Thesis: Entertainment Marketing | Campaign Book & Plan

Entertainment Marketing Plan Spring 2013

An Entertainment Marketing Plan by: Kaitlyn Bracken Designed by: Tavish Ryan May 7, 2013 FTV 419-01, Spring 2013

Table of Contents Phase One: Overview ...............................................................5 Executive Summary ....................................................................6 Overview.................................................................................................7 Marketing Opportunities & Obstacles .........................8 Target Audiences ...........................................................................9 Big Idea ...................................................................................................11 Phase Two: Festival Strategy ...........................................13 Strategy ................................................................................................14 Festival Kit Materials.................................................................20 Photography......................................................................................22 Festival PR/Guerilla/Stunting Strategies.................26 Cast and Crew Bios.....................................................................28 Phase Three: Consumer Strategy......................................33 Overall Strategy...........................................................................34 Campaign Timeline....................................................................35 P&A Budget........................................................................................35 Distribution Strategy and Release Date..................36 Creative Advertising..................................................................39 Media Strategy and Plan....................................................40 Media Flowchart...........................................................................43 Market Research.............................................................................44 Publicity Overview....................................................................45 Publicity Activities......................................................................48 Television Publicity....................................................................50 Print Publicity...................................................................................52 Internet Publicity...........................................................................54 Promotion and Corporate Tie-ins....................................56 Internet and Social Marketing..........................................58

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Executive Summary

Throughout the span of our lifetimes, we encounter incredibly unforgettable experiences.

But at times, life’s plan doesn’t follow our expectations. Unfortunately the roughest obstacles we endure can have the power to overshadow all of the greatness we’ve experienced—or at least it feels that way. It’s not uncommon to feel trapped in a standstill, yearning to resolve what’s far out of reach. How does one overcome such anguish and desperation? There’s no definitive resolution, but instead of wasting time looking for answers that can’t be found, strive forward and acknowledge that every endeavor is an experience of self-development.

An American In Venice shares the first hand account of Henry Mayer, a failing actor and fired employee, as he gasps for air while drowning in his pity. In a story that resonates with every human being, An American In Venice discloses humor in the struggles we face. No matter the hardships we encounter, it’s vital to recognize the simple things in life—the experiences like a comforting kiss, a passerby’s smile, or a beautiful sunset to end what you believe is the worst day of your life.

In this tale of constant troubles, a light is shined on the discouragement and gloom that succumbs us. An American In Venice rekindles hope for the hopeless and reminds us that our path in life isn’t set in stone—it’s inevitable to encounter roadblocks and stormy weathers, but without these experiences, we wouldn’t be the people we are. Moreover, An American In Venice reiterates that all experiences, even those of desolation and uncertainty, ultimately shape and define our beings. Everyone is in pursuit of something, and though our desires and wishes for the future may differ with each person, we all share the pursuit of self-discovery.

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Positioning Statement Failure and uncertainty surrounds the young, witty Henry Mayer as he struggles to make it as an actor living in Venice Beach, California. In pursuit of the American Dream, Henry is lost in daze of confusion with no clear path for his future. In what Henry believes are the worst four days of his life, he realizes his experience might just leave him hopeful for his future.

Synopsis In pursuit of his acting career, Henry Mayer moved to the heart of the entertainment industry: Southern California. Living in the canals of Venice Beach, with two quirky roommates, Henry struggles and drowns in his own insecurities. After being fired from his part-time job and repeatedly failing to deliver a successful acting performance, Henry hits a breaking point. His lack of success and a love life lead to an early onset midlife crisis.

Henry’s uncertainties and pessimistic attitude toward his future leave him lost and confused. In this coming of age film, Henry discovers that even the roughest times can lead to something brighter. His struggles deter him from chasing the American Dream, and though Henry feels trapped in a standstill, he discovers there might be more hope for his future after all.

Tagline A comedy about finding yourself after life’s path leaves you lost.

Genre Indie-Comedy

Rating

Running Time 21:53 7

Marketing Opportunities Genre

Henry

Originality

Comedies are widely enjoyed by a vast audience, making the film’s genre undoubtedly an opportunity.

Henry, the main character, presents a great opportunity because the audience has someone to root for—a character who’s experiencing many troubles, likely obstacles they too have encountered.

Thoe original content of the film is quirky with a unique story of deeper layers that can be used to appeal to the audience.

Soundtrack and Music The film is heavily music-oriented, which is a huge opportunity to appeal to our audience through a variety of musical genres. It features music by artists such as King Felix, Big Black Delta, Father John Misty, Mellowdrone, Moxi, Tapioca and the Flea, and TIBI.

Visuals Story The storyline of the film revolves around life’s many frustrations and uncertainties we all face, making the plot widely relatable.

Marketing Obstacles

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Title Conflictions

California Love

The film’s title, though not a severe obstacle, can be conflicting to potential audiences who assume Venice, Italy, instead of Venice Beach, California.

The heavy representation of California is a potential obstacle because it might limit the relativity and appeal to people in other markets.

Structure

Lack of Stars

There’s no strong Hollywood classic structure with a beginning, followed by rising actions and a climax, creating an ultimate conclusion or resolution.

Since this is a thesis project by student filmmakers without much recognition, the cast and crew is by no means an “obstacle,” per se, but they also don’t present an opportunity to capitalize on.

The setting of the film, in Venice Beach, California, allows for beautiful and creative visuals through cinematography and iconography, such as the notable “Venice” sign, boardwalk, and the beautiful sunsets captured on the beach.

Target Audiences

PRIMARY:

SECONDARY:

TERTIARY:

The Uncertain Students and Graduates

The Strugglers and Jobseekers

The Reminiscing Adults

-Young Adults, ages 18-24

-Adults, ages 25-34

-Adults, ages 35-53

-Males and Females

-Males and Females

-College students and recent high school/college graduates who are uncertain of their careers and futures

-Primarily Caucasians, as well as AfricanAmericans and Hispanics

-Males and Females (slightly heavier focus on males)

-Primarily Caucasians, who are technology driven and get their information via the Internet and social media

-Musicians and music fans

-Live in a beach city or coastal state

-Primarily Caucasian -Leaders of successful lives, but can recall times of uncertainty regarding his or her future

-Interested in the entertainment industry—i.e. film, television, acting

-Educated and work-experienced

-Quick-witted fans of sarcastic humor

-Jobseekers who are unhappy with current careers, recently fired or quit work

-Comfortable with consumption of alcohol and marijuana

-Highly social among peers and enjoy parties and drinking

-Unsure of what he or she desires for the future

-Middle-class men and women with average/ slightly above average incomes

-California dreamers and California natives

-Strong interests in various music genres, such as alternative rock and electronic music.

-High school or college educated to keep up with humor

-Stuck in a recent mid-life crisis (hope-seekers)

-Comfortable with drinking, slight drug use and sexuality

NICHE: Southen California Entertainers -Adults, ages 18 and older

-Experience feelings hopelessness and frustrations

-Live in the Southern California area

-Pursuing careers in the entertainment industry, particularly acting

-Males and Females

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Big Idea In our modern day culture, it seems everyone is chasing the American Dream.

But what exactly defines the American Dream? For some it’s wealth or success, and for others it’s happiness or love. Whatever the dream, everyone is on a path of pursuit. It’s only human to encounter obstacles along the way; even when life seems to fall to pieces, it’s essential to remember, we are not trapped in a permanent time of uncertainty. When problems surround us, look for hope—or at the very least, believe in it, and hope will find you. Although we feel alone at times, we’re all part of a world of people who feel the same helplessness and frustrations. Not every problem we face will have an immediate solution, but with patience and optimism, we can create our own paths in life instead of simply searching for one.

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Overall Strategy The film festival strategy for An American In Venice has been carefully crafted to submit entries in relevant festivals that will expose the movie to an array of interested audiences. The majority of the festivals were selected based on the film’s heavy thematic representations of Southern California and the entertainment industry. We will also leverage the film’s indie-comedy genre to strategically submit to genre-specific festivals.

Through the film’s innovative, yet widely relatable story, our film festival strategy also includes some of the top festivals outside of the Los Angeles region, as well as international countries. With such relevance to an array of audiences, we’ve selectively chosen a handful of A-List film festivals in addition to the heavy submissions in regional festivals, where the film’s audience can be successfully targeted.

Target Festivals: Regional LA Film Fest Los Angeles, CA June 13-23, 2013 The Festival features unique signature programs including the Filmmaker Retreat, several outdoor screenings, intimate Coffee Talks and more. The LA Film Festival awards the following categories, a perfect fit for An American In Venice: Best Narrative Short Film, Best Short Film, and it also features screenings from student filmmakers.

For more information, visit: http://www.http://www.lafilmfest.com

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Target Festivals: Regional LA Shorts Fest Los Angeles, CA May 31, 2013 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (LA Shorts Fest) is the most prestigious short film festival in the world. LA Shorts Fest is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and award winners are eligible for Academy nomination. The Festival boasts an outstanding past record of 44 Academy Award-nominated films, including 12 Oscar winners.

