Location: CoSM: Chapel
of Sacred Mirrors – 46 Deer Hill Rd., Wappinger, NY 12590
CoSM Women’s Visionary Film Symposium includes a four-day
program jam-packed with student films, shorts and feature-length films from both
new and established female artists making an impact in filmmaking. The
event will feature panels and workshops on crowdfunding, media funding and distribution, cinematography
and camera work.
Graphic for WIFF – Women in Film & Entertainment Conference, Breaking Down Barriers
Location: AMC Empire 25 – 234 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
WIFF2019 includes
40+ films, a conference, Sunday Awards brunch and more. This organization is known for its efforts to
empower women’s visions and voices in film, television and entertainment. This
event will include a Women in Film & Entertainment Conference and panels featuring
some of the top women and men in the industry.
NMP – Poster, 2019 New Media Practicum Showcase. Designed by Briana M. Andrews.
The 2019 New Media Practicum (NMP) Showcase for Rowan University is taking place on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 from 10AM-1PM at the Chamberlain Student Center. This event will feature several semester culminating student projects including Women in TV and Film by Briana M. Andrews.
If you prefer to attend on the weekend, a sneak preview of new media showcase will be taking place this Saturday, May 4, 2019 at the CCCA (College of Communications and Creative Arts) Student Awards & Showcase. This event takes place from 11AM-1PM in Pfleeger Hall.
The line-up is as follows:
Briana M. Andrews – Women in TV and Film [BibbyFame Digital, LLC]
Karlo G. Bulaong – Life of Kai
Steven Cimprien – The Nameless [Phantom Psyche Productions]
Nicole Cummings – What Do They Call Me? [Smile Sweet Productions]
Official Poster – Women in TV and Film – New Media Project and Mini Documentary. Designed by Briana M. Andrews.
The official screening for Women in TV and Film, the mini-documentary and new media practicum project will be presented at the 2019 New Media Showcase at Rowan University. This event is taking place on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 from 10AM-1PM in the Chamberlain Student Center. Admission is free and open to the general public. If you can attend, please come out and support.
This event is an interactive, personal, meet-and-greet style setting where you can check out this semester-long multimedia body of work at my designated workstation and discuss the project directly with me. The mini-documentary hasn’t been published anywhere and I’ll have a display with the artifacts, supporting documents and the poster for this project. Don’t miss out!
CREW – To Each, Her Throne – (L-R) Danielle Privat, Morgan Jones, Briana M. Andrews, Alicia Allen
Here are some behind-the-scenes shots from To Each, Her Throne. I am incredibly excited and thankful for the opportunity to Produce this series. I am pleased with how everything turned out thus far; our guests were amazing and I cannot wait to share this project with the world. Check out these BTS pics from the shoot by Photographer, Victoria Lewis @veedotk.
CREW – To Each, Her Throne – (L-R) Morgan Jones, Giovanni Jackson
HATTIE – To Each, Her Throne – Season One Cast Member
MARLEY NICOLE – To Each, Her Throne – Season One Cast Member
ASHLEY KELLEY – To Each, Her Throne – Season One Cast Member
MOJO DISCO – To Each, Her Throne – Season One Cast Member
YEWA – To Each, Her Throne – Season One Cast Member with Director Danielle Privat
Read more about the TEHT project, cast and crew => #ToEachHerThrone
Celebratory Crowd Photo from Women’s Weekend Film Challenge (New York) Official Screenings at the Museum of Moving Image. Photos by Terrence Hamilton, April 18, 2019.
In April 2019, I had the pleasure of being selected to participate in the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge in New York. My crew, Team Banks created Daughters of Solanas which was screened at the Museum of Moving Image. I detailed my personal experience from that night here, but wanted to share some of the incredible images captured at the event from Photographer, Terrence Hamilton – @theimagetaker
Briana M. Andrews at George’s Kaufman Astoria Studios after the screening of Daughter’s of Solanas at the Museum of Moving Image
I had an incredible time working on Daughters of Solanas with the talented Team Banks cast and crew for the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge. Creating a film with a diverse group of women in each role above-the-line and below-the-line was something on my filmmaker bucket list for quite some time.
