The Skinny
Taking an independent Black queer comedy from Patrik-Ian Polk, creator of Noah’s Arc, from festival premiere to a city-by-city theatrical run to a national Logo TV broadcast.
The Skinny is a comedy-drama about five Black gay friends reuniting in New York for Pride weekend. It was an independent release with no studio marketing budget behind it, and the audience it needed was underserved by traditional film promotion.
My job was to build the campaign from the ground up. That meant positioning, key art, the digital rollout and the community partnerships that would fill seats city by city, and then turn that momentum into tune-in for the TV premiere.
- Set the positioning and key art. I designed the poster, flyers, official website and soundtrack album artwork.
- Ran the digital rollout across social media, culture blogs and search. I timed trailer, clip and screening announcements to drive ticket sales and tune-in.
- Pioneered influencer outreach. I reached Black LGBTQ+ audiences through creators and bloggers before influencer marketing was an industry norm.
- Produced community screenings with local partners in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Chicago, building word of mouth market by market.
- Supported publicity and press outreach around screenings and the release.
- World premiere at Outfest FusionFestival honoring Polk at the Egyptian Theatre.
- Sold-out screenings at the BFIThe campaign goes international.
- Theatrical openingLandmark E Street Cinema and Midtown Art Cinema, with an Atlanta cast meet-and-greet.
- ExpansionDallas run in partnership with DFW Pride Movement.
- Community pre-screening & openingChicago pre-screening with local HIV and Black LGBTQ partner groups.
- NYC openingQuad Cinema and Harlem’s Faison Firehouse, timed to Pride season.
- More tour stopsAdditional markets, including Houston, to round out a 16-city run.
- Logo TV premiereNational broadcast debut.
- OutWhy The Skinny is the best film ever made about PrideArmond White2017 ↗
- The AdvocateThe Skinny, among history’s most meaningful films about Pride2018 ↗
- Windy City TimesPatrik-Ian Polk’s The Skinny comes to Chicago2012 ↗
- Rough Draft AtlantaNoah’s Arc director brings latest film to Atlanta2012 ↗
- Dallas VoiceNoah’s Arc creator partners with DFW Pride Movement2012 ↗
- Shadow and ActTeaser trailer for Patrik-Ian Polk’s The Skinny↗
Also reviewed by The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety on release.
The film streams today on free and on-demand services, including Tubi and Plex.
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Open to Head of Content, Director of Podcast/Audio, Executive Producer, Creative Director and VP of Brand/Community roles. Los Angeles or remote.