I'm starting up the blog again. I started writing in it when I first launched Chimera's website, back when the movie was still called "Into The Void" and we hadn't even cast it yet. Looking back, I can see that I stopped using the blog before I'd finished announcing the full cast. I was exhausted by the requirements of preproduction and felt it wasn't an effective use of the limited time I had. So, Laura and I put our efforts into social media posts, instead. A few years later, we're still struggling to truly find our audience, and it's small wonder why: there is an incredible amount of content online. The sheer volume is staggering. Just the other evening I sat down in front of Amazon Prime and skimmed about looking for something to watch before bedtime; I almost shut it off and went to bed early, paralyzed by the sheer volume of choice. Times like that, you want to throw up your hands and just watch Indiana Jones for the 200th time.
None of this helps us market our film.
I recently had dinner with Our Executive Producer, Dave DeCenzo, and a marketing friend of his. This last may be the most Hollywood-sounding phrase I've ever written, but that's not important. The important thing is how a good conversation like this can get your creative juices flowing again. It's too easy to stagnate in your basement and slow down, especially when that's also the office for your day job. This friend of Dave's said I should restart the blog, and I didn't even have to think about it. I knew he was right. His name is also Dave, and so trust is established.
Grammarly says this post is "formal," so I have injected "jokes."
Aside from providing worthwhile content, Marketing Dave also noted the blog would increase the site's SEO ranking. I had to research that one, but I quickly discovered that SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a mysterious force that lurks beneath the hood of The Internet, causing the sun to shine, flowers to grow, and websites to magically spring upward in online search results. This makes a lot of sense: update your website more often so it gets found. After all, the site costs several hundred dollars a year to maintain, so it should be more useful than just a hub for links to watch the film, plus some behind-the-scenes stuff I wrote three years ago. Maybe I'd better update that, too.
Social media posts are great, and I'm going to try to up my game in that department, including resuming Instagram posts. I've thought about vlogs as well, but I don't much like my on-camera personality, and so I'd prefer to save it for special occasions such as end-of-year updates, VFX demonstrations, and pigs flying. We'll see how this written blog works out, first. I often hold back in my social media posts to keep them from getting too large; this blog will allow me to expand my coverage of the development of Chimera Part II. For example, I've touched on the challenges of retooling our 8 episode arc into the three-film trilogy, but I haven't really gone in depth on social media. I'd like to change that, here.
In addition to Chimera content, I'm also interested in extending this blog to cover other projects I have simmering at various temperatures on other burners: a finished novel I've never published, an unfinished novel I'd like to complete, a short film my brother and I are developing; I'd also like to talk about aspects of filmmaking, marketing, and what I'm slowly (sometimes very slowly) learning in the process of trying to tackle all these different elements. I may occasionally write something completely out of left field, based on what's currently on my mind, and post it here to see what kind of reactions I get. My greatest struggle in this whole process has honestly been getting out in front of people with my work, though I've tried not to show it too much. The work/life balance is not easy, especially when you have a young family; by nature, these creative projects must all be secondary. Perhaps one day I'll make a living at it and the balance will not be as difficult to maintain. As I said before, it is far too easy to just hunker down in my basement, work my regular career, and occasionally drop something on social media. Marketing Dave is right: that simply won't do. And this blog seems like a good way to start forcing my vampiric face out into the sunlight for a little social tanning.
Or some other tortured metaphor.