Evan Kidd guest posts on Film Independent how his Microbudget Feature ‘Panda Bear It’ Shifted Its Gameplan Post-Pandemic.

He starts by lamenting the loss of the way things were:

“I miss the community that accompanies sitting in a dark room for an hour or two surrounded by complete strangers. Strangers who embark on the uniquely shared but silent conversation that is watching storytelling unfold in the cinema. Every filmmaker wants to see their work on the big screen with an engaged audience. It doesn’t matter if it’s a crowd of five or five hundred. Putting your work (yourself) out there and having a dialogue about the message behind the medium makes the trials and tribulations of this industry melt away.”

With his second feature, Panda Bear It, a new marketing strategy was required, as:

“…film festivals, screenings and promotion typically involved many other people and a lot of marketing: shaking hands (RIP), traveling with your project to festival screenings big and small and being an ambassador for your own film. That slow burn approach allows you to meet your audience.”

But as the pandemic picked up steam, suddenly only social media and online distribution were viable.

Rather than invest in too many festivals with online screenings, Evan decided to build up his online presence:

1. He created a podcast called Convincing Creatives. “Talking to a different member of our cast and crew of every episode. The types of conversations we would have with an audience at a film festival Q&A just put into podcast form. People connected with that. They missed it.”
2. He also fleshed out his Youtube Channel. “I filmed a series of videos shot in my home office during lockdown talking about every aspect of production on Panda Bear It for a few hundred dollars in North Carolina. It grew into a series about indie filmmaking now spanning over 35 videos and counting. They’re essentially the DVD bonus features no one asked for.”

All this was to build up hype for their release on Amazon Prime. He concludes:

“The twists of this year molded me more as a filmmaker. I was truly and fully involved in every aspect of production and promotion like it or not. Perhaps this is a roadmap for future works? Filmmaking is a celebration of the human condition that I didn’t know was as resilient as my fellow filmmakers and film goers proved to me this past year.”

See his company RockSet and twitter for Panda Bear It.

My take: I love the way Evan pivoted. Not able to tour with his movie at film festivals, he doubled down on his podcast and Youtube channel. All indie filmmakers need to be all-in on every possible marketing outlet to attract their audience.