ICG Magazine - Special Edition - Publicity & Unit Stills

PUBLICITY & U N I T ST I L LS

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his year’s Publicity/Awards Season-themed double issue provides a glimpse into what makes this Guild so enduring. Two articles in particular showcase pillars that are foundational to this organization’s success.

Snap and Click profiles three pairs of unit still photographers who have enjoyed a mentormentee relationship that, once upon a time, was built into most production budgets as an apprentice program – until it wasn’t, and camera craft newbies had to find their way.

Local 600 has done a superb job in initiating training programs down through the years to ensure members stay ahead of the technological curve – a moving target that’s almost impossible to chart in a straight line. But when it comes to providing on-the-job learning, that’s time seasoned Guild members have had to carve out from production schedules that seem to be shrinking with every new COVID surge. Which is why it’s such a pleasure to hear from newer photographers, like Clifton Prescod, Robert Clark, and Danny Delgado, who give so much love back to mentors like Quantrell Colbert, Claire Folger, and Frank Masi. Prescod stepped in for Colbert on Netflix’s new time-capsule thriller, Archive 81, when Colbert’s existing show returned from hiatus. When Prescod rang up Q, who he calls “a photography hero of mine,” Colbert relayed to him the critical elements of an episodic-series set. “You have to watch the rehearsals, figure out where A and B cameras are – don’t forget the boom operator – and where you can find yourself to get the pictures,” he told Prescod, whose background is in fashion and unscripted. “The objective is not to take every picture. That’s what the [motion] cameras are there for. Instead of thinking about what ‘they’ want, it’s about what you see.”

Delgado received similarly key advice from Masi, who won a Publicists Guild Award for Excellence in Motion Picture Photography.

“Frankie told me to never be the guy or gal photographer who comes in, shoots and then leaves without getting to know anyone,” Delgado recounts. “He said character is everything. You

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never know what actor, producer, or director may like your vibe and want to hire you again.” Clark, who transitioned from the electric department, says Folger helped him through a rough patch shooting photos on a low-budget film. “About a week [after taking images at a beach location], the producers came to the set and literally pulled me off,” Clark remembers. “They accused me of selling my photos to the tabloids, even threatening to sue me. No one had seen anything that day. It was shocking. I panicked.” Folger’s wise counsel instilled the strength Clark needed to resolve the incident.

“Claire talked to me about the perspective of my shots and reminded me of the time stamp on my photos,” Clark continues. “We realized that the bogus shots had a different copyright stamp!”

If mentorship is the engine that keeps this Guild thriving, then the publicists we talked to for Ch-ChChanges represent a knowledge base that is the fuel (or maybe an electric hybrid) that drives the engine forward. Richard Lippin, Heidi Schaffer, Heidi Falconer, Julie Kuehndorf, Amanda Brand, Michelle Alt, Courtney Lindsay, Carly Nelson, Natalie Bjelajac, and Marshall Weinbaum, who hail from every corner of the publicity world – agency, indie, studio, unit, awards-focused, digital, streaming – are incredibly adept at navigating the one absolute constant in their craft – change. Hearing how digital technology shapeshifted Kuehndorf’s work on sets, how Weinbaum has to sift through hundreds of websites to see which ones will make a difference in an online campaign, or how Brand breaks down the elements to a successful Media Day event is to tap into a brain trust that is invaluable for anyone looking to make a career in this key sector.

For me, it’s two younger Guild members who beautifully sum up what makes this organization special (and what makes our February/March issue a mustread). Lindsay, who works in International Publicity at Paramount and joined the Guild two years ago, says, “in an industry where everything happens too fast, and there sometimes is the sense that you are on the ride alone, the Union feels like a big sister watching out for me. It makes me want to boost those working around me and fight for a better work environment for all.”

“Probably the best thing that Frankie did for me,” Unit Still Photographer Delgado concludes about his mentor, “was helping me to walk confidently onto a set and trust my abilities to get the job done – and have fun doing it. He’s also shown me how important it is to always want to help someone succeed. My best advice to pass on from being with Frankie is to find a mentor who believes in you – it makes a world of difference.”

