EPK vs. Press Kit vs. Press Release
Three terms get thrown around interchangeably — EPK, press kit, press release — and the confusion makes people either over-build or leave out something essential. Here's the plain-English breakdown of what each one is, so you know exactly what someone means when they ask, and what to hand over.
The terminology around film publicity is genuinely muddy, and people use these words loosely, so let me draw the clean lines. The simplest way to think about it: the EPK is the whole package, the press release is one document inside it, and "press kit" is usually just another name for the EPK. An EPK (electronic press kit) is the complete, organized bundle of all your film's press materials — synopsis, stills, poster, bios, director's statement, trailer, credits, contact info, and yes, the press release. A press kit is the same thing; "EPK" just specifies that it's the modern electronic (digital) version rather than a physical folder, and in practice the two words are used interchangeably. A press release, by contrast, is a single, specific document — a short, news-style announcement written to give journalists a ready-made story (a festival premiere, a release date, an award). So when someone asks for your "press kit" or "EPK," they want the whole package; when they ask for your "press release," they want that one announcement document. Knowing this stops you from panicking when a term you half-recognize lands in your inbox.
The three terms, clearly
Here's each one and what it actually is:
- EPK (Electronic Press Kit). The full package: every press material for your film, organized and shareable as a PDF and/or web page. This is what most requests mean, and it's what this whole course builds.
- Press kit. The same thing as an EPK — the complete bundle of materials. "EPK" simply flags that it's digital. Treat the two words as synonyms; nobody will be confused if you say either.
- Press release. One document within the kit — a one-page, news-style announcement written so a journalist can run it almost as-is. It's an ingredient of the EPK, not a replacement for it. (We devote a full chapter to writing one.)
- Media kit. You'll occasionally hear this too; it's broadly the same as a press kit, sometimes leaning more toward advertising/partnership info. For a film, treat it as another word for your EPK.
- One-sheet / sell sheet. A single-page summary (logline, key art, credits, contact) — essentially a condensed EPK for a quick look. Useful, but a subset of the full kit, not the whole thing.
Why the distinction actually matters
This isn't pedantry — getting the terms straight changes what you deliver and how professional you look. Two mistakes come from the confusion, and both cost you. The first is handing over a press release when someone asked for the full kit: a programmer requests your EPK, you send a one-page announcement, and now they have to email you again for the stills, the poster, and the synopsis — you've created friction and looked disorganized at the worst moment. The second is over-building or freezing up because you think an EPK is some elaborate corporate production you can't possibly make; in reality it's a well-organized folder of a dozen or so pieces, all of which you can create yourself. Clarity dissolves both problems: when you know the EPK is the whole package and the press release is one document inside it, you know to build the complete kit once, keep the press release as a component you can swap out or update per occasion, and hand over the right thing on request. There's also a practical hierarchy worth internalizing: build the full EPK as your master resource, then derive lighter pieces from it as needed — a one-sheet for a quick pitch, a specific press release for a specific announcement, a tailored selection of stills for a particular outlet. Everything flows from the complete kit. So don't let the vocabulary intimidate you or trip you up. Someone asks for your EPK or press kit, you send the whole polished package. Someone asks for a press release, you send that one document. And underneath it all, you've built one comprehensive kit that covers every request. With the terms sorted, the next chapter opens the package up and walks through exactly what belongs inside a professional film EPK, piece by piece.
A journalist once emailed me asking for my "press kit," and because I'd confused the terms, I fired back just my press release — a single announcement page. He replied, politely, that he needed the actual kit: stills, a synopsis, the poster, credits. I scrambled to assemble it, a day late, and the coverage slot had cooled. Small miss, real cost. Now I keep it simple in my head: kit means everything, release means the one announcement. When someone asks, I send exactly what they mean, immediately. Getting the words right is a tiny thing that makes you look like you know the business — and getting them wrong makes you look like you don't.
Assemble your EPK in the Filmmaker Toolbox — keep your synopsis, bios, stills, poster, and press release organized in one place so you can export a clean, up-to-date press kit the moment a festival or journalist asks for it.