An ‘Electronic Press Kit’ (often abbreviated to ‘EPK’ for short) is an industry term that is basically short-hand for a compilation of all the relevant behind-the-scenes footage and information for a given purpose or project. EPKs exist not just in film and video, but also in music and other arts.
The origins of an EPK are traced back to the pre-internet days as a term for all the analog or digital elements that producers and promoters of a film project would send out to relevant journalists, PR or investors, etc… to illustrate the creative processes involved in the making of a film.
An EPK usually includes a press release about the project with all the relevant information about the producers, writers, directors, lead actors and production and distribution companies involved. From there, the EPK also includes both press photos (which range from high-end photo shoots to promotional images and posters from the project), to behind the scenes images that could help tell the story of the project’s production.
Culture Colony offers behind-the-scenes documentation for film productions, tv drama productions, theatre productions, music videos and gallery exhibitions. This service includes interviews with key people in the project, producers, principle actors, directors, and anyone else wo can give an insight or a point of view into the project and the creativity underpinning it. Moving into the digital age, including video interviews, BTS footage, and even completed documentary-news style packages are common which sources can use as they put together stories, articles and press releases about the film project.
Shooting EPK Footage
When talking about shooting EPK footage for a film or video project, we usually break down the styles into two different areas: interview footage and B-Roll footage.
EPK Interviews
If you’re shooting EPK footage for a project, we’d recommend shooting the interview sections first if it’s possible. EPK interview footage is usually shot in a standard interview setup with one or two cameras recording a producer, writer, director, actor or other relevant person as they talk off-camera about the production
For many, the real challenges of producing EPK content comes in the edit and post-production process. While editing EPK footage isn’t always the hardest in terms of creative decision making, EPK packages can often require tons and tons of exports and deliverables.
Depending on the needs of the producers and promoters, you can expect to at least need to put together files with each of the individual interviews as well as all of the RAW footage and assets.
However, many times you may be asked to put together your own EPK packages where you’ll be tasked with editing together the interview and B-Roll footage to help tell the story of the production.
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