Company Profile - MacDonald and Rutter
It can take years and the efforts of hundreds of people to make a film. So it's little surprise that one of the most important jobs in the film industry is to persuade the public to go and see the finished product.
That's where a company like McDonald And Rutter comes in. One of the leading practitioners in the specialised world of film PR, it will champion a new feature in all areas of the media in a bid to give it as high a profile as possible to cinemagoers.
Founding partner Charles McDonald jokes that he started working in PR 'in the Victorian period' (actually, he began in 1978). But it wasn't until 1994 that he set up his own company with Jonathan Rutter, with early jobs including work on Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire and Peter Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers. Since then McDonald and Rutter has grown from five to fifteen staff.
Within the industry, the company has a reputation for handling more director driven arthouse fare than blockbusters - although it has handled campaigns recently for intelligent mainstream features such as Jack Black starrer School Of Rock, marionette satire Team America and The Manchurian Candidate.
High profile directors that regularly work with McDonald and Rutter include Mike Leigh, David Lynch, Lynne Ramsay, Jim Jarmusch, Lukas Moodysson and Stephen Daldry. "We like to develop relationships with film-makers and for them to feel comfortable with us," says McDonald.
He adds that the company likes to be involved with a project right from the outset if possible. This means McDonald and Rutter can assess who is starring in the film, what the schedule of the production is and how amenable the directors and stars are to having invited media on the set. Sometimes, explains McDonald, there is a lot of onset activity; sometimes there is none.
If McDonald and Rutter is working on set, executives will work closely with a number of people, including the film's stills photographer to advise on appropriate images to release to the media and the electronic press kit (EPK) team. The company will also act as a spokesperson for the film during production, gathering media enquiries and advising on what to say - and what not to say.
Once a film is completed, McDonald and Rutter will then help launch the film to the media. Given the high profile directors on its client list, this will often mean travelling to festivals like Cannes, Venice or Berlin where the films will get their first big exposure. "We have to devise the most effective strategy to launch a film in what is a very limited time," explains McDonald.
At a festival, McDonald and Rutter will arrange interviews with select journalists from around the world to boost a film's profile for distributors in, say, France and Germany. It might also be asked to set up interviews to help assist sales of the film to certain countries. "You've always got to bear in mind who the audience is for a film, and what media it might appeal to," says McDonald.
McDonald and Rutter will also help with a film's UK launch. This means sitting down with the film's UK distributor and talking through the film's appeal and devising a media strategy. Would the film benefit from a lot of screenings? Or a small number of screenings? Would it benefit from early coverage and hype? Or could this harm its prospects? Once this strategy is in place, the company will then arrange press interviews and photo shoots to boost the film's profile.
Recruitment to McDonald and Rutter is largely by word of mouth. "It's very rare for us to place a job ad," explains McDonald. "It's true of the film business in general. You can get an avalanche of replies - it's not useful and it's expensive." He advises that new entrants seek to find a work experience or a runner position - that way potential employers can see for themselves how talented they are and will either recruit them themselves or will recommend them to other companies. Training, he adds, is also very much on the job.
That's where a company like McDonald And Rutter comes in. One of the leading practitioners in the specialised world of film PR, it will champion a new feature in all areas of the media in a bid to give it as high a profile as possible to cinemagoers.
Founding partner Charles McDonald jokes that he started working in PR 'in the Victorian period' (actually, he began in 1978). But it wasn't until 1994 that he set up his own company with Jonathan Rutter, with early jobs including work on Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire and Peter Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers. Since then McDonald and Rutter has grown from five to fifteen staff.
Within the industry, the company has a reputation for handling more director driven arthouse fare than blockbusters - although it has handled campaigns recently for intelligent mainstream features such as Jack Black starrer School Of Rock, marionette satire Team America and The Manchurian Candidate.
High profile directors that regularly work with McDonald and Rutter include Mike Leigh, David Lynch, Lynne Ramsay, Jim Jarmusch, Lukas Moodysson and Stephen Daldry. "We like to develop relationships with film-makers and for them to feel comfortable with us," says McDonald.He adds that the company likes to be involved with a project right from the outset if possible. This means McDonald and Rutter can assess who is starring in the film, what the schedule of the production is and how amenable the directors and stars are to having invited media on the set. Sometimes, explains McDonald, there is a lot of onset activity; sometimes there is none.
If McDonald and Rutter is working on set, executives will work closely with a number of people, including the film's stills photographer to advise on appropriate images to release to the media and the electronic press kit (EPK) team. The company will also act as a spokesperson for the film during production, gathering media enquiries and advising on what to say - and what not to say.
Once a film is completed, McDonald and Rutter will then help launch the film to the media. Given the high profile directors on its client list, this will often mean travelling to festivals like Cannes, Venice or Berlin where the films will get their first big exposure. "We have to devise the most effective strategy to launch a film in what is a very limited time," explains McDonald.
At a festival, McDonald and Rutter will arrange interviews with select journalists from around the world to boost a film's profile for distributors in, say, France and Germany. It might also be asked to set up interviews to help assist sales of the film to certain countries. "You've always got to bear in mind who the audience is for a film, and what media it might appeal to," says McDonald.
McDonald and Rutter will also help with a film's UK launch. This means sitting down with the film's UK distributor and talking through the film's appeal and devising a media strategy. Would the film benefit from a lot of screenings? Or a small number of screenings? Would it benefit from early coverage and hype? Or could this harm its prospects? Once this strategy is in place, the company will then arrange press interviews and photo shoots to boost the film's profile.
Recruitment to McDonald and Rutter is largely by word of mouth. "It's very rare for us to place a job ad," explains McDonald. "It's true of the film business in general. You can get an avalanche of replies - it's not useful and it's expensive." He advises that new entrants seek to find a work experience or a runner position - that way potential employers can see for themselves how talented they are and will either recruit them themselves or will recommend them to other companies. Training, he adds, is also very much on the job.
