Being Open to Life, as I have observed so far, has always paved new paths in my life! Doors are thrown open for variety of experiences, which otherwise I might have lost out on…Not to say I wander aimlessly through my life but I try not to confine myself within a few chosen paths.
As my life unwinds, I am treated to something new & interesting… Yes, each day is a new experience but bit monotonous! Devoid of it are certain days & experiences – like the ones that I had during the publicity & pre-post preview show of our short film ‘The Ballad of the Waves’.
The Making of the movie was an experience of a kind! Equally challenging and therefore most unique was the entire process of planning for the publicity & preview show of the film.
Role of a PRO is an enriching experience for sure! But my first attempt as a PRO was an eye opener! The lifeline of a ‘PRO’s job is ‘networking’! Most needed, else you reach all dead ends. My work so far was restricted to social network and blog promotion. First time ever, I ventured into the market trying to arrange a Preview Show – we wanted this event to be presided by a reasonably known artist from the Tamil Cine field; as it might open further doors for us. Not a child’s play for sure!
One would expect these artists to readily lend their time for encouraging budding talents! But the reality is bitter to digest! Reaching them is nothing less than reaching out for the Stars in the Sky… Are you one of those stars? Are you related to one of those stars or stars’ friends? Nope, there goes your chance! Are you financially sound to connect & build network with such stars? Nope! There your easy access windows are closed.
What next? As they say, where there is will there is always a way - the next is to try & connect with some of those existing PROs! And you know what they are more pricy than the starts themselves - What a pricy act! You pay them but they define your choice… can you beat that! What not they have to say ‘@ this price, I can only try / do this much – can’t promise stars coming/ can’t promise press release’ – now come on dude, if you can’t assure anything, why the hell I should spend on you?!?!? Else, they get into ‘this star has no market value; go for this one – one god-forsaken producer they suggest, who actually has no clue of good films!’ – Grr… was my feel when I finally chose to go my way! But I am thankful for this exposure because I got to learn some tricks / loopholes of the trade!
So, not to loose hope, I took my novice / amateurish step towards PRO. That’s when my search for 2 critical things started; One, for press coverage and Two, for Star to preside the preview.
Current social scenario ideally should make ‘publicity’ easier – isn’t it? Even I thought so till the time I faced the tune myself. Yup, with facebook / orkut / blog / twitter reaching people is much easier; still, to reach to your local audience who are not web-savvy the most powerful medium is our media coverage. So, all I wanted was a small write-up about the film & team in the most-read newspapers and magazines.
Believe me, this was the most daunting task! First & foremost, if you need to reach these papers / magazines, one of the following ways would provide you an easy start but doesn’t guarantee any coverage:
a) You should be part of this field
b) You are a top shot in your field
c) You have more than enough money to play around
d) You have managed to win some awards – even then our media would consider coverage [like ‘aranyakandam’ – that won award internationally but had to fight a long battle for local release!]
e) Have a real-high reach in the media field…
f) You or a good-hearted relative/friend heads the rqd media
If you can’t ensure any one of the above, then be assured of a struggle ahead! My battle, I would say, actually started on a little better grounds – because I didn’t dare to approach media as a ‘aam public’ but managed to take some references of known friends in the concerned media. N-number of email, phone calls to get leads, visit to offices, the wait time to get some response, reminder mails, follow ups… I am talking about response from top-most players in the field. After all the efforts, here is what we could manage:
a) Our preview news was printed in TOI’s Friday newspaper – ‘What’s HOT’ section
b) We got a small coverage in ‘vannathirai’ magazine
c) We managed to get a journalist from IE to attend the preview (through famous Sanjeev T contact) – but our joy was very short lived when we got to read her coverage. Less said the better; but the learning from this was most-valuable!
Looking back, I would still rate this as a mini-milestone / positive step ahead to be able to get some publicity amidst all challenges. Was it a value-add to the film promotion itself? That’s a question pondering in my mind! Nevertheless, a valuable learning for future – now, will work towards more meaningful results!
On the other hand, immense thanks to ‘Facebuk’ – it gave us a reach that we didn’t imagine!
Secondly, our efforts to get a reasonably sensible star to preside our preview… Well, rather than feeling low that some people of our choice was not reachable; I choose to feel happy & thank the ones who accepted our invitation and shared their time / joy with us:
- Special thanks to Anupama!!!
- Ofcourse, we are always indebted to Sanjeev T – who despite reaching great heights working with our very own A.R.Rehman, is still grounded – humility is the word! One, who always supports us with his beautiful musical sense;
- And yes, equally proud we are to have Mr. Prabhu in our team – our hero, cinematographer – most talented guy who is stepping up ladders as Associate Director with SelvaRaghavan, a renowned talent in Tamil film industry.
Last but never the least; we share our special thanks with Jazz. One who was just a phone call away to help me arrange for the venue and facilities for the preview!
Doesn’t that sum up to an enriching, successful maiden venture as a PRO. I am happy & proud to be sharing this & why not? With such talent around, I am so glad I could do my bit! Am sure this has paved new ways in my life! I feel one should never hesitate to try your hands @ different opportunities that life throws @ you! After all, life is a journey. Let’s make it as interesting as possible :)