For more information, visit: http://www.lashortsfest.com

LA Comedy Shorts Film Fest Los Angeles, CA April 4-7, 2013 (2014 dates TBA) The L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, currently the largest comedy film festival in the U.S., is a four-day, non-stop celebration of comedic short films with screenings, industry panels and a redcarpet awards event.

LACS was named one of Moviemaker Magazine’s “25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” in both 2009 and 2011, and was honored as one of the “Top Ten Film Festivals in the U.S.” by the Brooks Institute.

For more information, visit: http://www.lacomedyshorts.com

Hollywood Shorts Hollywood, CA Monthly Screenings Hollywood Shorts Film Festival is a monthly screening program that celebrates the outstanding achievements in short filmmaking and animation from directors and their creative teams. More than 300 short and animated films are programmed year-round, and submissions are accepted yearround. It also offers and Emerging Filmmakers/Directors Program. The festival is one of the most popular short film series in Los Angeles.

For more information, visit: http://blog.hollywoodshorts.com

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Target Festivals: Regional Independent Filmmakers Showcase Beverly Hills, CA March 27-April 8, 2013 (2014 dates TBA) The IFS Film Festival is the premiere event for the Independent Filmmakers Showcase season, taking place every March across Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Monica, Raleigh Studios, the IFS Theater, and the IFS Screening Rooms in Hollywood & Los Angeles. The IFS Film Festival celebrates the best in independent film with a week of screenings, events, parties, and Awards of Merit presented to the films the IFS finds exemplify the best in independent cinema over the past year.

For more information, visit: http://www.ifsfilm.com

Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Hollywood, CA Febuary 1-12, 2014 The Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival celebrates independent, student and international film making. By offering cash, prizes and awards, the Festival’s goal is to stimulate filmmakers in the creation of quality new work. Through offering multiple screenings of the best films to be viewed in theaters by industry professionals and fellow filmmakers, the Festival hopes to give these films an opportunity to find distribution and garner media attention, as well as to provide filmmakers a chance for their work to be shown on the big screen.

For more information, visit: http://hollywoodreelindependentfilmfestival.com/

American Independent Film Festival Playa Del Rey, CA October 30- November 6, 2012 (2013 dates TBA) The American Independent Film Festival celebrates the work of indie filmmakers. It is a unique platform for new talent and a tour-de-force of low-budget creativity and innovation.The American Independent Film Festival runs at the same time, and just around the corner from, the American Film Market in Los Angeles. This makes AIFF the perfect place to get your film seen by the people who make things happen in the film industry.

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For more information, visit: http://www.filmfestival.us

Target Festivals: Regional Newport Beach Film Festival Newport Beach, CA April 25-May 2, 2013 (2014 dates TBA) The Newport Beach Film Festival has the largest shorts program within a major film festival in the United States. NBFF accepts and screens more than 200 short movies culled from worldwide submissions. It screens an eclectic mix of shorts and also works with several colleges in Southern California to put together a showcase of student-made films.

For more information, visit: http://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com/

Other Venice Film Festival Venice Beach, CA October 11-13, 2013 The Other Venice Film festival is dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. Through its programs, the OVFF seeks to discover, support, and inspire independent filmmakers from Venice and around the world, and introduce audiences to their new work. The festival accepts shorts of various lengths, styles and genres, and films shot by locals or shot around Venice is a plus, but not required.

For more information, visit: http://www.othervenicefilmfestival.com/

Beverly Hills Shorts Festival Beverly Hills, CA November 8-12, 2013 The Beverly Hills Shorts Festival has become the Los Angeles Metro area’s 2nd largest shorts festival.

Every selection screened at the festival comes from actual submissions--NO FILMS are invited to the festival. Unlike the majority of the festivals who program through a “who you know” method, Beverly Hills Shorts Festival programmers are completely impartial. Each film is watched by anywhere from 2 - 5 programmers, and offers 15-20 awards every year.

For more information, visit: http://www.beverlyhillsshortsfestival.com

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Target Festivals: A-Listers South By Southwest: FILM Austin, TX March 7-16, 2014 Every March, creatives of all stripes gather in Austin to witness, share and inspire the visions that will galvanize the filmmakers and ideas of tomorrow. SXSW Film Conference & Festival champions the vitality, innovation and opportunity that drives the entertainment and media landscape, and boldly tackles the evolution of all aspects of “film” today, down to its very definition. The Festival offers a Narrative Short category, a great fit for An American In Venice, screening a selection of original films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive, genuine storytelling.

For more information, visit: http://sxsw.com/film

Cannes Film Festival Cannes, France May 15-26, 2013 (2014 dates TBA) At Cannes, short films feature in the Competition, at the end of which the Short Films Jury awards a Palme d’or, and in the Short Film Corner, a professional area dedicated to meeting people, exchanging ideas and promoting films.

For more information, visit: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html

Sundance Film Festival Park City, UT January 16-26, 2014 The Sundance Film Festival brings the most original storytellers together with the most adventurous audiences for its annual program of dramatic and documentary films, shorts, New Frontier films, installations, performances, panel discussions, and dynamic music events. Year after year, the Festival pursues new ways to introduce more people to the most original and authentic storytelling.

For more information, visit: http://www.sundance.org/festival/

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Target Festivals : A-Listers The CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival Toronto, Canada June 5-12, 2012 (2013 dates TBA) The CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival (WSFF) is the premier venue for the exhibition and promotion of short film in North America. Taking place in early June, the WSFF is dedicated to celebrating the quality and creative range of short films. With annual submissions that surpass 4000, expert programmers specially select 250 shorts from more than 80 countries for five days of public screenings.

For more information, visit: http://worldwideshortfilmfest.com/

Tribeca Film Festival New York, NY June 5-12, 2012 April 17-28, 2013 (2014 dates TBA) The Festival’s mission is to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking center. Tribeca Film Festival is well known for being a diverse international film festival that supports emerging and established directors.

For more information, visit: http://tribecafilm.com/festival

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Festival Kit HENRY MONFRIES

CAITY ENGLER

CAROLINE SMITH

DELPANEAUX WILLIS

Dear Maggie, Can you recall a time in your life where you felt lost or uncertain of your future? The struggle to find hope in times of such frustration is practically inevitable. An American In Venice is a witty and engaging indie-comedy with timeless themes relatable to endless audiences.

The 20-minute short tells the story of a struggling actor who faces what he believes to be the roughest days of his life. An American In Venice is a coming of age story about finding yourself after life’s path leaves you lost—a comedic representation of rekindling your hope.

In this kit you’ll find cast and crew biographies, high-resolution still-frames, exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, and a one-sheet with further information. Most importantly, I strongly encourage and sincerely hope you watch the included DVD of An American In Venice.

The prestigious reputation and diverse audiences of the Los Angeles Film Festival would further spread the important messages in this film, and it would undoubtedly be a successful platform for the exact exposure we seek. Given the ideal and relevant location of your festival, I’m entirely confident An American In Venice is a film your audiences won’t want to miss.

I truly thank you for your time and consideration; please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Warmest Regards,

Kaitlyn Bracken Kaitlyn Bracken An American In Venice Director of Marketing & Public Relations C: 440.668.1559 E: kaitlyn.bracken@gmail.com An American In Venice is a senior thesis film, developed at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts in Orange, California.

Director: Kelle Leonard Producer: Taylor Forster Writers: Kelle Leonard & Daniel Crooke

FOXSEARCHLIGHTINASSOCIATIONWITHMARIONKNOTTSTUDIOSPRESENTSADODGECOLLEGEOFFILMANDMEDIAARTSPRODUCTION“ANAMERICANINVENICE” DIRECTEDANDWRITTENBYKELLELEONARDCO-WRITTENBYDANIELCROOKEPRODUCEDBYTYLERFORSTERDIRECTOROFPHOTOGRAPHYALLYRYBICKI EDITED BY ZOEY GORDON PRODUCTION DESIGN BY STEPHANIE YATCO SOUND DESIGN BY LAURA VIA

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Festival PR/Guerilla/Stunting Strategies

Coasters For each film festival attended, An American In Venice will partner with willing bars, nightclubs and restaurants to distribute branded coasters. By reaching out to an array of dive-bars, dance clubs and restaurants, we can ensure our targeted audiences will be reached and provided with information, luring their attendance at the screenings.

The Chicken Coop In permitted areas in each city, we will recreate an unusual scene from the film, garnering attention from passersby. Acting out on his extreme hopelessness and selfconfusion, the main character, Henry, decides to build a chicken coop to start raising organic eggs. The guerilla marketing team will rebuild the chicken coop in urban street areas where pedestrians would never expect to see it. For those who stop by, a branded egg will be given, with a surprise inside of each egg. Some will contain various prizes, such as stickers, key chains, or film festival tickets.

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Beach Mayhem

Inescapable Venice

In coastal cities near the beach, we will hold a “Beach Mayhem” party, with performances from the film’s well-recognized artists, such as King Felix. With our corporate sponsor, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), we will provide the first 100 guests free drink wristbands. In between songs or change of performers, we will screen the trailer, selected scenes and personal cast/crew messages on a large projector.

