Brand New World

So I scooted down to Santa Monica the other day for the AFM. While there, I shook a few hands, picked up a few magazines and walked around.

Then I got the hell outta there to get back to work. The reason?

Well, in looking at all of the posters and sell sheets and talking to a few of my friends at various companies, I discovered a few things.

There has never been a better time to launch films into the marketplace. With more and more digital outlets opening up, DVD taking hold across the world, tax incentives and exchange rates - it's a marketplace where you can get a film made and move it around the world fairly quickly. With financing in place, you can make a dozen movies and move them around the world fairly quickly. Opportunity is in the air - it's a brand new world.

But Bill, I'm just a screenwriter. All I need to do is write.
Wrong. (well, not so much "wrong" as "yes and no")
But Bill...
Yes and No.

See, we're living in a brand new world.

We can't be Bartleby the Scrivener anymore (look it up). We can't just sit back and write, not thinking about how and where our writing is used. You can't just be a TV writer. You can't just be a comic book writer. You can't just be a feature writer. The needs of the marketplace, not to mention the needs of our individual bank accounts, demand that we as writers become... more.

You and I need to become brands.

For movies and TV and Games and all sorts of media and merchandising - branding is important. Branding steps right up, gets in your face and says, "This is who I am, and this is what I have to offer."

Why do you think Hollywood is making so many sequels and remakes right now? Why do you think they're buying so many comic book, video game and toy properties?

Why do you think there are several TV writers who now write comic books as well?

Yep - branding. Hollywood is taking recognizable properties and squeezing as much juice out of them as they possibly can: Bewitched, Pirates of the Carribean 2 & 3, Blade: The TV series, Serenity, Soul Calibur, etc...

We have the Marvel brand, The DC brand, the Mtv brand, the Capcom brand...

We also have brands that are individuals: Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and in a new deal signed with New Line, Danielle Steel has a line of D2DVD movies coming out. Brands all.

And people with financing in place tend to back brands - distinctive properties with a certain look and appeal that have an immediate connection with their intended audience. It's a way of limiting the risk of investing in a film, because they're betting on a track record and not just a great story. They're betting that the audience that embraces the property will embrace the movie made from that property. Brands are marketing and PR gold.

As creators though, branding comes with a certain amount of responsibility:

It means control.
It means investment in your work and the time needed to complete it.
It means networking opportunities in other media in order to get your brand out there (and those opportunities mean hard work, learning new skills and bringing your A-game to the process).
It also means saying, "No", when the deal isn't right. This is, after all, your brand - you have to protect it.
It means building an audience, and letting them know what you're doing.

It's a brand new world.
What's your brand and what are you doing to get it out there?