Tell people what we're doing

The only way we can get the volume of share sales to raise the funds to film “Michael’s Resignation” is getting enough publicity to guarantee the necessary website viewings throughput. If we are working on the basis that 1% of people who view the site will buy, we need 5M people to know about what we’re doing. That may sound like a big target but its entirely possible just through 1 or 2 mentions on a major-league broadcaster’s news programme or national magazine’s editorial spot. If you’re a member of the press, please tell the world what we’re doing. If you believe in the project, please tell the press to feature us. It’s the sole deciding factor in whether we make the movie or not, and the hope of a lot of people depends on it.

Anyone can buy shares in the movie, so almost any audience is a relevant target and beneficiary. All our publicity needs to drive people to the website to buy shares. The end goal is the sale of 18,500 shares, and then demand for the distribution of the film.

MAKE SURE THE ADDRESS OF THIS WEBSITE IS *ALWAYS* FEATURED IN EVERY PIECE OF COVERAGE.

We have built a substantial press database of over 100,000+ press contacts and 10,000+ creative industry contacts that you can help us to use effectively just by getting involved in the online “office” system available from the main menu.

Read this if you’re based outside of the UK: You don’t need to be based in the UK to help on “Michael’s Resignation”. The Internet makes it possible for us to work together regardless of where you are, even if you can’t do the physical work like camera operation or coffee runs. All our systems are set up to work online so we can collaborate without needing to be in the same room. As long as you have a computer and broadband connection you can get involved. We need help in many different ways, so don’t write anything off. Geography is irrelevant – if you have a dream, come and get it regardless.

NB: Please make sure you save copies of any press coverage so we can feature it on this website and in the video footage. If you do plug what we’re doing, please let us know. We can help track the subsequent throughput and give you detailed feedback on how many people you helped bring to the project and movie. We can put thanks, links and credits to every media outlet on our site and promotional materials that have helped us – to direct new visitors to them in return.

Give Us An Audience
We’ll talk to anyone who will listen about what we’re doing – if you find the project inspiring or just want to give us a chance to reach people, ask us to travel over to you and speak to the group and/or audience you are a part of. That could be a university class, a business conference, a church, a professional association or anything where there are a lot of people who could benefit or be entertained by what we are doing. We’re happy to talk about a specific part of the whole process rather than the whole thing if necessary.

National & Regional Newspapers
Press is absolutely key to our success and journalists are busy people who need a good story that will sell papers and interest people. You can use the standard set of press releases to approach both smaller local newspapers and the bigger national brands to ask them to give us some coverage.

Email people individually and personally to tell them our story so they are encouraged to feature us and direct people to the movie website. Contact details of journalists and editorial staff are normally printed in the paper itself.

For reliable lists of newspapers in the UK, use these links:

If you are a journalist, please give us some coverage in your article/column as we believe our unique project is an inspiring and interesting initiative that your readers will be curious about, interested in investing in and something for all of us to believe in. Feel free to use our library of press releases to quote from (available from the materials page) and any of the team will be happy to give you an interview on short notice if you need us to. If you want to do something more fun like a promo, competition, special deal or custom feature, we’d love to.

Magazines
Magazines tend to be periodical and based around specific subject areas (as opposed to news and general interest), so features tend to be based around an annual schedule of planned topics and more weighty content.  Because they are a slower turnaround and more permanent they give us a real chance to reach a wider range of people. Anyone can buy shares, so the movie is potentially applicable to the widest possible range of publications rather than focused on one area.

Contact editors, feature writers and freelance contributors on our behalf to let them know what we are doing, but please remember they work to a specific topic schedule and need to understand clearly that their targeted niche of readers will be interested in the film because of its process and applicability to their subject.

Every magazine lists its staff in its credits, so you can find names and contact details by looking for the index.

