chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

usb flash drive — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:37:05 -0000

Sorry if you didn't enjoy it, I'm sure not for everyone. I just say that in check and in some smaller fests may have found it a great response. That said, I fully acknowledge and respect your opinion and appreciate you taking the time to view and send messages.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Timberland shoes — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:47:46 -0000

I like what you said

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Timberland shoes — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:38:51 -0000

I like what you said.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:21:21 -0000

Wanted to post a brief update. I have yet to follow through on many of the suggestions, not that they weren't taken to heart. Believe when I say I'm willing to try most everything. I have done some more graphic work, changed the thumbnail on the movie itself hoping that maybe the new image combined with the some quotes and praise from reviews may convince people to give it a chance. I also added a description of the movie to the top of the blog. By the feedback here it was clear to me that many wanted to know a bit more about the film itself instead of just the blog that said "why" I posted but not a lot about "what" I had posted.

I also got a domain name that now points directly to that blog. http://www.forloveandstacie...

The Wordpress link was just to long and difficult for people. If it ever picks up steam and I find the resources I may try to get a full site for it but at present this will have to suffice.

I do want to thank everyone here for taking the time to comment. I do still hold out hope that some of you that weren't inspired to click Play and actually watch it may find a moment of inspiration to give it a try. I'm sure most are already tired of me asking for help spreading it around so I'll not ask you for that, but you just watching it for your own entertainment would mean the world.

Thanks so much Chris for taking a risk by posting this. I am more than touched by both you and your readers willingness to try to roust up some support and guild me in the right direction. Not least of all Bob Andelman, aka Mr Media (@andelman) for having me on his show yesterday DIRECTLY as a result of your post here. If anyone wants to they can give it a listen here: http://tinyurl.com/mavxks

Thanks everyone, crossing my fingers I can still make this work and trying hard to implement many of your suggestions, I'm not giving up yet!

- Ray

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

figmentations — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:42:01 -0000

Here's a few comments that I can offer. Let me start by saying that I came across Chris' post on Facebook, and since I checked it out in the evening when I had nothing much else going on, it was a good time for me to see what it was all about. (On a short side note: I'm a casual blogger who has realized that social media hasn't been the magic bullet to an easy traffic that it sometimes seems it can be, so, I'm equally curious about both the social media aspects of this as well as the actual film itself.)

Also, I'm writing this a few days after watching the film, so, please know that it did stick in my mind for some reason. :) Anyway, I think that the tricky thing about promoting this film is the necessary "no spoiler alert"....you really do have to watch the whole film to get the true effect. Maybe play more on the unexpected ending part....I was curious about "where's he going with this" and "how's this going to end?". Yet I see, too, that for those not interested in the "issue" per se, they might not come away appreciating time spent on a topic that wouldn't have interested them from the get-go.) This is more than a love story. After the fact, it's interesting how the ending can seem predictable even though it was surprising at the time. I liked the trailer, I thought it was an accurate representation of the film.

Instead of this movie being viewed as just "entertainment", it would be great to have a post-viewing discussion group about it.

The "reality" aspects of this film are particularly intriguing. I think this work is a great "business card" and I would definitely recommend Ray to anyone looking for a filmmaker...I don't have to love the topic he covered to see he can do good work. My only suggestion would be to maybe edit it down some...curious thing, though, whenever I fast forwarded a bit, I'd always have to rewind to catch up on what I missed.

Hope these comments help a bit. Sorry that I don't have an appropriate network to recommend it to. It seems that the only filmmakers I know are in the same boat as Ray, trying to get noticed, too. Best of luck to you, Ray, and to all struggling artists. (And definitely keep us posted on any new work you have coming out, Ray.)

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Nnamdi Osuagwu — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:46:01 -0000

I like this exercise and I like the concept of the “one man band”. Here is my take:

1. It is not about how good or bad your film may or may not be. I think it is about identifying an interested audience and going directly after them. Maybe bloggers that cover relationship topics.

2. I think that you should create a brand around your film project. For example, I have written a few books. Each book project has an associated interactive blog. Yes it will be great to sell books, but there are site visitors that posted blog entries because they were interested in the topic not because they read the book. This helps spread brand awareness and can result in a potential sale.

3. Another idea is to make the project personal to regular people by hitting the streets and getting their “For Love&Stacie” Stories and posting them on Youtube and your site.
4. You obviously have enough talent to produce a film. Sign up for sites like eHow.com and write articles on producing film and use “For Love& Stacie” as an example. Interested readers will then watch your film as a case study.