David Geffner

Executive Editor

Email: david@icgmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTORS Photo by Idris Solomon

Photo by Sara Terry

wide angle

Clifton Prescod Found Footage, Snap & Click, Stop Motion

“The title of this page says it all: Contributors. It’s an honor to be a contributor to ICG Magazine and to the film and television industry. I joined Local 600 because I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself, and I wanted to contribute in a meaningful way to the history and culture of this rich industry.

I’m looking forward to contributing and collaborating more with my fellow brothers and sisters in the Guild.”

Antony Platt Ch-Ch-Changes

“I love the challenge of working on set – turning a script into imagery one frame at a time with available light, hopefully, next to the A-Camera. I have been lucky to have been on projects where one can be swept up in the story and can share those emotions through the unit stills. And then there are the great crews we work with, who will sometimes tap you on the shoulder as the dolly blows past its marks, or the mysterious butt pad slide across a wet concrete floor you’re about to sit on.

They are the war stories and scars we all share along the way.”

snap THE NEXT GENERATION OF LOCAL 600 UNIT STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS IS BUILT ON MENTORSHIP RELATIONSHIPS. BY PAULINE ROGERS

It can be casual, born from an incidental conversation.

It can be formal, through many of the programs set up

by Local 600. It can even come out of a request from a studio. How unit still photographers in this industry find each other is less important than the reality that the Guild members who have been capturing images for many years find in their DNA the need to share their craft knowledge. If they can help newbies avoid some of the bumps they’ve experienced or give them advice on how to navigate the “setiquette” of the business, they are often willing – and eager – to do so. It’s how an alliance of union workers remains strong over more than a century of image-making.

For this publicity-themed issue of ICG Magazine, we reached out to three mentor/mentee pairs of Guild unit still photographers. We wanted to know how they met, how they’ve worked together (especially in these strange times), and what were some of the most important – and sometimes unexpected elements – that helped their partnership click.

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QUANTRELL COLBERT + CLIFTON PRESCOD It was about the time, a few summers back, when Black Lives Matter had reached critical mass.

Netflix asked Quantrell Colbert (Emancipation, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Emergency, Heels, Respect) if he would be willing to participate in a mentoring project to help get more African American photographers onto the set. They wanted him for their new psychological thriller series, Archive 81, and agreed to allow Colbert [ICG Magazine April 2021] to leave the show when his existing job, Heels, returned from hiatus.

To fill in for the last two months, Netflix Photo Coordinator Hanifa Haris asked if they could bring in Clifton Prescod (Jigsaw, Bel Air, Real Husbands of Hollywood) to shadow him and finish the show.

Quantrell Colbert / photo by Mike Taing

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She had explained that Prescod, who was working in unscripted and fashion photography, had reached out, cold, and they liked his work. So they wanted to help him take the next step.

“Mentoring other still photographers is important,” says Colbert. “Because of COVID, we weren’t able to bring Clifton to the set. But we talked, and I felt extremely comfortable working with him in this way.”

As for Prescod [ICG Magazine June 2021], he says “everything happened so fast. I was on my way to Pittsburgh – car taking me to the airport, business class. I felt Netflix was extending the love.

While I was sequestered, before I took over the shoot, I called Q. He’s a photography hero of mine,

so I knew he would have some important things for me to learn.”

“One of the first things I told him was that he had a right to be there,” recalls Colbert. “You are an anomaly coming into a well-oiled machine. It’s not that you’re Black – it’s that you are water. It’s just how the beast works.”

Colbert then got down to the basics. He ticked off the critical elements of an episodic series set, a type of production different than what Prescod was used to. “You have to watch the rehearsals, figure out where A and B cameras are – don’t forget the boom operator – and where you can find yourself to get the pictures,” Colbert states. “The objective is not to take every picture.

That’s what the [motion] cameras are there for.

Instead of thinking about what ‘they’ want, it’s about what you see.”

“I asked about editing,” Prescod adds, “which can be overwhelming. And Q’s advice was invaluable.” Colbert told his apprentice, “You have to decide how much time to put into your edit after your day is done. While some people ask for everything, my advice is to do a soft edit, limit the shots to two or three of the same things. You don’t want them to see everything – especially when you are new at the job.”