In colder climates and inland cities, we will bring the beach to the party. At various nightclubs and/or bars, we’ll throw the “Beach Mayhem” party indoors, with branded An American In Venice beach balls, coasters, and sunglasses, bringing the movie’s beach setting to any environment.

Leveraging the film’s Venice Beach iconography, our street teams will parade the cities of each film festival with mock Venice signs, causing a scene that is certain to generate buzz. At high-traffic street corners and tourist attractions, the street team will put the parade on hold to mingle with passersby, and handout promotional posters, soundtracks and bottle opener key chains. This will give our team a chance to directly converse and mingle with potential audience members. We will also hire photographers for passersby to take photos with the Venice sign, handing out An American In Venice cards where they can find our website information and access their photos, which will be branded with the hashtag “#AnAmericanInVenice.”

Social Media Months before the film premiered as a 20-minute short (May 3, 2013) we devoted a strong focus on social media to capture or primarily young-adult audiences. Building an early online presence secures a preexisting fan base, which will only grow as time passes. With heavy reliance on Twitter and Instagram, we will use the hashtag “#AnAmericanInVenice” to not only track and engage in conversation, but also to inform our audience.

All of the promotional giveaways previously mentioned will be branded or include the hashtag to build a following, keep people interested in where our street team will be next, and maintain overall consistent messaging. We’ll also utilize our Facebook page to inform our fans of upcoming events and news.

Before the first screening of An American In Venice, we’ll hold various visualoriented contests on Instagram (see photos on right).

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Cast Biographies

Henry Monfries

Caity Engler

Caroline Whitney Smith

Delpaneaux Wills

Henry

Amber

Mildred

Del

Henry Monfries, a born and raised Texan, moved to California after graduating high school in pursuit of an acting career. Henry’s worked on various projects, including co-star roles on, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and United States of Tara. He’s thrilled to have played the role of Henry in American In Venice, and to have the chance to work with two of his long-time friends, Daniel Crooke and Kelle Leonard, as well as the extremely talented cast and crew of An American In Venice.

Raised in San Leandro, California, Caity grew up swimming and performing in musical theater. She attended UCLA, where she dabbled in Shakespeare, sang Vivaldi and played lead roles in various films.

Her credits range from roles alongside Tom Hanks in Larry Crowne, and television shows for ABC, Discover I.D. and TLC. Currently, she’s producing a documentary about soccer in Mexico, revealing the serious social issues surrounding the sport. In her occasional downtime, Caity enjoys baking, blogging, and participating in triathlons.

Caroline Whitney Smith is a native New Yorker who traded in the concrete jungle for the palm tree-lined streets of Los Angeles. Caroline’s recent credits include Southland, Castle, and on-stage performances at Pasadena’s Boston Court Theatre for the world premiere of Creation. Her next role in What’s your Sign? premieres this summer at the Los Angeles Outfest Film Festival.

Delpaneaux Wills is a U.S. citizen of African descent, born and raised in Sierra Leone. When he returned to the United States as a teenager, he fell in love with football, medicine, and acting. He played football at San Diego State University and Whittier College as a wide receiver. Delpaneaux sacrificed his plan to follow his father’s footsteps and become a doctor for his love of acting.

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Since moving to Los Angeles, Delpaneaux has become an active presence in theater, television, and film. In 2009, Delpaneaux played the role of Seneca Keflezi, an African track star, in the Lifetime original film Chasing a Dream. Delpaneaux has also appeared on television shows such as The E-Ring, Las Vegas, The L-Word, and General Hospital. His film credits include a lead role in Lionsgate’s Darktown, American Blend, and the Sci-fi film, Sand Sharks.

Cast Biographies

Callie Ott

Cory Grant

Brock Jones

Rachel

Barry

Director

Callie Ott is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Performance. With a background in theater, she’s performed in an array musicals and live entertainment. Callie recently moved to Los Angeles and is currently taking improvisation classes at iO West. Since moving to Southern California, Callie has worked on commercials, short films, and television.

Callie’s eager and excited to further explore her talent in the nation’s heart of the entertainment industry.

Cory Grant had an odd childhood, growing up on an emu farm outside of San Francisco. When he was 8 years old, Cory’s parents decided to sell the farm and move to Chicago.

It was in the Chicago suburbs where Cory first started acting. He attended circus school, learned the art of mime, and took ballet classes, all the while under the tutelage of Byrne Piven, father of Jeremy Piven, at the Piven Theater Workshop. After graduating high school, Cory moved to New York, lived in a box, and started working in theater, which culminated in playing the lead role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys on Broadway.

Brock Jones plays the role of the director in An American In Venice.

He hails from Atlanta by way of Dallas, Texas and has recently made a home in Los Angeles. Brock moved to the West Coast purely to pursue academic endeavors at the University of Southern California, and after graduating, he worked in music industry. His experiences led him to fully realize a talent and passion for hosting, acting, and producing. With a number of interviews with top talent in music, Brock is now honing the craft to gain a foothold in acting for commercials, film, and TV.

Eric Hunicutt Wunderkind Eric Hunicutt is a working actor (SAG-AFTRA), writer, director, and teacher, living in Los Angeles. His work includes feature and short films, theater, television, commercials, new media, live improvisation and sketch comedy. Currently, Eric performs weekly at the iO West Theater in Hollywood with The Reckoning.

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Crew Biographies Kelle Leonard Director/co-writer Kelle Leonard is currently in his senior year at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California. He is majoring in film production, with an emphasis in directing, and a minor in advertising.

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California, Kelle graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills after taking three years of film production classes. While in high school, Kelle interned for the animated television show, King of the Hill, as well as with New Wave Entertainment’s talent management department. He’s received certification in Final Cut Pro and produced more than a dozen short films.

While enrolled at Chapman University, Kelle produced nearly ten short films. He’s also interned with Aperture Films in post-production and worked in post-production for the independent feature film, Mother’s Red Dress. His ten-minute short, If I Did It, premiered December 2011, and his thesis film, An American in Venice, premiered May 3, 2013.

Taylor Forster Producer Taylor Forster is a senior creative producing major, with a minor in business, at Chapman University in Orange, California. Originally from Mill Valley, California, Taylor has been intrigued by the art of filmmaking since a young age. In high school, she was enrolled in The Academy of Integrated Humanities and New Media, during which she produced six scripted shorts and four documentaries—two of which received student Emmys.

Throughout her educational career, Taylor has worked diligently on multiple sets and produced If I Did It, a ten-minute short, which premiered December 2011. Most recently, Taylor completed an internship with Atlas Entertainment.

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Crew Biographies Daniel Crooke Co-writer Daniel Crooke, a 22 year-old Chapman University senior, started working on An American in Venice in the winter of 2012. Daniel wrote the script for Kelle Leonard’s, If I Did It, and after great success, the duo was eager to work together again. As a co-writer for An American In Venice, Daniel bridged over from preproduction and acted as second AD while on set. While a student at Chapman University, he interned on Fox’s animated sitcom, King of the Hill, and shadowed one of the lead editors of NBC’s hit series, The Office.

Ally Rybicki Cinematographer AAlly Rybicki was born and raised in sunny Southern California. Throughout high school she experimented with different art mediums and styles. Her love of comic strips, cartoons and graphic design led her to Chapman University as a digital arts major.

Shortly after enrolling at Chapman, Ally found herself on a senior thesis production, where film and light became her new favorite mediums. Within a year, she worked her way onto seven senior thesis films.

Following the principle year of learning on set, Ally began earning cinematography credit of her own.

After completing production on her first film, Ally was accepted into the film production major at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Ally has shot multiple student films on various formats, in addition to being on the crew of more than 40 peer productions.

Zoey Gordon Editor Zoey Gordon, a 21 year-old Minneapolis native, worked as the editor of An American in Venice, and the script supervisor while on set. At a young age, Zoey left Minnesota to move to California, where she’s preparing to enter her senior year at Chapman University. With director and co-writers Kelle Leonard and Daniel Crooke as her roommates, An American In Venice had naturally been apart of her life months before production. Zoey’s prior experience was limited to editing short, five-minute films, and she is honored for the opportunity to tell a longer and more compelling full-fledged story through her editing.

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Overall Strategy

An American In Venice is a film that can be appreciated by an array of audiences through its highly marketable components and timeless themes. However, as previously discussed, to avoid an over saturated marketplace, we’ve developed a consumer strategy to directly communicate with our three target audiences and niche audience. Instead of bombarding our targeted audiences, we plan to engage with them to make our consumer strategy enjoyable and interactive for both ends of the spectrum.

Essentially, our strategy will be composed of three phases to create a build up of buzz and attention leading to the film’s opening day in theaters. Each phase is a carefully constructed approach to maximize our overall publicity and generate awareness of An American In Venice—wherever our consumers may be, we plan to effectively reach them and capture their attention.

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I. Who’s the American in Venice:

II. Make Way for Henry:

III. Inescapable Venice:

Who exactly is the American in Venice? In this starting phase, we will begin our consumer marketing initiatives as early as possible to attract our target audiences and get them on board from the get-go, ensuring the film will have an already well-established following as it emerges into society.

