Jeremy Mathai asked Advice Cred: “My question is about publicity lists: for screeners, interview opportunities, and even just keeping up with studio breaking news. How does one get on all the major lists and are there any specific contacts to reach out to in order to facilitate this?”
Film Cred Staff Writer, Andres Guzman answered:
Once you’ve established yourself as a film critic, either by regularly self-publishing reviews on your personal blog or by consistently being featured on a website, the next logical step is to find some PR contacts. These contacts will send out emails about films and will help get you screeners and access to in-person press screenings for upcoming titles you may be interested in. Finding press contacts can sometimes be tricky because you’re unsure of where to start.
A good first step is to make a list of the companies and logos that appear in the marketing of films you love (looking at you, A24 & Neon). Some are production companies that put money into a title to create the product. Some of them are distribution companies that put money into putting the film on as many screens as possible. Once those films are made and ready to receive publicity and criticism, that’s when the publicists get to work. They usually work for either the distribution company or a third party for hire. The publicists are who you want to be friends with. Now we have to find them.
To find them, we’re going to research some PR agencies in your region or neighbouring regions. Looking into which PR firms work with each company would be a good way of “collecting them all.” The best way to find out is by doing a google search of PR agencies and looking at their clients. For example, a local PR agency I work with is Taro PR, so we can take a look at the clients they cover. If they are companies that you would like to work with, now it’s time to contact them.
PR agencies and distribution companies will often have a press/contact us page. From there, they might have a form in which you fill out your name, email, and so on to briefly say you were interested in joining their press mailing list. Or in the case of the example I’ve already used, on their site there are three emails to use for contacting them, one of which is for the press. Send an email out using the email you’d like to be contacted with going forward. I’d recommend coming up with a template of sorts to send out. Briefly mention your name, the outlets you mostly write for, and where you’re based. Bring up why you want to cover and talk about the titles they cover.
Another way to be automatically added to many lists is to cover a film festival as Press. This may, at the time, seem like the more challenging thing, but during the application to cover a festival, there are points in which you can opt into having your email shared with the publicists. This means you may be getting emails from a specific region you may not live in, but thanks to remote access, you often can still get a screener.
Finally, I’d also suggest reaching out to other critics/friends in the industry. Try to network and see who can help you get the next film you want to cover or interview the talent you’ve always loved. Some may hold onto specific contacts, while in my experience, others are happy to help a fellow critic. Depending on your comfortability, don’t push yourself, but if you can get into a press screening, try speaking to other critics in your community. This way, you’re more likely to share and exchange other lists and opportunities if possible.
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