“Setiquette” – or how to properly respect the various departments and their jobs – also was a key issue for Prescod to learn. Colbert reinforced the “you have a right to be there” mentality, which is not often a given in the unit photographer’s craft, and to “forget about the director screaming at someone or a conflict in the crew. Working with the actors and the rules, that’s another story,” Colbert adds.

Prescod took the message to heart.

“Before I walked into the working set,” he recounts, “I was determined to kill them with kindness. Everyone would take a liking to me, and I would get all I wanted and more. That is the dream.”

The newbie says he would never have made it through the shoot if Colbert hadn’t warned him about the sensitivity of a certain actor. “Q said, ‘He’s probably going to ask you to leave the set during his scenes.’ So, being very determined, I came to the set wearing all black! I hid in the shadows, photographing the cast during the marking rehearsal.

“When the rehearsal ended, the actor came up to me and said, ‘You won’t be on set when we roll, right?’” Prescod continues. “I answered, ‘Of course! But don’t worry, I will be out of your eye line and invisible.’ ‘I’d prefer not!’ he answered.

Dang, I thought I’d be the exception. Q was right – and his support, and that of Netflix because I would be getting less than expected – was invaluable.”

“Clifton learned a lot on this first scripted series,” Colbert concludes. “I wanted to make sure he felt somewhat comfortable before coming to set. The last thing he needed to think about was being an African American on a set. Or new. Take the Black card out of the picture, think about who and what you are – a photographer getting great unit coverage for your client. You belong there, and your work is important.”

Clifton Prescod / photo by Idris Solomon

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Claire Folger and Robert “Bobby” Clark / photo by Seacia Pavao

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CLAIRE FOLGER + ROBERT CLARK It all started with the need for a blimp.

Unit Still Photographer Claire Folger [ICG Magazine January 2022, The Tender Bar] and then-Electric Robert Clark met more than two decades ago on the set of Session 9, shot in

working a lot as an electric,” Folger adds. “He’d regularly get calls from the best boy electric asking for his availability. It’s a different world as a unit still photographer. He had to have work to show. He could take advantage of the Union

Danvers, Massachusetts. Over the years, as part of the industry’s New England community, they’d find themselves on the same projects – The Finest Hours, Ted, The Judge, The Legend of Lucy Keyes.

“We’d chat occasionally, but he never talked about transitioning into becoming a still photographer, until he told me he was thinking of taking a non-Union film – as a still photographer,” Folger recalls.

Clark says he’s always been “deeply involved in the stills world, but having a steady income in electric, I’d hesitated about the move. A casual conversation with a gaffer friend led to a phone call from a non-union producer and an offer. But I didn’t have a blimp. So, I called Claire.”

Folger remembers how they started to talk about making the transition. “I offered my blimp, and everything moved quickly,” she laughs. “He did a series of non-union jobs, then in 2015 got lucky – the movie he was on flipped, and he joined Local 600.”

Clark – whose credits now include Defending Jacob, Sound of Metal, Dexter: New Blood, Call Jane, and Confess Fletch – began a new filmmaking journey. Working as an electric, he

networking, but there was a lot to learn. We talked about a website and building a list of contacts.”

“I thought I’d get in and establish myself, and there would be jobs,” Clark says. “It surprised me when she said every job is different. Even today, she can present herself for a project, and it could be months before a decision is made. Claire also explained that the unit photographer can often become a target. It took me a little while to figure out that it wasn’t just the actors that you have to be careful with.”

Case in point: Clark was taking photos for a Tier 1 project shooting at the beach. “About a week later, the producers came to the set and literally pulled me off,” he recalls. “They accused me of selling my photos to the tabloids, even threatening to sue me. No one had seen anything that day. It was shocking. Yes, I panicked. But the strength Claire instilled in me kicked in, and I pushed back. ‘Are you kidding? I wouldn’t sell my photos to one of the rags for a few hundred dollars!’ I explained that what I shot was over the water – while the shots [the producers] showed me were from the water.”

