Hooked in 10 Minutes: The Key to Engaging Your Audience, with Alexandra Boylan

Geoff: 00:00:00

Welcome back to part two, our members only portion of our interview with Alexandra Boylan.

Geoff: 00:00:05

Alexandra recently taught a workshop for us at the Faith and Family Screenwriting Boot Camp.

Geoff: 00:00:10

We'll put a link to the boot camp in our show notes.

Geoff: 00:00:13

The workshop was based on her book, Create Your Own Career in Hollywood, and we're going to go into a lot of this important information right now.

Geoff: 00:00:21

Alexandra, I'd like to talk about the importance of the first ten minutes and distribution.

Geoff: 00:00:25

You talk a lot about the things that are important in order to get distribution.

Alexandra: 00:00:29

Why my book covers so much about distribution, is it's...

Alexandra: 00:00:33

If you know how to do a good poster, and you have a sellable product, you know what I mean, like, we know everything that goes into how do you sell your movie to a major distribution company.

Alexandra: 00:00:43

That's key.

Alexandra: 00:00:44

And I'll tell you, the poster's like the most important.

Alexandra: 00:00:47

I mentor filmmakers all the time, and they'll be like, well, I made this movie, and I put 100, 000 into the film.

Alexandra: 00:00:53

And I'm like, okay, so what are you doing for the poster?

Alexandra: 00:00:55

And like, oh, my friend did the poster.

Alexandra: 00:00:57

And I'm like, no, you've got to invest in quality posters that will sell and stand out.

Alexandra: 00:01:03

Because the distribution company, the first thing they're looking at is your poster.

Alexandra: 00:01:07

Unless you have a star name, but you're going to probably have the star on the cover.

Alexandra: 00:01:12

And then once it goes out on the platforms, it's the first thing your audience decides of how they're going to click on it.

Alexandra: 00:01:17

And they get a little thumbnail in two seconds, and you've got to catch their attention with that picture.

Alexandra: 00:01:22

And it's so important.

Alexandra: 00:01:23

Don't skimp on it.

Alexandra: 00:01:24

Hire a company that really knows what they're doing and knows what sells in the marketplace.

Jaclyn: 00:01:30

Show us that book again, that cover, because that's the same cover as the movie, right?

Alexandra: 00:01:35

Yep.

Alexandra: 00:01:36

Identity crisis.

Alexandra: 00:01:37

Yep.

Alexandra: 00:01:38

And then our, our film Switched has a great, cover about the two girls with switched bodies.

Alexandra: 00:01:44

And that was on, you know, Vertical got us front shelf space on Walmart with that.

Alexandra: 00:01:48

Catching Faith is, um, boy on a football field kneeling and praying.

Alexandra: 00:01:52

That was one of our most successful films.

Alexandra: 00:01:54

And a lot of it is, The poster art.

Alexandra: 00:01:56

People buying it and connecting and understanding your audience before you even go into making a film.

Alexandra: 00:02:02

Who is your audience?

Alexandra: 00:02:03

It is not everybody.

Alexandra: 00:02:05

People are like, everybody.

Alexandra: 00:02:06

No, you don't want your movie to be for everyone.

Alexandra: 00:02:08

You want to mark, be able to market it to a specific audience.

Alexandra: 00:02:12

So if it's horror thriller, you do that, you know, and if it's faith based family, you got to make sure you're creating content that's going to sell to that audience.

Jaclyn: 00:02:20

So did you have the poster made before you went into production?

Jaclyn: 00:02:25

And I'm asking mostly because of the color scheme.

Jaclyn: 00:02:28

Because obviously, and the color for the poster for, this one and Switched, like, they're bright colors, but that translates to the movie itself, right?

Alexandra: 00:02:38

When I made Home Sweet Home, I had no idea what I was doing.

Alexandra: 00:02:41

So I didn't, we just made the movie.

Alexandra: 00:02:42

And then I happened to meet Bridget and Jen from Dog and Pony Creative at a Women in Film event.

Alexandra: 00:02:48

They said, send us your movie.

Alexandra: 00:02:49

I had put Home Sweet Home out to all the film festivals.

