiences, and also showcase their sponsors and promoters. During the festival, I became aware that Cucalorus, along with the three social media networks already mentioned, also used pinterest. Now when I visited their page last, it seemed that they hadn’t updated it since last year’s event. I am not to accustom to this social network and how it is used, so I will have to look into this one. An interesting fact: while going through Cucalorus’ Instagram page I saw people commenting on posts, suggesting that Cucalorus get a snapchat. So that shows that this network is starting to widen out to more and more festivals, just like ours.

            Other marketing aspects I noticed during the festival were just their takeover of Downtown Wilmington. The festival had signs, lights, everything throughout the streets persuading people to check out the festival. This was an amazing experience for me, I have even asked Terry Linehan to help me look into an internship with Cucalorus. I was able to have a great time enjoying movies, and also learn so much about how festivals run and promote themselves.

Fall Week 13

This past week things have continued to go smoothly. I have continued running the social media side, along with assisting Zoe with the ideas and structure of the op-ed piece. I think the op-ed piece is a really good idea for our brand and if we can get some publishings with it, this will give our image the boost we have been talking about. I will help in editing and revising what Zoe brings to the table. Along with this I have been steady with our Facebook and creating the calendars for such. I am also looking forward to tomorrow for our indiegogo video shoot, it should be interesting and fun!

Fall Week 12

Despite having to balance my workload with attending Cucalorus as much as possible, I have been able to develop a calendar for the social media. Zoe and I have planned to meet again before class on Tuesday, to finalize our action plan for this next couple months. Majority of my departmental work for this past week has consisted of analyzing Cucalorus' social media and marketing tools. Obviously I will go into more detail about this for my Cucalorus blog. Back to the social media, I am currently trying to think of ways to get the class more involved. Shannon mentioned something a couple weeks ago about setting up dates for people to go and like/share posts. I am working on this idea and considering assigning these to departments so we will have 2-3 people from the class promoting our posts. I will still be tinkering with this idea, but I am also still working on new hashtags, #ThankfulTuesday - possibly to promote our current sponsors, but my #MaverickMonday idea for the animations will have to be changed for the new name. Overall things are going smooth for the marketing department as we continue to prepare. Next up... the Cucalorus blog.

Fall Week 11

Over this past week, Zoe and I have been working towards our marketing action plans. We have brainstormed what are goals are for the rest of the month and developed ways to accomplish this matter. I have created a social media calendar where I have included all the Facebook posts for the rest of the month and into December. For this month, the marketing department wants to continue to keep our brand relevant while also enhancing it. We will continue promoting ourselves through social media routes and also working towards a publication that will greatly broaden and strengthen our brand. Going into this week, I have also been looking into Cucalorus' social media. I have been following their Facebook and instagram, researching how they are promoting their event, before it and also during it. I am looking forward to attending the festival and seeing how they market themselves to get a better understanding for festivals. As this is my first film festival to attend, I expect to learn a lot and discover many insights in the festival field.  

Fall Week 10

Well it's safe to say that last week was a success! Our fundraising did a great job and we were able to see them succeed last week. I made sure to give Development a shout out on Facebook for their work with the party and bake sale. For the marketing team, we must now turn our attention to this month of November. During this week, Zoe and I will develop our marketing action plan for this month. This month is quite different than the last one, being that we do not have any events this week. Therefore, Zoe and mines focus will be on getting word out there and making sure everyone is hearing about Visions. We are already planning our new ideas to vamp up our social media, and hope to continue to see increases in those numbers. With our action plan, we will also be creating a schedule for our social media to get maximum involvement and engagement. This month should really continue to improve my planning and organizational skills as we are not quite as rushed, and I am looking forward to the future challenges we must overcome in order to market our brand.

