Filmmaking is a collaborative art form and anyone, who has ever made a film knows this obvious truth. Of course, there are instances when one filmmaker makes the entire film on their own or with very limited help. But these are rather exceptions than a norm.
In my opinion, doing everything or almost everything on your own, while making a film is an uphill endeavour that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone to experience; especially if you take into consideration that the beauty of this art form is in the collectiveness of ideas and talents, all trying to create one coherent vision.
Marketing and promoting a film shouldn’t be any different. To make the final product successful, the whole team of people needs to come together to find the best ways to reach an audience and make them aware of the film in hope that they will pay to see that very film. In big-budget productions, there is a whole team of marketers, PR agencies and promoters pushing the product in front of the audience. Some of the mainstream campaigns are brilliant (Deadpool, anyone?), others not so much.
However, in the indie filmmaking world, there is hardly any money to pay a team of professional marketers and promoters. That is why for the film to succeed in the independent filmmaking space (don’t be mistaken and deluded; the indie filmmaking market is as competitive and crowded as the mainstream is, just with much less money), you need all hands on deck.
That’s why I believe that everyone, who has been involved in making the film, should help market and promote the movie, once it’s finished. This job should not be the sole responsibility of the creator of the film or the show. Unfortunately, it became a trend in the indie community that the creator also takes on the job of a marketer and promoter.
We all have the same number of hours in a day and only so many skills that can be used and diversified. In reality, if we diversify too much, we most likely run the danger of spreading ourselves way too thinly and not doing any of the tasks properly, with enough focus and commitment (I know that filmmakers often do that to save money, but in the long run it simply isn’t effective, both cost and timewise).
I’m not suggesting that every person involved in the indie film should stop their lives and solely focus on promoting this one project, not at all. What I’m saying is that collectively, the group of filmmakers have a much bigger chance to reach out to the right and the bigger audience than just one filmmaker does. Even if you just send a daily tweet about the film you were involved with, and it’s 10, 15, 50 of you, it can have a ripple effect on the project. This act of collective action may give the film the push it needs to break even or to make some money back for the investors.