Everyone is talking about how you can harness AI in various way. As independent filmmakers with limited budgets, we are always looking for time efficient and cheap ways to find and grow new audiences.

Try these strategies:

Audience Insights and Targeting: AI tools can analyse social media and other online platforms to gather insights about potential audiences, including their preferences, behaviours, and demographics. This data can help filmmakers tailor their marketing strategies and content to appeal to specific groups. And BTW, can you imagine having this info BEFORE you make the film or write your script?

Content Personalisation: By using AI, filmmakers can create personalised content recommendations for viewers. Does this sound creepy? Platforms like YouTube use AI algorithms to suggest videos to users based on their viewing history. Filmmakers can apply similar strategies on their websites or in partnership with streaming platforms.

Automated Marketing Campaigns: This sounds like a great addition to the Raindance Festival team! The grunt work of putting the word out about an amazing film is overwhelming. AI can automate and optimise email marketing campaigns, social media posts, and advertising. Even better, it can test different versions of ads, analyse the results, and refine the campaigns to increase engagement and conversion rates.

Chatbots for Engagement: I’m not sure how I feel about Chatbots yet. I do use them sometimes, but I find them annoying. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. I know I can use AI-powered chatbots on our websites or social media platforms to engage with the audience. But I haven’t fired this up yet. Currently we answer questions by email or on the telephone. I think I’ll find out more about Chatbots and learn how they can answer questions about the film, its screening date and time, provide personalised content, and even handle ticket sales.

Enhanced Content Creation: This is the area that seems to really frighten creatives. It’s true that AI can assist in various stages of content creation. Apparently AI can even write scripts! Although I haven’t seen any decent results as of today’s date. What AI tools like ChatGPT can do is help brainstorm ideas. In post-production, AI can automate certain steps in the editing workflow like enhancing sound and visuals, thus making high-quality production more affordable.

Predictive Analytics: What a fancy term for research. It’s here that I find AI really useful. AI can predict the success of different distribution strategies, helping filmmakers make data-driven decisions on how to release their films (e.g., festival submissions, streaming, theatrical releases) based on likely audience size and preferences. With AI you can get this with the click of a button. I regularly ask my friendly AI questions that normally would have taken hours, and even days, of research.

SEO and Online Visibility: AI tools can optimise a film’s online presence, analysing keywords and trends to boost SEO, making the film more discoverable to potential viewers searching for content online. Who wouldn’t want that done at the click of a button?

Fade Out

Making a film or writing a script takes some discipline and scheduling. And if you can’t do this yourself, you need to plan for help in your film’s budget. Believe me. Filmmaking is labour intensive. And to grow new audiences a painfully time-consuming process.

Your challenge is to leverage these AI tools and strategies. Independent filmmakers have always been thought leaders. Show us how you can effectively grow new audiences without the need for large budgets typically associated with traditional marketing and distribution methods. That’s the hidden benefit of keeping your team and budget small.

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