Producer Handbook: Outreach

We pour our heart and soul—and money—into these programs. We want to share our stories and change the world. Reaching out beyond the PBS broadcast delivers the program to the people who need to see it the most.

— Shirley Sneve, Executive Director of Native American Public Telecommunications.

10 reasons to do outreach:

To make a difference.
To deepen and sustain the value and impact of your film.
To build relationships with stakeholders on the film’s topic.
To reach new audiences, building interest in your film and its subject matter.
To encourage use of your film in a variety of venues.
To motivate people to act on the film’s content.
To involve and support special interest audiences.
To document impacts of your efforts that can be reported back to funders.
To generate anecdotes and impact data to seek future funding.
To attract new sources of funding and support.

As a producer, you move and inform people through your films. No doubt you hope your film will create an awareness of your subject, shift viewers’ attitude about the issue or even motivate people to action. Reaching one or more of these goals can be a tall order, especially with a limited budget. That’s where outreach can help. With even a simple outreach campaign, you can leverage your resources to deepen the impact of your effort, and ensure your film has a life beyond the broadcast.

This guide gives you practical information on the value and process for mounting outreach efforts around your film or films. You’ll find helpful tips and tools for developing an outreach initiative on your own or with a consultant, and managing it with confidence. Along with useful outreach “how-to's,” this guide includes lists, sample documents and worksheets that you can duplicate and freely use as you design your own outreach approach.

What is Outreach? How is Outreach done? How do you initiate activities, who takes the lead and what’s the incentive for involvement?

Final Words

Outreach is a great way to help you extend the value and impact of your film. While it’s not rocket science, it does require you to identify what you want to happen as a result of your effort and to then determine what resources, partners and activities it will take to achieve your outcome. Working with local public television stations and/or local community organizations will help you reach your target audience(s) through their local contacts and networks.

Public television stations and local community organizations often look for synergies—ways to build on existing local efforts. So do some legwork upfront or tap your outreach consultant to identify ways to build an effort that can be part of or create a larger effort (e.g. Check the NCME Pipeline for programs that could be packaged with yours. Contact the producer about collaborating. Check with other minority consortia to determine if there are programs/ projects that may deal with a similar topic you could package together and share resources).

As a producer, you leave a legacy, a story, a message that ripples through the minds and hearts of those who watch your film. Outreach can help make that ripple into a wave. The partnership of producers and outreach professionals can deepen the impact of your work and spread your story throughout even more communities.

Sample Documents and Worksheets