How this short film got almost half a million views online
Set in 2014, while the internet boom was just about to happen in India, WiFi is an innocent story of 4 teenagers that witness the changing dynamics of friendship and love. Things get unpleasant when “WiFi” becomes the reason for changing equations. ‘WiFi’ short film celebrates life, love, and friendship with a unique perspective with a universally resonating message.
Created by Cutting Fillum Entertainment & Vishal Nahar Films, WiFi is an award-winning indie short film with almost half a million views on YouTube.
Marketing an indie to an audience is one of the many monumental challenges. Filmmakers face many of the challenges similar to anyone trying to sell anything, but also some that are unique to the craft.
Because of COVID-19, the whole post production & release process of the film was done virtually, here’s how me & the marketing team of Cutting Fillum Entertainment worked on the marketing of this heartfelt indie film.
We created a social media plan with Instagram as the primary platform to promote the film, with a working timeline for everything from the posters to the Behind The Scenes videos. The film was shot in early 2020, however, the post-production took a couple of months so the release was in the middle of the pandemic.
Apart from Trailer & posters, a very special social media activity was launched including public participation which got a lot of traction to the short film. Social shareability was one of the primary factors of the film hitting so many views online. The second and one big factor was the music of the film, the song ‘WiFi Ri Dorriyan’ played by the band ‘Punchmukhi’ got a lot of hits across music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Gaana, etc. hence drawing more and more people towards the big short film.
We created a social media plan with Instagram as the primary platform to promote the film, with a working timeline for everything from the posters to the Behind The Scenes videos. The film was shot in early 2020, however, the post-production took a couple of months so the release was in the middle of the pandemic.
Apart from Trailer & posters, a very special social media activity was launched including public participation which got a lot of traction to the short film. Social shareability was one of the primary factors of the film hitting so many views online. The second and one big factor was the music of the film, the song ‘WiFi Ri Dorriyan’ played by the band ‘Punchmukhi’ got a lot of hits across music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Gaana, etc. hence drawing more and more people towards the big short film.
Given that the release was happening during COVID-19, a special virtual screening was organized for the whole cast & crew behind the film and was covered on each one’s social platforms.
On the release of the film, it was constantly marketed across social platforms, one obvious yet powerful platform that worked the most was WhatsApp. The film got 10,000+ views in less than 3 days. The film got a lot of love from the people of Rajasthan (where the film was shot) and also from other rural parts of the country & beyond.