Market Ready Heads to the Bay of Plenty

Reframe Collective delivers a focused marketing and sponsorship workshop for Film Bay of Plenty’s Regional Producer Accelerator

This June, Reframe Collective co-founder Iris Lamarr travelled to Rotorua to deliver a one-day marketing and sponsorship workshop for producers taking part in Film Bay of Plenty’s Regional Producer Accelerator.

The eight-month accelerator supports emerging Bay of Plenty producers through mentorship, specialist workshops and practical industry development. Iris’s session drew from the marketing and partnership components of Reframe Collective’s wider Market Ready programme, applying them directly to the projects in the room.

Across the day, the producers worked on audience clarity, project positioning, loglines and hooks, marketing from development through to distribution, sponsorship, product placement and brand partnerships. They also examined recent case studies showing how filmmakers have built an audience before traditional finance or distribution was in place.

The focus was as always practical and hands on: who is this project for, why will they care, how will they find it, and what value could it offer a genuine partner?

The projects covered scripted television, documentary and docu-drama, each with a distinct audience and market challenge:

Larissa Allen is producing Dot, a darkly comic television series:

When a retired widow accidentally kills a man and no one suspects her, she revels in her invisibility to knock off society’s arseholes. But a relentless investigator starts connecting the dots, and our murder-granny must decide how far she is willing to go to stay hidden.

Larissa, who already has a career in marketing, said the day helped her translate those skills more directly into screen marketing and left her feeling more confident about taking her projects to audiences.

Kim Webby is developing Wandering Ghost, a docu-drama confronting a largely buried part of New Zealand history:

When filmmaker Kim Webby delves into the historic murder of a Chinese goldminer by a white supremacist in New Zealand, she discovers uncomfortable truths about the race laws and policies that formed New Zealand and their effects to this day.

The producers pressure-tested how they were presenting their projects, identified the audiences most likely to respond, and began mapping the communities, organisations, platforms and partners that could help each project reach them.

“Iris’s marketing workshop for producers was informative, eye-opening and presented with panache. Her warmth and enthusiasm make learning fun and inspirational. I came away with excellent, practical knowledge that I can apply to my projects to maximise audience reach with marketing flair.”

Kim Webby, Filmmaker, Wandering Ghost

“Marketing today is a minefield of hits and misses — Iris cuts straight through it. She breaks down exactly what matters and hands producers an actionable framework they can start using immediately.

Iris is a firecracker: a marketing guru who’s genuinely invested in the success of both producers and their projects.”

Lea Mclean, Miro Productions

From left: producers Larissa Allen and Lea Mclean, Reframe Collective co-founder Iris Lamarr, and filmmaker Kim Webby.

Film Bay of Plenty Manager Jade Kent said the level of discussion showed a clear need for further professional development in this area:

“Iris has been a powerhouse and enthusiastic supporter of the mahi Film BoP is doing with the Regional Producer Accelerator.

The Market Ready workshop was highly valuable, covering market readiness, project positioning, marketing, product placement and wider industry development considerations. A clear takeaway was that one day was not enough. The level of discussion, interest and need from participants showed there is strong demand for more in-depth professional development in this area.”

Thank you to Jade Kent and Film Bay of Plenty for the invitation, and to the producer cohort for bringing strong projects, sharp questions and a willingness to test their thinking.

Reframe Collective delivers Market Ready workshops for screen organisations, regional film offices and filmmaker communities in Aotearoa and internationally.

Find out more about Market Ready.