How a Telugu movie Successfully Used Facebook For Selection of Cast and Crew

Brand Name

Paathshala

Introduction

Paathshala is the first Telugu movie to have successfully used Facebook for the selection of cast and crew marking an innovative edge in the Telugu movie industry. Social Media significantly helped  create buzz for the movie.

Objective

Shortlist cast and crew for the movie only using social media (Facebook) while creating buzz about the movie even before the movie is made.

Challenges

• Low budget
• No movie assets for promotion as the movie was still in the idea phase

Strategy

The theme of the movie is friendship and it is the story of 5 friends and their journey of friendship, love, heartbreak and chaos which leads to their self-discovery at the cross roads of their life. It is something each one of us can identify with and we wanted to create a connection with the audience even before the movie is made.

“Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest. It's about who came, and never left

your side." We wanted to make the audiences our friend.

Execution

Paathshala is the first Telugu movie to have successfully used Facebook for the selection of cast of crew marking an innovative edge in the Telugu movie industry. The movie has 5 lead characters; 3 actors and 2 actresses, all in the age group of 20-24 and were looking at casting fresh faces. The entire activity started with creating a Facebook page for the movie and a photoshoot with local models to create posters for the casting call. Individuals from all across the world started sending pictures and applications .

The applicants were shortlisted and called for an audition based on

1) Directors choice

2) Fans choice based on a voting contest on Facebook

During this activity, the Facebook fan numbers increased from 30 to 29000 within a span of 2 weeks and created a huge buzz among the youth. People came down for audition from Bangalore, Vizag and even Dubai! One AD selected has come down from the US to interview for the movie.

Numbers & results:

For Cast

No. of applications received : 11000

Shortlisted for audition: 300

Selected: 4 lead artistes and 5 supporting characters

For Crew

No. of applications received : 500

Shortlisted for interview: 50

Selected: 5 Assistant Directors and 1 Costume Designer

The trailer was launched on Facebook and " target="_blank">Youtube on 26th July and generated more than 1.5 lakh views in a span of 4 days. The movie is scheduled for release in early October and the team plans to do another low budget campaign leveraging social media before the release of the movie.