Alexandra: 00:02:52

rejected by everybody.

Alexandra: 00:02:54

Didn't know what to do with the movie.

Alexandra: 00:02:55

And so I met these amazing women and they were like, Hey, you're a horror movie.

Alexandra: 00:02:59

You're not going to go to film festivals.

Alexandra: 00:03:01

You need a sales agent.

Alexandra: 00:03:02

You need to sell your movie.

Alexandra: 00:03:03

And I said, awesome.

Alexandra: 00:03:04

How do I do that?

Alexandra: 00:03:04

How do I get a sales agent?

Alexandra: 00:03:06

So they said, let us help you.

Alexandra: 00:03:08

We're going to watch your movie.

Alexandra: 00:03:09

Hire us to do a poster.

Alexandra: 00:03:11

Then you take your poster out and try to get a sales agent.

Alexandra: 00:03:15

So they made an incredible poster.

Alexandra: 00:03:18

If you see our poster, it's so good.

Alexandra: 00:03:20

And they put it on their website and actually Ryan Keller was hiring them for another project.

Alexandra: 00:03:27

Because of our poster and the company said, Hey, you know what?

Alexandra: 00:03:30

That movie's not repped by anybody.

Alexandra: 00:03:32

And he said, what?

Alexandra: 00:03:33

I could sell that movie off the poster alone.

Alexandra: 00:03:36

So that's how we got him.

Alexandra: 00:03:38

But we...

Alexandra: 00:03:39

Oh, I'm sorry, I got sidetracked.

Alexandra: 00:03:41

So we did not have a poster.

Alexandra: 00:03:43

I worked with the girls on a concept idea, and then we made the poster.

Alexandra: 00:03:48

But then I knew from then on, I needed to have the poster ready ahead of time.

Alexandra: 00:03:53

So now what I do on all my films is I've already hired Bridget and Jen in the beginning.

Alexandra: 00:03:58

I send them the script, we work together on what the poster is going to look like.

Alexandra: 00:04:04

And then when we get to set, I have my on set photographer, I grab a white backdrop and I put the actors in there on set and shoot them exactly.

Alexandra: 00:04:13

Because it costs so much money to bring an actor back later.

Alexandra: 00:04:15

And we have Bill Engvall and Joey Lawrence and we've had Mena Suvari.

Alexandra: 00:04:19

So we do that ahead of time.

Alexandra: 00:04:21

We know exactly what we're shooting for what posters that we're going to create later.

Alexandra: 00:04:26

That can save you a lot of money.

Alexandra: 00:04:28

And that's also in the screenwriting.

Alexandra: 00:04:29

Like, I know when I'm writing a script what the poster's going to look like.

Alexandra: 00:04:32

And if I don't, then I go to Bridget and Jen and we discuss it.

Alexandra: 00:04:36

And we say, how can we sell this film off of a picture?

Alexandra: 00:04:39

And then we'll work on the boards.

Alexandra: 00:04:41

We do everything on set.

Alexandra: 00:04:42

And then that's just, we'll usually have posters before the movie's even edited.

Jaclyn: 00:04:47

Fantastic.

Geoff: 00:04:48

One of the things, I wanted to ask you is, you, you've mentioned the importance Of the first 10 minutes of your movie.

Geoff: 00:04:55

Now, what can you tell our listeners about that?

Geoff: 00:04:57

Cause, I know it's a significant subject.

Alexandra: 00:04:59

Yes.

Alexandra: 00:05:00

The first 10 minutes is the most important.

Alexandra: 00:05:03

If you are showing it to a distribution company, it's sometimes the only part of the movie they watch.

Alexandra: 00:05:07

They will watch the first 10 minutes and they will decide right there if they want it, and then they might watch the last five minutes to see if there's an ending.

Alexandra: 00:05:16

And then they've already decided if they're going to buy it and they send it down to someone else for quality control to watch the whole film.

Alexandra: 00:05:22

Then also your audience.

Alexandra: 00:05:24

Once you get on Netflix or you get a deal, your audience is going to give you 10 minutes and if you don't hook them right away, then they'll move on to the next thing.

