MASTERCLASS: ‘WATCH MY DOC!’ MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION AND

BUILDING AN AUDIENCE

Terry StevensHead of Home Entertainment,

Dogwoof13th October, 2012

Dogwoof

UK based distributor with a specialist focus on documentary since 2007.

Titles include The Age of Stupid, The End of The Line, Burma VJ, Restrepo, Bobby Fischer Against The World, The Interrupters, Bombay Beach, Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present

Specialise in developing/ building partnerships with third parties like Christian Aid, The Co-operative, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Nike etc…

We cover all windows from theatrical, through to home entertainment and TV and ancillary sales

First company to launch film on DSN (King’s Game) in 2004 EMR was first day and date release for Dogwoof (DVD,

cinema and online) also in 2004.

Restrepo

Took on rights for UK in early 2010 at Cannes after earlier screening in UK

Quality film with large audience potential across demographics

Potential to gain a dedicated, ‘cult’ following

Strong potential in “event cinema” and also in Home Entertainment owing to particular nature/ genre of the film

Would have a very long tail given contemporary subject matter

Synopsis

Winner of the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, and heralded as possibly the best war film ever made, Restrepo focuses on the deployment of a US platoon in Afghanistan’s hostile Korengal Valley . Over the course of 15 months, the two filmmakers Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger (author of The Perfect Storm) lived with the unit shadowing their every move, resulting in extraordinary footage. From spectacular combat and ambush scenes to difficult discussions with local village elders, civilian and military deaths, never before has such access been granted. Restrepo is as close as it gets to seeing what life as a soldier is really like.

Target Audiences

WHAT IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE? We identified 2 main target audiences:

PRIMARY: The ‘Guardian’ readers: ANGLE: Journalism at its best – transparency, no agenda. Focus on press around the filmmakers, their experience of shooting

the “raw experience of war”, and their success in reporting conflict in an utterly transparent way.

SECONDARY: Mainstream - predominantly male audience 18-35:

ANGLE: The real deal, and the real heroes. The soldiers’ voice, the experience through their eyes.

The mates, the missions, the good times, the bad times. This is the real deal, the most dangerous valley in Afghanistan. Forget what you’ve seen before, the war films, the news reports; this is it.

Target Audience (cont.)

OTHER: Women ANGLE: The complexity of war pared down to the

simplicity of emotions. The guys, their vulnerability, what they feel, who

they miss, and how they cope. From several previews screenings, women’s

response to RESTREPO was overwhelming. We were approached by many women wanting to show the film or take part in the campaign. They described the film as “finally, an uncomplicated, apolitical, humane piece of film making about the soldiers as human beings, rather than machines serving for someone else’s purpose.”

Release Strategy

WHAT IS THE TOPLINE RELEASE STRATEGY? How do you ‘find’ your audience?

Concentrating windows, mix of London and key cities opening cinemas, alternative venues, focusing on social media and online marketing to build and spread word of mouth, generate debate and grow online community interactivity online.

Release Strategy (cont.)

Concentrating windows: Given the TV broadcast date and in order to achieve the widest reach and highest possible revenues, the strategy was to concentrate the release as much as possible by bringing release windows closer. The release strategy revolved around the notion that RESTREPO is a film that would generate significant word-of-mouth, so closer release windows will maximize impact and make the film available to everyone while there is buzz.

Release Strategy (cont.)

CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS The campaign focused on: Enabling people to get actively involved in the

film campaign long before the release. Capitalising on word-of-mouth, growing it to

maximise exposure for other windows. Enabling anyone in any UK area to see this film

while the buzz is happening. To integrate physical community screenings with

the online space, rather than treating them as different areas. We want to create a synergy between physical and online exchanges.

Positioning

Positioning (cont.)

End

Thank you