Meeting Objective
Why We're in the Room
Build the audience before the campaign starts. Turning script selection into a market positioning advantage, so opening weekend isn't the beginning of the conversation with audiences — it's the payoff of a campaign that started long before the trailer dropped.
90-Minute Agenda
Session Flow
0:00
10 min
Welcome Block 01
- Introductions around the room
- One question to open: "What does Phoenix need most right now — awareness, positioning, audience expansion, awards traction, or all of the above?"
- Confirm agenda and align on what a successful meeting looks like for both sides
0:10
15 min
How We Work Block 02
- The core thesis: Great marketing campaigns are written into the DNA of the film from the first draft — not assembled six months before release
- How we identify the audience for a film before a frame is shot
- How we build pre-awareness and intent during development — so tracking numbers look good before the trailer drops
- How we extend the theatrical campaign into content, experiences, and partnerships that keep the audience engaged through the full release window
- Reference campaigns that did this right — and what the ones that didn't cost at the box office
0:25
25 min
The Slate Block 03
We listen. We're looking for where the opportunity is and where the risk is.
- Walk us through your priority titles — what's in development, greenlit, in production
- For each title: logline, core audience as Phoenix currently sees it, comp titles, box office model
- Four-quadrant potential vs. targeted prestige play?
- Release window strategy: wide, platform, awards-track, day-and-date?
- Distribution and streaming partners already attached
- What the current marketing plan looks like — and where does it feel thin?
- Test screening status: has the film been in front of audiences yet?
0:50
15 min
The Audience Architecture Block 04
For a selected title, here's how we'd build the campaign from the inside out.
Pre-Production
- Audience identification from script stage
- Talent positioning — seeding awareness early
- Promotional partner identification
- Awards strategy: build critical pre-awareness
Production
- Behind-the-scenes content: what gets captured and when it releases
- Building social and creator footprint during the shoot
- Festival strategy and buzz management
Release Campaign
- Trailer architecture: teaser, green band, red band timing
- Brand activation and promotional tie-ins
- Fan events, immersive activations, word-of-mouth mechanics
- Influencer and creator seeding before reviews hit
Post-Theatrical
- Ancillary content: how the film lives through streaming and physical
- Audience retention — turning viewers into long-term supporters
- Franchise and sequel pre-positioning
1:05
15 min
How We Get Paid Block 05
- Engagement structure: project-based, retainer, or performance-tied to box office benchmarks
- P&A integration: are we supplementing the studio/distributor spend or replacing pieces of it?
- Who owns what: Phoenix's creative authority stays intact — we build around it
- Revenue share discussion: where Inkwell has skin in the game on audience value generated
- Which title to pilot first and what the initial deliverable looks like
1:20
10 min
Next Steps Block 06
- Select one or two pilot titles to develop a full campaign architecture for
- Phoenix provides: script, existing audience research, distributor requirements
- Inkwell delivers: full pre-release audience strategy + comp analysis + campaign roadmap in 2 weeks
- Schedule working session with Phoenix marketing and creative leads
- Define the decision-making chain: who has final approval authority on campaign elements?
Your competitors are spending the same P&A dollars you are. The difference is whether the audience was already waiting when the campaign started — or whether you're trying to introduce the film to strangers six months before opening weekend.
— The question we'll leave them with
Internal Prep
Before We Walk In the Room
Inkwell needs answers to these before the meeting — not improvised in the room.
| Item | What We Need | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Titles | Which 2 Phoenix titles are best suited for the experiential model and why — with a brief rationale tied to audience and genre | Inkwell Creative |
| Comp Analysis | 3 reference campaigns (not ours) that map to Phoenix's aesthetic and budget range — what worked and what it cost | Inkwell Strategy |
| Audience Read | A preliminary audience profile for each pilot title — who they are, where they live online, what they're already watching | Inkwell Research |
| Engagement Scope | Proposed pilot engagement scope and price range — project-based, ready to discuss in Block 05 | Inkwell Business |
| One Big Question | The single most important thing we need to learn from Phoenix to scope this engagement correctly | All |