Here are some online and social network film marketing tactics that we think are very effective. It may help you and your team generate some additional marketing ideas.

Darfur Now Documentary
From Participant Productions:
http://prod.takepart.com/social_network/action/darfurnow/

Wal Mart Movie
This is Robert Greenwald’s film:
http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Four Eyed Monsters
Check out this post on our blog:
Four Eyed Monsters

MySpace examples
http://www.myspace.com/aninconvenienttruth?
http://www.myspace.com/climatecrisis

Facebook examples
http://www.facebook.com/pages/This-Darling-Life/14420535055

YouTube examples
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=oxfamamerica
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=milotube

Best of luck with your outreach efforts!

Just out of beta, an interesting twist on financing your next film:

FilmTies.com is the world’s first Membership based, Social Network Interactive Film Financing Community. We provide the complete interactive tools to our members who visit the site to socialize, meet friends, classmates, and interact with the film and music industry. FilmTies.com is part of the AdFilmTies Film Finance Model it empowers screenwriters, musicians, actors, directors, producers, sponsors and most importantly the movie watching public.

http://www.filmties.com

Latest data from Hitwise, as presented by CNET:

http://news.com.com/YouTube+rivals+look+for+answers/2100-1025_3-6149004.html?tag=html.alert

Want to create media for the small screen?

A national Call for Entries for the Institute will be announced at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Through the Institute, eight production teams of up to 3 people each will be selected to come to BAVC’s San Francisco facility for ten days. Producers will participate in high-level industry roundtables, intense one-on-one project development with technical mentors, new media storytelling workshops, and hands-on prototyping of their ideas. The participants will be adapting and developing award-winning film and video content for delivery using interactive formats, including video game applications, interactive, web-based experiences, mobile streaming, multi-user communities, and new educational software. They may choose a range of delivery strategies, including cell phones, other hand-held devices, set-tops, Internet, portable software and more.

“The Producer’s Institute intends to provide a first-of-its kind incubator for independent filmmakers in new media technologies, and a unique opportunity for industry to greenlight innovative content for these new distribution models,” says Wendy Levy, BAVC’s Director of Media Arts and Education, who will oversee the Institute. The Institute will take place June 1 – 10, 2007 at BAVC in San Francisco. Applications will be available online beginning January 15th, with a February 15th deadline to apply. Institute participants will be notified by March 1st.

More info available at BAVC:
http://www.bavc.org/meet/news/e_news/010107/events/index.htm

Image from BAVC eNews January 2007, bavc.org

Want to stay current with popular culture? Bay Area Tech Wire reports on the most popular Google search terms in 2006:

“Bebo,” the U.K. social networking site, was the most-searched term on Google in 2006, the company has revealed. Other top 10 search terms included “MySpace,” “World Cup,” “Metacafe” and “Wikipedia.” The only band to crack the top 10 was “Rebelde,” which grew out of the Mexican telenovela of the same name produced by Televisa. Another notable term in the top 10 was “Mininova,” a site that lists files available for download on the BitTorrent file-sharing network. On Google News, which limits searches to news sources like newspapers and blogs, “Paris Hilton” was the top search term of 2006, followed by “Orlando Bloom,” “Cancer” and “Podcasting.”
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2006.html

Great post from the CinemaTech blog:

- The Audience Database

It seems that one of the most important assets for a filmmaker in the 21st century isn’t going to be a camera, a great casting director, a well-connected producing partner, or a relationship with a distributor. (Though all those things are nice to have.) It’s going to be the audience database: a collection of the e-mail addresses and ZIP codes of the people who’ve seen your previous movies, purchased them on DVD or as a download, or expressed interest in your work.

Arin Crumley and Susan Buice, the filmmakers behind `Four Eyed Monsters,’ are already converts. By accumulating enough e-mail addresses and ZIP codes of people who wanted to see their movie this year, they were able to arrange 24 theatrical screenings of `Monsters’ in September, which netted $13,000 in combined box office. “We have this audience base,” Crumley said, “and we know how to communicate with them.”

This is a very insightful post. Go read the rest!

We will be posting an article in the next week about using online strategies to build a following for your film. In the meantime, check out this cool online promotional feature:

Google acquired internet video service. View the wacky message from the founders.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QCVxQ_3Ejkg

Here is the official press release:

Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock

Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google’s expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.

“The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. “Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers.”

“Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners,” said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. “I’m confident that with this partnership we’ll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide.”

When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google’s own fast-growing video business. YouTube will continue to be based in San Bruno, CA, and all YouTube employees will remain with the company. With Google’s technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, YouTube will continue to build on its success as one of the world’s most popular services for video entertainment.

The number of Google shares to be issued in the transaction will be determined based on the 30-day average closing price two trading days prior to the completion of the acquisition. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.