He also called Folger.

was mostly invisible to all but his team and other departments. But now, walking into a set with a camera made him instantly visible – and that changed everything, including his relationship with Folger. Instead of casual conversation, they talked deeply about her craft and the ins and outs of taking images for publicity purposes on busy sets.

“In the beginning, I thought it would be important for me to immediately introduce myself to the talent,” Clark recounts. “Claire said that was not a great idea, which was the right advice!

By waiting until the talent approaches me, we meet on equal ground.”

Folger’s guidance has also helped Clark navigate what’s not happening on the set, and learn that to make his new career work, he had to be opportunistic – and ambitious. “Bobby was

“Claire was calm and walked me through the incident,” Clark continues. “We talked about the perspective of my shots. She reminded me of the time stamp on my photos. And we realized that the bogus shots were stamped ‘copyright by Patriot Pictures.’”

“I knew he could prove he didn’t do this,” Folger concludes. “But the bigger lesson is that you never know what kind of situation you will have to address. This was one I had never encountered, so to see Bobby handle it so calmly and professionally was very gratifying. My confidence in him is so strong, I’ve even begun to ask him to cover for me on a job or two. However,” she adds, laughing, “I said, ultimately, I was just being selfish. Someday our roles will reverse. And when that happens, I expect him to give me a call and let me cover for him.”

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FRANK MASI, SMPSP + DANNY DELGADO It started with coffee at Brother Moto, a DIY motorcycle garage in Atlanta, GA, where a friendship over bikes between award-winning Local 600 Unit Still Photographer Frank Masi (Black Adam, Red Notice, Jungle Cruise, Jumanji: The Next Level) and budding unit still photographer Danny Delgado, Jr. (Naomi, Queens, Promised Land, Stargirl) turned into a mentorship.

“I knew Danny was trying to climb the unit stills ladder,” Masi recalls. “But how serious was he?” As the year progressed, their conversations became focused on the craft of photography. “In so many ways, he reminded me of myself, 30plus years ago,” Masi adds. “Nothing was going to stop him from getting into the Union and working on big shows. Unfortunately, the pandemic had just hit, and I couldn’t take Danny onto a set with me or to a gallery shoot. But we kept riding – and talking. The main thing I wanted him to learn is you have to build relationships – keep them humble and stay loyal.”

Delgado says it’s the little things he’s learned from Masi that have made all the difference. “Frankie told me to never be the guy or gal photographer who comes in, shoots, and then leaves without getting to know anyone. He said: character is everything. You never know what actor, producer, or director may like your vibe and want to hire you again.”

Over the years, Masi counts relationships with creatives like Jerry Bruckheimer, Bruce Willis, and M. Night Shyamalan, alongside Union publicists like Gabriela Gutentag [ICG Magazine February/ March 2020], Claire Raskind, and Ernie Malik, as keys to his longevity.

“I’ve had a 20-year relationship with Bruce Willis,” Masi states. “So when I got a call to do a shoot with Bruce and wasn’t available, I called him and said: ‘I have a new guy that would do a great job!’ And Bruce trusted me. I called Danny and asked: ‘How would you like to work with Bruce Willis for a few days?’”

Delgado says that when the call came from Masi about working

with the A-list star, “I jumped out of my chair,” he laughs. “I was beyond excited but, at the same time, nervous. So, I immediately asked Frankie how to handle him.”

“I said to be yourself,” Masi recounts. “Start the day off by introducing yourself to the producers, the director and Bruce’s producing partner, and, of course, Bruce himself. As far as working with Bruce, I said it was best to get his coverage during the actual scenes, as Bruce is great about allowing those shots during takes. A few days into the shoot, Danny texted me a picture of him with Bruce and the producers – all with big smiles. After seeing that photo, I knew Danny was well on his way.”

Recently, Masi was working on Aquaman and needed someone to fill in on Dwayne Johnson’s NBC comedy series, Young Rock.

“I didn’t hesitate to call Danny,” Masi continues. “I told him that DJ understands the importance of a great still image and will do anything to ensure you get the shot. He also has no eye line. You can do jumping jacks in front of him, and he won’t notice you. But you should still ‘respect’ Dwayne’s eye line.”

