There's a notion in most filmmakers' heads that marketing happens when the movie is edited till the DVD comes out and that's it. Marketing is a much larger enterprise than what we deem to call marketing. It starts with what the films is and it never actually ends. When a film's anniversary edition is released there is marketing attached to it. When an interest in terrorism spurs interest in "Battle For Algiers", that is marketing.

As an independent filmmaker producer that wants to get the maximum impact from any film it's necessary to begin the marketing process before the film is conceived and to never stop. Here are a few points in the lifetime of a project where marketing is needed.

As Story Is Written

Not so much a way to change the story to be more marketable, but rather a way for the story to organically inspire unique marketing efforts. Also increased effort on making a truly remarkable project can be seen as marketing since it increases the likelihood of significant word of mouth

Collecting "Making Of" Stories

The media is the best place to disseminate anecdotes and trivia regarding the production of a movie. Though many try to include this material on the DVD to induce purchase, it is more effective when given to media who can spread it far and wide. With this in mind from the beginning, anything out of the ordinary would be recorded on video, audio or paper for later pitching to newspapers, blogs, magazines to help get the word out. If you wait till after production memory fades and opportunities will be lost

Give Away Free Stuff To Find An Audience

The time to start finding an audience is not a few weeks before it's available in theaters or on DVD. The process of collecting an audience should begin as soon as possible. It could start with a blog that posts shorts stories, character diaries, or short videos. It needs to start early to give you time to reach the most people.

Get Permission, Followup

Once you get their attention, create a relationship where you then feed them information they care about. Even though they may never purchase a thing it doesn't mean they still don't talk to people about your work. They can influence purchase by friends or by comments they post in reaction to stuff you post. The idea is to never let them go, always keep these followers close once you find them.

Release The Film To Collected Audience

If you hadn't been working on finding people who like your stuff, you wouldn't have a ready base of fans hungry to see the feature film when it's done. This could affect your ability to get a theater to play your film and informs where you would do this. It may turn out the bulk of your fans aren't even based in your area. Imagine the money wasted if you opened in your city and found out they were across the country.

Maintain Contact After All Is Done

You should never stop creating content of some kind in relation to the storyworld of the film. Even if it's user-generated and not as good as you'd like, it's a conduit for consistent contact with fans and this can spur replacement sales or finding of new fans. Your movie may have been made two years ago but a comic strip with your characters in it may get a lot of attention on blogs and suddenly generate a lot of DVD sales you never would have had if you didn't continued with marketing.

Ask Permission For The Next Project

You can't just turn the fans of the last project into fans of the next. They may not like you as much as the characters and aren't interested in your next project. But generating interest from a pool of existing fans of a previous work is a better plan than starting all over. Even if only a percentage are interested in your next project you are still a few steps ahead .

You may not use all or any of the above steps. You might grasp the concept and come out with your own tactics. The important thing to recognize is that "Gone With The Wind" has made more money over the long haul than it did in its original release. So can your movie. New people are born and they may not have been around when it was originally made but might still love it if given the chance. Don't treat your work as disposable and it won't be. Make it special and it won't go out of style. Help people find out about your work and they will come.