Episode 65: Writer/Director/Marketing Maven Ava DuVernay

On the next Double Down Film Show we’ll have a conversation with filmmaker and film marketer, Ava DuVernay, whose new feature film, I Will Follow is being released this Friday and was just dubbed by Roger Ebert, “one of the best films I’ve seen about the loss of a loved one.” Ava formed her award-winning publicity firm currently known as DVA Media + Marketing, in 1999. In addition to directing, she has provided marketing strategy and execution for more than 100 mainstream Hollywood film and television campaigns including Hairspray, I - Robot, Spider-Man 2, and Collateral, just to name a few. Before her most recent release, Ms. DuVernay directed the documentary projects This is the Life and My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip-Hop. Her latest venture is founding the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM), which organizes limited engagement theatrical releases for Black independent films and was recently profiled in a feature article in the New York Times. · How did she TRANSITION from marketing to directing? · What does a modern indie film CAMPAIGN consist of? · When should you seek and when should you avoid press? · What makes a film more of a “TOUGH SELL”? · What MISCONCEPTIONS do many filmmakers share? · At what POINT does an indie film need a publicist? We’ll answer all these questions and more in another insightful episode of The Double Down Film Show. More practical filmmaking wisdom than you can shake a stick at…every Wednesday night at 9pm E.S.T. Filmmaking Reality Starts HERE.