On October 6, the Women’s Steering Committee (WSC) meeting featured the discussion, Directing Your Feature/Series & Growing Your Audience.
In a conversation moderated by Director Aubrey Smyth, Directors Maureen Bharoocha, Tessa Blake and Zoe Lister-Jones discussed how they successfully navigated their first feature film or television series, developed their own distinctive creative voice and got their projects off the ground. The panelists were joined by marketing strategist Meredith DeSantos for an exploration of the art of building meaningful connections with an audience.
During the conversation, Blake emphasized the importance of thinking creatively about how to reach audiences, particularly for her coming-of-age drama, If I Tell You. For the film, she partnered with RAIN — a domestic violence organization — which created a meaningful way to connect with communities who would resonate with the family’s story. Blake also highlighted the importance of peer support and advertising alongside other marketing efforts and spoke about how her episodic television directing experience benefited her feature work, helping her become a “cinematic linguist” and develop the ability to choose the right visual language for each project.
Lister-Jones spoke about bringing her series SLIP to life with the support of a Roku executive and block-shooting seven episodes in 35 days as both showrunner and lead. She emphasized the value of hiring a good publicist, identifying compelling press angles, and using festivals to build visibility. Lister-Jones also shared inventive ways she’s marketed her films, from chalking the sidewalks for her first feature Breaking Upwards, to creating custom pizza boxes featuring the Sundance laurel for How It Ends. For SLIP, she enlisted Dakota Johnson to create an iPhone video showing audiences how to watch the series on Roku. As Lister-Jones put it, “It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it’s always the same hustle. It’s just another hurdle when you get more money.”
Bharoocha revealed how relationships she formed through a women’s group and other unexpected connections led to feature opportunities, while her previous work gave hiring teams confidence in her as a Director. She noted that she keeps multiple projects moving forward by collaborating with different co-writers and producers and, as Bharoocha expressed, “being busy feeds the beast.” Bharoocha is proactive about publicity and, even when a film has studio or distributor support, brings in her own publicist to help secure interviews and press coverage.
DeSantos observed how even a major marketing budget can’t compensate for a campaign that misses its audience. She spoke about defining what you want your social media presence to accomplish, establishing a recognizable profile, and sharing your creative process in a way that feels natural and authentic. DeSantos also suggested focusing on one social platform at first and expanding from there when it makes sense. Her advice for making social media a priority on your to-do list is “be lethal with your time.”
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
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Director Maureen Bharoocha,
Director Tessa Blake
Director Zoe Lister-Jones
Marketing Strategist Meredith DeSantos
Director Aubrey Smyth (moderator)ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Women's Steering Committee (WSC) was created to advance the professional interests of its members, and to heighten their visibility and career opportunities in the entertainment industry. The WSC currently promotes diversity through sponsoring net-working events, screenings and seminars, and fosters relationships between the members to provide support, mentoring and networking opportunities.