Our dramedy-short film premiered at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, New York on Thursday, April 18, 2019 with an after-party at George’s at Kaufman Astoria Studios. I’m proud of our work and can’t wait for the festival submissions to see this project really take flight. I’m Producer for To Each, Her Throne which is another project with an all-female cast and crew, slated for shoot next weekend.
Increasing diversity in storytelling, inclusion and representation in TV/Film are causes near and dear to my heart, and also a major part of our mission here at BibbyFame Digital, LLC. I am grateful for having the opportunity to work with so many skilled and experienced women in the industry.
Women’s Weekend Film Challenge Official Screening Program Guide
Museum of Moving Image Main Theater with Women’s Weekend Film Challenge Graphic
I recently finished reading the sixth edition of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile, Applications, Blogs, News Releases / News Jacking & Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott. In my MAPR blog posts, I detailed various sections of this book (and others) while extracting useful information for filmmakers and content creators. Here I am now with the full book review *drum-roll please*. The New Rules of Marketing and PR is amazing for informational purposes and historical context. There are many examples, real stories, case-studies and accounts from the author and his colleagues. This book has no shortage of details on Meerman Scott’s experiences and business dealings. On the flip-side, this book is only lukewarm with providing practical applications for readers.
Graphic for social media, online video, mobile and going viral
New Rules is a notoriously successful guide and continues to evolve since it was first published in 2007. The book is overly long and contains a lot of filler and fluff, but is otherwise well-written. The title of the book is: The New Rules of Marketing and PR. The sub-title of the book is: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile, Applications, Blogs, News Releases / News Jacking & Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly. This says a mouthful, and as I read the book, it became increasingly apparent that the main title and sub-title warranted the creation of two separate books. I understand having all items in one title can make buyers feel like there is increased value, however, it created organizational challenges and made the book feel like a maze. It isn’t discombobulated, but it didn’t feel concise. I can appreciate Meerman Scott’s attempt to compartmentalize the content, but I feel like this should be TWO SEPARATE BOOKS. Part I contains the overview and how the web has changed the rules of marketing and PR. Part II introduces and provides details about various media. Part III contains how-to information and an action plan for usage of the rules. After finishing the book, Part I is the strongest and where the author shines the most. Part III is the weakest (based on what is available in the market for how-to guides). Part II is unnecessary since the content is already scattered throughout Part I and III making the section more redundant than enlightening.
Book Cover for David Meerman Scott’s New Rules
I am very happy about having the digital, Kindle version of the book because it contains hyperlinks where you can jump from one area of the book to another. I felt like I had to do that an awful lot. For example, buyer personas is introduced and discussed at length in chapter 3, but implementation, usage and associated links for buyer personas were placed in chapter 10. Chapter 3 references (and links) chapter 10, and vice versa … when you get to chapter 10 you are pointed back to vital associated information in chapter 3. There was a lot of back and forth, and the content was somewhat repetitious. In short, I am not a fan of the zig-zagging. I read this book for my graduate-level Online Public Relations class and initially didn’t understand our jumping around in the text for our lectures (chapter 6 paired with chapter 16, chapter 7 paired with chapter 17) etc. As I read the book, it became increasingly apparent why this was necessary.
Key
Takeaways:
The web has made public relations PUBLIC
again. Before, emphasis was almost exclusively
placed on the media, but now, organizations communicate directly with their
audience.
The web is about INTERACTION, INFORMATION EDUCATION
and CHOICE
In conclusion, I WOULD recommend this book to businesses and
non-profit organizations with a dedicated budget who seek to increase online
presence, communicate directly with customers, and enhance sales conversions. I WOULD NOT recommend this book to individuals
and freelancers since it isn’t really geared toward DIYers. I also wouldn’t recommend it to people who
are already experienced in online marketing since they don’t stand to benefit
from all of the primer; much of the content would appear to be common sense. For future editions of this book, I would
love to see some content reorganization or a breakout title dedicated to “how-to”
and applications.
