How Public Relations Specialists Were an Integral Part of the Effects of COVID-19 on the Film Industry
Situation Synopsis
In today’s ever-changing world, every business in every industry has to be able to adapt to and be flexible with whatever is thrown their way – even if it’s a global public health crisis. That’s exactly what happened in March 2020 when the CDC declared Covid-19 a pandemic. According to Jack Smart from Backstage.com, the film industry relies on in-person events, like film festivals, to “seek out projects to acquire and campaign Oscar contenders,” as well as be a place “where filmmaking talent and professionals meet and network.” Having to pivot their project strategies for achieving their goals, film production companies were forced to seek out options for partaking in virtual viewing opportunities and festivals.
Film festival culture in the Covid-19 era still has a long way to go in terms of bouncing back – we must however, acknowledge the tremendous strides that were taken in order to overcome and adapt to more digital-friendly alternatives. Take the Sundance Film Festival for example: “Because of Covid-19, the 2021 fest was held completely online, with each movie, as well as filmmaker Q&As and panels, streamed online.” Emerging from the darker days of the pandemic, viewers are now slowly being drawn back to the big screen. Scott Roxborough and Sara Stewart report that the Toronto International Film Festival only screened “about 60 feature films” in 2020, but is screening “more than 200, with more than 60 world premieres”, only 24 of which were present on their online platform. They still wish to reach a broad audience but they also want to get viewers off the couches at home and back in the theater seats. It’s imperative now that festivals are equipped with the proper public relations-related services to get their in-person festivals back up and running.
Strat Comm/Public Relations Correlation
As explained by Innovative PR, University of Central Missouri’s public relations firm, public relations plays a key role in the promotion of upcoming films and is responsible for creating interest around them. Due to the digital nature of today’s society, as well as the need to adapt to our Covid-19 world view, Innovative PR mentions that “social media plays a very important role in how films are promoted. PR Specialists are able to use social media and promote films in a way that is more efficient and travels quicker.” When the world was upended by Covid-19, the film industry moved many of their screenings and festivals online, which meant that the “trailers, reels, photo stills, and of course press releases” created by public relations specialists that Innovative PR describes, became the center of all film promotional campaigns out of necessity to stay above water during the health crisis we were all living through.
Now, more than ever, public relations efforts are needed in order to propel film festivals and cinema-watching culture back to its original, in-person setting. Jack Smart from Backstage.com makes a great point about how in-person festivals create a much stronger reaction within participants, in comparison to digital alternatives. “Perhaps the most important element that’s now missing is what people refer to as a project’s “buzz” factor. A film is simply more viscerally and palpably thrilling to see when you’re surrounded by cinephiles and celebrities at a world premiere… It’s not that we can’t enjoy on-camera storytelling from our sofas, but those are the lightning-in-a-bottle moments that do more than just propel a project into the Oscar race; they remind us why we love cinema.” This idea of a “buzz” factor can also be compared to the digital marketing strategy that should be applied to the advertising aspect of the festival. Public relation agencies want to instill this level of excitement back into film lovers by getting them into movie theaters and cinemas to view what they love.
Compare & Contrast
It’s important to note that the shift to digital alternatives to film festivals has tapped into a broader range of audience members. Hannah Strong from HyperAllergic makes the important distinction that in 2021 “major film festivals reported unprecedented levels of attendance. Over its seven-day 2021 edition, Sundance reached an audience 2.7 times larger than its average 11-day physical festival in Utah. New York Film Festival reported nearly 40,000 rentals across the US in addition to the 8,300 guests at COVID-safe screenings across New York — an increase of 9.15% over 2019. Toronto International Film Festival confirmed over 118,000 ticket sales (105,000 online and 13,000 from drive-ins, open-air cinemas, and limited indoor screenings). This may seem low compared to their 307,362 attendees in 2019, but one drive-in or home-viewing ticket would allow more than one person to watch a film, meaning actual “attendance” could easily be at least twice that figure.” With the convenience of virtual options, in-person festivals just simply haven’t been able to reach these sorts of attendance numbers. Although PR companies may try to strategically push towards more in-person festivals with their media messages, it’s important to acknowledge the expansion digital alternatives have been able to accomplish with attendee turnouts.