Fall Week 9

Well this week is when everything should come to fruition. The party and bake sale will be both taking place in the next few days, as we begin our final preparations. The flyers for both events are all up and looking good! I'm hoping to see the party posting in the bathroom calendars of Fisher soon. Now just have to make some brownies and get a costume! This past week, Visions saw some departmental changes it seems. With this, I am beginning to take more responsibilities on the social media front, becoming the coordinator for such. Zoe has been pushing me to take advantage of leadership opportunities, and I believe this will strengthen several marketing skills of mine and also help out in the long run. I recently met with Zoe this past week, where we developed our blurbs for community calendars throughout Wilmington. We also sent in the radio blurb for hawk estream radio. Now we have to get this party started on Thursday!

Fall Week 8

This past week has consisted of getting information to our marketing contacts and beginning our social media strategies. I personally emailed the Launch Party information and details for postings in the bathroom calendars, hopefully everything goes smooth because we recently found out we couldn't get the post on Hawk Enews because it our event is off campus and will also be serving alcohol. Zoe and I have also developed a radio blurb for Hawk Estream and at our next meeting we will be making a similar one for community calendar postings. At the beginning of Week 9, I will be meeting with Zoe and Grace to begin developing the Facebook event for out Launch Party. We will create the public event, upload pictures and discuss individual postings we will make. Throughout this next week we will continue updating our social media routes and preparing ours ads and flyers throughout campus.

Fall Week 7

Throughout this week, Zoe and I have been contacting everyone we need to get the marketing launch underway. I have been responsible for getting ahold of several of the on-campus contacts and preparing our postings for flyers and calendar announcements throughout the school. I have heard back from a couple and am now beginning to create short blurbs that detail our halloween party for postings in calendars and newsletters. I am still awaiting a few responses but hope to hear from the others soon. Zoe and I met yesterday to go over our agenda and figure out what else we have to do. We will be meeting again on Sunday along with Grace to go over social media responsibilities and get the ball rolling for marketing.

Fall Week 6

Well things are moving faster, there's more work, and we are trying to get everything set for the launch and call for entries. I have been working on finalizing the Mission Statment and the About Page for the website, while also preparing to edit the press release. Zoe and I have met a few times this week, brainstorming and organizing everything we have for the PR launch. Today we met with a few of the directors to figure out what all they needed from the makerting department to plan ahead during this busy time. I have enjoyed seeing all  the progress we have been making, the art departments fliers are looking good, we have several ideas to reach audiences, etc.
As for research, here are a few useful links I have found. They all pertain to marketing aspects of film festivals but give many inside tips and looks.

- http://www.scriptmag.com/resources/film-festivals/film-festivals-101
- http://www.kunocreative.com/blog/new-site/new-blog-style/marketing-strategy-qa-with-the-austin-film-festival
- http://www.digitaltraininginstitute.ie/20-festival-marketing-tips/

Fall Week 5

So this week we have begun more work within our department including: editing the mission and about page while also prepping for marketing launch for the party and bake sale. After a good discussion in class this week, Zoe and I have edited the mission statement, making it a little shorter yet more clear and easier to read. Over the weekend I will work on a draft for the website's about page, meet with Zoe about it before class and then present it for discussion next week. This week I also talked with CAIC about distributing posters/flyers across campus, which includes filling out a request form and getting approval for the posting. As for the readings, I think it is very helpful to have management skills such as they discussed to properly hold up an event such as hours. For an event like ours, being managed by students, these tips can be very useful when we begin working within our budget.

Fall Week 4

Last week the marketing department and art department met together. Zoe and I discussed marketing strategies for on-campus and off-campus. We sat down and brainstormed many different ways we could go for advertisements for both. After the meeting, Zoe reminded me to keep up to date on Trello along with details for future assignments. Over the weekend I worked on my dirty dozen blog based on the on-campus marketing strategies we came up with. I will next contact CAIC and get the ball rolling for advertisements around the campus. I have also been brainstorming tag lines for posters and flyers we use for the party and bake sale coming up.

