Nailing the Essentials: Content Tips for Film Production Websites
In today’s landscape, a strong online presence is not just desirable; it's essential. Your website serves as the definitive online home for your film production company, the place where potential clients and collaborators can meet and discover more about you.
But are you struggling to figure out what kind of content you should have on your website?
Don’t know what to write about?
Friend, I’ve been in your shoes. I don’t find creating compelling content easy, but I find studying examples really helpful. So, let’s use a real-life website to expand our knowledge on what essential content to include on a website for a production company.
I’ll be looking in depth at the homepage of Citizen Jane Productions, an independent film and TV production company based in Helsinki, Finland.
This site isn’t one of my designs, but was made by the talented Mirette of Devmire.
When I first visited this website, it kinda blew me away with its engaging yet simple content and design strategy 🤯. I definitely felt like it conveyed all the essential information I wanted to find out about the company.
In this post:
I cover 6 essential pieces of content and where that content can go
Arresting Images
Capturing Attention Instantly 👀
A visitor lands on your website. Within milliseconds, they form an opinion about your company based on what they see.
That's where having an arresting image at or near the top of each page comes into play. It's your chance to captivate visitors from the get-go, encouraging them to stick around.
I love the choice of image on Citizen Jane’s homepage. The photograph is a close-up of the faces of three young women, their gazes turned towards the camera. It’s a promotional still from one of their feature films, Girl Picture.
What makes it a strong choice?
It contains faces — specialised parts of our brains detect and respond emotionally to faces incredibly fast!
We can see the subjects’ eyes — as filmmakers, we know the power of the eyes to communicate emotions and tone.
As a web designer, I reckon they may have also chosen this image because it relates to the company’s name and values of the production company, which we’ll get into soon.
You don’t have to follow what Citizen Jane does when selecting your key images. But do look for professional photos that encapsulate the spirit of your company.
They could include a striking still from a recent production or a behind-the-scenes shot showcasing your team's creativity in action. Let your images speak on your behalf and draw visitors in from the moment they arrive.
2-Sentence Summary
Crafting Your Elevator Pitch 👋
In a culture where our attention spans are short, conciseness is key. Delivering a pithy summary of your production company is essential for providing visitors with crucial information about your company and conveying your unique value proposition.
On Citizen Jane Productions' homepage, immediately following the key image, we’re greeted with a two-sentence summary:
“Citizen Jane Productions is a Helsinki-based production company that create and produces both feature films and TV-series. We strive to entertain and tell stories that matter about this world and the people in it."
It's quite simple, answering the questions:
What is “Citizen Jane Productions”?
What does it do?
Where is it located?
And what motivates their work?
Why should you keep your company summary to two sentences? Well, with one sentence, you might fail to convey enough information to your visitors. Three sentences, and you’ve got a chunk of text. Bear in mind when writing content that most people skim text when reading online.
When crafting your second sentence, focus on what sets you apart.
What makes your approach to storytelling unique?
What values drive your work?
This also helps set the tone for the rest of your website.
Here are a few more production company summaries in different writing styles to help you craft your own:
Colonelle Films is a Montreal-based production company working in fiction and documentary films, in both feature and short format. Carrying the voice of emerging filmmakers, their productions have been featured in the most important film festivals around the world.
Momo Film Co, part of Beach House Pictures and Fremantle, is a Singapore-based film and TV company founded in 2018. We are committed to producing high-quality Asian drama for viewers around the world, telling new and authentic Asian stories with taste and ambition, and collaborating with established media partners along with new creators.
And on the site of Eclectica:
Producing content we’d like to see (this is the heading)
Film and TV production and post-production company based in Zagreb, Croatia, focusing on international co-productions, original TV formats and fresh ideas.
Keep your summary short and compelling, like an elevator pitch.
Call-to-Action
Encouraging Visitors to Act 🏃
A call-to-action (CTA) on a website is a must-have, directing visitors towards the main action you want them to take. It’s nice to have people looking at your site, but generally we want them to do more than just look, right?
Whether it's exploring your films, getting in touch with your team, or enquiring about your post-production services, a clear and compelling CTA can turn visitors into professional relationships and audiences.
There are several ways to incorporate CTAs on your website. One of the most effective methods is having a button that tells people what action to take.
Take Citizen Jane as an example. On the homepage, underneath the posters for four of their productions, we are prompted via a button to “See all productions”.
No surprises, we land on the Productions page after clicking that button. It's important to avoid surprising your visitors by taking them somewhere they did not expect, so keep the wording of your CTAs clear and accessible.
Notice also that it is the only button on the Citizen Jane homepage. In fact, all four productions link to the Productions page, which gives us more info about the films and TV series produced by Citizen Jane.
Clearly, the goal of this homepage is to encourage us to check out their productions! This is a good example of what is generally considered a standard rule of thumb: have one CTA per landing page. For pages that aren’t those core marketing landing pages, a secondary CTA can also work.
