Indie Marketing at SXSW

SXSW is held in Austin, TX, and combines a film festival, interactive festival (technology, gaming, etc) and a huge music festival (1400+ bands).  This was my second time attending, and the show seems to grow exponentially.  The marketing tricks grow at the same rate, with bigger and more extravagant ploys to get the attention of the thirty thousand or so attendees. 

The gambits range from fleets of cars covered with logos (this year was "Kick Ass" the movie), to marching bands beating their drums, to graphics being projected on the side of buildings.  Add to that hundreds of folks giving out rides in their bike carts, energy bars, green tea and more. 

How can a little indie movie like "Standards of Ethical Conduct" stand out among all the noise? 

I've always liked more subtle marketing campaigns, ones that reward the curious among us.  So I left the following email among stray papers on lunch tables, food carts and crumpled in the corner of couches.

Here are some of my drops.

The question is, did anyone find these?  Leave a comment if you did.

For those pranksters, feel free to download the doc and modify it to your heart's content.  I know a couple folks who will probably push it much further than I did.  Please share your stories.

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Get your popcorn ready, it's movie time!

The wait is finally over. Click below to watch the full movie. If you're feeling randy, leave a comment and/or rating on YouTube.

The FCT Corporate Store is also open for business starting today.

That means you can have your very own copy of the movie, with the following special features: 

• Deleted scene - Ok, I deleted several scenes from the movie, so why is only one on the DVD?  Well, most of them weren't very good, so I didn't see the point in making you sit through the agony of watching them. However, one deleted scene was really good, but just didn't fit into the storyline after I made some script changes. You get to see Tab Chester and Franklin trying to solve an army captain's (played by the BLF) power issue on the ground in Iraq. Nothing is better than watching a couple of incompetent corporate dweebs stumble over each other when faced with a real problem. Plus any scene with a synergy line is always worthwhile.

• Goof video - This video gives you a behind the scenes look at the reality of a cash-strapped indie production.  Be prepared to see a lot of Chuck Roy. 

• Director interview - What you've been waiting for. You get to hear me blather on. Courtesy of The Signal on WYPR.

• Movie posters - All 6!

• Trailer

• And more!

If you're really getting into the moment, I'd suggest also picking up your own corporate dweeb t-shirt, in either pink or white.

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Meet Bill LeVasseur, aka Staff Sergeant Mothershead

You know Bill LeVasseur, you just don't know you know him. If you've seen "Standards of Ethical Conduct", you know Bill as Staff Sergeant Mothershead.



However, even if you haven't seen Standards of Ethical Conduct, you know Bill. I guarantee it. Remember these Coors ads?



If you somehow missed those, perhaps you've seen him sell Dish Network, or as a Dish customer, you've seen him help you with your remote.



Or, if you're a fan of Crash (the TV series), perhaps you saw Bill get his ass chewed by Dennis Hopper.



See, you recognize Bill now right?

I met Bill when I was a producer of "Spotless", where he played a cold-blooded hitman named Jackson Hash. When it came time to shoot Standards, he was one of the actors I had in mind, and he knocked out the role of Staff Sergeant Mothershead. And no, that's not some made-up character name, although it sounds like one. That's the real name of the guy that let us borrow his uniform for the movie. Since you can see the name written on the uniform, we changed the character name to match. So there is a real Staff Sergeant Mothershead, and if he is out there, thank you for the uniform!

It makes me wonder though, since our last names are mostly related to what our ancestors did. You know, a blacksmith become Smith or the guy who ran the grain mill became Miller. Let's hope that "Mothershead" wasn't earned in the same way. Anyway, I digress.

Since we had much of the same crew on Standards as we did on Spotless, Bill was familiar to all, which gave us some entertaining moments on set. Boom operators are often the target of on-set hijinks, as they wear headphones attached to their boom mic with the volume turned way up so that they can pick up any sound that might ruin a take. So you might abruptly talk real loud or make a fake hissing sound to mess with them. Or, some folks just like to tap on their mic to piss them off. In this clip, the foul mouthed boom operator is played by Patrick Hackett.




You can read more about Bill at his website, billlevasseur.com, check out his profile at IMDB, and see him as host of the Vail Film Festival.

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“Standards of Ethical Conduct” to Premiere Online, Worker Productivity Predicted to Fall

Arlington, VA – (March 5, 2010) – The highly acclaimed office comedy, “Standards of Ethical Conduct”, will make its online debut on March 11th, 2010.

Office managers around the country are embracing for the predicted fall in worker productivity as cube-toilers watch the film in full resolution, for free, while pretending to do work.