Alexandra: 00:05:34

So your first ten minutes...

Alexandra: 00:05:35

Same with a screenplay, you know, your first ten pages, you better know who the hero is and send them on their journey.

Alexandra: 00:05:43

That was some really good advice we got from Ryan Keller when we made our first horror movie, Home Sweet Home.

Alexandra: 00:05:48

He watched it and he said, you need to cut two minutes out of the first ten minutes.

Alexandra: 00:05:51

She has to get to the house.

Alexandra: 00:05:53

In the first 10 minutes.

Alexandra: 00:05:55

Otherwise, no one's gonna stick around.

Alexandra: 00:05:57

It takes too long to get her to the house.

Alexandra: 00:05:59

So that was so valuable and, and we always listen to all the experts and we do everything that they say, and we cut two minutes out of the first 10, and we sold that movie, you know?

Alexandra: 00:06:09

So it's, it's so important, and like a lot of times people say, Oh, I went to a film festival and After the first 10 minutes like half the audience left and what happened?

Alexandra: 00:06:19

I bet it was distribution companies that knew in that 10 minutes whether they were gonna buy the movie or not, and they're out to go look at the next movie in the next 10 minutes.

Alexandra: 00:06:26

You know, I've heard people say, you know, I reshot the opening of my movie.

Alexandra: 00:06:30

It's not as good quality as the rest of the movie...

Alexandra: 00:06:32

and I'm like, well, that's a problem It has to be the best quality.

Alexandra: 00:06:36

You can't have those first 10 minutes not be top notch quality.

Alexandra: 00:06:39

And, you have to send your hero on the journey, and they have to know who they're following, why, and where they're going in those 10 minutes.

Geoff: 00:06:46

Mm hmm.

Geoff: 00:06:47

One of the things you said there a minute ago was very significant.

Geoff: 00:06:50

And that was, We always listen to the experts.

Alexandra: 00:06:53

Yes.

Geoff: 00:06:54

And we do what they tell us.

Geoff: 00:06:56

That's difficult for a lot of people, um, from screenwriters...

Geoff: 00:07:00

probably right through to people who are directing and producing their own, own material.

Geoff: 00:07:04

But it's so important to understand that when somebody who knows what they're talking about tells you something, even though it may feel like your baby, and you may feel you know better, you got to learn to listen.

Alexandra: 00:07:15

Yeah.

Alexandra: 00:07:16

The reason I am where I am today is because everyone who spoke into my films that were experts in their fields, I listened and I didn't say I know better than you.

Alexandra: 00:07:25

Especially in the beginning as I'm learning.

Alexandra: 00:07:27

same with the distribution company, you know, if they're gonna...

Alexandra: 00:07:30

The distribution company changed the Greatest Inheritance poster, and at first I was so disappointed.

Alexandra: 00:07:35

But then I realized why they did it, and they were right.

Alexandra: 00:07:38

And they want to sell the movie.

Alexandra: 00:07:40

And I'll tell you, our biggest thing that happened in my career was on my first film, Catching Faith.

Alexandra: 00:07:46

It was originally the Elijah Project.

Alexandra: 00:07:48

That was the name of the movie.

Alexandra: 00:07:50

That was on the call sheet every day.

Alexandra: 00:07:51

That's what we were calling it.

Alexandra: 00:07:53

And then we, we went into the poster work in post production and my sales agent and my, poster company said, this name is terrible.

Alexandra: 00:08:01

And we were like, no, it's the Elijah project.

Alexandra: 00:08:03

We know.

Alexandra: 00:08:04

And our poster company said, we have no idea how to make a poster that tells your story in an image.

Alexandra: 00:08:10

Your title tells your story.

Alexandra: 00:08:12

Your image tells a story.

Alexandra: 00:08:13

And then finally we all said, okay, fine.

Alexandra: 00:08:16

And then they came up with catching Faith with a football player kneeling on a football field.

Alexandra: 00:08:21

And I was like, imagine had I not listened to them.

Alexandra: 00:08:25

Catching faith has been so successful.

Alexandra: 00:08:27

Elijah Project would not have been successful.

