Press Releases Tips?

milkandcookie

milkandcookie

Hey All!

We just released our film for sale, and would like to try to get the word out with the local press. Just wondering if anyone has any good tips for writing a press release that will catch proper attention. Any suggestions or tips you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
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I live in a small market. I do a lot of media with sports and film.All I do is write a nice email,find the sports/entertainment writer and send it to them. Most of the time they just print that. Sometimes we talk and a small story appears. Mostly you are helping them do their job. It may be a lot harder in a large market.
 
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Also, I think we have something somewhat unique in that our film has a lot to do with medicine/healthcare, and the people involved in it. It's a fiction drama, so it's not like it's a documentary, but we are trying to figure out who would be interested in a specialty film like this...
 
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I like to use www.prlog.org, it's free, and Google News picks it up. A good press release doesn't sound too much like an advertisement. Write it like an article.
 
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prlog?

Hmm, thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Also, thanks for prlog.org - we've signed up and are taking advantage of it. Any good results anyone else has had from prlog that they want to share?
 
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Local media often want to focus on the fact it is 'local' so mention where you live or it was shot in the local area. They like to have the option of using pictures, so email them some high res shots so it's all ready to go.

Make sure you don't send it as a "PDF" only - it's much easier for people to copy and paste from a word or text document, and if you're sending it to bloggers, give them code to embed a trailer or behind-the-scenes clip on their site.

Keep it short, engaging, and written as if it were a newspaper article, as many press releases will be printed verbatim.
 
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Follow the basic format of a true press release. Make sure you get it to the publications with 3 weeks lead time before you want it printed. Try to find a "human interest" angle for the story. Read the newspaper and see how stories are formed and what interests that paper.

IE for a college newspaper, find some kind of alumni connection or something of interest to that school. For the neighborhood papers, mention what areas people live in who are associated with the movie, like actors from this suburb and the director from that suburb.

See this link:
http://www.prwebdirect.com/pressreleasetips.php
 
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