Presell the tickets to your premiere...package it with a DVD of the film to be given on the night of the premiere..let them have a copy of the trailer on the DVD, some little extras, some music, and take their name for the guy at the door and voila, you are getting 20 dollars a pop AND a lot of free publicity....make sure you number the tickets and know how many seats you will have AND make sure to leave a good 50 for at the door...

what? what do I mean free publicity??
easy, here is the conversation:

mary: hey sue, come out with us friday night!
sue: love to but I have tickets to a movie premiere...
mary: bummer cause i had the hots for you and wanted to make it a really great night
sue: how about you come to the movie with me and then we can spend some time...
mary: do you have a spare ticket?
sue: yeah, let me call and order one...(cha-ching!)

OR
mary: do you have a spare ticket?
sue: we can get one for you at the door! (cha-ching!)

Or
mary: yeah, I bought an extra one but I am taking Harry (cha-ching!)
sue: don't ever call me again and to make you jealous, I am going to buy a ticket for me AND for Fred! (cha-ching!)(cha-ching!)

oh and make sure if you charge 20 for advanced tickets, you charge 25 at the door for ppl that were slack and waited...

>Light and Sweet ProductionsWrote:
>That's a good idea.
>For those of us looking to submit in major film festivals, however, it's kind of >difficult because for many festivals, like Sundance etc. you cannot have >premiered your film anywhere. It has to be a world premiere at that festival.

even easier...just set your premiere AFTER the Sundance and other festivals close...you know well in advance if you are selected or not...and when you sell the tickets, keep telling people "yeah, we've sent it into Sundance but they are so anal retentive they want the right to world premiere it so we have to wait...but you know, you gotta do what you gotta do to get ahead in this world, right? So is thats two tickets, right?"

remember, if they pre-buy the DVD, they only get ONE ticket to the premiere...why? because you KNOW they will buy another, ppl are weird about going to the theatre by themselves....

and save the form letter.....you know why? cause its a marketing tool..once you send it in AND they cash your check then you can put "official entry into [insert festival here]" on the ticket...why? because it WAS an entry...you just can't put "official competition selection"..cause it wasn't....marketing baby, hype is everything but DO NOT LIE...that will bite you in your ass...you can also use the logo of the festival...
now, what do you think ppl will want to see....an indie film? or a Sundance official entry Indie film....?
secondly, you can also list as "the film Sundance couldn't screen" (why? because they didn't select it to screen)...man, keep throwing that word Sundance around left and right, give ppl a reason to see your film...
but do not lie....will bite you in the ass every single time....
cheers
Q