alvablines

My friend Hudson and his brother Michael are making a documentary film about their 93-year-old grandfather Alva B. Lines. Here’s a bit of their first trailer the put together based on interviews they filmed with him recently.

I’m certainly intrigued by the film, but I’m equally interested in the way that these fellas are promoting the project using social media marketing tactics (posting updates to a Twitter account, maintaining a production blog in lieu of a ‘coming soon’ splash page, etc). I’ve long been a proponent of indie artists taking full advantage of the tools the web has to offer in building your own audience by keeping them in the loop throughout the entire creative process. I love pointing out projects that ‘get it’ and are doing it right. Another documentary that has been really hitting home runs in this realm is my friends at Project Pedal and their film For Thousands of Miles.

Thought we’re only a few steps into producing our own documentary, Mable’s Murder (working title), Audrey and I certainly aim to do the same kind of audience building and promotion once we’re further along into production. By the way, it’s a pleasent coincidence that Hud and Michael are also exploring stories from our grandparent’s generation. We hope to follow their project closely and share their successes with you in the coming months.


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  • hud
    kind words, Mark, and huge thanks for talking about us. and in fact, Project Pedal was the primary inspiration for sharing our experience rather than keep it a secret. this is a project we've long wanted to do, but first and foremost was for ourselves and family. but then when we started to tell others about it, the project had a small audience and grew into something more dynamic. we dont even have a working title yet, but we know that prying open the doors and sharing the experience will do much more to push the idea creatively than working in silence. a good lesson to put into practice...
  • Hud - I'm very, very, very flattered... really :) that kinda' made my day. You're film looks beautiful and touching and personal... and I'm looking forward to watching the making-of process through your blog.

    I've learned so much about filmmaking, about myself, about being open because of our film's blog... putting everything out there for people to see really helped shape the direction and style the film has taken. And when times were toughest - it kept us going.
  • Audrey
    this looks great so far. The photo of him interviewing his grandfather is really nice too! I can't wait to see more. I am going to check out their website now:)
  • What a great project - I just spent 20 minutes poking around their site... listening to audio clips of film rewinding and flipping through flicker pictures. Loved the trailer too - made me miss my Grandfather quite a bit... I know he was full of amazing stories... and I never got to hear many of them.

    Thanks for mentioning us too - I'm flattered :)
  • Totally. I'm happy to introduce folks like you guys. We should form a club or something, eh? :)
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