Graphic on SEO applicability to content creators and filmmakers
As a content creator, it is imperative to have an understanding of SEO and content marketing. This will help you navigate the online space and understand what “works” for the marketplace. Most importantly, this will arm you with important tools for driving your works (and business) forward. WE ARE ALL CONTENT MARKETERS NOW. In this article, I’ll explore the intersection between content creation, search engine optimization and digital marketing. I will also delve into Hyper Local SEO and Marketing – How US Marketers Win Global By Going Local by Donald L Dunnington, extracting the major points applicable to filmmakers and content creators.
The secret to successful content marketing isn’t actually a secret. It involves the commitment to producing a continuous stream of useful and engaging content. A poignant statement from Dunnington is, “SEO is the new PR and PR is the new SEO.” While SEO media relations are focused on online media and search engine results pages (SERPS), there are comparable objectives with public relations professionals, since the emphasis for both are increasing brand awareness, relationship building and boosting placements.
The digital age takes content
production to a hyper level and there is a premium placed on consumer-friendly,
authentic content. This holds true for various platforms: websites, blogs,
YouTube channels, social media etc.
As filmmakers, we are all looking for innovative marketing strategies to
engage our expand our audience. This involves
researching your niche audience and how to reach them. I mention this to stress the importance of
SEO and relationship building. I will
write additional articles on avenues, such as posting behind-the-scenes moments,
creating graphics, strategically hashtagging and personalizing the experience
for your audience. Stay tuned, and bookmark my site.
Key Takeaways:
CONTENT IS KING.
Quality in-bound links start with producing original, quality, authentic and
compelling content for online, social and mobile platforms.
WE ARE ALL CONTENT MARKETERS NOW. This is the prime driver of sales leads for B2B and B2C
industries.
SEO is the new PR and PR is the new SEO.
Develop a
personal touch, stay in contact, maintain a two-way relationship.
Relationships
are built in relevancy, quality and the value they bring to the vertical market
they serve.
Sidebar: One lesson I learned directly from the author, Donald Dunnington, who happens to be the professor of my grad-level public relations course at Rowan University is that Google penalizes sites that contain duplicate content. This was important because I had a secondary site geared toward women in tv and film where I would republish some of my articles and blog posts first featured on this website. After this discovery, I later elected to create a category page. There are important technical considerations involved in our quest for SEO relevance. Oftentimes, creators share the same content across social media and various platforms, however, with blogs in particular, even if you are the original author, you should be mindful of mirroring duplicate content across sites because there are associated search engine penalties.
Briana M. Andrews attends Girl Power Film + Media Summit in New York in March 23, 2019.
This past weekend I attended the Girl Power Film + Media Summit and Showcase in New York. This event was presented by Imagine This Productions (creators of the Women’s International Film Festival). I had a phenomenal time, and I am still working my way through the goodie bag containing Cinema Femme Magazine, Eden BodyWorks, Good! Snacks, Ursa Major 4-in-1, Curls liquid hair growth vitamins and more. I love freebies!
As a small business owner who actively freelances, I’ll admit, getting my P’s and Q’s together from a business standpoint was definitely a work in progress. I am a creator, and at least initially, my focus was primarily on doing what I love … creating! I spent countless hours developing my craft, writing screenplays, filming, editing etc. However, the same level of dedication wasn’t replicated from a financial perspective. It is no secret that many filmmakers struggle to monetize their projects. Many never quite make it out of the red. I am happy to reach a stage where I can actively book freelance projects and assist companies with telling their stories. However, that is only a start! I wasn’t quite as diligent as I should have been with invoicing, retaining receipts, tracking mileage etc. From a tax standpoint, I am almost certain I left money on the table. Nonetheless, I was eager to soak information up like a sponge at the summit and implement findings with my own practice.