Without giving the story away, this phase will use heavy social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as clips and exclusive content on YouTube. We began to reveal the characters and cast of the film through releasing one headshot per day on Facebook, engaging directly with our audience through an exciting announcement strategy.

Throughout the second wave of our consumer marketing, we want our audience to be fully aware of Henry and his mission for stardom and happiness. Our efforts will focus on the distribution of promotional materials in venues and online media outlets. The latter half of this phase will also mark the beginning of guerilla marketing stunts and activities, maintaining consistent branding but utilizing various messaging tactics to best correlate with each target audience. We will use our preexisting fan-base generated from the first phase to create social media contests, generating content that our audience will share with their personal networks, thus further communicating with our audience.

Without over-saturating the market, this phase of consumer marketing will tie all unfinished ends and utilize the heaviest promotional tactics.

With opening day closer than ever, our consumer strategy aims to ensure we not only make people aware of An American In Venice, but also secute their attendance at cinemas on opening night. We plan to reach our older targeted audience through online newspaper event listings (free of cost) and print advertisements. All promotional materials will be completed, including the release of a full-length trailer and exclusive behind the scenes videos. We will also hold a Venice Beach Bash for our younger audiences, utilizing our sponsors/ partners to make the event an appealing night they won’t want to miss. Through invading the blog world with publicity, we’ll reach our 1824 year-old males and females who rely on the Internet for information.

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Campaign Timeline

Continue YouTube exclusive content and begin paid ads 12/1

12/8 Outdoor stunts/guerilla publicity activities begin

1/08 Internet radio ads begin on Rdio, Spotify, and Pandora

DECEMBER

12/15 Henry’s House Press Junket

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

10%

Print ads run in large-scale newspapers, one during the week of the premiere, followed by another the week of opening day, May 23

Bench ads begin appearing on beach boardwalks

MARCH

3/23 King Felix guest appearance on mtvU

1/18 Movie promo events and street team effors commence

3/7 Movie posters and standees appear in selected cinemas

Budget: $9 Million 20%

IMDB ad/banner take over

4/1

3/1 Ads/trailer start running on Hulu Plus and Netflix

1/29 Theatrical trailer released in cinemas

12/3 Release character poster via Facebook

5%

4/23

1/28 Full-Length trailer debuts on Entertainment Tonight

Begin Fatcebook ads/offers on movie’s account

APRIL

MAY

4/14 Cable and Spot commercials begin Heavy TV appearances beginning the week before opening day

P+A Budget

Internet Print Television

35%

30%

Outdoor Other

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Distribution Strategy and Release Date Regional Release With the heavy representation of beach lifestyles, the entertainment industry, and Southern California, An American In Venice will thrive through the utilization of a regional distribution. Our strategy of distribution will concentrate on beach cities and coastal states, while also screening in the largest college towns to attract our target audiences. The strategy will have an especially heavy distribution in Los Angeles and Southern California, but will be seen by eyes from all parts of the Golden State.

Distributor Options and First Choice An American In Venice undoubtedly has mainstream relatable themes, however it’s witty comedy and quirky, awkward characters overpower those elements of the film, making it a coming of age indiecomedy. Given the film’s relatively tight budget and it’s indie-comedy genre, Fox Searchlight would be our first targeted studio. The independent of Fox is known for its ability to work with smaller budgets and successfully reach and find audiences for independent comedies, with past films including Juno and Little Miss Sunshine.

However, with Fox also releasing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the same weekend as An American In Venice, Focus Features would be our second choice. Owned by Universal, Focus has a well-known reputation for its work with many independent films; we have no doubts that Focus would be able to successfully market and distribute An American In Venice.

Release Date and Pattern To execute our distribution strategy, An American In Venice will ideally be released to coincide with our targeted young-adults and uncertain students—there’s no better time than late May, when high school and college seniors are preparing to graduate (or recently graduated), leaving them to feel the same sense of helpless confusion as Henry. With Memorial Day being one of the most successful box office weekends, it could be potentially rough waters from other competitors, however, even with the Memorial Day release of May 23, 2014, we can counteract our competition by providing audiences with something different.

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Release Date: May 23, 2014

Distribution Strategy and Release Date

CHICAGO, IL

10

5

SEATTLE, WA BOSTON, MA

20

NEW YORK, NY

15

10

PHILADELPHIA, PA 10 ATLANTIC CITY, NJ 10

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

WASHINGTON, DC

5

MYRTLE BEACH, SC 5

SANTA BARBARA, CA

20

20

BALTIMORE MD 5

LOS ANGELES, CA

15 ORANGE COUNTY, CA

MIAMI, FL

15 SAN DIEGO, CA

20

15 cities/regions with 185 locations

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Competitive Environment Counterprogramming the Competition As previously mentioned, the film’s Memorial Day release on May 23, 2014, could pose potential risks as it’s one of the largest box office weekends of the year. However, we have no doubts that An American In Venice will counteract our competition by providing cinemagoers with a film different from all other releases of the weekend. The week prior, during, and after the planned release of An American In Venice, will undoubtedly release other blockbusters; however, what these films (Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dawn of Planet of the Apes, and the Good Dinosaur) lack is an appeal to the majority our targeted audiences.

The sci-fi, animated, family and drama genres of these films make their storyline appeal to different audiences, and their plots and themes are complete opposite of An American In Venice. This presents an incredible opportunity to capitalize on one of the most successful box office weekends by providing audiences with more selection—not all adults and young adults would pick animated, family, or sci-fi films over the widely enjoyed comedy genre. The only risk would be the exception of parents, who may fall under our tertiary audience, that will be taking their children to these movies, in addition to young adult males who frequently enjoy the sci-fi genre.

Prior Weekend Releases Godzilla Genre: Animated/Action/Adventure Studio: Warner Bros.

Plot: A giant radioactive monster called Godzilla awakens from its slumber to wreak destruction on its creators.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Genre: Thriller/Sci-Fi Studio: Paramount.

Plot: Aliens invade Earth and inadvertently spawn a quartet of mutated reptile warriors, the Ninja Turtles, who rise up against them to defend the world.

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An American In Venice Release Weekend Dawn of Planet of The Apes Genre: Action/Drama/Sci-Fi Studio: Fox Plot: A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.

The Weekend After Releases The Good Dinosaur Genre: Animated/Family Studio: Disney Plot: What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?

Creative Advertising Creative Strategy/Big Idea A trying time is no time to quit trying. Every human being is in pursuit of something, whether it’s self-discovery, success or happiness. Instead of dwelling in the dark during times of hardship and struggle, remaining optimistic generates hope for a brighter future. In Henry’s moments of distress, he acts out in ways many people do—from alcohol and marijuana to irrational behaviors, we’ve all taken out our frustrations in unproductive manners.

Henry’s awkward and quirky personality makes his endeavors humorously relatable, reminding our audience of the essential message that although everyone encounters different obstacles in life, at times we all feel the same loneliness and anger. The irony is that this sense of loneliness, on the contrary to leaving us alone, connects the entire human race. Our creative strategy will use the humor in Henry’s struggles to rekindle faith in the hopeless, ambition in the quitters and compassion to the lonely. Through sharing the same emotional hardships, our consumers will foster an instant connection to the story and form an alliance with Henry, becoming immediately invested in the film.

Tagline: A comedy about finding yourself after life’s path leaves you lost.

Media Materials

Promotional/Consumer Items

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Media Strategy and Plan Media Strategy

Cable Networks and Programs ESPN: SportsCenter/ ESPN College GameDay Comedy Central: Workaholics/ Tosh.0 BRAVO: Real Housewives / Project Runway / Inside the Actors Studio MTV (mtvU): Jersey Shore / Real World / When I was In College FX: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia / American Horror Story / Louie

Broadcast Networks and Programs ABC: Modern Family / Grey’s Anatomy / How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) FOX: Family Guy / New Girl / The Simpsons CBS: 2 Broke Girls / How I Met Your Mother / The Big Bang Theory

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The media strategy for this campaign has been developed to be as cost-efficient as possible, while also directly reaching our target audiences. We will utilize heavy publicity through invasion of the blog world, online calendar listings, as well as developing partnerships with various radio outlets. From start to finish, this campaign has utilized an extreme emphasis on social media, but in addition we will also purchase paid media placements in several print outlets (mainly newspapers) and Internet advertising.

Our strategy will feature a YouTube video content, free of cost, as well as social media and the movie’s official website to share content and news. Because of the film’s distribution strategy, our media buys will involve limited, but carefully selected cable and spot TV in our largest markets: Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Miami, Chicago and Washington D.C. Lastly, given the Southern California environment constantly expressed in the film, we will use a small amount of outdoor media in appropriate and relevant locations.

TV Strategy With the high expense of national broadcast network ads, utilizing spot TV will be the most effective approach to reach relevant areas through regional placements during select programs. With broadcast spots, we can selectively develop our advertisements to reach our audiences in various regions, thus creating further success in communicating with our targets. To reach our college students, we will purchase spot television during fringe programming—another cost effective approach—to generate awareness to young adults, who are the most prevalent viewers of fringe TV. Results from a Barnes & Noble College Marketing study (released in August) showed 42 percent of college students say TV ads are the most effective type of advertising. With Memorial Day weekend being a busy time of the year for advertisements of all sorts, battling for a spot will likely be more competitive, however, our strategy aims to find ways around this obstacle. By utilizing TV dayparts like late night fringe, we can reach our audience of young female adults at much cheaper cost than prime access.