For reliable lists of magazines in the UK, use these links:

If you are a magazine journalist or feature editor, please consider helping us by publicising our project and movie in your editorial as any of your readers are free to buy shares in it, and many of the elements of the project itself may be of interest and/or use to them to use in their own areas of interest or trade. Feel free to use our library of press releases to quote from (available from the materials page) and any of the team will be happy to give you an interview on short notice if you need us to. If you want to do something more fun like a promo, competition, special deal or custom feature, we’d love to.

TV Broadcasters
The big one. Just one feature on a mainstream broadcaster (BBC, ITV, C4, Five, Sky, Virgin, MTV etc) could give us every single person we need in one fell swoop. If we can get on local or national TV news, or get featured on a mainstream TV programme, we can benefit from a huge surge in traffic and share sales that could see us reaching our target weeks before we thought we would.

You can call/email producers, newsdesks and commissioners to get them to feature us. Please bear in mind that they are incredibly busy people and tend only to take material that is instantaneous/current, and also, like magazines, tend to work to a topical schedule agreed in advance.

For a list of TV broadcasters and contacts, use these links:

If you work for a broadcaster or are a producer, you could change everything for us just by giving us a plug on your show, no matter how brief. We can get video material over to you, as well branding graphics and personnel for short-term interviews whenever and wherever necessary. If you want to do something more fun like a promo, competition, special deal or custom feature, we’d love to.

Local & National Radio
Radio might be depreciated in the UK but it is still a force to be reckoned with. Premium times are breakfast, lunchtime and the drive home from school/work (drivetime) and although dominated by the BBC and GCap group, it can still drive millions of people to the movie itself.

You can call/email DJs, producers and researchers to ask them to give us some coverage in their show’s editorial sections (news is provided by IRN, a centralised service). An important thing to remember is that the website address must be stated clearly at least twice for people to remember it.

For a list of local and regional radio stations, use these links:

If you are a radio DJ or radio producer, please plug our movie project on your show. All your listeners are able to buy shares in the movie and the inspiring nature of the story may just cheer up a long crappy journey to/from work, or a dead lunch hour. Any of us are available over the phone to do a last-minute ISDN link interview and we can supply audio trailer material if necessary. If you want to do something more fun like a promo, competition, special deal or custom feature, we’d love to.

Blogs
We love them. There are millions, and there are no lists per se, but this project is something we believe most bloggers will absolutely love. And the best thing is most are really cool – laid back, enthusiastic, open-minded and willing to help. There’s no great database of them as they keep getting more and more pervasive, but a link or two from some of the big traffic sites can start a viral ripple that can send a lot of people our way.

If you come across a great blog, drop the author a line on their email address and ask them to link to our site and talk about what we’re doing. They can send us a pingback directly via our website software so we can connect right back to them and direct visitors their way in return. Just be honest about what we’re trying to achieve, first and foremost.

Good places to start:

Social Networking
The ultimate basis of what we’re doing is to get as many people to know about it as we possibly can. We need you to tell everyone, everywhere – your family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, strangers, your doctor, local wildlife, and even the people you hate.  It doesn’t matter how you do it, or how you manage it, we just need you to do it. And when you’ve told them, tell them again. Then tell them to tell everyone they know too.

  • Send out an email to everyone you know introducing the movie with a link to the website. Then ask them to email everyone they know;
  • Post bulletins on MySpace about it and invite people to add our profile;
  • Ask friends who write blogs to post links/banner images to the movie and invite people to buy shares;
  • Post the website to your Facebook profile and invite everyone you know to join our group. Then ask them to invite everyone they know;
  • Email the administrators/editors of big sites, mailing lists and collaborative groups asking them to send out an email to their subscribers on our behalf to promote what we’re doing;
  • Digg our website whenever and wherever you can;
  • Put the website address on your MSN/Yahoo/AIM status and social site statuses;
  • Email video bloggers on YouTube and ask them to talk about the project, as well as encourage people to tell their friends;
  • Plug us on web forums and blogs and ask people to spread the word (NB: make sure to clear it with the webmaster and forum members first as it can be a serious breach of etiquette).