5. Last but not least, comment on film blogs, give an interesting perspective and help others whenever you can.

Basically, I’m taking my own advice for my upcoming book, ““Facebook Addiction: The Life and Times of Social Networking Addicts.” Check it out http://www.TheFacebookAddic...

Good Luck with your project.

-Nnamdi

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:02:28 -0000

Thanks for thinking on it and really look forward to hearing your thoughts after you get to see it!

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:34:00 -0000

Wow, thanks Kat, really touched by your post. I can say with all honesty that I've gotten some great feedback from those who have actually watched the movie despite the screencap, graphics, whatever. For those who watched the whole thing you know it is "different", that's part of what makes it a tough sell through traditional means. Even the description has to be somewhat vague for it to work as it was intended.

My hope with social media or going viral is that most things that go viral dont always require a description. Its a simple "Hey, this is funny/great/hilarious/neat go watch it". It doesn't always have a lengthy description or much else, people will often just go watch for themselves based on someone else's praise or recommendation. If people just press play and watch For Love & Stacie generally speaking the response is even BETTER than I had hoped for.

I don't want to get defensive, everyone here has so generous in their time just to read and post. My goal with releasing it wasn't to get donations or raise money or anything other than to get my work seen, pray that it goes viral, and that that might help me raise my profile as so often viral videos do for their creators. As I say in the blog, things have been bad, being self employed as a director/shooter/editor has been rough the last few months and its been a struggle to keep my head above water. Insult to injury was that, what I felt was one of my greatest achievements to date (self funding and making a feature length movie) was completely under the radar. And to be honest if it wasnt for the amazing feedback I got from the screening and fests it was in it wouldn't have bothered me as much. If everyone that saw it thought it was horrible, well, I think I would have been more willing to lick my wounds and go home and try again. But every review was good, audiences seemed to love it. So I thought, well, maybe I wont make money but if I just put it out there and people watch they would be willing to tell others to do so.

Anyway, obviously I don't know what I'm doing, been grasping at straws ever since I made it. Truly hope that some here will be willing to take the time to watch and see for themselves whether or not it's worth it.

Thanks Kat for the post, meant so much.

- Ray

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Chris Brogan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:57:23 -0000

Definitely another way to solve for it. The question is, who's going to step up and do? : )

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

1918 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:27:49 -0000

Hey Ray and Chris...

First, I think the movie looks funny, and will watch it with my wife this weekend.

But beyond that, why shouldn't we all be trying to stretch a little to see if we can make something happen in the social space that has an impact on one man's life for the better.

I can't imagine anyone who honestly can't think of one person who could help Ray. Maybe it's your kid in college who might love watching the movie, or your quirky sister's friend who is all artsy, or the guy at your work who is always looking for something to invest in.

Maybe they won't like the idea's that Ray's pitching, but maybe they will. The best thing we can do is help the connection get made, after that life takes over.

I agree with Kat - lets find out if we're up to the challenge.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

kat brogan — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:45:20 -0000

i'm surprised that people backed away from social media being a good venue for promotion
isn't this about using non-traditional marketing?
in the past XYZ worked to get the word out
but come on people
this isn't about the movie itself

can you hack?
experiment?
brainstorm?
connect?
it works much better as a group than saying
"he should come up with more ideas."
or
"this movie isn't interesting to me"

i think this is a great thing to play with

"Make it work!"
not "How is it not working?"
not 'Can you?"
not " Gosh guys do you like the movie?"

for love of god people
go play!!

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Jamie Favreau — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:04:59 -0000

Very good question.

I think this comes down to what we talked about when I was doing my #journchat Live and I wanted you to be apart of it.

Does a person just have a bunch of followers but NO real influence? Can an influencer not have any influence when it comes to something which is not interesting to his group?

