'Follow' Scott Swan Into Movie's Credits
Sun, June 14, 2009 
Writer/Director Scott SwanFor filmmakers, Twitter is becoming an increasingly useful tool. The service is a remarkably quick and easy method through which casting news, trailers, posters and other promotional items can be instantly transmitted to mass numbers of people.
And better yet, the information is dispersed to people who have signed on to hear about just those kinds of things.
For Hollywood's biggest names, adding "followers" can be as easy as logging on. For others, who are just starting to make their mark, creating a base of followers can be a far more difficult proposition.
Scott Swan, an up-and-coming writer/director, writes engaging posts and has conversations with people who send messages to him.
However, on the morning of June 12, he had only 80 followers.
Now, on the verge of directing his first feature film, Swan has set a modest goal -- to have 500 followers by July 4 at 6 p.m. PST.
For most Twitter users, the reward for following someone often is that they will follow you back. That's nice, of course, but Swan is offering something much better.
This is the message Swan posted on Twitter June 13: "If I reach 500 followers by July 4, I will thank all my followers in the end credits of the horror flick I'm about to shoot in Pittsburgh."
Swan's credits including writing stints for the "Masters of Horror" series and the television series "Fear Itself."
Up next for the 39-year-old is his debut as a feature film director.
"It's a little horror flick called 'Mask-Head,' produced by Fred Vogel and Toe Tag Pictures," Swan told me June 12. "Fred's the creator of the 'August Underground' series and the director of 'The Redsin Tower.' Most recently, Toe Tag released 'The Murder Collection: Volume 1.'"
Swan said he thinks "Mask-Head" will be released in late 2009.
"'Mask-Head' focuses on a group of underground filmmakers who cross a number of gruesome lines in pursuit of making their video masterpieces," he said. "It really is a bit of underground shock nastiness."
For Swan, getting his name in the credits of a movie has been the product of a lot of hard work. And now, thanks to him, 500 more people will get their names in the credits listed under "the director wishes to thank" merely by pushing the "follow" button.
Swan said the idea of adding the names of his first 500 followers to the credits wasn't about innovation or trying to tie into the wave of social networking. He said it is simply a way "to get some attention."
"It just seems like a great way to reach out to a specific fan base," said Swan.
To follow Swan on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/ScottObiSwan.
Reader Comments (7)
Very Cool
Oh sign me up to follow. Hope I am not too late.
Vanna, you are not too late. Just click on www.twitter.com/ScottObiSwan at the end of the story and hit "follow" on his Twitter page.
Great story! Thanks for letting us know about this. Scott Swan should be ecstatic with this! I would not have known about this otherwise!
I'm in! See you on the big screen guys. ;)
Cool story and a great marketing idea. I signed up!
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