What Film?

by Pamela Cole, Editor-in-Chief

January 29, 2007—Okay, I've been getting a lot of questions about the publication lately. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions.

We've decided to go to a lighter weight paper for our print edition. Up until now, we've splurged on the highest grade of glossy that money can buy, and let me tell you, that sucker's expensive! So, for now, we've traded glossy for profit (hopefully). Even with a TOTAL VOLUNTEER STAFF, it costs thousands of dollars to produce Southern Screen Report, and we depend on advertising, donations, and subscriptions to cover those costs.

Subscriptions

Which brings me to another point: subscriptions. We are no longer posting the issue online, so people are constantly asking me where they can get a copy. Well, besides the places in Atlanta (listed here), you could actually find a copy in your very own mailbox. If you want to read Southern Screen Report, PLEASE BUY A SUBSCRIPTION and WE WILL MAIL IT TO YOU! It only costs $9.95 (for now) which is less than lunch at Mickey D's anymore. So, if you like Southern Screen Report and you really want to read it, make it easy on yourself, and subscribe online, okay? With the cost of gas these days, you'll actually SAVE money by subscribing instead of driving all over town looking for a copy. (They go fast, you know!)

Free Publicity

While we really want (and need) for you to buy an advertisement, we're kind enough to offer TWO--not one--but, TWO types of free publicity for filmmakers:

#1 - Production Listings. Our most viewed page on our website. For absolutely nothing, you can enter a production listing about your film online, and we will not only post it on our website, heck, we'll print it in our publication, too.

#2 - Trailers. We're now running trailers on our home page for the whole world to see. So, if you made a film and you want the whole world to see it, you can send us your trailer and for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, we will run it online (as long as it's not too nasty!). There's no catch, no gimmick, no marketing baloney attached to either of these offers.

Trailers

And another thing about those trailers… Yes, they can only be up to 60 seconds long. Whyyyyyy?, you whine. Well, grasshopper, there are many reasons. But that's not the point. The point is that you should be able to summarize your film in 60 seconds or less--or you're not a real filmmaker. Every commercial on television runs in less time, promoting every product under the sun while frequently telling extended stories. Your job is to promote your film in 60 seconds. A 4-minute trailer is not a trailer--it's a short film! Not to mention, it's a gigantic file and requires tons of bandwidth (and trust me, no one is ever going to sit through a four-minute trailer--not in this age of short attention spans.)

Do you like your film? Do you think other people will like it too? Do you want other people to see your film?

What film?

No one's ever going to see it if they haven't heard of it. Free publicity at Southern Screen Report--it's unbelievable!

We invite you to submit your editorials! If you would like to send a letter to the editor, please e-mail editor@screenreport.com. All editorials are subject to editing for style, grammar, and content.

All editorials are strictly the opinion of the author, and do not necessarily represent the view of the publisher.

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