Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Jones.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
FilmFrog – We love movies. FilmFrog markets film and entertainment experiences. FilmFrog focuses on Owned, Earned and Paid Media combined with Loyalty and Rewards programs to drive more movie-goers, more often. FilmFrog represents ~4% of the domestic box office marketing more than 1,600 screens at over 160 cinemas. In addition, we serve the Independent Cinema Alliance (ICA), Cinema United, Studios, and work directly with filmmakers.
I started my career running a movie theatre chain in Chicago then came back to Dallas to work for Blockbuster. From there I went to work as Director of Sales for Brian Schultz at Studio Movie Grill when there were only 2 locations. Over my combined 8-years with SMG I became the head of marketing.
I left Studio Movie Grill in February 2019 to launch FilmFrog as a fractional CMO for independent, mid-sized and regional movie theatres. That was great for about 1 year then the world changed and cinema was (and still is) heavily impacted. My goal during the initial few months was to continue working with my clients but not invoice them. As the pandemic wore on and movie theatres were devastated including many very talented exhibitor marketers, I began hiring people on contract and we gave our services away. In 2021, FilmFrog developed an industry-wide campaign to energize exhibitors and movie-goers called Cinema Week. Through these efforts, exhibitors, studios, associations, and filmmakers recognized FilmFrog as a company with a soul and go-to agency singularly focused on the movie-going experience. FilmFrog began to grow hiring the best film and cinema marketers, adding exhibitor clients, partnering with associations, studios and filmmakers.
FilmFrog has won a Golden Telly for its on-going series Faces of Exhibition and the North American Cinema Award for Best Refurbished Theatre.
I am also a co-Founder of Cinema Lab, which develops and manages community-vital Cinemas; and a board member of Dallas Film (Dallas International Film Festival).
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are many.
In June of 2021, FilmFrog had largely generated zero revenue for almost a year. We had a few staff members hired on contract. And we were a week away from launching Cinema Week – an industry-wide campaign to energize exhibitors and movie-going. I had a choice – go all-in or fold and go find a job. I pushed all my chips across the table gambling everything, hired staff, and put my own money up to finance Cinema Week. I knew that this was the only moment in my lifetime that this would happen and I either believed in cinema coming back or I didn’t. I went all in.
We need every exhibitor and every studio to participate. I was an unknown at this level. FilmFrog was largely unknown. We were questioned and challenged and even encouraged to pull the plug. We did not. And there were some enormously challenging phone calls with several major players.
At the time, FilmFrog did not have a full-time staff and did not have consistent clients or revenue. This moment changed that. It did not catapult FilmFrog into immediate success, but it was the launching pad. And it still took another 2-years to solidify FilmFrog in the theatrical space.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about FilmFrog?
I’m the Founder and President of FilmFrog.
We love movies. FilmFrog markets film and entertainment experiences. FilmFrog focuses on Owned, Earned and Paid Media combined with Loyalty and Rewards programs to drive more movie-goers, more often. FilmFrog represents ~4% of the domestic box office marketing more than 1,600 screens at over 160 cinemas. In addition, we serve ICA, Cinema United, Studios, and work directly with filmmakers.
This is what we do. We do not market anything but the theatrical experience.
I’m most proud that FilmFrog is able to take care of so many families, develop so many careers in exhibition, and create and engage movie-goers.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My first movie-going memory was in 1980 or 1981. My grandfather worked in distribution in Chicago, which meant he drove to the film depot, loaded film cans into his trunk then would distribute films to the movie theatres. He took me on one of these work days. We ended up a theatre where he took me up to the projection booth where I was see EMPIRE STRIKES BACK on through the project portal. My grandfather then walked me behind the screen where I got to watch the audience react to watching the best STAR WARS movie. It made a lasting impression about the power of experiencing a movie collectively.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.filmfrog.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmfrogmarketing/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/47665156/admin/dashboard/
- Other: https://cinemaunited.org/behind-the-screens/
