The idea of building a request tool for the film has been something I’ve wanted to do off and on for about two years - resources and especially time always pushed it back in priority; a lot has changed online in those two years, new tools exists for helping people build list, Google Forms as an example. The idea of requesting a film early is one that needs less explaining now that several larger films have successfully built request campaigns.  For the last few days, I’ve been thinking I would just use Google Forms to start building a request FToM list, it’s easy to set up; I see it used quite often with beta sites, etc… at first my fields were: name, zipcode, email; then I changed it to just: email and zipcode, but I was sad I would have such little information to work with, and I was also sad the action of requesting the film would go straight to a private spreadsheet and not somewhere else online, where others might also find the film interesting. So…  Then I started to think about changing the purpose of the Facebook Like button on FToM’s website, redesigning the area around it for requesting purposes; this would, with one simple click, give me a name, a location, age, etc, *and* it would also be a social action, letting others on Facebook know.  Now, the main distribution for the film will be online - that has always been the idea and it hasn’t changed, but, say I have an exceptional amount of likes or requests for the film in Ann Arbor, that might be enough to convince indie-friendly local theaters to screen the film for two nights.  Of course, not everyone has Facebook, and I would have a smaller area of the request section linked to a simple Google Form as a backup for people. But anyway, that’s something I’ve been thinking about. Thoughts?
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The idea of building a request tool for the film has been something I’ve wanted to do off and on for about two years - resources and especially time always pushed it back in priority; a lot has changed online in those two years, new tools exists for helping people build list, Google Forms as an example. The idea of requesting a film early is one that needs less explaining now that several larger films have successfully built request campaigns. 

For the last few days, I’ve been thinking I would just use Google Forms to start building a request FToM list, it’s easy to set up; I see it used quite often with beta sites, etc… at first my fields were: name, zipcode, email; then I changed it to just: email and zipcode, but I was sad I would have such little information to work with, and I was also sad the action of requesting the film would go straight to a private spreadsheet and not somewhere else online, where others might also find the film interesting. So… 

Then I started to think about changing the purpose of the Facebook Like button on FToM’s website, redesigning the area around it for requesting purposes; this would, with one simple click, give me a name, a location, age, etc, *and* it would also be a social action, letting others on Facebook know. 

Now, the main distribution for the film will be online - that has always been the idea and it hasn’t changed, but, say I have an exceptional amount of likes or requests for the film in Ann Arbor, that might be enough to convince indie-friendly local theaters to screen the film for two nights. 

Of course, not everyone has Facebook, and I would have a smaller area of the request section linked to a simple Google Form as a backup for people. But anyway, that’s something I’ve been thinking about. Thoughts?

Building a Better Request Tool

Recently, I’ve been keeping a close eye on tools for audience building. Several months ago I was very excited about a project, being funding through Kickstarter, called Openindie - if you’re not following Kieran Masterton on twitter already, then you should be. The site is still in beta, and what is exciting about Openindie is that it’s still finding and building it’s community: it is open to ideas and able to adapt quickly to what the filmmaking community needs. 

Building a Better Request Tool

A few nights ago I was in night-owl mode, with a moleskine and pen in hand, as I was pouring over some of the most-requested films on Openindie. Among them: Heart of Now, We Live in Public, and What’s Up Lovely. I was sketching out site designs that made use of an integrated Openindie request button. Researching which of these top-requested films on Openindie were heavily using Openindie on their film’s main site, the answer: none of them. 

Which, I found very strange. But I’ll get to that below.

What I mostly wanted to talk about is: better approaches for audience building. Either for the purpose of mapping out which zipcodes have enough support + demand to schedule screening events, or for other purposes. A question I kept coming back to was “is it necessary for the audience to actually sign-up?”. Openindie does make the process quick and painless by offering Twitter Oauth and Facebook Connect - but does this benefit Openindie more than it does the film?

For example: I’ve been very interested in using twitter as the main engine behind building audience interest - asking that someone interested in FToM simply twitter the hashtag #requestFToM (for those who do not have a twitter account already, they could simply text #requestFToM to 40404). If Openindie could make use of that kind of information, I think it would be a far more powerful tool then having people navigate to a specific URL, sign-up, and then click on the request button. Any #hashtag attributed with GEO information could be mapped immediately, and any #hashtag without could be @replied back to requesting a zipcode. There is no sign-up form, there is no Oauth or Connect needed. Anyone with a cell phone that walks past your flyer on the street could immediately voice their interest. 

What I would most love to see from a site like Openindie is a request tool that is 100% flexible on the filmmaker’s end. By that I mean, the request button does not change, you can grab a short piece of code and embed it anywhere you like. But from within Openindie the tool can be scaled out and adjusted in reaction to what is working best and what isn’t. As a filmmaker, what would I like to happen when the request button is clicked? 

  1. I would like the visitor to never leave the film’s site. Or if they do leave, much like Paypal, they are returned right back to where they started after the request is finished.
  2. I would like control over what the visitor sees. Have I turned on the options for both twitter and facebook? Or am I just asking them to provide an email? Am I offering all 3 or 4 or 5 options? Does it take them straight to a pre-written twitter with the #hashtag and other important info? These should be settings that can be controlled from the Openindie dashboard without having to replace any embed script. 
  3. Once a visitor clicks the request button, that same button then reads: promote. And, of course, have 100% control from within Openindie as to what exactly happens when that is clicked. Does it take the visitor to Openindie’s list of sharing options? Or point them to a site of sharing tools still under the film’s URL? Perhaps I’m running a campaign that involves real-world action like flyers or stickers in public places and want them taken to a page walking them through that idea. 

Only a tool that is 100% flexible is going to be a perfect fit for each different filmmaker. 

I’m really excited about where Openindie is heading - and I’ve already pestered Kieran about some of these ideas and he seems very open to them, even more so he seems excited about talking to filmmakers and getting feedback on what tools are going to take independent film the furthest. 

here’s to the new year

It’s Christmas today, and here in LA it’s warm’ish and raining. I have a lot of packing and cleaning-up to take care of before I get on a plane tonight and head to Michigan till the 6th. I don’t have much to write a post, but I wanted to take a second to say I hope everyone has an awesome holiday and new years.

I also thought I’d give a sneak peak at something we’re working hard on – not sure when it be ready to go live, we still have some kinks to work out. But we are pretty excited about it.

I’ll do my best to check in before too much time goes by on the blog. If anyone has any questions they’d like answered, or topics you’re curious about, let us know – progress on the film is always slow at the end of the year. So we could use a good conversation-starter. Here’s to the new year!