Knowing the goal of your web page will help you direct your visitors towards a clear action. Each page should have a goal.
So if you don’t know what your CTA is for a particular page, have a think. Is it to encourage people to contact you? Are you hoping to build an audience through newsletter sign-ups? Do you want to guide them towards a service where they can stream your show?
When designing your CTAs, think about the desired outcome of having visitors on your site, and the most clear and compelling way to invite them to take that next step.
About Section
Connecting on a Personal Level ❤️
Another essential piece of content you must have on your website is an About section.
Your website's About section is where you get to pull back the curtain and give visitors insight into the story and heart of your company.
Citizen Jane's About section does just that. By expanding on their filmography, they build trust and credibility.
Moreover, I feel like I gain a sense of the values that underpin their work. For instance, they mention they have many role models and name world peace and suffrage advocate Jane Addams as one of them. I’m going to make a good guess that the company was named after her.
When crafting your About section, be transparent and be authentic. You may wish to share your origin story, highlight your team's expertise, or showcase your passion for storytelling.
Speak in a tone that reflects your brand voice and let visitors meet the personalities behind the brand.
Motto
Showing Passion and Authenticity 🎥
We’ve covered having a pithy company summary, now let’s look at how a motto is another valuable piece of content that you won’t want to leave off your production co website.
Citizen Jane Productions' motto is “We strive to tell stories that matter”. It's short and sweet, and at the same time humanising.
Didn’t we all get into filmmaking because making art somehow touches our soul?
Crafting your own motto requires introspection and clarity of purpose. What drives you passionately to make moving images? What mission or vision do you hold dear?
As I mentioned up in the About section, be truthful and transparent. We all know actions speak louder than words. In the case of writing your motto, let your words reflect your actions.
Contact Information
Making it Easy to Connect 🤝
You can think about contact info as the bridge between your website and the real world. Make it easy for visitors to reach out to you by providing multiple points of contact, such as:
email(s)
phone number(s)
team member roles if you’ve got a team, so people know the best person to contact with their query
physical office location (if you work at home in your PJ bottoms, you don’t need to share your address 🙃)
social media profiles
headshots of the team to put a smiling face to a name
The site of Citizen Jane Productions prominently displays this contact information towards the bottom of the homepage.
Plus, their most important contact details (address and email) are in the footer, ensuring that visitors can reach out at any point during their visit. It's a subtle yet effective way to encourage engagement.
Prioritise accessibility and convenience by placing your contact information in a visible location that’s easy to find on both desktop and mobile.
If you have an office, consider embedding a Google map to make it easier for people to find you. And if you have visitor car parking or your office is near a train station for example, share that information!
The easier it is to connect, the more likely visitors are to reach out.
Where to Incorporate Essential Content on Your Website
I’ve covered 6 pieces of content that I think you should include on your film production website. But let’s move on to look at where this content should go.
Although I’ve broken down the homepage of Citizen Jane, let me just say:
You don't need to include all of this content on your homepage. Integrate these pieces wherever they feel relevant and logical.
Consult a web designer if you need help.
If you're wondering what the reasoning is behind this, let me digress a little to dig a little deeper into what the function of a homepage is.
Think of the websites you've visited today. How many of those were homepage visits?
Because of the way search engines work today, a lot of first encounters with your website may not be your homepage. Instead, Google is taking them to one of your blog articles, or they're landing on your Services page because it matches the person's search query more closely.
I owe this knowledge to this article ↗ by Jared Spool on the true functions of a homepage. Although published a while ago, it still holds true to this day and is a short, informative read.
From their studies, they found that there are only two functions/criteria of a homepage.
does it provide the content that a visitor is seeking?
if it doesn't, does it guide them (or “provide strong scent”) to where they can find what they seek?
From my own experience, to answer the first function, when I'm visiting a homepage of a business/person that I'm unfamiliar with, all I really need that page to answer is:
What is [insert your film company's name]?
In our Citizen Jane example, the two-sentence summary underneath the top image answers that question for me within seconds.
If a person is looking for something else the top navigation bar, which links to the Productions, Contact and About pages, provides a “strong scent” of where they can find their answer. The navigation titles are straightforward; we have a strong idea of where these links will take us.
Wrapping Up
In studying the content strategy of Citizen Jane Productions' website, we've uncovered useful insights that can inform the creation of your own website. From captivating homepage images to compelling CTAs, each element helps to shape the visitor experience and convey your production company's unique identity.
As you embark on the process of creating content for your film production website, remember that it's not just about showcasing your work; it's also important to share your values.
That’s a word that I’ve found myself repeating several times in this article: values!
By implementing these content tips, you can infuse your website with authentic, engaging content that will not only attract attention, but resonate with your target audience on a deeper level.
If you need help with creating a functional, attractive site, Tempixel Design offers comprehensive web design packages and designer-for-a-day services to help you create an online presence that truly reflects your brand and connects with your audience.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more tips and insights to elevate your online presence in the ever-evolving world of film production!
