Does Anyone Have Experience With A PR Firm / Rep.?

Does Anyone Have Experience With A PR Firm / Rep.?
PR firms are for people and movies that are already famous and high profile. Neither Access Hollywood nor US Weekly are going to cover a story about some indie film just because a PR Firm brings it to their attention. I know people who have hired LA PR firms to promote indie bands and comedy artists. Waste of $5,000. You can send promo packs to various media outlets on your own.
 
There are a lot of unknow actors with publicists who will beg to differ with you.
A publicist helps artists in the area they are weakest in, how to market themselves.
Then they aren't making any effort. I have successfully promoted CD's without any help from a publicist. It isn't rocket science. I know of 2 who hired a publicist. They said it was a total waste. An act will go as far as it is good. A publicist can't cause Rolling Stone magazine to like something.
 
I think it really depends on which Publicist you go with, I know there is some really good ones, and also some really bad ones.

All I know is hiring PR firms for films that are already completed with a marketing budget in place, and here's what I've learned...

#1 The good ones have the "master list" of magazines, newspapers, radio stations, blogs ect. They have also built relationships with these entities, so when they pitch your product to the media outlets your more likely to get that review, feature, or interview. So you may be saying, well I can do that! I can look up the media people and send them my press kit, ect ect. Well two things, for one, it is very time consuming, for a small operation, it's possible, but for a big one, it's like a second job. That's why filmmakers hire Publicists. Or a Producer's Rep when handling multiple distributors or film festival's.

#2 It's good to hire a PR person for the West Coast & the East Coast.


Can you do it yourself? Yes you can, but a good PR company will be more effective because that's what they do for a living. You as the filmmaker create for a living, they market for a living.
 
PR firms are for people and movies that are already famous and high profile. Neither Access Hollywood nor US Weekly are going to cover a story about some indie film just because a PR Firm brings it to their attention. I know people who have hired LA PR firms to promote indie bands and comedy artists. Waste of $5,000. You can send promo packs to various media outlets on your own.

I don't believe this is true....
 
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