As Women Of The Lens branches out into providing social media management services, we begin a series featuring social media hacks to help you get started with your online content journey.
Keeping social media content fresh, current and informed can be frustrating for sure – not to mention time-consuming. Another challenge is that of content longevity so that it doesn’t dry up or age the moment it’s posted. Rest assured, the repurposing methods you need to ensure engaging content are right at your fingertips.
Engaging audiences is important especially if as a filmmaker you’re building towards a fundraising campaign on popular platforms such as Indiegogo or KickStarter. Let’s be real, you’re asking audiences to invest financially in you and your production; what reasons are you giving them to do so? How are you communicating your brand or film? How are you nurturing audiences in order to make them feel bonded and part of your ‘family’?
Some routes for repurposing content can be in theming your social media. For example the Steve McQueen-directed Small Axe series as a period-piece is set in the 1970s. Themes here are multi-faceted and include – history, Brixton, London, 1970s/80s beauty and fashion, Reggae and Lovers Rock music.
Fashion and costuming is a theme that can be found in the much-talked-about Netflix series Bridgerton. Exec Produced by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy/Scandal), the Regency period drama was awash with tightly-trussed bossoms and form accentuated breeches. It was lead by award-winning costuming professional Ellen Mirojnick.
So what other areas are there for theming? Here’s a round-up of examples to show you how you could repurpose your own assets;
- History/Period Drama: draw upon real events of the time your film is set. For example Titanic (1997), the HBO science-fiction series WestWorld (2016), or theatre-production-turned-film, Les Miserables (2012) are great for looking at clothing for each time period.
- Music: a wealth of content can be had with music and it’s a clear route for merchandising and further marketing. For example, superhero flick Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) featured music from the 1970s. The BBC’s Small Axe (2020) contained the unique genre of Lovers Rock. 50 Cent’s landmark album Get Rich or Die Tryin set another standard for Hip-Hop and Rap as it became a film in 2005. Finally, the music from Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) has been endlessly repackaged time and again for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.
- Fashion: if your film is set in a particular period of time, this is a rich source of content to mine through: Some examples are Belle (2013) which was set in the 18th C. Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005) is credited for ushering in a ‘petticoat moment’ in fashion as its heroine, Naomi Watts was tossed around in a jungle in little more than her underwear!
- Food: are there cultural slants your potential content could use? Creole, south Asian, French, Nigerian or Moroccan food? Some examples are Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Julie & Julia (2009) and Food, Inc (2009).
- Crew: Like family members, your potential audience are interested in your crew. Celebrating your crew and their roles is a way of introducing little but unique quirks and personalities to your production. Detailing elements of your crew’s roles is a way to inspire new entrants to the industry and engage them (and their friends) in your content, which they in turn, share, like and/or subscribe to.
If you still need help getting started, discuss your needs with Women Of The Lens Media Services.
Email: mediaservices@womenofthelens.com
Images courtesy: Netflix
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