In-person. 1 session: Saturday, June 3, 1:00-4:00 pm

You’ve just finished your newest short film or feature and are ready to hit the festival circuit. Now, how do you get the most attention for your film? Are social media, press releases, advertising, and other marketing-related materials the right approach? Do you need a marketing plan? Should you spend the time and money on one? What are the professional standards?

Dispelling the confusion around the marketing of independent films, this workshop provides a crash course on the vital role promotion plays for any independent filmmaker. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just completing your first film, the workshop will reveal how marketing works for independent films and how it can be an essential element in your film successfully reaching audiences.

You’ll leave with the tools needed to draft a marketing plan for an independent film, with an optional follow-up one-on-one session to review your plan and receive feedback.

NOTE: this in-person course is held at FilmNorth, 550 Vandalia Street, Suite 120, Saint Paul, MN 55114. FilmNorth is following CDC’s current COVID-19 variant guidance for Ramsey County:

• People may choose to mask at any time. Masks are recommended for those who are unvaccinated, immunocompromised, or at high-risk for complications associated with COVID-19 variants.
• People with any COVID-19 symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should stay home.

Jake brought such formal knowledge and made it easy and conversational. It’s one of the best courses I’ve ever taken. I took so much from this workshop – I’d love it if there was another follow-up. —Winter 2023 student

Tuition: $90 regular | $70 member | $50 low-income

Hailing from a family of genre filmmakers, Jake Yuzna is a Minneapolis based writer, director, and genre curator. Their films have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, London Film Festival, New Museum of Contemporary Art (NYC), and the British Film Institute, among others. Yuzna is the first American feature director to win the Teddy Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and has received additional awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital Foundation, Frameline Foundation, McKnight Foundation, IFP, and FilmNorth, as well as a Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Film Institute. Yuzna founded the cinema program at the Museum of Arts and Design in NYC where they curated the first American retrospectives on Italian Zombie Films, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Dario Argento, Sion Sono, and the medium of VHS. In addition, Yuzna has curated retrospectives on Andrei Tarkovsky, Crispin Glover, H.R. Giger, and Science Fiction cinema of the 1990s. His curatorial work on genre filmmaking has been collected by the libraries at Yale University and NYU.

Class Registration Guidelines & Cancellation Policy

• Space is assigned on a first-come basis. Registrations must include payment in full. Registrations are accepted after registration deadlines if space is available.
• If minimum enrollment has not been reached by 7 days prior to the start date of a class, FilmNorth may cancel it, in which case registrants will immediately be notified and receive a full refund within 2 business days. A check will be issued for registrations that were paid in cash. In lieu of a refund, students have the option of applying their tuition to another class scheduled in the same calendar year.
• For those needing to cancel a registration at least 7 days prior to the first class session, 100% of the tuition will be refunded minus a $25 administrative fee. For registration cancellations received less than 7 days prior to the first class session, 50% of the tuition will be refunded minus a $25 administrative fee. As of 5:00 pm the day prior to the first class session, no refunds or credits/exchanges will be given (Friday at 5:00 pm for Sunday classes). 
• Tuition is not prorated for missed class sessions.
• By registering for this FilmNorth class you are agreeing to our Community Values Statement.