A Strange (And Innovative) Brand Of Film Marketing

As we enter the home stretch of the summer blockbuster season and have been inundated with sequels and franchise reboots, it’s easy to forget about the smaller and truly independent films. The pictures that are hard to get made, hard to finance, and hard to distribute. Along those lines, these would be the same movies that are difficult to get the word out about.

What’s continually amazing about audiences is their ability to dictate what gets seen in theaters on a number of occasions. The Blair Witch Project. My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Paranormal Activity. Napoleon Dynamite. These are just four instances where a small, low-budget pic broke through to the mainstream. And behind each of those stories is a group of filmmakers and supporters of the project that moved heaven and earth to see that occur.

As a film buff and die-hard movie lover, we must do everything we can to ensure that these projects continue to have the opportunity to make that breakthrough. It just so happens that I have a personal connection to one such project attempting to do just that as we speak.

My life-long best friend’s brother-in-law Brad Wise has embarked on an impressive journey into the movie world. Brad and others are responsible for making A Strange Brand of Happy, scheduled for release early this fall (September 13). I invite you to read about the film at its website here:

http://strangehappymovie.com/

We’ve all read stories about how tough it is to make a studio film, much less an indie project that was shot in Ohio by a group of people who are connected by their faith and their love of movies… but that’s precisely what happened here.

And the team behind A Strange Brand of Happy have developed a strange (yet innovative) method to get their film seen. That would be http://www.seatzy.com. Feel free to look over their site. Basically it works like this (from the website):

So what is Seatzy™?

Seatzy™ is first and foremost a platform for movie goers that will allow all of us to participate in the process of supporting the films we love by…

• Reserving tickets in advance so producers will know where and where to open a film (and where not to open it)
• Reserving tickets for friends who live somewhere else
• Starting a social media campaign to bring the movie to your city or any other city of your choice
• Donating tickets or to the cause behind the movie if you feel so inclined

From what I understand, Strange Brand‘s director Brad and company have seen some success with their decision to go the Seatzy route. And as the process of getting one’s project seen becomes more complicated in a film market that has greatly expanded ways to view their product, I’m not surprised to witness these kinds of groundbreaking ideas.

Knowing the film’s director, I am convinced that he’s entered the world of movies for the right reasons and his tenacity and inventive marketing abilities are highly admirable. Strange brands of getting your picture made, distributed, and seen are necessary these days. Brad Wise and his team have happily entered the fray and I wish them the best of luck!