Citizen Wausau

Your Voice: The Wausau Film Festival

by Citizen Wausau on March 24th, 2008

[A note from Dino: If the purpose of CW is to celebrate Wausau, and I am not saying that is the point, but if it is, the Wausau Film Festival is an amazing thing deserving of our attention.  A film festival is a monolithic undertaking, and James Rubino is out there on his own taking this on.  We felt it was important enough to bring to the front of the line, in the hopes that you will add your expertise to what he is working on.  Film, movies, cinema, culture, it all matters.  It adds to the quality of life, it creates the discussion.  Thank you James.]

To make the festival work, their are two major tasks.

1) Get the word out to filmmakers.

2) Get the word out to the audience.

Getting the word out to filmmakers starts well ahead of the festival. To get the word out I use many online outlets to advertise the festival. Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter to create a cohesive publicity presence online.  For fun I tried the Google adwords radio advert service.  They accepted the professional ad I made in my dorm room on a $15 mic and rolled up sock-pop blocker and it was aired in the Park City, Utah the last weekend of the Sundance Film Festival.

To get the word out to the audience includes elements of all the above plus some modest media coverage.

Their are some sponsors interested but I worry that sponsorship would influence the festival away from the idea of filmmaking as entertainment that the festival started with. If you are seriously thinking about being a sponsor tying your message and business activities into supporting the entertaining aspects of filmmaking (or storytelling) is paramount.

If their are any brand managers or marketing buffs out their that want to build the festival let me know. I love the work but do not have time to put in to the details of the festival. I am also in need of a Technical Supervisor to ensure that all the lights are in synch with the sound. Last year I was able to do all of this on my own but given the current circumstances, this year it’s a little more difficult.