May 25, 2012

Adventures in Self-Releasing: My Week At-A-Glance

by Jeffrey Goodman | Published April 17, 2009

Thought I would mix things up a bit again, format-wise. Here’s a quick glimpse at my week last week.

Monday, April 6th
I’m back from the Wisconsin Film Festival. Tickets for the theatrical premiere haven’t been made available for purchase yet. That’s the priority right now. Call R. again. Keep pushing. Make it happen.

Second-to-last social event is coming up on Thursday. Have to make sure T-shirts, yard signs, new postcards and new posters are all ready by then. Call all the vendors and make sure everything will be ready for Thursday.

I still haven’t delivered all of my investors’ tax credits and April 15 is just around the corner. Make it happen.

Tuesday, April 7th
I speak to a breakfast group of businessmen. It is a great opportunity that ends up with a wonderful Q&A.

Tickets still haven’t been made available for purchase yet. What the hell! Keep pushing. That’s probably the single most important thing that needs to happen. Without tickets available for purchase, I feel like all of my marketing efforts are abstract and without true effect.

Wednesday, April 8th
I receive an e-mail at 7 a.m. asking me to do a last-minute speaking engagement. I end up speaking to a female networking group and in the process run into a friend of mine who is next door with another group. He asks if I’ll speak to his group, too. So I end up with two unexpected but great opportunities to promote the premiere weekend. That afternoon, I have a quick, weekly meeting with my local PR firm. We are just checking in about Thursday’s social event to make sure everything is still running according to schedule.

Finally, late in the day, I receive the big news: Tickets are now available! I must alert everyone: My investors, my Facebook group, my monthly update list. I have to construct an e-mail that reminds people of our goal (3,000 tickets) and makes it clear that screenings will sell out fast. They should pick their screening and buy now.

Thursday, April 9th
The second-to-last social event is tonight. I must arrange pick-up of the T-shirts, yard signs, new posters and new postcards.

I also have to attend a meeting to discuss the future of Louisiana’s film industry. The legislative session begins in a couple of weeks and the state really needs to increase its production tax credit by five percent to stay competitive with other states.

That night’s social event is a great success. I end up giving every attendee a free t-shirt and rally a great amount of support to distribute the yard signs, posters and postcards around town.

Friday, April 10th
I catch up on e-mails. Then, I bring 64 T-shirts to the theater staff. The entire staff will wear our shirts either on Saturday or Sunday of premiere weekend.

I have three more festivals coming up. I need to make sure proper publicity is getting done in each of the cities and make sure they will all have copies of the film.

I work on locking down the next stops for Lullaby after our premiere weekend in Shreveport-Bossier City. Next stop: Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the Collins Road Theatre from May 8-14. Then we will be at the Showcase Cinemas 53 from May 15-21 in Davenport, Iowa.

Saturday, April 11th
I create a list of other areas in Shreveport-Bossier that need postcards and posters. Then I divide the distribution of those things among the street team’s key members. One of those key members is, of course, yours truly.

Sunday, April 12th
Easter Sunday. I catch up on e-mails, work on my weekly blog for MovieMaker and try to rest a little before an important week; 19 days out and counting. Did I say I was anxious or excited? Well, when did you ask?

After living in Los Angeles for seven years, Jeffrey Goodman returned to his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana to direct The Last Lullaby. Co-written by the creator of Road to Perdition, and starring Tom Sizemore and Sasha Alexander, The Last Lullaby was filmed entirely in and around Shreveport and financed by 48 local investors.

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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by Tony Comstock on 4/19/09 at 12:56 pm: Not exactly lounging on the beach in St. Barts with Angelina Jollee, is it?
Comment by Carports on 7/01/09 at 10:22 am: It’s good thing that you still remember the things that you’ve been doing… Great post.
Comment by Informações Budapeste on 11/06/09 at 4:03 pm: I never self released a movie but if I did, I know I would be a very busy person! :)
Comment by Carports on 1/15/11 at 12:32 am: It really puts things into perspective when you keep track of your day to day activities.
Comment by Carports on 2/23/11 at 8:50 am: Thanks for this article, it was a great read!