Alexandra: 00:08:30

So, I really love that you say that because I feel like you have to, discern when people give you advice.

Alexandra: 00:08:37

And if you've decided to work with someone, then hopefully you respect their opinion.

Alexandra: 00:08:41

And your sales agent...

Alexandra: 00:08:42

they want to sell your movie.

Alexandra: 00:08:43

Your distribution company want...

Alexandra: 00:08:44

these people want to make money off you.

Alexandra: 00:08:46

This is all about money.

Alexandra: 00:08:47

You know, you're the only artist there.

Alexandra: 00:08:49

Everyone else is in it to make money so you've got to trust that they are making decisions, that they are going to sell it better or get your audience.

Alexandra: 00:08:58

And we have, all throughout my career, I have listened and I've taken people's advice and I never say I know better than somebody else.

Alexandra: 00:09:06

And that is why I have eight feature films.

Geoff: 00:09:09

Yeah.

Alexandra: 00:09:09

Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Geoff: 00:09:12

I've heard that story over and over actually, where people have been in that situation and looking back have said, And they were right.

Geoff: 00:09:18

And they were right!

Alexandra: 00:09:19

And they were right.

Alexandra: 00:09:20

They're usually right!

Geoff: 00:09:23

that's why they're, still in business.

Alexandra: 00:09:24

That's...

Alexandra: 00:09:24

Exactly, yeah.

Alexandra: 00:09:26

But I think, you know, you nailed it with the 10 minutes.

Alexandra: 00:09:29

I mean, I always say your poster, your trailer and your first 10 minutes: that is how you're selling your movies.

Alexandra: 00:09:35

So, that...

Alexandra: 00:09:37

and how do you sell your movie in a trailer?

Alexandra: 00:09:39

You have to know how to sell a movie in a trailer.

Alexandra: 00:09:42

And we've now learned that we hire trailer editors.

Alexandra: 00:09:45

Cause they understand how to watch a movie and tell the audience why they want to buy it.

Geoff: 00:09:50

You trust it to the people who know what they're doing.

Alexandra: 00:09:52

Exactly.

Alexandra: 00:09:52

We used to have the director do the trailer.

Alexandra: 00:09:54

And if you see the director's trailer versus Vertical Entertainment's trailer for Home Sweet Home, it'll blow you away what they knew what they were doing and how to hook your audience in.

Alexandra: 00:10:04

And it's, it's just really fun, too, that I've been so lucky to get to work on our films throughout the process with the distribution company.

Alexandra: 00:10:11

And I am always trying to learn and glean from what they're doing.

Alexandra: 00:10:15

Um, and, and going, okay, why did they make that decision?

Alexandra: 00:10:18

Because I need to make that next time.

Alexandra: 00:10:19

And, and you're always learning.

Alexandra: 00:10:21

And, you know, you learn, make a mistake, you move on.

Alexandra: 00:10:25

And you take that mistake and just don't make it the next time.

Alexandra: 00:10:27

But you don't get all caught up in...

Alexandra: 00:10:30

My editor always says, You're trying to fix a problem we can't fix on this.

Alexandra: 00:10:34

But we will remember this the next movie and we won't do it again.

Alexandra: 00:10:38

You just have to know you're gonna do the best you can with what you have at that moment, send it off, move on to the next one.

Geoff: 00:10:45

Well, thanks once again.

Geoff: 00:10:46

I really appreciate your insights and your information that will be very valuable for all of our listeners.

Geoff: 00:10:52

And,

Alexandra: 00:10:52

Great.

Geoff: 00:10:52

we really enjoyed spending time with you today.

Alexandra: 00:10:55

Same here.

Alexandra: 00:10:55

Thanks for having me.

Alexandra: 00:10:56

It was really fun.

Alexandra: 00:10:58

I love, I love talking about this stuff, obviously.

Geoff: 00:11:00

It's obvious.

Alexandra: 00:11:01

My passion.

Jaclyn: 00:11:02

Me too.

Alexandra: 00:11:03

Have a great day.

Geoff: 00:11:04

Bye bye.

Jaclyn: 00:11:04

Bye Bye.