This week is an exciting week for us. The project is growing by leaps and bounds. As we head towards our 2 year anniversary later this fall, many of the things that we’ve placed on our road map have been met, others are still in the works. But today is a special day for a number of reasons. Our first large extension of the Workbook Project – From Here to Awesome has just announced the lineup of its first showcase.

The festival was programmed based on audience demand and films will be distributed through a variety of outlets (Amazon, Vudu, Netflix, Vuze, Hulu, Joost, IndieFlix.com, HereticFilms.com, and Caachi to name a few) with 90% of the profit coming directly back to the filmmakers. Filmmakers also retain their rights and are encouraged to embrace social media to help reach a wider audience. Since the workbook project is rooted in the sharing of information, we’ll be providing a whole case study around FHTA. Looking at what worked what didn’t and hopefully shedding light on how one can better engage with an audience. For more on From Here to Awesome stop by the newly re-launched site.

Throughout the next few weeks we’ll be launching a number of new Workbook Project network sites. The first is an extensive one all about the subject of building, maintaining and keeping an audience. Our newest contributor to the project is Lisa Salem. Lisa has spent a good part of the last year researching and writing about audience building. We’re excited to have Lisa on board and thrilled that she’s going to share her knowledge on the subject.

More on Lisa’s background

Lisa Salem set out to walk the whole of LA pushing a baby-stroller with a video-camera attached to the end of it, facing inwards. When people approached her, she invited them to walk with her while she videoed their conversations. She posted those videos to a blog and in the process attracted a large and intrigued audience to what she was doing. Since then, Lisa’s been looking at the process of audience-building in detail. She lives in London now and when not working on her film-portrait of Los Angeles “WALK LA WITH ME”, she runs workshops that help filmmakers be more independent.

So make sure to check out “How to Build an Audience and Keep It” an online resource to all things audience. Over the next coming months the site will be expanding to include interviews, tools, and tips. www.audience.workbookproject.com