Creating The Perfect Logline - Part 1

If you talk to anyone in the business of marketing films, I guarantee that you'll be lectured on the importance of the log line - a single sentence that captures the essence of the film while sparking the audience's curiosity without giving too much away. When I found out that I was getting the opportunity to assist a burgeoning filmmaker in promoting her recently released indie documentary, The Way We Get By, I decided that the log line should be the foundation of any of my future marketing efforts. Whether I would be creating Facebook groups, posting Twitter updates, or blogging about the movie, I planned on referring back to my own original log line to help sculpt both the content and style of any self produced marketing material.

When I first saw the trailer for The Way We Get By, I immediatley assumed that I could come up with some line about how the documentary is a heartwarming tale of how three members of America's "greatest generation" find purpose in life by greeting troops as they return home from war. Not bad, right?

I tried out some of these initial log lines on some of my über hip friends and their responses were all pretty much the same. There'd be a slightly awkward pause and then a comment like, "Um, so it's like some movie about old people in Maine who shake troops' hands?" Some would follow that up with a smirk while the nicer ones would hesitantly offer some half-hearted complement like "Oh, well, that sounds kind of inspiring…" or "That sounds like it could be good." My test subjects' lack of instant enthusiasm motivated me to refine my approach, so I began toiling away for what seemed like days, on trying to come up with the perfect logline.

Then came my big Aha! moment. I had my epiphany. And no, it wasn't the perfect logline for the film. It was the realization that it wasn't my logline crafting ability that was preventing me from getting people excited about The Way We Get By. It was the fact that I had yet to actually see the movie, and that was when I learned that you can't market a film until you actually see it (Exception: Transformers).

Finally seeing The Way We Get By changed everything for me. I walked in expecting to see a typical real life narrative; a plot driven documentary that would leave me brimming with patriotism and a more congenial attitude towards both Maine and the elderly. I predicted a simple yet dainty, easily-packaged film that could do well with the right audiences: Republicans, ex-soldiers, and old people. But the Greenwich village audience, which The Way We Get By premiered to this past Friday night at the IFC Center, consisted of many who fell outside such demographics. And yet, somehow amidst this diversity, the film flourished. From the Marine in camo to the NYU cinephile, from the WWII vet to the smelly kid with dreadlocks, the audience was moved. The evidence was right there in front of me. I watched as individuals eagerly awaited their turn to meet the filmmakers, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly afterwards, their faces all sharing the same expression, characterized by a grin stretching from cheek to cheek and glassy eyes where tears had once occupied. Maybe that's how I came to realize the true potential of this film. As cheesy as it sounds, I instantly adopted the mindset that everyone and anyone must see this film, and since coming to this realization, I've radically altered my strategy for composing that perfect logline.

As I promote The Way We Get By, I find myself moving away from trying to critique it. Sure, I could provide you with evidence of its stunning cinematography, comment on some of my favorite scenes, and make allusions to Godard while discussing director Aron Gaudet's ability to find beauty in the film's harsh yet ordinary setting of rural Maine, but there are professionals for that sort of thing (Rotten Tomatoes). Instead I wanted to share some of my priceless wisdom with the masses, and what better way to do it then through a series of blog posts that track my progress in attempting to provide The Way We Get By with that perfect log line. Stay tuned...

CJ Saraceno

Intern

Associate Producer Jessica Barnthouse Conquers NYC!

Let me tell you-- excitement is definitely brewing in New York City for The Way We Get By. I know this, because I spent the last four days on foot all over Manhattan and Brooklyn handing out and putting up fliers for the theatrical run starting Friday at the IFC Center. All in all, it was definitely an amazing experience. Here's the rundown of what I did:

Saturday I started in Union Square taping fliers to anywhere there was room. I was nervous about doing this at first-- I mean, I'm an outsider to NYC so I wasn't even sure if what I was doing was legal. However, after taping up fliers in front of numerous police officers without so much as a quizzical look, I realized they probably had bigger fish to fry on the streets of Manhattan. Armed with my cell phone GPS, I put fliers up from Union Square Park down the streets to Washington Square Park, then all over Washington Square Park, all the way to the IFC Center, and then to Tribeca, and back up to the IFC Center. I used up a brand-new roll of Scotch tape that day.

Here are some photos from Saturday:



1. The Way We Get By at the Union Square subway stop!



2. The Way We Get By at Washington Square-- it definitely adds to the scenery.



3. I gave some fliers to police officers I met while postering Washington Square. One of them said his dad is a veteran and plans to take him.



