Every film and TV show has a trajectory – sometimes beginning with the festival circuit, then seeking distribution, segueing to the film markets, and launching to the audience after securing distribution. Films and television content released directly onto various platforms require expertise to reach their audience and expand the base. Feature-length docs and films (animation and live-action) will likely find homes on streaming platforms and broadcast networks. In contrast, short films are often marketed to help filmmakers gain recognition within the entertainment industry or, as proof of concept for a feature-length film, to take their careers to a new level.
Deborah Gilels has run a successful PR/Media Consulting company for the past twenty years, assisting writers, filmmakers, producers, and actors in promoting feature films and documentaries through public relations, marketing, distribution, and project development.
Among the films she has successfully launched are Keiko the Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy, the award-winning documentary The War on Kids for IFC and the Doc Channel, and the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family drama Mighty Fine for Lionsgate. Gilels ran FYC campaigns for the award-winning features Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and Liz and the Blue Bird (Satellite Award nominee), the shorts Lacrimosa and Dragonfly, and the documentaries The Gilligan Manifesto and Say His Name: Five Days for George Floyd.
In her beloved anime space, she was the lead publicist on Fathom Events release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, the award-winning A Silent Voice, Millennium Actress, and Sound! Euphonium. She has also done publicity for anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, Megalobox on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim and theatrical release for the feature Penguin Highway. Gilels has also led publicity for the DVD/VOD releases for several other anime titles and was a panelist at the 2019 Project Anime in Los Angeles.
Other recent films include: The World Without You starring Radha Mitchell, Chris Mulkey and James Tupper, Hajji starring Ross Marquand, Pooling to Paradise, starring Taryn Manning and Jonathan Lipnicki, Violet is Blue: A Tale of Gibbons and Guardians, Echoes From the Attic, the LA Emmy-winning documentary To Climb a Gold Mountain, Not Another Church Movie starring Jamie Foxx, Mickey Rourke, Vivica A Fox and Kevin Daniels, Jane Spencer’s South of Hope Street starring Judd Nelson, Tanna Frederick and William Baldwin, The Long Game starring Kathleen Turner, Jackie Earle Haley and Sekai Abeni, the new documentary Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story narrated by Mike Rowe and featuring Jeff Daniels voicing Ralph R. Teetor, and All There Is starring Jason Priestley, Mena Suvari, Laurel Marsden, Cheyenne Jackson, and Elsie Fisher.
Gilels has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances With Films, Tribeca, LA Femme International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New Filmmakers (LA and NY), St. Louis Int’l, UN Film Festival, Heartland, Cannes, and was the Publicist for the Oscar-Qualifying LA Shorts Fest in 2023. She is also on the PR Team for CLU (Center for Learning Unlimited) and the first-ever Autism in Entertainment Conference this past April at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. She has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Anime Expo, Berlin and MIP-TV. Along with being a Board Member of LA Femme International Film Festival, Gilels is a sponsor of HollyShorts.
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