Making A Movie Is the Easy Part

Note: I typically write about filmmaking tech, but sometimes I cover other film-related topics such as in this article about indie film marketing and distribution.

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You have a great script. You've raised the money to make it. You found the right cast and crew. So you shoot it. Edit it. Score it. Screen it. Submit to film festivals (get rejections from film festivals). Submit to distributors (get rejections from distributors).

But eventually with a lot of hard work and some luck you find a distribution path. And all of this took you two years or more to do. And this is the easy part.

Now you've got to sell it.

This is a common scenario for many independent filmmakers today. Myself included.

It's a small miracle to actually get a movie made, but then marketing and selling that movie to an audience is even more challenging.

And I can attest to this. I'm currently releasing my new movie "Casey Makes a Mixtape" right now (more on this later).

First, let's make clear that I'm talking about low-budget films here with no big movie stars. And these aren't Sundance winning films either (very few even get accepted to Sundance, let alone win). And these movies aren't in theaters (digital releases). But these are well-made movies with perhaps a few familiar acting faces in them.

If you look on IMDb or Letterboxd you'll see lots and lots of these kind of indie films out there, and it's very likely that you've never heard of any them. So why is that?

Well, a lot of the films are just bad and so those projects never really get much traction. But for the sake of argument here, let's assume your movie is good.

In that case the most obvious answer is lack of money to properly market a film. And this is a problem. Most filmmakers don't budget for marketing assuming that a distributor will do it for them. And while this can happen, it rarely does today. Especially again for smaller films.

But the problem is more complicated than just not having enough money.

Here's a list (in no particular order) of some challenges facing indie filmmakers trying to get people to watch their movies:

1. We're competing with Hollywood films whether we like it or not.

2. Building awareness for a small movie is very difficult, even running ads on social media.

3. There are too many entertainment options available today from video games to TikTok to infinite streaming channels.

4. Because of streaming, audiences have been programmed to watch movies for "free" instead of renting or buying them on VOD.

5. The market is oversaturated with "content" (hate that word), but there are already too many movies and TV shows made today and no one has time to consume them all.

6. Many people now have short attention spans and often can't even watch a movie without scrolling on their smartphone, so it lessens their value (largely again due to streamers because if you don't like a movie you just turn it off and it costs nothing).

So what can we do?

For some of these things, not much. The streamers have really changed the film business and not just for indies. Even studios have a hard time getting people to go to the theater today. I'm guilty of that myself. I often just wait for movies to arrive on streaming.

But as it relates to building awareness and finding an audience, here's what I'm doing right now for the new movie:

1. Working with a publicist (and a film marketing consultant) to get a mix of organic and paid media coverage including reviews and behind-the-scenes articles and interviews.

2. Hired a marketing agency to do a small social media ad campaign on Facebook and Instagram (for both VOD conversions and building page followings).

3. I'm also experimenting running Amazon Entertainment Spotlight ads on Prime Video and Fire TV (I have an Amazon Slate account and so have direct access to this).

4. Using my filmmaking YouTube channels to share info about how the film was made (and this blog is part of my iPhone channel - and btw, part of the movie was shot on iPhone).

5. Speaking of the iPhone, I made a video about how I used it shooting the movie and I'm running a giveaway for free LUT packs to anyone who rents or buys the film and sends me the receipt.

6. Posting daily for the first 30 days of the release on Facebook, Instagram and X - using both the movie pages and my personal pages. And will continue to post after, but just not as frequently.

7. And in those social media posts I'm really trying to mix it up with a variety of images, videos, memes and more. Do NOT post the same stuff over and over again.

8. I also interviewed each of the principal cast and I'm using them in social media videos to help promote the release - and I even made a bunch of fake 1980s TV commercials to share (the film is set in 1981).

9. Trying to book podcasts or radio interviews for me on filmmaking shows (have a few coming up) and the cast on entertainment ones. Our lead Presley Richardson (who plays Casey) has been on a couple so far including one with me on SiriusXM with Eric Alper (see link below).

10. I've used my email lists to contact friends, family and business associates. And I also have subscribers on this website that I've shared the movie with.

11. Asking everyone to rate and/or review the movie wherever they watch it (especially Amazon). And also on IMDb, Letterboxd or Rotten Tomatoes. This can REALLY help indies. And we've already got 18 reviews on Amazon which is amazing.

There's of course more going on, but these are the main things I'm trying. And to state the obvious, this is all really an experiment for me. I've not done this much grass roots marketing on a film before.

Will it work? It's too soon to know.

The film officially released on October 14, 2025. And so at the time of this writing it's only been 12 days. But so far the response has been positive and we're seeing more engagement on social media and on the different streaming outlets where the film is available.

But I have to remind myself this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Our marketing efforts only started about 10 days before the actual release - and that was with our trailer premiere. Everything else has been done since then. Although I have been occasionally mentioning the film for the last two years on my YouTube channels and personal social media pages, but only in a "coming soon" kind of way.

Now that it's here we're doing a full court press. No pun intended. :)

The film will be exclusively on VOD for the first 90 days, and continue there after too, but with other options available starting with a Blu-ray. It might also go to a subscription streamer in the future, but we're still looking at that. And it will be on worldwide airlines in 2026. Then eventually it will roll out on ad-supported "free" streaming sites like Tubi, etc. but not sure on exactly when that will happen.

So if you want to see the movie now check it out on Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube Movies, Google Play or Fandango at Home. Go to the movie's website for direct links.

I'll report back in the future to detail what marketing efforts worked and what didn't.

Below are a few examples of press items that I mentioned earlier:

• Film Threat review

• Presley Richardson podcast interview

• Production Hub behind-the-scenes article

• SiriusXM interview on That Eric Alper Show (via an Instagram reel)

If you've made a film and are now marketing it, what has worked for you?

Follow me on Twitter/X and let me know there (unfortunately most comments on this page are limited due to spam bots).

Happy film marketing!

-BC