In addition, we plan to buy limited cable, such as Bravo and ESPN. Through implementing ads on college sports games, we can reach our male student audience that’s much more difficult to tap into. With sincere passion for their university sports’ teams, even college graduates tune in to watch the game—they may not live in the same place, but they maintain loyalty to their alma maters. To reach more females in our primary audience, we will also buy media with mtvU, which is broadcast to 750 college campuses in 700 college communities nationwide. mtvU reaches nearly 9 million U.S. college students, making it the largest television network specifically for college students.

Media Strategy and Plan Radio Strategy Our radio strategy has been crafted in hopes of partnerships with various online outlets for exchange of the movie’s incredible, diverse soundtrack—we will also use this same approach with college radio stations to promote the movie on their shows. Both parties will win through publicity for the movie and acquirement of new, free music for the radio outlets. Paid media for radio outlets will be minimal, if any, but will have a focus on mobile radio streaming sites like Rdio, Spotify and Pandora. These three outlets are commonly listened to by multi-taskers: young adults while at work, students while doing homework and adults who stream from smartphones on their commutes.

Internet Strategy Internet media will focus on engaging with social media influencers, blogs, and online news and entertainment outlets. With analytics tracking the click streams of Internet browsers, out online banners, posters and video content will be distributed to niche audiences based on their interests. Lastly, Internet television has shown to be a main source for viewing shows, so our media placements will also be featured on steaming sites like Hulu Plus, Netflix and YouTube, where many young adults go for entertainment or to catch up on their favorite shows after missing an episode.

May 23, 2014

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Media Strategy and Plan

Print Strategy As previously mentioned, our publicity team plans to acquire as much editorial coverage as possible, not only through invading the blogosphere, but also through carefully crafting and pitching stories worth reading. However, as opening day approaches, we plan to buy ad space from several of the largest 20 newspapers by circulation (reaching older tertiary audience), as well as college newspapers, which will likely offer cheaper prices and likely reach our primary audience.

Newspaper Outlets: Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, USA Today

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College Newspapers within our markets with the highest circulation/ online readership (according to Princeton Review): The Daily Northwestern (Northwestern University, IL), the Diamondback (University of Maryland), the Daily Nexus (UC Santa Barbara), The Independent Florida Alligator (University of Florida), etc.

Outdoor Strategy A strategy for outdoor advertisements has been developed in a strategic manner to focus on cost-efficiency for the budget of our indie-comedy. We plan to do outdoor advertising through hanging movie posters across as many college campuses as possible—a tactic where the main cost derives from printing materials. In relevant beach cities, we plan to buy bench ads along piers and boardwalks, and request surrounding surf shops, clothing boutiques, and even food stands, hang our flyers/posters for passersby to see. Our street team will also deploy outdoor advertising strategies through publicity stunts and giveaways at major beaches and college campuses.

Media Flowchart DECEMBER ESPN

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL :30

Comedy Central BRAVO MTV/mtvU FX ABC FOX CBS

:30

MAY :30 :30 :30 :15 :30 :30 :15 :30 :15

:30

:30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :15 :30 :30 :30 :30 :30 :15 :30

:30

:30 :15

:30

:30

:30 :15

:30

:30

:30 :15

Rdio Spotify Pandora Netflix Hulu Plus YouTube Facebook IMDB.com LA Times NY Times Washington Post Chicago Tribune USA Today College Newspapers Beach Bench Ads

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Market Research

Positioning Study

Focus Groups

The first most essential market research conducted for the film will be positioning studies. Given the mainstream, timeless themes of An American In Venice, it has the potential to appeal to an array of audiences ranging from ages 18-53—anyone can relate to the feelings and experiences represented in this story, so it’s critical to find the best ways to not only reach such a ranging age group, but also the most successful ways to generate excitement and interest.

In addition to gaining invaluable quantitative results through test screenings, our campaign will utilize various focus groups to tap even further into our audiences, seeking their qualitative insights. Given the independent film, with these research methods, we will potentially be able to further promote and sell the movie if the results are desirable.

Test Screenings

Our final market research tactic, exit studies, will provide the marketing team with genuine, authentic reactions to the film. The scores have a chance of being lower than the recruited audiences at test screenings, however since our campaign is driven around such an array of audiences, these results are of extreme value. We’ve created a marketing campaign to appeal to mass audiences; by having unrestricted viewers we’ll be able to evaluate the success of our campaign across all kinds of audiences. If the results aren’t what we expected or hoped for, this gives a chance to address the issues in the chase weeks.

As previously mentioned, with the potential for a highly diverse audience, it’s fundamental to hold a test screening in order to assure each target audience is interested in the film. According to the audience reactions, we will be able to adjust our overall strategies and resolve any issues before the film starts to truly emerge. It’s fundamental that each target audience is represented at the screenings to utilize their feedback and optimize our marketing efforts.

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Exit Studies

Publicity Overview Publicity Strategy Our media team believes in crafting stories worth telling; to garner as much pre-coverage as possible, we will develop specific story ideas to pitch to various outlets--traditional and new media, print and broadcast—at both regional and national levels. Our publicity outreach will be the driving force to coverage in the media, whereas paid advertisements will be limited. Through our publicity tactics, we will remain cost-effective in our approach to media exposure.

Since viewers have practically no choice but to hear, see or watch paid advertisements they encounter, our publicity methods will utilize creativity to engage the public—our audiences won’t be forced to participate, so it’s essential

that we develop story ideas our target audiences will want to read, watch or experience. Our publicists will pitch talent appearances across an array of platforms that will likely reach a variety of audiences since TV is the number one vehicle to reach people.

Lastly, our publicity strategy will have field activities by our street team, similar to our guerilla marketing approach and stunts for film festivals.

Through experiential marketing tactics, we will garner a great deal of invaluable publicity from the consumers themselves, who will see or experience our stunts and generate buzz through word of mouth.

Publicity Materials Press Materials: -Film overview: introducing the cast/crew, describing the plot/genre, and background on the film’s production -Synopsis & Positioning Statement -Cast/Crew Credits -Key Cast/Crew Bios -Endorsements/Press Clippings -Personal Statements -Photography—key art, behind the scenes, and high-resolution stills -Contact information sheet: press contact, website link, social media accounts format) -Will feature materials from print kit, but also the trailer, cast/crew interviews, a featurette on the film’s diverse soundtrack, and a blog post by director Kelle Leonard on the story’s unique development) premiere)

Promotional Materials:

Dear Stephanie, I’m sure you’ve experienced many red carpet premieres, but how about waltzing down a golden sand carpet? Join us as we make history in the entertainment industry, Saturday, May 17, for the grand premiere of An American In Venice.

Fox Searchlight will host a premiere unlike any other, taking over Venice Beach with daytime festivities such as beer tastings, barhopping and drinking games. Live musical performances will take place throughout the day for attendees to enjoy while lounging under the sun or playing a friendly game of beach volleyball.

In celebration of the May 23 release of An American In Venice, we’ve created an interactive experience through the Premiere Pregame, followed by the movie screening, which will be projected on a screen beneath the stars.

We’d love nothing more than for you to be one of the first to see the movie—it shares a story anyone can relate to, at an event unlike any other.

I was wondering if you’d be interested in covering the event for Entertainment Weekly? I’m more than happy to provide you with press passes and coordinate exclusive interviews with the cast and crew.

events (limited number available for promotion)

Below my signature, I’ve included a media advisory for further information on the film and premiere details. Please let me know if there’s anything further I can assist you with.

I sincerely thank you for time and consideration; I look forward to speaking with you and hope to see you on the beach!

Kindest Regards,

Kaitlyn Bracken Kaitlyn Bracken An American In Venice Director of Marketing & Public Relations C: 440.668.1559 E: kaitlyn.bracken@gmail.com An American In Venice is a senior thesis film, developed at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts in Orange, California.

Director: Kelle Leonard Producer: Taylor Forster Writers: Kelle Leonard & Daniel Crooke

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Pitch Chart MEDIUM

ANGLE

FORMAT

DATE

CBS: Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight will recap one of our publicity team’s most insane stunts: the College Craze flash mob. This segment will have an appealing news hook, explaining the reasoning behind the insanity, which will left people intrigues and curious. Henry will then join the hosts on set and introduce the exclusive, never before seen movie trailer.

News Segment/Guest Host

1/28/14

MTV/mtvU: On My Way

King Felix collaborates with 3LAU for an exclusive track only available for download on the American In Venice Website.

Guest Appearance/Featurette

4/23/14

E!: Chelsea Lately

On an episode of the show, Henry Monfries will make a guest appearance, introducing the film and screening a clip of his awkward sex scene, where he gets backhanded in the face. The brief clip will undoubtedly excite the audience and leave Chelsea Handler ready to fire away hilarious questions.

