Ahead of Audiovisual Days 2019: Alphapanda

We have talked to Mattias and asked him more about his subject and what we can expect from the presentation.

The Alphapanda´s fous  - marketing of film - is quite unique. How did you find your way into marketing and the film Industry?
“I started my career at the federal film fund in Switzerland, getting an overview of the whole film industry and of the relations between production, distribution, exhibition, festivals and other actors. 

I soon realised that the world of production and distribution don’t always understand each other and I thought specialising in marketing would be a way to act as a missing link. I then worked in advertising, branding and online PR agencies in London before I started my own agency Alphapanda in 2011”

Why is it important for filmmakers to care about the marketing? Isn´t it someone elses job?
“Marketing is fundamental not only for bigger Hollywood blockbusters but for all films, and in particular for smaller and more fragile projects. Audiences will always have some kind of impression of key elements of a film (its genre, topic, nationality, director, cast…) when deciding whether they are interested in watching it or not. Having a clear marketing strategy means making sure to be in control of the audience perception rather than risking to be a victim of a negative image or of a misunderstanding from potential viewers.”

"I always tend to say that producers and distributors don’t tend to speak the same language and that marketing is the common language they need.”

“Moreover, developing a marketing strategy during production is a way to empower producers in their discussions with distributors and sales agents. I always tend to say that producers and distributors don’t tend to speak the same language and that marketing is the common language they need.”

How about the future of film marketing? What can you see will be the biggest opportunities and challenges the next coming years?
"I do believe that the world of distribution will go through radical changes in the coming decade. I find it hard to believe that distributors and sales agents as we know them today (entities acquiring rights and dividing them between territories and channels) will be operating in the same way in the future. "

"The cinema experience becoming similar to what opera has become, some elite activity for older and richer urban people. Getting young and diverse audiences interested in arthouse films is something we all need to work on."

"We can already see today that producers are more and more asked to be in charge of marketing decisions (for example regarding promotional material) and I believe the same trend will become even stronger. The other real challenge to face is the risk of the cinema experience becoming similar to what opera has become, some elite activity for older and richer urban people. Getting young and diverse audiences interested in arthouse films is something we all need to work on."

What can the audience expect from your session at Audiovisual Days 2019?
"My session will be using examples from recent fiction and documentary projects to illustrate the key elements of a marketing strategy for an European indie film. It will focus on the challenges of building an audience journey, identifying the right target audiences and creating a positioning statement for the film. Once that’s in place, all other parts of a marketing campaign (creating material, implementing promotional activities) becomes so much easier."

Read more about Audiovisualdays