Dirty Dozen: On-Campus Marketing

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?
 - To create many different ways of reaching students on campus through advertisements.
2. Who is the customer?
 - Students on campus, particularly film majors but also try and target others such as other arts majors and film fans.
3. What are the deliverables of the project?
 - I guess you could say the different strategies that we use, such as posters/flyers, paper / tv ads, and paint/chalk.
4. What is the budget?
 - Zoe and I will have to get together and discuss the budget based on what all we use.
5. How long will it take?
 - within the next month we will be planning everything out and set everything up in schedules because we will be advertising up until the event.
6. What specific skills are needed?
 - Helpful skills would be being organized, punctual, persuasiveness, out-going, savvy and persistent.
7. What special resources are needed?
 - We will need contacts to the activities department at UNCW such as CAIC.
8. Who is working the project? What is each persons job?
 - This will be Zoe and I, we will both work together in planning it and contacting people. Then will we both create the visuals (posters/flyers) and other s for display around campus.
9. What is the schedule?
 - in early October: we will gain approval for flyers and posters for the Halloween party and bake sale. I will have to discuss the rest with Zoe still, but by middle October we must begin prepping for approval for call for entries, etc.
10. What are the risks?
 - Large impact, Likely: we do not get permission for particular advertisements that we really wanted.
 - Large impact, Unlickely: We aren't able to contact certain companies that we want to work with.
 - Small impact, Likely: We have to settle for smaller routes of advertisement but can work through with extra work in social media.
 - Small impact, Unlikely: We forget to gain permission for an advertisement.
11. How will you communicate with your team?
 - We will communicate through meetings, Facebook and texting/calling.
12. How will you determine if the project is successful?
 - If we see increases in participation from targeted audiences through our on campus marketing.

Fall Week 3

This week both marketing and the art departments met together. Zoe and I discussed several ideas of what we want the tone to be throughout this festival. We want the writing to reflect those of our core audience, younger students of our generation. A few of the descriptive words we decided on were: funny/witty, resilient, and savvy. We went over this with Michelle and Tyler for their input as the tone will affect the animations and art direction also. Zoe and I then began to brainstorm ideas for tag lines. This involved us just spitting out ideas trying to find something that we know will click with the audiences when they read it. We created a google doc with many of these ideas and I have continued brainstorming on my own. We have a few solid ones we can select from and will most likely bring them up to the rest of the class soon. To end our department meeting, Michelle showed us a few color palettes she had come up with and we also talked a bit about t-shirts.

Interview

Interview with: Brian Owens, Artistic Director for Nashville Film Festival

J.G. - Hello Mr. Owens, I hope you are having a good day. Recently, I have been doing research on your particular film festival held in Nashville while in preparation for the one we will be holding this upcoming year. I found on your festival’s website the mission statement, but i wanted to know how you would word your mission and goals for the festival yourself.

B.O. - Well its basically in the mission statement, but for me the primary goal is to make sure we have a program of film that reflects the current state of the world, and from as many different view points as possible. Thats the philosophy I follow when we plan these programs. 

J.G. - So I see that you are originally from Indianapolis, what drew you to the Nashville film festival?

B.O. - Actually this position came available here after i had been running the festival in Indianapolis for about 5 years. And I happened to get it (laughing). That was in November 2008 and now Ive been here for 7 years.

J.G. - Well what would you see is your favorite thing about this festival and also the most challenging that you face?

B.O. - My favorite thing is my audience and the way that they are willing to take the journey with us, and by that I mean that they know that they're not just getting standard cinema so they're looking for something different and ready for it. And the most challenging is probably just being in April, which is a month of a lot of festivals so it takes time to make sure everything is scheduled on time and everything gets coordinated correctly. Thats easily the toughest time.

J.G. - I see that this festival was started in 1969 which was a long time ago, but what is something you wish they would have done differently when starting?

B.O. - Thats hard to say. I don't know if there was anything wrong at the early stages, but i do know that there were some tough transitions in the mid-90s that they faced. That was the transition from being a small 3 day event to a more full length event. So those transitions could've been handled better, but thats the only thing i can say i would change.

