Introduction

This report concerns a project undertaken by volunteers working with the Film Festival Marketing Project for the Florida Film Festival.

Each team was assigned a film that would screen at the Florida Film Festival. Working with the Festival staff, and the various filmmakers, the volunteers were responsible for the guerrilla marketing of the films.

Our team included Raymond Lam, Michelle Bruder, and Timothy Walczak. We were assigned a documentary film entitled Not Yet Begun to Fight. The filmmakers were Sabrina Lee and Shasta Grenier.

The following is a report on what we attempted, what we accomplished and, most importantly, what we learned.

Synopsis

Retired Marine Colonel Eric Hastings knows firsthand about the reality of war and the disconnection felt when you return home from battle. Hastings found his own healing after returning from Vietnam by tying a fly onto his fishing line and casting it into the rivers that flowed through his home state of Montana. The river, he says, healed him. Forty years after his return from Vietnam, Hastings now invites a new generation of warriors for a week of catch and release fly fishing. Five men, all recently returned home from war, and all physically and mentally ravaged by the horrors of combat, have come to a tranquil river in Montana to find both peace and healing through fly fishing. Hastings puts a fly rod in their hands, teaches them to cast, and then shares his secret: there are places where you can still be consumed by a simple act and be redeemed as another creature is released, unharmed, into quiet waters. Beautifully shot and featuring music by Sean Eden (formerly of Luna), this moving and powerful look at the human cost of war is the work of Sabrina Lee (Where You From, FFF 2009) and Emmy® winner Shasta Grenier.

Learn more about Not Yet Begun to Fight

Meet the Filmmakers

Sabrina Lee (Not Yet Begun to Fight) studied film (without her father’s consent) while completing her B.A. at Duke University. Then, after retreating from a physically punishing career as a modern dancer, she turned her artistic eye toward documentary filmmaking and created the award-winning documentary Where You From in 2009. She lives in Montana.

Shasta Grenier (Not Yet Begun to Fight): With a knack for finding stories in mounds of footage, Shasta Grenier is mesmerized by the siren call of the unexpected and overlooked. By gratefully and respectfully appropriating stories and regularly losing sleep, she has earned Emmy®,CINE, and festival awards for films about small town basketball and forgotten musical pioneers.

Timeline

• February 24 - Screened Not Yet Begun to Fight for the first time, began brainstorming process.
• March 10 - April 5 - Multiple email conversations between Sabrina Lee and Michelle pertaining to arranging meetings, ideas, and getting together promotional materials
• March 16 - Skype meeting with Sabrina Lee (Ray and Michelle in attendance). Got to know each other, discussed ideas, decided the ultimate direction we wanted to take this project in.
• Late March/Early April - Contacting local schools, ROTC programs, and radio stations about promoting film.
• April 9 - Final phone conversation between Sabrina Lee and Michelle about any last minute ideas and to get more postcards. 
• April - Spreading flyers and posters around the Orlando area (Ray and Timmy), primarily at fishing stores and high schools.
• April - Personal account social media marketing
• April 13 - 22 - The Florida Film Festival! 

Posters

Sabrina sent us some great posters and postcards promoting the film, and Ray and Timmy spread them around the Orlando and Kissimmee area. Ray made arrangements with JROTC programs in local high schools and UCF's ROTC program to drop off some informational and promotional materials about the Not Yet Begun to Fight.

Social Media Marketing from Person Accounts

One of the investors of Not Yet Begun to Fight hired a professional to handle more mainstream marketing of the film, including Facebook.
Therefore, to avoid overstepping our boundaries, as a team we stuck to more subtle social media marketing using our personal accounts. Below are a few examples of what Michelle and Timmy did.

At the Festival

Michelle, Ray, and Timmy all attended the film festival before each documentary screening before Wednesday night (the time of Not Yet Begun to Fight's final screening). Armed with the idea that fans of documentary would love this film, we each spoke with filmgoers that looked lost, we shared information about the film to anyone who would listen, and handed out postcards and buttons to those interested. From sitting at the Eden Bar and chatting up the film with patrons to bringing screening information to filmgoers attending regular Regal showings, this sort of promotion was an integral part of the success of Not Yet Begun to Fight.

On-Site Film Promotion Schedule

Saturday April 14th
Regal 11:00 – 2:30 – Ray
Enzian – 3:30 – 4:30 – Ray
Enzian  - 6:15 – 7:15 – Michelle

Sunday April 15th

Regal – 11:30 – 12:30 – Timmy

Enzian – 2:00 – 3:00 – Michelle

Regal – 4:00 – 7:15 – Ray

Monday April 16th

Regal - 5:30 – 8:30 – Timmy

Tuesday April 17th

Regal – 4pm -  5pm – Ray

Enzian – 5:30 – 6:30 – Timmy

Enzian – 8:30 – 9:30 – Michelle

Wednesday April 18th

Regal – 2:30 – 3:30 – Timmy

Regal – 5:30 – 6:30 – Michelle