Read other readers. An independent filmmaker marketing his film during last week's Toronto International Film Festival, he is conscious that schmoozing at parties is one of the many strategies he and his contemporaries must employ to make that lucrative sale. I meet great people at the parties. Networking is one way for him to accomplish his goals. Guerrilla and ambush grassroots marketing is another.
Movies are among the toughest sells.
Forget selling a smash hit to the public, aspiring filmmakers must first sell their work, and themselves, to the studio chiefs of tinsletown. Festivals are the ultimate avenues for this push. They provide a level playing field to search for that vital distribution deal. You can't think about maintaining the artistic integrity of the film when you're selling it. It is no longer a piece of art, it is a commodity.