J.G. - Going off of expanding, what is your festival’s goal each year for the amount of screenings?

B.O. - Any area between 250 and 300, including shorts.

J.G. - And this past year, how many did you have screened?

B.O. - We had 285 this past year.

J.G. - And out of those, is it usually more features or shorts?

B.O. - It is usually close to half and half. Like out of the 285 last year, there were about 115 features and about 170 shorts. Slightly more so to the shorts because of all the categories. 

J.G. - Does your festival have any short film categories for college students only?

B.O. - Yes we do, we have a conference for just college students with a $500 cash prize.

J.G. - So how far in advance do you try to send out the call for entries for the festival.

B.O. - We actually start in June, it used to be September but since I've been here it is now from June to January.

J.G. - Ok and how do most entries come in, more so early or later?

B.O. - I would say about 40% early and then 60% later is probably the best way i could explain it.

J.G. - Interesting, and going into your pre-screening process, how many pre-screeners do you hire and how do you go about selecting them?

B.O. - We have about 70 volunteer pre-screeners who are paid through festival passes and tickets. Then we have the next level up of more professionals, for example we have a script doctor, a cinematographer and so on. So if a film gets a yes on the first level it will go to the professionals and if they recommend it then it will come to the programmers and ill sit with them and we will then put a show together. And the pre-screeners we bring them in differently, some are long-time members of the festivals and others are film students.

J.G. - Are there guidelines that you set out for them during the screenings?

B.O. - We do its mostly scoring standards with a score of 1 through 10, so if they want it to advance they'd give it a 8 roughly. And yea we tell them to look for original stroytelling— but you know what I've found for the most part, is to tell people to follow their gut instincts because thats what most are gonna do anyways.

J.G. - And going off the volunteers, does your festival have some during the festival itself also?B.O. B.O. - Yes over the running of the festival we actually have over 500 hundred volunteers throughout the event.

J.G. - How many paid employees does the festival have?

B.O. - We have a staff of four of us for full-time and year round. and then that doubles in size from January to May so we bring in four more. Then there is another staff of about 40 people or so that aren't really full time until the time of the festival.

J.G. - On the festival’s website I saw all the large sponsors such as Nissan and Regal group, do you get a good amount of smaller, local sponsors also?

B.O. - Well yea, and in the case of Nissan they are a large corporation but its headquarters are here in Nashville. Then we have a multitude of local companies, universities, art and cultural organizations and so on. We have about 90 partners in addition to the main sponsors.

J.G. - Do you have any advice on how to get a good amount of local sponsors onboard?

B.O. - Well you have to have separate goals with sponsors because the smaller ones won’t have the resources available like others do, and a lot of the times they will be looking for less so much exposure but to entertain fans instead. So you have to individually tailor to the local brands versus the likes of Nissan or Comcast who are looking for big exposure across the city.

J.G. - During the festival offseason, do you guys do any particular community outreach such as events and fundraisers?

B.O. - Yes we do have a couple, we have a big annual fundraiser in the fall that brings in close to $30,000 to $50,000. And we have a membership drive with several free screenings for our members if they're in town. We also partner with our local PBS affiliates for monthly screenings as well.

J.G. - So for the filmmakers that attend the festival, do they pay for registration also?

B.O. - Well if they have a short film get accepted, they will receive 2 free passes. If your feature film gets accepted, you get 4 free passes. But if they're also bringing the cast we do offer discounts for those after the first 4.

J.G. - And does the festival provide any funds for their traveling and lodging, because I have learned they try to do this for everyone here at Visions.

B.O. - We do but in a limited basis. Each year we will have a traveling budget that we will then split up among the filmmakers attending.

J.G. - At our festivals, I believe they try and take the visiting filmmakers through the local city for exclusive activities, does this festival try to do anything similar to that?