Guest Appearance

5/21/14

NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Representative of Henry’s alcohol consumption in An American In Venice, Jimmy will challenge Henry to a beer chug-off. Henry and Jimmy will each pick one member from the audience to participate in chugging a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, engaging the audience for participation.

Guest Appearance/Host

5/15/14

Los Angeles Times

A visit at Henry’s House: upcoming movies to look out for in 2014

A column or featuring recapping the Henry’s House press junket and previewing the film.

12/27/2013

New York Times

Left coast heads East: Southern California Invades the Big Apple

Photo essay depicting the giant California flags in Times Square and the College Craze flash mobs with dozens of flying beach balls.

4/8/2014

Entertainment Weekly

Making movie premiere history

Post-coverage cover story recapping the first movie premiere literally held on the beach.

5/21/2014

Rolling Stone

Underground electronic music mainstreams through film

An exclusive/feature on the underground electronic music genres emerging to mainstream society.

2/16/2014

TELEVISION

PRINT

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Pitch Chart MEDIUM

ANGLE

FORMAT

DATE

L.A. Barhopper

Movie premiere brings daylong barhop

A brief feature on the drinking festivities sprouted through An American In Venice, supplemented by calendar listings our beer events.

Feb. 2014 issue

The 420 Times

How high is too high?

An exclusive interview with Henry Monfries explaining his character’s habitual marijuana use as he struggles to find hope.

April 2014 issue (marijuana holiday: 4/20)

Movie Maker Magazine

Financing your indie film

Cover story featuring director Kelle Leonard and producer Taylor Forster on the fundraising efforts and their tips/ suggestions on how to avoid unnecessary spending.

March 2014 issue

DJ Times Magazine

L.A. DJs aid a filmmaker’s dream

Feature/exclusive on how and why King Felix, saved the movie through their generous donation of five original tracks

Jan. 2014 issue

U. The National College Magazine

Uniting through loneliness: Confused on your future? You’re not alone

A feature story interviewing Henry Monfries about his reallife move to LA (what the movie is based off) and Kelle Leonard about the timeless themes of his movie.

May 2014 issue

Peace.Love.EDM.

King Felix and An American In Venice Fuse Art Forms

A feature previewing the movie’s very first showing on the big screen, previewing the film and its premiere. It also featured an exclusive interview with King Felix about the importance of artists’ collaboration.

4/30/13 (the Monday before the film’s first screening, as a 20-minute short)

HuffPost L.A.

The birth of indie films in L.A.’s oversaturated entertainment industry

Feature story with the crew/cast on why it’s worth creating a movie about the entertainment industry, in the entertainment industry.

3/10/2014

FirstShowing.net

Conveying timeless themes through character development films

Review by a blogger critic from the top rated film blog.

4/23/14 (opening day)

BlogTalkRadio.com

Keeping movie soundtracks alive

Exclusive/Contest: An interview with the musicians on the soundtrack and the director. After the podcast, which involves both entertainment industry discussion and streams music, the host will continue to play the soundtrack/give shout outs to the movie/offer contests to listeners.

4/1/14-5/23/14

PRINT

INTERNET

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Publicity Activities Word-of-Mouth Publicity To captivate our young adults, we will host events they would never want to miss. We will also cause a stir through attentiongrabbing stunts and street team promotions that all of our target audiences will stop to see.

Stunts/Guerilla All over the streets of Los Angeles and the beaches along the coast of Southern California, our street teams will cause commotion. Dressed in movie-branded shirts and hats, our team will gallivant through high-traffic areas and beaches, waving a dozen “#AnAmericanInVenice” flags—replications of the California Republic flag, which will instead display the movie hashtag. Blasting electronic party music by King Felix, featured on the movie’s soundtrack, the team will deploy branded publicity materials, causing crowds to flock in curiosity of the pandemonium.

Passersby can stop and have their photos taken with our street team and giant flags, and will be gifted with swag of their choice—An American in Venice hats, T-shirts, bottle opener key chains, sampler soundtracks (in thanks to the contribution of free album downloads by King Felix), or sunglasses.

However, with a primary audience of young adults/students, many won’t always have time to go to the beach. Instead, we will go to them. To reach our inland/non-beach areas, we’ll have a “College Craze” stunt, certain to not only indulge students, but likely capture the attention of the media. College

48

Craze stunts will be held at the largest universities in cities where the film will play, including University of Southern California, UCLA, New York University, Boston University, UC Santa Barbara, University of Miami, etc.

The College Craze stunt team will be the largest of all of our street teams.

With dozens of street team members scattered in close proximity of one another, the boldest member of all will emerge into the open, wearing a movie branded Speedo similar to the movie’s thong rollerblader. As he emerges, with a boom box blasting upbeat music, he will awkwardly start to dance alone, with students and passersby staring and taking photos. The rest of the street team will disburse in groups, joining him in a completely unexpected flash mob. The last group who joins the flash mob will have pre-inflated, branded beach balls, which will be thrown into the sky like a fireworks show. After their performance, our dancers will also give out similar promotional materials as the beach street teams.

If the stunt is pulled off successfully, it undoubtedly has the potential to turn into a viral Internet video, and possibly even appear on broadcast segments or other media outlets.

Publicity Activities

Press Junket

Premieres

With buzz already established from previous activities, early editorial coverage and word of mouth, we’ll invite members of the media to an exclusive press junket: “Henry’s House.” At the junket, we will literally take our media attendees to Henry’s house in the canals of Venice Beach. As the next best option to bringing press on-set, we will rent a home large enough to comfortably fit our guests. At Henry’s House, media will be able to have intimate interviews with the cast and crew, followed by a gathering in Henry’s living room to watch exclusive, selected scenes from the movie. Each attendee will be given a swag bag press kit, featuring not only your typical media kit items, but also behind the scenes photos, still frames, DVDs of the trailer, soundtracks, and personal invitations to cover the film’s premiere.

The Saturday before opening night, May 17, we will hold several premiere events in our largest markets. The largest premiere will be held in no better place than where it all happens: Venice Beach, California. With Memorial Day being one of the biggest beach days, we’ll kick off the premiere with a daylong beachside pre-party. Along the Venice boardwalk, our partnered bars will hold beer tastings and drinking games with our sponsors, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Corona, and attendees will be able to play beach volleyball, while enjoying live performances by King Felix and other artists from the movie soundtrack. Tickets to the premiere party will be limited for purchase, and a lucky dozen will win VIP passes through promotional radio partnerships and An American In Venice social media contests. VIP winners will be able to attend free of cost, and have a special meet and greet with the cast.

As the sun begins to set, guests will walk down the golden sand carpet to a closed off section of the beach with lounge chairs and enormous beach towels, where they’ll sit under the stars and enjoy the movie’s debut on a large projector (if weather conflicts, we’ll have a tent and tarps prepared). Members of the media will also be invited to attend the premiere for purpose of movie reviews and cast interviews.

In other areas that don’t permit the ability for a beach premiere, we will hold similar beach themed premieres, as well as premieres in the theaters of the largest colleges in several big cities where the film will be distributed.

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Television Publicity With limited budget spent on TV spots, our publicity team will create various approaches to further the film’s exposure via television. We’ve constructed various creative story angles to appeal to different networks and TV shows, carefully selecting the programs that will reach our targeted audiences. With an array of story ideas, we can appeal to entertainment news shows, television series, and talk shows. Our story angles have been formulated to appeal to each network the selected programs.

Program: Entertainment Tonight—the most watched entertainment news show on the latest Hollywood buzz.

Program: On My Way-- a series featuring emerging electronic has taken time off from his finance studies at Washington

Angle: Entertainment Tonight will recap one of our publicity team’s most insane stunt: the College Craze flash mob. This segment will have an appealing news hook, explaining the reasoning behind the insanity, which will left people intrigues and curious. Henry will then join the hosts on set and introduce the exclusive, never before seen movie trailer.

Format: News Segment/Guest Host

Angle: During a hilarious party scene in the film, Henry’s urgency to use the occupied restroom leaves him with no other option but to take a “golden shower” out of a second-story window. On the rise electronic dance group King Felix, who contributed most of the songs on the soundtrack, will make an appearance on “On My Way.” In their appearance, they’ll introduce Henry’s raunchy clip, which features their high-energy

Date: February 28, 2014 exclusive track only available for download on the American In Venice Website.

Format: Guest Appearance/Featurette Date: April 23, 2014 50

Television Publicity

comedian, Chelsea Handler, with celebrity guest appearances.

Angle: Chelsea Handler loves nothing more that exposing her sex life and love of alcohol. On an episode of the show, Henry Monfries will make a guest appearance, introducing the film and screening a clip of his awkward sex scene, where he gets backhanded in the face. The brief clip will undoubtedly excite the audience and leave Chelsea Handler ready to fire away hilarious questions.

Format: Guest Appearance Date: May 21, 2014

entertaining, comedy late shows featuring hilarious skits, impersonations, guest interviews and heavy audience participation.

Angle: Absurd comedy and audience engagement are key episode, after an interview with Henry, things get heated.

Representative of Henry’s alcohol consumption in An American In Venice, Jimmy will challenge Henry to a beer chug-off.

