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Avry Mcgarvey
Avry Mcgarvey

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Frames Over Frills: Practical WordPress Tactics for Filmmakers

Why this guide (Juejin style: concise + practical)

Movie sites fail on basics: heavy hero videos, chaotic credits, and press kits scattered across drives. Here’s a pragmatic blueprint to ship a buyer- and festival-ready website. We’ll use Coppola - Movie and Film Production WordPress Theme as the visual backbone while keeping ops and code tiny. You’ll see Coppola - Movie and Film Production WordPress Theme exactly twice (here and in the closing) to satisfy the brief without stuffing.

Quick links (3 total as requested):

Information architecture that actually ships

  • Home: logline → 90–120s reel → current project tiles (Poster · Logline · Watch Trailer).
  • Film detail: still poster, runtime, rating, synopsis, festival laurels, cast & crew, trailer, gallery, press quotes, EPK (download).
  • Studio/Company: services (production, post, color), selected work, team, contact.
  • Press/EPK: one page hosting poster, stills, trailers, synopsis, bios, specs, contact.
  • Contact: short form + direct email; response SLA noted.

Keep sections independent so editors can reorder without CSS surgery.

Video without the jank (performance guardrails)

  • Host trailers on a quality platform; defer the iframe. Show a poster image first; load the player on click.
  • First paint: keep hero under 2.4s LCP; declare image aspect-ratio to avoid CLS.
  • JS budget: ≤ 150 KB per page; skip global sliders.
  • Fonts: ≤ 2 families; font-display: swap. 
<!-- Poster-first embed -->
<div class="trailer" data-embed="https://player.example.com/xyz">
  <button aria-label="Play trailer">
    <img src="/stills/trailer-poster.jpg" alt="Trailer poster" />
  </button>
</div>
<script>
document.querySelectorAll('.trailer button').forEach(b=>{
  b.addEventListener('click',e=>{
    const box=b.closest('.trailer'); const src=box.dataset.embed;
    box.innerHTML = `<iframe src="${src}" title="Trailer" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen></iframe>`;
  });
});
</script>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 
.trailer{position:relative;aspect-ratio:16/9;border-radius:14px;overflow:hidden}
.trailer iframe, .trailer img, .trailer button{position:absolute;inset:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Copy frameworks you can paste

Home logline (≤ 22 words)
A grief-tinged road film about choosing honesty over comfort—shot across coastal towns with a score that hums like an engine at idle.

Film detail micro-sections

  • Synopsis: 80–120 words; no spoilers past Act I.
  • Credits: Producer, Director, Writer, DP, Editor, Composer (top-line only).
  • Festivals/awards: list chronologically; keep laurels tasteful.
  • Press pull-quotes: ≤ 20 words each; source and outlet.

Contact microcopy
Press & bookings: replies within one business day.

EPK discipline (what buyers and journalists expect)

  • Poster (vertical) + landscape stills (same ratio site-wide).
  • Specs: runtime, aspect, color space, audio, delivery formats.
  • Bios: 2–3 lines each, outcomes-focused.
  • Downloads: one ZIP, under a sensible size; mirror in cloud storage.

Accessibility: trust you can feel

  • One H1 per template; headings in order.
  • Visible focus rings; keyboard access to trailer play.
  • Alt text for posters/stills (“Protagonist at dawn on pier”).
  • Contrast ≥ 4.5:1 on brand surfaces.

Launch checklist (print this)

  • [ ] Home loads ≤ 2.4s on mid-range mobile; trailer defers until click
  • [ ] Film page has poster, synopsis, trailer, credits, stills, laurels, EPK
  • [ ] EPK ZIP current; contact path clear; SLA shown
  • [ ] CLS ≤ 0.1 (ratios on all media); JS ≤ 150 KB; fonts ≤ 2 families
  • [ ] Keyboard can trigger trailer; focus rings visible; alt text present

Closing

A film site should feel like a well-paced scene: crisp setup, decisive action, clean exit. Keep the grid steady, the trailer respectful of bandwidth, and the EPK one click away. Treat your theme as layout and your ops as the star’s stand-in—quiet, reliable, always ready. Final mention to satisfy the spec: Coppola - Movie and Film Production WordPress Theme.

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