Mark Simon on CBS talking about Disney’s recall of The Rescuers.

10.          Be known as a local expert

When a news story hits, producers and editors try to find local experts to comment.

I have contacted local news producers about using me as their local animation expert. When Disney had to recall their home video release of The Rescuers because of inappropriate images designed into a few frames of the movie, three networks interviewed me on their newscasts. The interview promoted both me and my animation studio.

Mark Simon’s 3D production featured on NBC News. Pictured are Mark’s son Reece who starred in the production and director Jason Pichon.

11.         Follow up

Producers of morning shows and news programs are always rushing last minute. It’s easy for your idea to get pushed aside. If you are promoting an upcoming event, constant and nice reminders help.

I held a press event for a 3D stereoscopic shoot I was producing at Universal Studios. I started telling the news producers of it five days in advance. I reminded them a few times leading up to the event. I had also called our local representative, Steve Precourt, and he showed up. The morning of the event I called each network a couple of times and told them we had a local politician also attending. My constant follow-up landed us on two newscasts, including the six o’clock NBC News.

To learn about publicity, I hired a publicist to teach me and then I attended the National Publicity Summit (www.NationalPublicitySummit.com) in NY.

A good publicist can help you with finding great stories, creating hooks and spreading your story. They will talk to you about the many things you do and try to tie what you do to a location, event, date or something that is current in the press.

Getting a lot of publicity does take work. You have to plan it properly, but the benefits are worth it.

So don’t just sit there…get started! I look forward to seeing in the press.

Mark Simon is a 25-year pro in the entertainment industry as a producer, director, writer and lecturer, with nearly 3,000 production credits. He has also landed over 25 deals for his own TV shows. His books include Storyboards: Motion In Art, Producing Independent 2D Character Animation and the Facial Expressions series of photo reference books. He also offers free TV Pitch Training online at www.Television-Training.com .