Henry and Jimmy will each pick one member from the audience to participate in chugging a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, engaging the audience for participation. In the face-off, Henry will race against Fallon, and whoever wins will face the chosen audience member (whoever wins the second round will then face the second audience competitor). The selected audience participants will win free tickets to the movie premiere.

Format: Guest Appearance/Host Date: May 15, 2014

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Print Publicity In hopes of further reaching our older secondary and tertiary audiences, we will generate publicity and awareness through editorial content in mainstream magazines. While most of our efforts will focus on magazine content, we will also pursue newspapers publicity through reviews and literally making news (for instance, our events and stunts).

Wide Reach Outlets

New York Times Angle: A visit at Henry’s House: upcoming movies to look out for Format: A column or featuring recapping the Henry’s House press junket and previewing the film.

Date: December 27, 2013 52

Southern California Invades the Big Apple

Entertainment Weekly Angle: Making movie premiere history

Format: Photo essay depicting the giant California

Format: Post-coverage cover story recapping the first movie premiere literally held on the beach.

flags in Times Square and the College Craze flash mobs with dozens of flying beach balls.

Date: May 21, 2014

Date: April 8, 2014

Rolling Stone music mainstreams through film Format: An exclusive/feature on the underground electronic music genres emerging in mainstream society— interviews with director Kelle

Date: February 16, 2014

Print Publicity

Niche/Southern California Outlets MovieMaker Magazine Outlet Description: MovieMaker provides in-depth articles, interviews and updates on the world of independent films. Written for directors, actors, producers and film buffs, content focuses on the making of indie films, from financing to editing.

Includes previews and reviews, updates on media education, and interviews with professionals on both sides of the camera.

Angle: Financing your indie film Format: Cover story featuring director Kelle fundraising efforts for shooting in such affluent locations, and their tips/suggestions on how to avoid unnecessary spending Issue: March, 2014

college lifestyle magazine, which reaches millions of college students. Written by college students, for college students, it focuses on diverse interests, activities and concerns of students at four-year colleges/universities. Features include entertainment, sex and relationships, careers, technology, gaming, finances, and health.

your future? You’re not alone Format: A feature story, written by a college student, interviewing Henry Monfries about his

movie and how its relation to practically every college student.

Issue: May, 2014

The 420 Times Magazine

DJ Times Magazine

and restaurants in the area.

marijuana magazine, featuring news and information on the industry, as well as relevant entertainment and feature stories.

Outlet Description: DJ Times provides coverage of up-and-coming artists, DJs and re-mixers, true-life experiences of some of the worlds top DJs, and tips and ideas for putting on better shows.

Angle: Movie premiere brings daylong barhop, beer tasting and drinking games

Angle: How high is too high?

Outlet Description: Targets residents and visitors to

Format: A brief feature on the drinking festivities sprouted through An American In Venice, supplemented by calendar listings of our Venice Beach Bash, Beach Mayhem (during relevant festivals), and the beachside premiere and barhopping pregame.

Issue Date: February, 2014

Format: An exclusive interview with Henry Monfries explaining his character’s habitual marijuana use as he struggles to find hope.

Issue: April, 2014 (Marijuana holiday, 4/20, issue)

Format: Feature/exclusive on how and why King Felix, a well-known group of electronic DJs, saved the movie through their generous donation of original tracks.

Issue: January, 2014

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Internet Publicity Our primary audience is very involved in all forms of technology, with lesser information acquired through print outlets such as newspapers and magazines.

To generate heavy Internet publicity, we will invade the blogosphere with enticing story ideas, offer free tickets to critics in exchange for reviews, and provide popular online radio podcasts with free soundtracks—no licensing costs at all—in exchange for ad space on their websites and shout-outs on the air to promote the film. Additionally, to reach demographics from each of our targets, we’ve pitched events to various calendar sites and online news outlets, such as the Orange County Register, OC Weekly, Eventful, Zvents, and Daily News Los Angeles—a technique that’s free of cost instead of buying calendar/event listings in print.

Furthermore, many online news outlets have higher readership than their print circulations.

For online editorial content, we’ve selected the following outlets using Compete and Quantcast to measure unique monthly visitors and demographics of each outlet, as well as Technorati.com to examine the highest ranked blogs by topic, thus ensuring reach to our targets.

HuffPost L.A. (Blog) Angle: The birth of indie films in L.A.’s oversaturated entertainment industry Format: Feature story with the crew of An American In Venice on why it’s worth creating an indie movie about the entertainment industry, in the entertainment industry. It will also feature cast interviews on the value of non-paid work and how it can further their careers.

Date: March 10, 2014

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Peace.Love.EDM. (Southern Califonia electronic music blog) Angle: King Felix and An American In Venice Fuse Art Forms Format: A feature previewing the movie’s very first showing in 2013 and an exclusive interview with King Felix about the importance of artist collaboration—no matter a filmmaker or musician.

Date: April 30, 2013 (the Monday before the film’s first screening, as a 20-minute short, at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts)

In addition, on May 6, 2013, the story was featured on We R Paparazzi, a national entertainment blog. 420 Radio, a blog and podcast also featured the story with an exclusive interview with director Kelle Leonard. Additionally, for the rest of the year, every week 420 Radio will feature music by King Felix, debuting the first track on the station’s “Electric Tuesdays,” which introduces a new “Daily Toker Tune” Monday-Friday.

Internet Publicity

FirstShowing.net Angle: Conveying timeless themes through character development films Format: Review by a blogger critic from the top rated film blog.

Date: May 23, 2014—opening day

BlogTalkRadio.com: RAD-Radio Angle: Keeping movie soundtracks alive Format: Exclusive/Contest: An interview with the musicians on the soundtrack of An American In Venice and the director. After the podcast, which involves both entertainment discussion and streams music, the host will continue to play songs from the soundtrack and give shout outs to the movie, offering contests to listeners for free copies of the Soundtrack or movie tickets.

Date: First podcast—April 1, 2014 up until the movie’s premiere, May 23, 2014

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Promotion and Corporate Tie-ins As an R rated film, our promotions and partnerships were selectively chosen to ensure we reached age-appropriate audiences. We’ve developed partnerships with the two beers most often seen in the film, Pabst Blue Ribbon, a highly consumed beverage by young adults and college students, and Corona, which appeals more to our older audiences who likely have higher income than our college student audience. We’ve also selected promotions with regional bars and nightclubs to host our promotional events, use branded coasters, and allow for flyers/posters to be hung. We’ve additionally paired with local Venice retailers.

As previously discussed, our street teams will do heavy promotional activities through the Collage Craze stunts, parading high traffic areas with giveaways and flags, parties/events and various contests. These promotional strategies were used in conjunction with our publicity team, utilizing the two strategies to heighten awareness and buzz. Lastly, our promotions will rely on heavy media partnerships, saving costs through creating a two-way beneficial outcome for both sides.

National Partners

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FX

Corona & Pabst Blue Ribbon

Because Fox Searchlight is a network of Fox Broadcasting Company, we plan to utilize our parent company’s networks to further promote our film. One of Fox’s many networks is the FX cable station, where we plan to air TV spots. We will leverage the relationship between Fox and FX, using the cable network for free media spots or lower costs of purchase, providing our film with an even lower budget.

Throughout the entire film, Henry almost always has a beer in his hand. And time after time, his beverage of choice happens to be Corona or PBR. With such strong, repetitive product placement in the film, we’ve partnered with the two beer brands to provide us with alcohol for our events.

With Corona’s universal appeal, it has moved beyond the import category for beer and positioned itself as a formidable competitor against domestic beers. The Corona brand is known for its laidback image, created by American consumers when it first emerged into the U.S. market. The beer’s branding personality perfectly meshes with our

film and events, delivering a fun, sun and beach state of mind. Just like Henry, it’s a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously nor try too hard to impress.

Given PBR’s involvement with the artistic community, such as its “Make Art, Win Free Beer” campaign, we will further use our corporate partner to sponsor our various beach bash events, featuring both music and film. Through this sponsorship, we will further engage Pabst Blue Ribbon with the artistic community, continuing to spread its message of appreciation for the arts.

Promotion and Corporate Tie-ins Regional Partners

The Ave

Bars

Night Vision Entertainment

Nestled in the heart of the Venice Beach, The Ave is a concept store that defines creativity, allowing the opportunity to custom design on any article of clothing. With many of our events taking place in Venice, there’s no better local outlet to partner with in creating our custom branded An American In Venice shirts and hats. When distributing our swag, printed by custom graphic designers at The Ave, we will also ensure the store is promoted through social media shout outs, celebrity cast endorsements, and invitations to exclusive events.

Since Corona and Pabst Blue Ribbon will be providing the beverages for our Venice Beach Bash and beachside premiere, all that’s left is finding locations to host our beer sampling and drinking games. While our event attendees enjoy free beer, they’ll likely grab a bite to eat or other alcoholic beverages not sponsored by the event. That being said, venues that are willing to be apart of the bar-hop will likely increase their sales and garner attention through the premiere’s publicity. We will partner with bars including: Cabo Cantina, Venice Bistro, Sidewalk Café, and Venice Ale House.