“Standards of Ethical Conduct” made its theatrical debut in 2009, in Baltimore and Denver, to rave reviews:

“disarmingly sweet and funny” and “a refreshingly piss take on office culture”
- Bret McCabe, Arts Editor, City Paper

"It's a tightly scripted and well acted exploration of the absurdities of the corporate world..."
- Lisa Morgan, Co-Host of "The Signal" on National Public Radio

“this comical and tightly woven office film has universal appeal”
- 5280 Magazine

In “Standards of Ethical Conduct”, a 45-minute office comedy, filmmaker Roman Hardgrave presents the story of Heff, a cubicle-dweller who finds himself in conflict with his company's nightmarish Standards of Ethical Conduct after an unfortunate incident at the annual company Halloween party. “Last Comic Standing” semi-finalist Chuck Roy co-stars as Heff's stoner roommate, a man pursuing a very different sort of American Dream.

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What the hell is going on?

Ok, I've been bad about updating the blog and in general, getting "Standards of Ethical Conduct" wrapped up. Between moving to DC, starting school again at George Mason and some family issues, I allowed myself to get distracted. It's time to put my foot back on the pedal.

Soon you will be able to watch the movie online, for free. Where? Right now its YouTube vs. Babelgum. Stay tuned, I'm hoping to have it online in less than two weeks. Two weeks!

In other news, the DVD is being worked on and should hopefully be finished in the next several weeks. On it will be a goof video as well as a deleted scene that I wish I could've kept in the film. It's where the "synergy" line in the trailer comes from. Franklin and Tab Chester were great in the scene, but I had to drop it after I made a major story change during editing.

Keep checking the blog, Twitter and Facebook pages, there will be a lot of updates over the coming weeks. I'll have funny clips, behind the scenes stuff, pictures and more. You can also sign up for the email updates on this site, or on http://standardsofethicalconduct.com.

Also, "Standards of Ethical Conduct" has also made its way onto IMDB, here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1557747/. So if you appeared or worked on the film, you are now immortalized at IMDB alongside Hollywood's stars. I anxiously await any comments you want to leave on the film there.

The last bit of news is that I've started studying Economics at George Mason, which has been outstanding. It's the first time in my life that I'm taking classes in a subject that I love to study. I know, I know. You just re-read that and said, Economics? That's what he loves studying?

Economics is like engineering for the gears of the world. Its insights into how and why things work like they do is both fascinating and frustrating. It's fascinating to understand social systems and how they function or break down. It's frustrating to hear how little of this understanding is conveyed through our media. More on that another day.

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What's next?

It's been a quiet month on the movie front. Our family is moving to Northern Virginia, and between that and a busy work schedule, Standards of Ethical Conduct has become the forgotten child in our family, starving and shivering in the corner.

Yes, we're moving from the bright lights of the city to quiet suburbia. I have often bemoaned the soul-crushing stripmallization that is typical surburbia, but after having a baby, I can't wait to have some extra room and a backyard. And I love the new menu at Applebee's! Come by and you'll see me mowing the lawn in my black socks and sandals.

As for the next viewing of Standards of Ethical Conduct, I'm not sure. It's been submitted to several film festivals, but I worry that its length is going to make it difficult to program. Festivals usually like their shorts under 20 minutes and their features over 60, and at 45 minutes, Standards of Ethical Conduct might be the gawky teenager that no one invites to the party.

I'm also working on getting it online, but I have some updates to my website I want to get done beforehand. Stay tuned.

****

Check out my groundbreaking IM interview with Radar Redux. Yes, the interview was done completely via instant message. I just sat there in my boxers on the couch, typing while working away on a wheel of cheese. You'll be moved.

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Packed House!!

The Denver premiere of "Standards of Ethical Conduct" went well, with so many people showing up that the Bug Theatre had to pull out the folding chairs to add seating.

Chuck Roy kicked off the evening with an impromptu roast of yours truly, mostly due to the fact that it took four years to go from shooting to screening. "The movie was originally intended to go straight to VHS. However, four or five technologies have emerged since the shooting of the film."

It was a raucous crowd, cheering loudly throughout the credits. And yes, the same scene got the loudest laugh in Denver like it did in Baltimore. The elephant.

Thanks to everyone who helped out, including Alice, Poo and Joni, who jointly managed the door. Thanks to Jenny and Brian for the pics.

Pictures are posted on Facebook. Below is one of the cast and crew at the pre-party. And yes, we did a post-party as well, which ended by seeing the zoo that is the Denver Diner at 3 am. Nice work Damon, who ordered shots of Jamison at 2 am, and than was ruled too drunk to take it by his girlfriend, who took it herself.

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