🌒 Welcome to The Documentary Filmmaker Podcast - great to have you here!
Join us every week as we dive into untouched areas of filmmaking that go above and beyond conventional film school teachings.
Your host, Sue Collins, will navigate you through the independent filmmaking industry, guiding you to amplify your craft and foster sustainable careers.
With over 15 years of experience in documentary and impact films, Sue's expertise has resonated globally, captivating audiences through various platforms from Cinema releases, VOD, broadcast television and everything in between.
Get ready to explore the constantly evolving landscape of indie filmmaking as Sue shares invaluable insights into the business while equipping you with tips and advice to produce films that make your intended impact and reach the hearts of your audiences, no matter where they are in the world.
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Well, according to Aha, the sun always shines on TV. And according to a fantastic review by Film Inc. on conquering breast cancer, turns out it can shine on the silver screen too. This is what it said. Hill and Collins, that's me, tackle a subject most of us would simply rather not think about and turn it into an engaging and interesting film that is anything but bleak. Film Inc.'s Annette Bassell wrote that. And I can't tell you how thrilled I was to read this review. Anyone who has ever put a film out into the world knows how nerve-wracking it is when the reviews start to come in because they can make or break a release, and that's what we did. We released the Australian version of the documentary Conquering Breast Cancer. The premiere went really well, and we held it at the Village Cinemas in Riverley, which is a stunning Art Deco cinema with plush comfy seats and a beautiful decor. And along with the premiere, I have been busy being interviewed for radio and print media, which is a pretty new experience for me. And I have to say, it is strange being interviewed rather than being the interviewer. And I'm guessing you're wondering how to get publicity for a film release. Do you need a publicist? Do you need loads of media contacts? It's an interesting thing, and we have learned a lot over a few film releases that we've done now that you cannot rely on a publicist alone to get you good media coverage. Publicists are great at getting big guns like morning breakfast shows, national news, that kind of thing. But for more targeted or regional media, often doing that part yourself has better outcomes. Because if you're putting your film out on limited locations with a limited season, you need to get an audience along to those sessions. And if you don't have a mega marketing budget like the Hollywood films, then you might have to do a lot of that legwork yourself. So if you have a distributor, then they might do a lot of that for you, but you cannot count on that. And you should always ask your distributor exactly who they'll be pitching to. You really have to get in there and cover those gaps yourself because if you don't do it, no one else will. And if you want your film to reach an audience, you just have to do the legwork. So look at the locations you're going out in. Map it out. Is there a local newspaper, a local radio station, or a local TV network that you could pitch the story to? And this is also important. Working out what the story you're pitching is because is your pitch that they should talk about the film or you as the director? Is it about the filmmaking? Or is it about the topic of your film? And I've been finding that with conquering breast cancer, most of the interviews have been really focused on the breast cancer side of things and why you would make a film about breast cancer, not so much about the filmmaking itself, or why you'd put a documentary into cinemas and not just direct to television. So let me break this down a bit further for you. So what have I learned about building audiences for the release of conquering breast cancer? Well, there are a few things that have really, really helped, and one of them cannot be underestimated. The participants in this film were extremely generous to share their very personal stories with us for the film, and we are extremely grateful. We could not have made this film without their participation. But we did do a pre-premiere online session exclusively for the film participants so they could see the film ahead of it going public. Not only did this reassure them that they all looked great and spoke beautifully, so they had nothing to worry about when it hit the big screen and they knew which part of their stories we were going to be telling, but it also had an unexpected result. It got them all very engaged with the film and how much it could help other people better understand breast cancer. So when we asked them to join QA panels or to help promote sessions to their networks, they did. And they got really busy helping spread the word on their social networks as well, and they became absolute champion promoters, which has just been priceless. And then at the premiere the other week, many of them came along, which was also incredibly fantastic, because quite a few of them even traveled from interstate to be there, and they recognized each other from seeing the film, and some really beautiful connections were made, and I observed these women all connecting, and they are such a little powerhouse group, and they are planning amazing things amongst themselves now, which is just really, really incredible to see. But some other ways we have been promoting the film, which goes beyond media and film participants, are through the channels we've already created, like our mailing list. We sent project updates and session times and locations via email. And our email list has been building for quite a few years now. And I highly recommend you get started on building an email list as early as you can. And we've also got a huge subscriber base on our Conquering Cancer YouTube channel of over one million subscribers. But most of them are not in Australia. So promoting sessions there won't actually help our campaign here in Australia a lot. So we've put up short form content to, you know, keep founding the flames of the channel. Man, the audience response videos to seeing the film, but we haven't really done direct promotion of actual sessions via YouTube. We have a great Instagram following, but again, many of them are not in Australia. However, we have found that many of the audience members have been posting stories and reels about seeing the film, and that has been really amazing. So Facebook is where you can be more targeted, but we don't seem to see much in the way of results from promoting there. And we've tried setting up Facebook events, we've reached out to interested groups via Facebook, and we've done targeted advertising, but honestly, we just don't seem to get very much traction. It's much, much stronger over on Instagram. So it turns out good old word of mouth and reaching out personally seems to get the results. So when we got that glowing review in Film Inc. that I read back at the start of this podcast, I was so relieved. Not only do we want to make this film a huge success so that the message cuts through and it can help women across the country, but we also feel a big responsibility to the participants who have given their valuable time and their stories to help make it all possible. And the participants in our Conquering Breast Cancer film are really impressive people.
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So I launched Rewritten Me, Australia's podcast dedicated to talking about reconstruction after a mastectomy. To know that it's helping somebody really, really means the world.
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So I think there was a huge need at the time to change the system, to make the system work better. So that was basically the end of my teaching career. The more I talked to women, the more I was resolved.
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You know, some of those women are still alive today and they had no hope. That to me. I'm not going to say it's bigger than winning an Olympic medal, but it's in a different category. But it's so makes me feel so good. It's probably one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.
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So not only have these people survived cancer, but they've gone on to help countless other women on their own journeys. And they've started movements like Breast Cancer Network Australia, which was founded by Lynn Swinburne, and the Treasure Chest Charity, which was founded by Pratika Lull, who you've been hearing from across a number of the episodes in series three on this podcast. And there's also the Regarding Me podcast, which was created and hosted by Luann Laurenson Woods. And that has been an incredible podcast and really helps women try and understand their reconstructive surgeries that they're going to have to make a lot of decisions about. So these are just a few of the remarkable women in our film. And it's out in the cinemas this week, and it's been quite a ride, and I will admit that I am tired. And this has been 10 years in the making. Getting this film into the world has been no mean feat. But it's a really rewarding thing to get your film in front of an audience, particularly when you know it can really help to make a difference. So where are you at in your journey? Have you got questions for me about any of this? Because what I've actually just told you quite briefly here is years of knowledge bundled up into this little podcast. So I'm sure there's bits you'd like unpacked further. So you can DM me over at Instagram, which is at the Documentary Filmmaker Podcast. You can do that anytime, and I will respond to you. And you can also go and see Conquering Breast Cancer in the cinemas if you're in Australia and don't miss your chance to do that. Just go to www.conqueringbreastcancer.com.au to find all the session times. Look, that's all I have to share with you this week. We are so deep into the release, and I am quite distracted by you know getting this film out into the world. But I really want you to take care and keep on creating. I'm Sue Collins, the host of the Documentary Filmmaker podcast. And as I said, if you've got questions, please DM me and I will respond, or I might even create a whole new episode just to answer the questions that you have. So thank you again for joining me this week, and I will be back sometime soon to talk to you a bit more about documentary filmmaking. Okay, all the best.
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