“That advice helped a lot,” Delgado recounts, “as I knew I could be with A-Camera and get the shots I needed without anxiety. DJ also loves to see photos on set, so anytime there was downtime, I would go over and let him take a look. Of course, it always ended with DJ fist-bumping me.”

“A few hours into the shoot, I started getting texts in Hawaii from Dwayne’s camp about what a great guy Danny is,” Masi says, “and was jokingly told I need not rush back.”

“Probably the best thing that Frankie did for me was helping me to walk confidently onto a set and trust my abilities to get the job done – and have fun doing it,” Delgado concludes. “He’s also shown me how important it is in this industry to always want to help someone succeed. My best advice to pass on from being with Frankie is to find a mentor who believes in you – it makes a world of difference.”

Frank Masi / photo by Anne Marie Fox

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Danny Delgado / photo by Daniel McFadden, SMPSP

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ch- chch-

THERE’S A SEISMIC SHIFT IN THE WORLD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS. GUILD PUBLICISTS FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE INDUSTRY BREAK IT DOWN FOR ICG READERS. BY

changes PAULINE ROGERS

David Bowie’s classic anthem, Changes, written some 50 years ago about a man who claims he can’t be altered by time yet is powerless to track how quickly the world around him is moving, might well be applied to the gravitational forces at work in the world of entertainment publicity. As Bowie sang: “Strange fascinations fascinate me…Ah, changes are taking…The pace I’m goin’ through.”

Or as Richard Lippin, founder of The Lippin Group, which has created corporate campaigns for the likes of The Walt Disney Company, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures Entertainment, puts it: “Publicists today have to be much more analytical. They need to deal with so many more factors when developing a campaign or executing one. For example, what is the upside/ downside? Who are they trying to reach, and how is it best to do it?”

Whether it’s differentiating one corporate client from another, putting a star in the right place at the right time and in the best light, or thinking out of the box to draw an audience to a film or television project, Lippin says public relations professionals are experiencing workflow change at a level unprecedented in his time in the industry.

“With the advent of social media,” Lippin observes, “the ability to control when the announcements are made, and the messaging, are becoming exceedingly more challenging. Keeping developments confidential was, in the majority of cases, possible. Today, it is almost impossible because of the 24/7 nature of the media and the high degree of announcements being leaked by people with their own interests at heart.”

Heidi Schaeffer, who has been a personal publicist for over 40 years, representing Jamie Lee Curtis, Sally Field, and Candice Bergen, says, “When

there were magazines like Life and Look that were photo-driven, photographers would sometimes spend days covering a subject. That has now been diminished to about 20 minutes. You could launch a campaign with the cover of Time or Newsweek.

Magazines don’t hold that sort of weight anymore.”

Another sea change publicity professionals must navigate is the time allotted to nurture relationships, which are still at the core of the publicist’s craft. “We used to take the time to get to know a journalist, have lunch together, know a little bit about their lives,” Schaeffer continues. “It made it more personal when you called.”

Such a relationship was the seed for one of Schaeffer’s fondest memories. “It was when I was able to arrange something for a friend’s mother,” she recounts. “She was turning 100. She was a life-long Dodger fan. And I arranged for her to throw out the first pitch at a game. And then, my favorite columnist at the LA Times [Chris Erskine] interviewed her and did a great column. And KABC covered it. It was a day to cherish forever. Today, I’ve said things on calls – like a reference I remember making to Dorothy Parker – and then realized the group [of younger publicists] had no idea who or what I was talking about!”

The ch-ch-changes bombarding Guild publicists extend to studio and unit work as well – and not all are due to the pandemic. With the proliferation of streaming media, some are predicted, while others have come from the forced isolation of COVID. The question many unit publicists have now is: Where will the work land once the industry comes back to whatever will be the “new normal”? The consensus is that unit publicity – whether remote or on a

Heidi Falconer | portrait by Patrick Wymore

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set – has gained in value, with the craft actually expanding.

