As a first time indie filmmaker, I’m astounded at how many things that need to be done. Many of which seem to have nothing to do with film making. And no one tells you about all these things until you’re already in the trenches.
A film’s first press release is supposed to come out when the film wraps production. But with the thirty thousand or so films being made as we speak, how many media bureaus really care about yet another indie film. So I thought up a different strategy. Instead of a film wrap release, the first official press release for Search Dog’s Raven reveals the
rags to riches story of Ebbey the canine actor who portrays the film’s search dog. I mean how many canines do you know who have their own web site and their own blog. Plus there’s only one Ebbey on the Internet Movie Database, and she is in our film. Thanks IMDB.com.
Now some may argue that sending a press release about the
canine costar is a bit out there, but dog lovers make up a big part of our audience and there are some 50 million in the US alone. And who doesn’t love to see a dog wearing antlers and holding a candy cane toy bone?
I spent a couple days capturing some incredibly cute Christmas photos and video and we’ll see if Ebbey’s story gets the film any kind of media coverage. About the only way we’ll know is via an ongoing Google search and if the film’s web site hits suddenly surge.
For an independent film, Search Dog’s Raven has been exceptionally lucky about getting media attention thus far. Let’s hope our creativity continues to give us an edge in the incredibly competitive film market.