MARKETING ART

Andy Warhol once said, "After making art, comes business art. And sometimes figuring out how to market your art requires the greatest creativity of all."

I tend to be more right-brained. Making new films, writing songs, acting, all flow from my desire to express myself creatively. I have been a prolific writer, but often I have been unaware or even disdainful of those who focus on marketing art as a commodity.

To support myself in Hollywood, I have sometimes worked B jobs related to marketing other films for major and minor studios. I have slowly learned that the film markets are like bizarres, and film is a product. Focus groups dictate whether new TV shows and films are sellable. This is hard for me, but a valuable lesson I have to learn.

The Internet and new digital technologies have made it possible for anyone with storytelling talent to make a film or a CD of music for a fraction of the cost it used to. It is new, uncharted territory for marketing as well. A band or a movie can gain a strong following and make money through specific niche marketing, and internet sales, without ever going through the middleman of a distributor.

If marketing is not your strongest forte, turn it over to God, and ask Him to make the way clear to you. Ultimately, your art can be married to the appreciative audience God designed for it. And to receive an update on my marketing ideas, and creative film and music projects, shoot me an email at : richard_rossi@lycos.com