4. As you can see here, Hermoinee Granger is fully endorsing our Battle Buddy promotion for The Way We Get By.



5. Check out that guy's awesome trumpet!



6. I took this at the IFC Center. Notice how The Way We Get By flier is in the center, like the sun. Now, notice the other, smaller, postcards circling it.

Sunday I woke up early to do something I haven't done in about six years: I went to church. Actually, I went to five churches. I'd never been to a mega church, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect and I was kind of afraid everyone inside would somehow "know" I hadn't been in a while. Fortunately, everyone was incredibly welcoming and had an earnest interest in The Way We Get By. That day I focused mostly on youth groups and volunteer organizations. Hopefully we can get a ton of volunteers of all ages out to the screenings this weekend.

Sunday photos:



7. One of the directors for the St. Paul Community Baptist Church was excited to hand out fliers and show the youth group the film trailer.



8. This is the Christian Cultural Center. It looked like the Pentagon from the outside and had a rock band playing all throughout the sermons. I'd never been in a church this large before-- they probably had about 100 different flat panel TVs inside! Perfect, I might add, for watching The Way We Get By trailer on.....

Monday and Tuesday I spent both days going to as many veterans and military recruiting organizations as possible. This was by far my favorite part of the whole trip. Every person I met was so helpful and excited about the film coming to NYC, it made my whole trip worth it 10 times over. I had the pleasure of meeting Iraq veterans, Afghanistan veterans, Gulf War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Korean War veterans, and WWII veterans. I've never gotten to go to Bangor and experience the "real deal" of troop greeting, but I shook a lot of hands and thanked every soldier I met while in New York. It was fantastic!

Monday and Tuesday photos:



9. This is one of the recruiting officers from an Army National Guard recruiting station in Manhattan. Hopefully he can recruit people to The Way We Get By!



10. The Marine Corps Band had an amazing outdoor concert in Manhattan. I tried to pitch the film to one of the officers present, but she told me she'd heard about it already and sent the information to everyone she knew. It was great to know that the word was really getting out.



11. This was at a VFW post in lower Manhattan. When I asked if I could take a picture, the veteran on the left replied, "Sure you can, but don't get my cards in the picture!" I'd say I did a pretty good job of that.



12. This is Richard Dugal from the Catholic War Veterans. He was a huge help and took me around to all of the other veterans offices in his building to hand out fliers to.



13. This is Lieutenant Commander Suzanna Brugler from the Navy Office of Information. She was super excited about the film and was nice enough to email our fliers to a lot of other Navy offices around NYC.

As you can note from the pictures, my grassroots marketing experience in NYC was great. My feet are sore and I'm about three shades darker from walking around in the sun, but it was all worth it. I don't want to speak too soon on this, but I predict the film will be a major hit at the IFC center this weekend. If you live nearby, it's definitely going to be a film you'll want to see, but get your tickets online early-- it's going to be a sell out!

Opening in NYC on Friday

This is coming way too late but I finally came up for air and am excited to tell you about our life or in other words our NYC theatrical opening.

If you can believe it, we are opening in NYC this FRIDAY at the IFC Center! Sure, I’m a little panicked but I’m also very excited. We’ve been pounding the pavement in hopes that our groups will come out in full support of the film.

A lot of people don’t realize why opening weekend is so important—but it really is. So save Harry Potter for later and make The Way We Get By your weekend movie if you’re in New York City!

So, here’s the deal….the box office numbers from NYC get reported across the country. If we do well, more theaters will want to pick up THE WAY WE GET BY. So if you’re in NYC and debating on Harry Potter or us—Harry’s going to do just fine. We could really use your ticket—yes, it comes down to tickets.

It looks like our promotions for BATTLE BUDDY and BRING A VET are moving forward. We’re getting rsvps and groups contacting us so that is reassuring. We have two stars from the film flying into NYC to surprise the audiences so it will be a very exciting weekend!

This is a big week for us---wish us luck and we’ll keep you updated on what happens.

Thanks for all of your support!

More to come soon….

Independent Film Week- NYC September 2008

Aron and I just returned from Independent Film Week (IFP Market) in New York City. For the filmmakers out there, you NEED to attend this week when your film is close to ready. There were 75 documentary films chosen for this week. We had the opportunity to meet with key film festival programmers and distributors. One on one meetings are arranged with industry professionals who are interested in your film. We came to NYC with a number of meetings and then had just as many side meetings while we were there.

One of the highlights of the week was meeting other filmmakers who were accomplished in their own right and were working hard on some amazing projects as well.

For a few years now, other filmmakers told us we should apply to IFW. I now know why so many people talk about IFW. This week will not only benefit The Way We Get By but also our future projects!