Most first-time filmmakers spend 18 months making a great film and 2 weeks "marketing" it. That math never works.

Here's the pattern I keep seeing: a film premieres, the filmmaker posts the trailer once on Instagram, maybe emails a few local reporters, and then just... waits. No one shows up opening weekend. Not because the film is bad — because nobody outside the cast's friends and family knew it existed.

The films that actually build an audience treat marketing as a campaign, not an afterthought:

• Start 6-8 weeks out. Trailer drops need a build-up, not a one-time post.

• Go hyper-local first. Local press, local influencers, and local screenings build the word-of-mouth that national ads can't buy for an indie budget.

• Make the key art do work. A poster isn't decoration — it's the first (and sometimes only) impression a stranger gets.

• Treat premiere night as a marketing event, not just a screening. Press, photos, and social content from that night fuel weeks of momentum after.

I started Direct Campaign because I kept watching genuinely good films underperform purely on visibility, not quality. If you've got a film with real potential and you're not sure how to get people into seats — happy to talk shop.