First Things First: Pick the Right Platform

By Brooke Shelby Biggs

We will be offering weekly tips for independent filmmakers and public media entities on getting the most out of social media. Visit BTB Thursdays for some good advice for your Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking strategies.

No matter if you are a filmmaker, a station, or a public media brand, the very first place to start is by creating (or switching to) a Facebook page. Note, I say page, and not group or profile. This is an absolutely crucial distinction.

A Facebook profile is designed to be the outward-facing real estate for an individual human being. In fact, brands that use profiles rather than pages are in violation of Facebook’s terms. While Facebook has not yet shut down brands using profiles, they have made clear that it is within their rights to do so, and it’s not worth the risk.
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Tags: brooke shelby biggs, Facebook, filmmaker tips, multiplatform engagement, Social Media, tips, Twitter

Note to Independent Producers: Be More Social!

By Jonathan Archer

As part of ITVS Programming’s ongoing mission to serve the filmmaking community, Jonathan Archer has been seeking out filmmakers to provide their perspectives and experiences from the trenches. First up, The Weather Underground producer, Marc Smolowitz. He recently presented on a panel entitled The Power of Storytelling and was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and strategies with BTB.

Scene from The Power of Two by Marc Smolowitz

Last month, I presented at the Netsquared Meetup in San Francisco on “The Power Of Storytelling.” I decided to connect my remarks to two current labors of love — The Power Of Two — my feature documentary inspired by the life stories of twin double lung recipients; and The HIV Story Project — a new nonprofit that I co-founded in 2009.
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Tags: Facebook, funding, independent producers, indies, ITVS, PBS, producer tips, Social Media, the weather underground, Twitter

A Social Media Roundup of ITVS @ SXSW

ITVS made a splash in Austin, TX at last week’s SXSW festival, which included the second season premiere of FUTURESTATES. Our social media guru Jonathan Archer put together a twitter recap to relay everything you might have missed at the festival. Click below the jump for the full Storify recap. Enjoy!

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Tags: Austin, FUTURESTATES, storify, SXSW, Twitter, TX

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