Panel 1: The Female Gaze – Cinematographers’ Talk
included a lineup of accomplished ladies of the lens. The overarching theme was that these ladies
don’t wish to be an anomaly. They desire
increased integration so it’s not a shock when they are on set, let alone
behind the camera. All of the panelist
emphasized the importance of networking, as fostering relationships can work
wonders for your career, and you will learn more in the field than you will
ever learn in a classroom.
Summit Attendee Pass, Branded Materials and Goodie Bag from the #GirlPowerSummit
Discussion included female representation in film, and offered insights into their creative processes. Some of the panel members started out with Canon 7D, Bolex or Super 8 cameras. There was dialogue about affluent students at some of the nation’s most revered film programs having access to state-of-the-art equipment, and not experiencing challenges securing funding to shoot their student films. Isabella Tan, founder of Rebel Motion attended NYU. She stated, “Some people are privileged and have funding for great equipment, don’t get discouraged.” A poignant response statement from Valentina Caniglia, Director & Cinematographer of “Gypsy” and “The Stand” is “a great camera can still produce a bad product.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Camera doesn’t matter! It is about the cinematographer who tells the camera what to do.
Emphasis should be placed on THE STORY and DRIVING THE NARRATIVE, LENS SELECTION, LIGHTING and TONE.
Ultimately, the director and overall collaboration are greater project contributors than equipment.
The Distribution Down Low with Christina Raia from Seed & Spark was particularly informative. Christina is a Crowdfunding Director who successfully led several campaigns. Distribution is usually a confusing topic for independent creators, so it was wonderful to have her break it down with tips and tricks, and an explanation of the economics for every aspect from VOD to theatrical.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Understand the importance of DATA TRANSPARENCY. Raia stated, “They don’t want to share the info because it gives power to the creators.”
DON’T COMMIT to only one revenue source.
Explore niche markets and innovative ideas to reach your audience. TAKE RISKS with your independent film.
This was my first time attending an event held by and geared towards women in film and media. This blog post barely grazes the surface with topics discussed. Overall, the atmosphere was amazing and definitely female-centric! I’d like to thank Susie and Patrice, the organizers and everyone else involved with bringing this event together. I am also extremely grateful for the guest-list addition (as the tickets were $95 otherwise). The Girl Power Film + Media Summit & Showcase was worth much more than the ticket price. The value of the knowledge I walked away with far exceeded the associated cost.
TIME – CERTAINLY – FLIES. BibbyFame Digital is a boutique photo and video production company that was started in February 2017. During that month, I produced a comedic short named “How to Watch.” It was completed on a shoestring budget; I conceptualized and wrote it, handled casting, location scouting, shot some scenes with an iPhone, others with a DSLR, edited in Final Cut and presented the project to my Digital Video Editing and Multimedia Imaging class at Union County College. For me, this course was a game changer purely for CONFIDENCE reasons. Prior, my focus was solely on securing a job and finding a place on someone’s set. Afterward, I embraced my skill-set and was comfortable in my ability to take a project from concept to completion.
Since then, I have been blessed to work with numerous clients for both photography and video production; all while developing my film concepts, furthering my education and taking advantage of internship opportunities, freelance gigs and flex-schedule jobs in creative services. This website was created one year ago, primarily to build a presence that didn’t rely solely on word-of-mouth marketing and social media.
Over the next year, there is a lot in store for BibbyFame Digital:
Provide the company with its own socials, branding and identity (that isn’t merely an extension of the company owner).
Seek volunteers and an intern to assist on-location with set-up, lighting, BTS shooting and socials.
Update the website to list service offerings, service areas and availability.
Add secondary blog to this website dedicated to female-centric creators with an emphasis on film.
These are exciting times and I am excited for what’s in store. I appreciate you and THANK YOU for your continued support and patronage.
BibbyFame Digital, LLC: Photo, Film & Interactive Media 