publicist for another film. "The producer was so impressed with what I
did for Guncrazy, she offered me $2,000 for eight weeks." The film was a
low budget independent with a relatively unknown cast and no distribu-
tion. Struggling to generate any publicity at all, she became frustrated at
the lack of press interest in covering the film. A friend suggested she
contact Steve Rubin, a success-
ful unit publicist. Rubin sug-
gested she buy his book on
unit publicity, Reel Exposure.
"I went out and bought the
book and read it cover to
cover. It talked about all the
different tasks and chores, as
well as the politics of being the
unit publicist on a movie set,
but he never wrote about how
you take a movie that has no
distributor and no known
actors, and get press for it; he
didn't have that chapter." Two
days later, after reading the
book, she called Rubin again
and explained her dilemma.
"He laughed and said, `Well,
that's tough. You got a
problem.'" Rubin advised she
write the best press notes pos-
sible, which included biogra-
phies, synopsis, and quotes,
and use it as her calling card.
Over the next few years, Rubin
would continue to be a mentor,
answering questions and offer-
ing encouraging advice.
Before the film wrapped,
Swank received a call from
Nikki Palmer, the person
selling the international rights
to Guncrazy. Impressed with
the press materials Swank had
created for the film, Palmer
offered her six months work on four different films for a salary of $500 a
week. "That's when I quit the waitress job and I quit the limo driving job."
It is important
that the unit publicist
has a good working rela-
tionship with the still
photographer, since they
work very closely. One of the functions of the
unit publicist is to alert the still photogra-
pher to potential candid shots that are impor-
tant for telling the story. "Let's say there is a
great moment where my director and my
producer and my stars are all having a good
time--I need to make sure that picture is
taken. Or let's say I find out the local news-
paper wants to do a story on one of my sup-
porting actors. I have to alert the still
photographer to make sure a picture is taken
of the supporting actor with the lead actor, to
supplement the story."--Cid Swank
"Treat everyone--everyone--not just
your lead actors, not just your director, not
just your producer, but everyone: your key
grip, your grip, your craft services person--
treat each person like they are important to
the movie, because they are important. Treat
them with respect. Always say `thank you'
and `please.' Manners go a long way when
you're working on a film"--Cid Swank
"Be open to last minute change. Don't
ever take it personally when something has
to change, because it's never about you; it's
about what is going on with the movie as a
whole."--Cid Swank
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