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:49:04 -0000

Followed ya twenty mins ago! I'm totally down for anything, would love to partake and would be absolutely grateful for the opportunity. Ask and I'm there

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

michaelcalienes — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:43:27 -0000

hey ray -- followed you on twitter -- never late to the party :) will shoot you an email over at your place.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Dustin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:53:04 -0000

Well, we should chat because I'm currently setting up a series of facebook community interviews with directors, actors, etc. of independent movies on Spinnio... To date, almost all of the events have had strong built-in communities (Alexa Vega among teens, The Cove among environmentalist, Humpday b/c of the Sundance buzz, The Stoning b/c it came out the week after the Iran elections, etc.), so the events have pretty much attracted big audiences on their own. However, my thought is that if I set up a series of 10 events each featuring someone passionate about their independent movie, then even movies without a huge natural following will be able to help each other generate buzz. If you're interested, follow me on twitter and I'll DM you with details as I get them.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

deannamcneil — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:35:48 -0000

I only know one screenwriter, so I tweeted this to him. If anyone would know, @neilochka will have some ideas! Let's see what happens!

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:29:30 -0000

Not sure how to go about doing that but I'd give my last nickle for 90k views! Congrats on that!

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:27:24 -0000

Its true, and obviously all wont. And I dont have the answers or wouldnt be trying so hard to figure it all out. I can only go by the the feedback I get from those who have watched and that response has been great. What it takes those who arent convinced to watch the whole thing at first blush or simply on a recommendation I'm unsure.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Dennis "DenVan" VanStaalduinen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:01:06 -0000

Maybe. But that's like saying the target niche for this product is the niche that will like this product once they've tried it...

The question was: how do we help you find a larger audience, and that will involve *at least* convincing the non-paying audience to stick around long enough to realize this thing is worthwhile.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:53:49 -0000

Understand, you really need to watch the whole thing to "get it" but I understand your reluctance. From previous screenings I know people would bring people with them to see them again and just tell them "trust me, just watch it", giving away to much can ruin it. If you ever watch the entire film you would understand. =)

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Lynette Cornell — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:52:51 -0000

I bet you'll find in your network some people who can design a visually appealing poster and write some catchy copy. Find those talented people first before promoting your movie, so you'll have something attractive to show in your promotions.

See, I would never know what to do in making a movie. My talents do not lie there. However, I can write strong, clean copy on command. That's where I'm strong. It's why, then I needed a logo for my website, I asked a designer friend of mine to sketch something up. I then used his sketch in PS to make a nice, presentable logo. My artist friend can't write worth beans, and I can't draw anything, but when we apply our skills appropriately, we can make something that is easily marketable. You might find our social media endeavors more fruitful with better promotional material.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Georgia North — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:40:59 -0000

I don't really know if I had a role in this or not. If so, I'm just filling in the gaps, explaining how Texas got to Boston via Ellijay, GA.

I ran into Ray via someone else's tweet. I went back and forth with Ray using direct messages, and I asked him to email me some more details about his efforts. In his email, he explained what he was doing so far, and that he was struggling with social media as a way to get more attention to his film. After the email, I decided to call Ray, and ask a few more questions, I really wanted to help if I could. I truly believe in social media, but have struggled with it myself when I first got involved. I didn't have much to offer,..a few Facebook and Twitter tips, and an explanation about how social media works as I understand it. I sent him a guide that I'd written for a seminar, and I mentioned people like Chris Brogan specifically to him. Ray had mentioned his efforts to be noticed by the "big" twitter folks....and Chris was the "biggest" guy whose name I knew! I don't know you Chris, personally, and we've had only limited conversation. I will say, that in those few brief interactions, and based on the reputation that Chris has, I felt like I could pass on Ray's film link to him, and just maybe the story would interest him.......I believe I asked via direct message if he had 96 minutes to kill, on something NOT social media related, and said nothing more.
I don't know what I'm trying to convey here, only that I personally felt like YOU should see this film Chris. I felt like YOU would look into the whole story, I never imagined it would be a topic on your blog, but I'm glad that it is. This all seems very much to me, like a network that is working quite well, no?

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Dennis "DenVan" VanStaalduinen — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:14:34 -0000

Hey Ray. Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, now that I've seen the trailer and *think* I have a better sense of your film, I'm really really really creeped out.

That was a lot of work, but I can't think of anyone who I'd recommend this to - and really, that's the only way it would go viral (at least in a way that helps you). On the plus side, at least it's not overtly bad - as in leading to obvious mockery.

Sorry man. But the thing just takes itself way too seriously.

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:00:56 -0000

I am reading! I am I am! Hope you find yourself in a dull inspired moment where you're willing to give it a view. Would love to hear what you think. =)

- Ray

Re: Who Does Ray Need to Reach

Raymond Schlogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:59:45 -0000

Looking forward to hear what you thought Diane. =)

- Ray