“The general idea of what falls under ‘publicity’ has shifted quite a lot since I started working in film,” observes Heidi Falconer (Babylon, A Star Is Born, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Jurassic World, Star Trek into Darkness). “For a unit publicist, this has evolved into an integrated model of publicity, marketing, creative content, promotion and licensing. While some of the more traditional approaches and strategies are still exercised, the job today is so much more multi-faceted. A lot more needs to be created, managed, and facilitated during production, with a greater demand for more creative content, materials and assets, behind-thescenes coverage, and in-world extras. Either way, everything needs to be completed without slowing down or impacting the filmmaking process, which can sometimes feel like spinning multiple plates at the same time on a high-speed train.”

And there are more changes afoot, Falconer notes, regarding the announcement process.

“In addition to an official start of a production release,” she adds, “is a social post where the engagement is direct, immediate, and far-reaching.

Fans and movie-goers now want less marketingdriven outreach and more organic, straight-fromthe-source/insider experience. This change helps establish and control the narrative and pre-emptively minimizes the impact of leaks and unapproved images from the set.”

Falconer says that with the potential for information and images to make it outside of the production bubble so easily, “it’s important for the unit publicist to understand how to create and maintain the narrative. The immediacy with which an image or a story can hit the ether can Heidi Schaeffer | portrait by Claudette Barius, SMPSP

Dick Lippin | portrait by James V. Evers PUBLICITY & UNIT STILLS

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significantly impact perception before the film day is done,” she describes. “The ability to pivot quickly is more important than ever and is only intensifying.

Working with filmmakers and studio collaborators to monitor and manage the chatter will continue to intensify and requires a lot of bandwidth.”

Julie Kuehndorf (The Good Nurse, The Bubble, tick, tick…BOOM!, The Many Saints of Newark, The Trial of the Chicago 7) says she’s encountered many changes going from features to the streaming world, many of which only add to her already full plate.

“EPK’s have always been a central part of a unit’s work,” Kuehndorf shares. “Now, I’m often filling in as the EPK producer and do the interviews myself.

In addition, ad shoots, which technically don’t even fall into the category of publicity, are more and more the responsibility of the unit publicist. Rather than just a photo shoot, the ad shoot will also include a video element, as well as separate sit-down interviews for digital content.”

Kuehndorf, who recently did Apple TV+’s Dickinson and Netflix’s Maniac, says that the use of unit stills has also evolved in the streaming world.

“Rather than have every single photo shot by the unit photographer, approved by the talent and captioned by the publicist, selects are whittled down for approval only after filming has wrapped, and the unit publicist doesn’t caption photos anymore,” she explains. Kuehndorf says the advent of digital photography has impacted her work, whether in traditional features or streamers, because here, too, Amanda Brand | portrait by Antony Platt

Julie Kuehndorf | portrait by Barry Wetcher, SMPSP

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the personal interaction has been truncated – no FedEx delivery, no meeting with the artists.

“We interact less with the talent,” she continues. “Delivering contact sheets and going over the shots helped develop a relationship that was handy when it was time for press visits or EPK interviews. Now everything is done online – and that loss of contact with talent and crew makes it a bit more of a challenge for the unit publicist.”

Amanda Brand (Mission: Impossible 7, Strays, The Old Guard, Terminator: Dark Fate, Mission: Impossible – Fallout) sees the work of the unit publicist shifting as well. “BTS has become allimportant,” Brand states. “Publicists are now, more than ever, producers of creative content. The BTS vendors work closely with the unit publicist to identify and create catchy short pieces. The ability to conduct interviews is essential.”

One of the elements Brand (and others) conceived to cover multiple “gets” in a short period of time was Media Day, which takes place during or immediately following principal photography.

“A well-produced Media Day can allow the studio to complete the photoshoot, BTS interviews, and motion-capture, if necessary, in one or two days while the cast is available,” Brand adds. “The secret to a well-organized and productive Media Day is 90 percent in the planning and five percent in the execution.”

For Netflix’s The Old Guard, Brand and Unit Still Photographer Ian Rankin liaised between his

company and the production. “Our AD’s worked in conjunction with theirs to create a junket-style schedule that would allow the talent’s time to be fully maximized with little or no downtime,” Brand recalls. “The actors had individual call sheets that were staggered, so they were all photographed by Ian in singles, doubles, and groups. Then, during the gaps in the photography, the actors completed their BTS interviews and Netflix’s motion-capture requirements. The result was many high-fives at the end of that day,” she smiles.

