EDN Docs in Thessaloniki Masterclass

How to Reach and Build an Audience
with Ben Johnson

Pavlos Zannas Theater,
Tuesday 6 March 2018, 17:30–19:30

How do you reach and build audiences in the early stages of a film production? The answer lies in aligning your marketing early on, and thinking about the wider scope of the life cycle of your production. Successful producers think further down the line of simply raising production budgets and making their films. Ben Johnson, CEO at Gruvi, a technology media company that helps entertainment businesses reach and engage online audiences, provides valuable insights that can help you with your digital film marketing.

Ben Johnson has been tinkering with online advertising and social media since the early days of web 1.0 and has always been fascinated by the possibilities to reach and communicate with audiences en masse:

“In a connected world of new media and distribution, traditional marketing strategies focused around the week of release for any film promotion are no longer relevant or effective. Audience behaviours are evolving. In order for your film to stand out of the crowd and to attract new audiences you need to be thinking about a new set of tools and methodologies to reach them.”

With over 10 years of Digital marketing experience the presentation will focus, among others, on highlighting what’s wrong with the traditional industry thinking & the myth of the opening weekend; understanding the film’s value chain and how early stage marketing practices can help in negotiation, money raising as well as ticket sales; reaching targeted audiences online and converting them into watching your film whether that be theatrically or online, and much more.

All this work will be based on the case studies and work from Gruvi’s free self-published e-book Wining your Audiences: Marketing Movies in the Connected World that includes many examples of European independent releases.

This master class takes place within the framework of Docs in Thessaloniki Pitching Forum 2018. It is organised by EDN – European Documentary Network and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Images of the 21st Century. (http://edn.network/activities/edn-activities-2018/docs-in-thessaloniki-2018/)