The Pages Every Film Site Needs

Now for the concrete question: what pages does your site actually need? The reassuring answer is not many — a film or filmmaker website is complete with a small set of essential pages, each doing a clear job, and adding more than that usually dilutes rather than helps. The mistake filmmakers make is building too many pages (a dozen thin sections nobody visits) rather than a few strong ones. So this chapter lays out the essential pages, what belongs on each, and how your body of work (your "portfolio") fits into a filmmaker site — so you can build a complete, focused site and confidently leave out the rest. Think of these as the pages that earn their place; anything beyond them has to make a strong case against the cost of clutter.

The essential pages

What every film site needs, and what goes on each:

• Home. The front door and hub. Leads with your strongest visual (hero still or trailer), says instantly what this is, and points visitors toward the key action and the other pages. It sets the tone and does the most work.
• The film page. Everything about the film — trailer, synopsis, cast and crew, festival laurels, where to watch. For a filmmaker site, one page per film; this is the immersive heart for each project.
• About. You and/or the team — your bio, your story, your voice. This is where people connect with the human behind the work, which matters more than filmmakers expect.
• Press. Everything journalists, programmers, and buyers need — press kit/EPK, high-res stills, reviews, contact, sometimes screener access. Makes you look professional and gets you coverage.
• Contact. How to reach you — a form or email, plus links to your social. Simple, but essential; people need a clear way to get in touch.
• Work / portfolio (filmmaker sites). On a filmmaker home base, a page or section showing your body of work — the films you've made — so visitors and industry can see your range and history.

Getting the pages right

A few principles tie the pages together. First, every page should earn its place and do a job. Home, film, about, press, and contact each map to the jobs from Chapter 3 — home and film convince and inform, about builds connection, press serves industry, contact enables action. If you're tempted to add a page, ask which job it does that the others don't; if the answer is fuzzy, leave it out. A focused five-page site beats a sprawling fifteen-page one every time. Second, on the portfolio question for filmmaker sites: since we recommended a durable filmmaker home base, your site should show your body of work, but be strategic about it — lead with your best and most representative films, don't bury your strongest work under weaker or older projects, and curate rather than dump. A tight portfolio of your best work makes you look more accomplished than an exhaustive list that includes everything; treat it like a reel, not an archive. Third, weave your key conversion through the pages, don't isolate it — your email capture (or "watch here") shouldn't live on one buried page; it should appear where visitors naturally encounter it (home, film page, maybe a gentle prompt across the site), because the conversion is a job every page can help with. Fourth, the press page is a professionalism signal filmmakers under-build — during a release, having a clean press page with your EPK, high-res stills, and contact ready makes journalists' and programmers' lives easy and makes you look like a serious operation, so don't skimp on it (and much of its content comes straight from your EPK, if you've built one). Fifth, the about page matters more than it seems — people connect with people, and especially on a filmmaker site, the story of who you are and why you make films is part of what turns a visitor into a fan and a supporter, so give it real thought rather than a dry two-line bio. Finally, write your pages for the visitor, not for completeness — each page should quickly give visitors what they came for and guide them onward, not exhaustively document everything. Lean, purposeful, well-written pages that do their jobs make a complete film website. Build these essential pages well, curate your portfolio to your best, weave your conversion through, and invest in your press and about pages, and your site is done — resist the urge to keep adding. Next, we fill these pages with the media that makes a film site come alive: your trailer, stills, and EPK.