Have all these changes rippled over into studio publicity? You bet they have. While much of the traditional presswork is still in place, so much more has been introduced.

Paramount Senior Publicist Michelle Alt (Rocketman, Sonic, Arrival, Interstellar, Playing with Fire, Book Club, Star Trek Beyond) started when print was king, and the digital space was just beginning to percolate. “Now it’s the opposite, of course,” she says. “But whatever the media, it all still starts with building relationships. And then approaching each press source with ‘What can I get added to this talk show booking? Is there a human-interest side? Can we add a skit or what extra? What can we do to make this stand out?’ It’s about knowing the shows and what they are willing to do but also knowing your cast and what they are willing to do.”

Michelle Alt | portrait by Frank Schaefer

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Alt says it’s also about using creative thinking “to help amplify not just your film but also [the media entity’s] show,” she continues. “You have to take the journalist, producer, or talent booker through things.

For example, I was the first to get a trailer on a talk show without paying an integration fee. We brought the talent to the show along with them shooting a separate piece to air closer to our release date, and after that, everyone was seeing how they could do a trailer launch on this show.”

Like her brethren, Alt sees digital technology as the ultimate disrupter.

“It’s always about what is trending, how many views something has, and what new and outsidethe-box things we can do that don’t cost money,” she describes. “It is always hard when something new comes along to get people to see your ideas and why this would be good for a campaign.”

Courtney Lindsay (Crazy Rich Asians, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Top Gun: Maverick), who was formerly part of Warner Bros. feature publicity team and now a publicist with Paramount, came to the craft with the digital world fully established. Yet, she’s aware that old and new practices must be integrated for a successful campaign.

“More than ever, it’s about taking risks,” Lindsay shares. “With Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, my team at Warner Bros. partnered with The Today Show and local Alabama outlets to surprise teachers at a small-town school that painted and decorated their classrooms to look like Hogwarts [using their funds and donations]. Warner Bros. created t-shirts and school supplies for the kids and flew the cast to participate in fun activities and ultimately present the school with a check to put towards buying SMART boards. It was a fun, feel-good day and brought awareness to the film and its core message – education and acceptance.”

While studios are approaching this new order of publicity with greater freedom, many have found it essential to add a new arm to their PR departments devoted exclusively to the digital space. The Walt Disney Company’s Senior Publicist Marshall Weinbaum (Avengers: End Game, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, Lincoln, Frozen), who has his foot in traditional features and recently the new streaming platform Disney+ (The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Hamilton, Loki), says

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Carly Nelson | portrait by Elisabeth Caren

Courtney Dawn Lindsay | portrait by Elisabeth Caren

that publicity circa 2022 lives and breathes on the now. “With each new campaign, you have to look at the landscape and ask yourself what works and makes an impact,” offers Weinbaum, whose current focus is mainly online.

“That means constantly sifting through hundreds of websites and trying to decide which ones will make a difference in the campaign,” he continues. “Will an interview work here? Would an exclusive clip debut be more meaningful? How will the audience react to this journalist’s review? You have to be asking yourself these questions each time, so you don’t become complacent.”

Weinbaum speaks for all online publicists when noting that there can be a “misconception” that digital outlets are less important to a campaign. He says it’s crucial to surf thousands of venues to gain a firm awareness of their audiences and to realize digital media has a power that has not yet been fully harnessed.

When Carly Nelson (Arrival, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Halloween, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Last Christmas, Ma, A Dog’s Journey, The King of Staten Island, Old, Sing 2) moved from Paramount to NBCUniversal where she is a junior publicist, spearheading their digital department, she had a similar epiphany as Weinbaum, both understanding just how fast the digital sphere continues to grow.

“When I first started at Universal, TikTok was ‘Musical.ly,’ and now TikTok is one of the biggest components of our digital campaigns [heavily used on Ambulance and Bros, and planned for the Untitled Super Mario Bros Film],” Nelson reveals.

But, she adds that her duties in the digital world are very much a new version of an old-school approach.

