The Final Stage of Indie Filmmaking

2009 Spirit of Slamdance winner Aaron Marshall guest blogs about indie ﬁlmmaking:

The Final Stage of Indie Filmmaking

2009 marked my induction into the Slamdance family with the documentary, ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE. It’s about a 12-year-old girl who directs a feature-length zombie movie, and it includes an interview with a ﬁlm teacher who says, “you’re not a ﬁlmmaker until you’ve ﬁnished your ﬁlm.” However, the last few months have proven that simply “ﬁnishing the ﬁlm” is only half the battle in the indie ﬁlm world.

Now, don’t get me wrong -- ﬁnishing the ﬁlm was huge. But once we had the master tape in hand, the question became, “now what?”

Thankfully...Slamdance called! But what if no one during the festival came to see our movie? After all, there would be lots to choose from that week. So, we started talking to producer’s reps and publicists until ﬁnding a good match with each. We got to know the incredible festival staff and made sure they had all the press materials they needed. We also arrived in Utah early with tons of posters and a quick logline ready when someone asked, “What brings you to Park City?” The work paid off with two sold out screenings and the realization that we had clearly entered the ﬁnal stage of indie ﬁlmmaking:

POST-post-production.

Which is all those things you do after you retire your director’s cap such as festival submissions, sales agent and distributor research, press kit assembly, promotional outreach, press follow-ups, etc. The “getting down to business” stage.

ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE may be in the can, but it’s far from done. It’s in post-post-production right now. Which, despite the boring name, is actually a great place to be. We’re talking with distributors. We’re ﬁelding press queries. We’re working to get it into a “theater or video store near you.” Because for indie ﬁlmmakers, that’s when the job is ﬁnally done. So, until then, I better stop writing this and get back to work!

Aaron Marshall is a ﬁlmmaker living in Los Angeles and the co-director of the feature documentary, “Zombie Girl: The Movie,” along with Justin Johnson and Erik Mauck. His next project, a comedy, is currently in development. For more on ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE visit www.zombiegirlthemovie.com