B.O. - We have a fleet of staff drivers who when available will take our visitors to downtown Nashville and to Jack White’s famous record store. So there isn't any big, formal tour but the visitors are available to our drivers.

J.G. - Well that is all that I have for you in this interview, I appreciate you giving the time for me and our festival. I was able to learn a great amount from this. 

B.O. - Oh no problem, and yea if you have any other questions feel free to email me and ask.

J.G. - Thank you Mr. Owens.

Assignment #1

Festival/Conference Basics

1. I have an interview scheduled with Brian Owens, the Artistic Director of the Nashville Film Festival, for next Tuesday after class at 4:00 pm.
2. NaFF was founded in 1969 by Mary Jane Coleman. Today Brian Owens is the Artistic Director and Ted Crockett is the Executive Director.
3. NaFF amplifies our collective and individual awareness by bringing the world to Nashville to celebrate innovation, music and the many voices of the human spirit through the art of film.
4. One obvious theme/trend is their input of musicals in their screenings. It seems like a larger amount compared to other festivals, and this goes with their mission of showing pride for the Nashville home which is enriched with musical history.
5. Nashville, TN
6. April 14-23, 2016
7. Submit through their website.
8. Early: 7/31, Regular: 09/30, Late: 11/30, Extended: 01/08
9. Ranges from $45 - $80
10. Available for US and International, Features must be 40 min. or longer and shorts must be shorter than 40 min., Features have premiere requirements, english subtitles.
11. There is a College Students Shorts Competition
12. Vimeo, youtube or dvd/blu-ray (must send 2 hard copies if this)
13. dvd/blu-ray
14. More than 280
15. 2 hours
16. 5-7
17. Tickets go on sell in March/early-April before the festival on their website.
18. Sponsors: Nissan, Regal, Xfinity, Southwest
19. University ($2,500), Supporting ($2500), Bronze ($5000), Film ($7000), Silver($10,000), Gold ($25,000), Platinum ($50,000).
20. "The Big Payback" donation.
21. None found.
22. They incorporate more music.
23. Their website is easy to use with easy headlines to direct you through their site.
24. The layout is easy and includes many windows.
25. Yes, on the homepage there are links for "about," "support," "entries," "schedule," etc. Making it very easy to find the info.
26. They include many images that go with links and headlines. They also have videos of past festivals and interviews with artists.
27. Not too fond on the color scheme. Turns my eyes away at some parts.
28. The homepage already carries plenty of information with easy to find links to more.
29. There is an fair amount of info that fits the page and not crowding it.
30. Change the colors, I like the layout and wouldn't change much of it but maybe take out some of the videos and include links to find them.
31. The layout is very easy to follow so I would keep it the same with only a few changes.

4 Quadrants

Introduction

Jack is North Carolina resident and a senior at UNCW, seeking his bachelors in Film Studies. Still searching for his 'right' place in the film world, he is interested in finding new ways of connecting both film and music together. He has also found a haven in writing, as he has two publishings with Film Matters and interest in script writing. Jack is now the Marketing Assistant for Visions 6 where he plans to bring his skills to assist with content writing and to make the festival more appealing to audiences.

I signed up for the Visions class because it seemed to be something different than all the other classes offered. I have always been more keen to taking hands-on type courses so this one caught my attention easily. Within the major, I am less interested in working on the production side of things so I was hoping to get a hands-on type class with Visions, that wasn't film production. As a marketing assistant, I feel that I can learn a lot, not just with film festivals but in several promotional and business aspects. I look forward to see how I can use the skills I have now with this job and also excited about learning as much as I can in this department.

The readings and tutorials were very helpful with my personal calendars and organization. I could always use help with my scheduling habits. Only one of the video links in the syllabus worked for the videos for me, which was the google calendar one. I just made this google account so it did help me in becoming more familiar with the interface. Also I can definitely relate to the procrastination reading, as it helped point out several causes that I can relate to.

Welp, thats my first blog!