Based in Los Angeles, Night Vision Entertainment is one of the most innovative event production companies. Its services include: Lighting, Sound, Furnishing, Staging, Staffing, Venue/Location Scouting, Red Carpet Design, Permits, Security, and Invitation Design and Printing. With previously clients including Coachella Music and Arts Festival, Night Vision creates large-scale special events to transform a launch and other promotion concepts into interactive experiences—the exact mission our team strives for. We will partner with the local company to assist us in event productions, and with no doubts our events will generate a great deal of attention, Night Vision will gain invaluable exposure through media publicity and event attendees. Through our large-scale events, this partnership will ultimately increase sales and traffic of Night Vision Entertainment.

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Internet & Social Marketing Internet Users Who Use Social Networking Tools

83 Age

18-29

77 30-49

52

50-64

32

65+

100

100 86

80

80

73 57

60

40

20

0%

60

35 19

5

19

12 3

Totals

67%

Twitter

16%

Pinterest

15%

Instagram

13%

Tumblr

6%

40

20

Facebook

4

67%

0%

Strategy Our Internet and social marketing will produce original, engaging content on social media—this approach is essential for a generation that’s always on the go and glued to their smartphones. Utilizing social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we can directly communicate with our audiences, share news, and ignite excitement. We’ve also created an official website, www.anamericaninvenice.com, to share content and provide interactive offerings to our targeted audiences, such as the “Henry’s Hiring List,” a section of job listings for those who are unemployed, and a blog by director Kelle Leonard to feature personal stories and updates.

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Pew Research Center conducted a recent study in February, which showed that the demographic of 18-29 year-olds are the heaviest users of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—females being heavier users of Facebook, while males being heavier Twitter users. The highest users came from urban areas, with at least some college education (and college graduates). Given these findings, our strategy strongly revolves around social media.

Internet & Social Marketing Facebook

Created in the very beginning phase of our marketing campaign, our Facebook account has been utilized to build an initial following from our personal networks, who then share our content with their networks, creating a ripple effect. Our Facebook page is used to share behind the scenes photos, still photos from production, and special Facebook offers, such as tickets to the movie premiere. In addition, we want our fans to feel like they’re apart of something—because they are; our fans and following is a driving force behind word of mouth publicity. To do this, we will engage in conversation and create special Facebook events on our page, giving the audience a motive and a chance to RSVP to be apart of something more than a social network.

We will also utilize Facebook giveaways to increase our following, for instance, offering free music downloads by King Felix, only after a user has liked our page. By continuing to offer desirable materials, users will come

back frequently to look for more. We will also use Facebook to post links to editorial coverage, trailers, and other content that our audience will find interesting. Through creating unique content that visitors will want to see, we will simultaneously expand our audience through creating content that’s shareable—visuals, contests, stories, etc. that our fans will want to share with their networks.

In our very initial stages alone, we reached more than 2,000 people in the week leading to the film’s first screening as a 20-minute short in May 2013.

We also directly reached our targeted audiences, as depicted by the graphs above.

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Internet & Social Marketing Twitter & Instagram In only a month, with just 52 photos shared, our posts reached more than 9,000 likes, with an average of roughly 172 likes per photo— much higher than the average user’s likes.

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Our Twitter account has also already been created, and has been a way of directly reaching out to our audience by researching relevant hashtags and Tweeting at those users, engaging them in conversation that will draw them to our account. The account is used not only for two-way communications, but will also be used for “Tweetups,” an interactive experience for fans to virtually meet with our cast. Our Twitter posts have included links to publicity such as blog posts, music videos from the soundtrack, and lastly, contests. We’ve created a contest on Instagram, linked to Twitter, asking users their reasoning to love Southern California.

Given the film’s marketable element of beautiful imagery, we created an Instagram account to share the photos. Photography shared on our Instagram includes original photos/graphics, re-posts from other users to capture their attention, stills from production and behind the scenes photos. With every photo posted, we have—and will continue—to utilize the hashtag, #AnAmericanInVenice, maintaining consistent messaging to build a stronger brand awareness. In only a month, with just 52 photos shared, our posts reached more than 9,000 likes, with an average of roughly 172 likes per photo—much higher than the average user’s likes.

In our very premature stages, we’ve already received participation from the film’s crew and cast, as well as fans, musicians featured on the soundtrack, and even Venice Beach news outlets. Through their participation and re-Tweets, our posts have reached hundreds of thousands, due to the support of the above personalities who carry large followings. We will also create Twitter contests, such as the release of the trailer online, which will be Tweeted. The 500th person to re-Tweet the trailer link will win prizes such as acting lessons from Henry or a special American In Venice Swag Bag.

Our biggest success on Instagram was the contest mentioned above, where we had beautiful photography of California shared by bloggers, talent from the movie, retailers, crewmembers, and our pre-existing fan base. Even without a current budget to offer a reward for the contest, the experience was rewarding in that it was engaging, and the movie’s account re-posted participants’ photos to our network of fans, gathering larger followings for their personal accounts in return. Lastly, to build buzz around the movie’s first screening as a short film (May 2013), we created an Instagram countdown, featuring number cutouts from beautiful, California/Venice imagery, promoting the premiere and building hype.

A very special thank you to: Dawn Taubin for being the epitome of a marketing idol—without your feedback and guidance, this campaign wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for your patience and constant reassurance. Your experience and insights are beyond admirable.

Veston Rowe, who would likely catch every AP Style mistake in this book, but taught me more about writing than anyone I’ve ever known. You’ve helped me flourish my greatest skill, and I will always remember your kindness.

Chris Trela for preparing me to create a campaign of my own. Your mentorship and undying support is truly invaluable.

Kelle Leonard, who started as “my thesis film director,” but quickly evolved into an unforgettable friend. Your assistance and appreciation of my work means the world.

Tavish Ryan, I thank you for staying up with me all hours of the night to create and design this entire book.

Your creativity never ceases to amaze me; you’ve brought my ideas to life in this campaign. I’m forever grateful to call you my best friend.

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AN AMERICAN IN VENICE COVERAGE TRACKER

Coverage Includes:

event websites, blog posts, entertainment news outlets, storypickups through aggregators, traditional media calendar listings, online radio/ live broadcast exclusive interview, reposts/retweets reaching, roughly, an additional 100,000.

Outlet

Publish Date

Unique Monthly Visitors

Link

Peace.Love.EDM

4/29/13

7,000

http://www.peaceloveedm.com/2013/04/29/king-felix-americanvenice-fuse-art-forms/

EDMFuse

4/29/13

n/a

http://wp1.klinehost.com/?p=783

We R Paparazzi

5/6/13

46,000

http://www.werpaparazzi.com/tag/american-in-venice/

Zimbio

5/6/13

4,549,903

http://www.zimbio.com/Felix/articles/_KIK_cNzkov/King+Felix+ American+Venice+Fuse+Art+Forms

420Radio.org

5/13/13

4,721

http://420radio.org

Russ Belville Show

5/13/13

6,392

http://radicalruss.com/

Radical Russ YouTube

5/13/13

842

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-K2Q2FNMFI

Frequency

5/13/13

145,279

http://www.frequency.com/video/kelle-leonard-from-movieamerican-in/95274573/-/5-2014

Lars Toomre (Entertainment blog aggregator)

5/6/13

13,315

http://www.lars.toomre.com/aggregator/sources/56

CALENDAR LISTINGS Zvents

4/29/13

596,653

http://www.zvents.com/orange_ca/events/show/323314503movie-premiere-an-american-in-venice

Eventful

4/29/13

1,758,127

http://eventful.com/orange/events/movie-premiereanamericaninvenice-/E0-001-056876469-8

Orange County Register

4/29/13

42,439

http://events.ocregister.com/orange_ca/events/show/32331450 3-movie-premiere-an-american-in-venice

Daily News Los Angeles

4/29/13

27,447

http://events.dailynews.com/orange_ca/events/show/32331450 3-movie-premiere-an-american-in-venice

OC Weekly

4/29/13

366,190

Link Removed (event past)

Visit Orange County

4/29/13

3,721

http://www.visittheoc.com/includes/calendar-of-events/MoviePremiere-An-American-In-Venice-/188/

The Press Enterprise

4/29/13

98,995

http://events.pe.com/orange_ca/events/show/323314503movie-premiere-an-american-in-venice

OrangeCounty.com

4/29/13

17,900

http://events.orangecounty.com/orange_ca/events/show/32331 4503-movie-premiere-an-american-in-venice

Orange County Parent Click

4/29/13

n/a

http://orange-county-ca.parentclick.com/EventCalendar/20816/Movie-Premiere-An-American-In-Venice.xml

Things to Do in Orange

4/29/13

n/a

http://www.thingstodoinorangeca.com/details-E0-0010568764698/Movie_Premiere_An_American_In_Venice_Orange/

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS: 7,684,924 +

Press Clippings: Entertainment News & Blog Outlets

Press Clippings: Online Radio/Video Streaming Outlets

Press Clippings: Calendar Listings

Press Clippings: Calendar Listings