2010 looks really promising for film in Perth, and one reason for that is Amičko Films. Marketing has gots to be the veritable chink in the filmmakers armour. This is where Amičko steps in (it’s pronounced a-MITCH-ko). Brains? caught up with Amy from Amičko to get the who and the what. Visit the website here and fan them on the old FB here.

What kind of projects should be approaching you for representation?

Everything, including high quality schools’ works. Features, genres, shorts, docs, I’ll work on anything if it’s good. There is a pathway for launching every film, but each one needs it’s own unique approach. And no, just submitting to the top 30 film festivals is not a marketing plan.

Things that can start the ‘I won’t touch your film with a ten foot pole’  bell ringing in my head can be:

- After asking a film maker what their film is about they reply: ‘Oh its great, you’ll love it, it’s fantastic’. No info, no interest.

- Often if the film has been a one man job, writer, director, editor – more often then not it’s well… pretty lame.  All art needs outside influences, everyone needs to learn from one another and gain perspective.

- A short film which isn’t short for the right reasons, eg: it’s a sort due to lack of funding or story development. Shorts shouldn’t just be used as practice, they can be a highly entertaining and powerful medium; learn what makes short films ‘work’.

- Genre films which don’t really fit nicely into a genre. Often I’ll see a horror/comedy and it is neither horrifying nor funny, do one thing and do it well.

-Lastly, if a producer is aiming for telesales and are not willing to fit in with the distributor’s needs. Have a 52 min and 90 min cut of your film, as TV companies can easily look elsewhere for someone who is ready and willing.

At what stage of production should producers contact you?

I’m always happy to learn about what’s coming up, so even when you’re in pre production, please drop me a line and say hi. I’m very happy to answer any questions film makers may have and give some free advice.

However, I won’t commit to a film until I’ve seen the final cut. I greatly rely on my industry connections, if I send them an average film once, I’ll never be able to send them a film again, it’ll be the fastest way to kill my business. So late post production would be an ideal time and before your first screening, as premier status and whom you give it to is very important!

What portion of budgets should be put into marketing?

ANYTHING! I have been truly shocked at the lack of education there is regarding marketing and budgets. I rarely meet a indie film maker who actually has a marketing budget let alone a practical one, and it’s not their fault as there is not an institution in WA which fully prepares you for this. To loosely quote Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Most people are one skill away from a million dollars… do what you already do, but learn how to market and learn how to sell.

Usually the marketing budget is unfortunately the first expense to go, and frankly that’s insane! Does the money you invest in your make-up artist come with a possible return? I dont think so. The bare minimum, for either a short or feature is $2,000 per every six months of marketing, and that is literally for festival submission fees and postage alone! This money must to be ready right at the end of production too, you can’t waste months hoping that more funding will come along. If you don’t make an impression on the industry asap they will move on to something newer, bigger and better.

So seriously, if you can’t spend $2k on marketing, then you might as well pay your cast and crew, not make a film and go home and have a cuppa.

Can you give us a loose idea of how your 4 year business plan for Perth film might take shape?

At the moment, it’s a work in progress. Personally I feel it’s naive and extremely hard to predict or plan for anything, everyone always wants the best opportunity on offer at the time, and I have no idea what opportunities will be available in 12 months.

What I am passionate about is filling the gap in education of film marketing and economics, and seeing more Australian films overseas and succeeding in the international market place.

So education will be a big part of Amičko Films in the near future, I hope to offer both film marketing mentoring and internships with the business. Work with new technologies for distribution and hopefully get Pay Per View on my site, so local film makers can start earning money through a non-exclusive agreement. Get the Amičko international representative network firing. This means we will have a professional in each continent to persoanly represent our clients at film markets and festivals – meaning we can be everywhere at once and dont have to worry about travel costs.

I am currently planning a free marketing seminar to be held in the near future, so keep an eye out!  I’m also working on two new film events for Perth, the likes of which have not yet been seen in Australia, but I have them to keep it hush hush for now. So it’s looking at being a very busy start to the new decade, and hopefully a very prosperous one for the WA film industry.