Although the virtual versions of film festivals have created the ability for a wider net of audience members, there are some smaller start-up production companies that were relying on the benefits of in-person festivals, in order to hit the ground running. As stated in a post on the International Documentary Association website, “Meg Smaker, whose Jihad Rehab has premiered virtually at Sundance, said the festival was meant to be a launch opportunity for Hilda Motion, a boutique animation company from Brazil that worked on her film.” The post states that Hilda Motion was hoping to “leverage their emergence from obscurity to Sundance by meeting future collaborators and making connections,” moments that are simply not possible in a virtual setting. While video conferencing platforms, like Zoom, have their benefits, the drawbacks of impersonal connections and one-sided conversations hamper the opportunities to use social skills and body language as professional assets to support the growth of one’s business.
Personal Reflection & Closing Remarks
Ultimately, regardless of whether or not film festivals continue to offer digital alternatives to their in-person counterparts, it’s safe to say that the massive scale of the film industry is matched by its requirements to earn certain profits and meet expected marketing goals. With the right kind of public relation strategy, both of those action items can be met. Stella Ozark from Los Angeles Public Relations mentions how “PR in the film industry forms a major chunk of the industry’s promotional activities, along with film marketing and advertising campaigns… An experienced film PR agency knows the most effective strategies to bring news about films to people via a powerful medium. They can ensure that the film, regardless of the genre of film, receives the maximum exposure from the media. As a result, their efforts translate into more viewers and audiences.” Covid-19 truly tested the limits of public relation agencies and their abilities to conduct outreach for these affected festivals. It’s reassuring to know that adequate adaptations were made to conduct successful festivals in the end. This further proves the impact public relations has in promoting best practices in advertising and achieving attendance objectives.
When the world was hit with the Covid-19 curveball, the film industry, like every industry at the time, had to either put up or shut up, if they wanted to survive. We have explored reasons why virtual screenings and digital film events weren’t always positive experiences for production companies; however, the film industry did the best it could with what it had to work with at the time, and in the end the pros outweighed the cons, in light of the hand of cards being dealt. Promotion of films and film festivals were more important than ever, putting public relations specialists to a test that they eventually aced.
References
CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline | David J. Sencer CDC Museum. (n.d.). CDC. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html
Griffin, M. (2022, March 3). Public Relations Through An Art Form: The Film Industry. Innovative PR. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://ucminnovativepr.com/2022/03/03/public-relations-through-an-art-form-the-film-industry/
Guillem, A. (n.d.). Single Woman Watching Online Tv Night Stock Photo 1144818344. Shutterstock. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/single-woman-watching-online-tv-night-1144818344
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Ozark, S. (n.d.). What is PR in Film Industry? Los Angeles Public Relations. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://losangelespublicrelations.com/what-is-pr-in-film-industry/
Roxborough, S., & Stewart, S. (2022, September 11). TIFF 2022: Why Film Festivals are ditching digital screenings. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tiff-2022-film-festivals-ditch-digital-screenings-1235215319/
Smart, J., (2020, September, 2). COVID-19 is Having Massive Effects on 2020 Film Festivals + Awards-Here’s How. Backstage. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/covid-19-impact-on-film-festivals-awards-season-71612/
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Strong, H., & Vartanian, H. (2021, March 9). How Film Festivals Have Managed the Shift to Virtual. Hyperallergic. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://hyperallergic.com/626125/virtual-festivals-covid-19/
Watercutter, A. (2022, January 21). Film festivals are evolving for the better. Wired. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.wired.com/story/film-festivals-hybrid/
Wilhelm, K. M. (2022, January 26). Creating a New Familiar: Film Festivals in the COVID Era. International Documentary Association |. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/creating-new-familiar-film-festivals-covid-era