“Only we pitch and coordinate interviews with the digital press like Buzzfeed, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, et cetera, and we conceptualize and execute global influencer campaigns [organic and paid],” she adds. “Depending on the title, the creative focus and dependency on influencers fluctuate.

“Things that people don’t realize about being in the digital publicity space is that our campaigns revolve around what is currently relevant and trending,” Nelson continues. “It’s about what could be an important facet to a campaign in 2016 that

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Marshall Weinbaum | portrait by Tobin Yelland

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could be obsolete by 2022. In digital, you can never get comfortable. It’s extremely important to know what is happening in the tech and influencer space so that you can use and execute first-of-its-kind activations on new social and AR apps, know which influencers are relevant and whom to work with – or not work with. The act of keeping up with digital news is a major component of a digital publicist’s job that many people may not even think about.”

Natalie Bjelajac, Director of Film Publicity at Netflix, says that when she first started at the streaming giant, in January of 2018, “it was difficult to even get our films reviewed, as much of the press didn’t know whether to consider them real films. But in the four years since, we’ve seen a complete turnaround in perception. We’ve built robust, meaningful relationships with press globally and can secure topnotch coverage and reviews for our titles around the world.”

While Bjelajac says there are many similarities to a traditional studio release campaign, “at Netflix, we often work on a more truncated runway, focusing the bulk of our activities right on top of release and post-release versus starting a roll-out three to six months out. This allows the Netflix PR team to build on partnerships with the trending digital sources on a project basis. The partnership with TikTok for the Red Carpet premiere of Red Notice is one such example, where they captured the content of talent answering questions from the TikTok community via hashtag #AskRedNotice.

“We partnered with Twitter Spaces on an exclusive conversation with Jay-Z on The Harder They Fall,” Bjelajac adds. “Most recently, we partnered with Clubhouse on a first-of-its-kind watchalong event for Don’t Look Up, where listeners all pressed play on the film at the same time and watched along as director Adam McKay provided live interactive commentary for the duration of the film.”

So as the old Bowie song goes, the ch-ch-changes in the world of entertainment publicity are so swift, it’s hard “to catch a glimpse” of your reflection. Now, more than ever, publicists are besieged with new press venues that seemingly pop up overnight, and campaigns that not only have to be tailored to the content – but also a particular press venue.

Of course, Guild publicists can’t keep up with all that change without some help. Even teams at the various studios, the unit, or personal publicists may often have to pivot on a dime when new information comes through.

“That’s why it’s so important to be part of the Union,” the 28-year-old Nelson insists. “I have been striving to be a part of this Union for years, and I’m incredibly happy to finally be here. The Union gives us publicists a way of connecting between studios and agencies. We are all master storytellers – having the Union to be able to keep us cohesive, no matter where we work, is a big deal!”

The more seasoned veteran, Alt, agrees. As a member of the Publicist Guild Committee, she finds meeting people from all crafts (and not just at committee meetings) creates the opportunity to see her work from multiple perspectives. “We can also ask questions that may not have occurred to us in isolation,” Alt notes.

“We get so wrapped up in our jobs, we need to see our counterparts and ask how they did this or that, and what they are struggling with. The foundation of our strength is relationships. The Union offers us a way to get involved; it encourages us to mentor and have information sessions with other publicists, or other crafts, that all help to strengthen our future.”

For Lippin, who has experienced virtually every type of publicity campaign, as well as the running battle over exactly what is a publicist’s role, “the Guild is important because it is a critical voice for a key industry sector. The degree to which the Guild helps promote the value of what public relations people do is at the core of our work,” Lippin describes. “In today’s complex world, public relations is often not given the credit it deserves for making it easier for organizations and individuals to succeed at a modest cost, in comparison with advertising and other promotional services.”

The 29-year-old Lindsay, who joined the Guild two years ago, distills the conversation down to one simple truth: “In an industry where everything happens too fast, and there sometimes is the sense that you are on the ride alone, the Union feels like a big sister watching out for me,” she concludes. “It makes me want to boost those working around me and fight for a better work environment for all.”

Natalie Bjelajac | portrait by Christina Belle

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pictured: Wally Pfister, ASC