Here it is: what groups, online communities, blogs, Web sites, or non-profits do you think would be interested in this film?
I think you should ask that of everyone you meet: your cinematographer … your investors … your screenwriter … your prop master … everyone you interview for a documentary. And keep a list of their answers.
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You ought to be asking this second question throughout the process of making your movie because that will help you discover who the most powerful taste-makers are, online and off. People you encounter who know these bloggers and publishers and non-profit presidents will make introductions to them for you.
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Rather than building a great Web site and then trying desperately to get people to come to it, you’ll have created powerful connections to people who already have an audience, and can tell that audience about your project.
Of course, this primarily applies to documentaries, but the idea is valid for narrative fiction as well. It’s about finding out who your audience is and at the same time, how you reach them.
1. Change the title of your indie film to begin with an “A” or a number to get higher placement on iTunes.
7. Genre always makes a difference. Forget costume dramas and spoofs.
10. Financiers basically want a return on their investment. “I encourage indie producers to understand their film’s audience as much as they can. Understand what you mean when you pitch project. I want to support a film, but I care about capital and return on that capital. I just want to get my money back,” explained banker Hallren.
16. Build a fan base for an indie film before it’s even made.
24. Before an indie film gets to the marketplace, producers must know who the audience is for the film, counseled Dennis Rice, Founder of Visio’ Entertainment. “If you can’t market your film, you shouldn’t make it. If there’s no audience, you can’t get a return on investment.”
34. There is opportunity for indie producers as long as they don’t get hung up on a 35mm theatrical film release. Ira Deutchman, CEO of Emerging Pictures, explained: “With digital, we can begin to play around with release patterns.”
What I find really interesting about the list, is the emphasis on reaching the audience. From scripting to final distribution, it’s all about:
What audience am I going for?
What are they expecting?
How do I let them know this film exists?
How do I get this film in front of them?
All these become easier and overlapping when you involve social media.
Everything in movies is fake. That’s understandable considering the nature of the medium. But in order for a story to work, it needs to be believable. That’s where knowledge comes into play. This is especially true when you look at your premise.
Take Iron Man for example. The key to powered armor is energy. The solve this problem early on with the mini arc generator. They don’t even bother explaining how the arc generator works because if they did, all the engineers would be able to poke holes in it. Just by telling us, and then showing us that it generates massive amounts of energy is enough. We buy it.
Then you look at something like Untraceable. The premise is a killer who can’t be traced through the internet. Even basic understanding of how the internet works would show that it could never happen.
But “reality” is different in every movie. Something that could work in Star Wars may not work in Apollo 13 because they have different rules because they exist in different universes. Certain things like physics, math, etc, are still true because we accept them as universal. But there are aspects that we believe because we understand that Star Wars is a fantasy.
The moment your audience says, “No way!” with disdain, you’ve lost them. Any credibility you’ve built is out the window and they’ve written off the entire film. This is especially true with your premise. If no one will believe your premise, you’re fighting them the whole way.
So do your research. Make sure you stuff makes sense so your audience will believe the lie.
Quirky take on filmmaking. Some of these are really hilarious. With 5 seconds, you have to set up the character and the situation right away. Those are the ones that work. Notice how they use the titles to help lead into each short, so there are already certain expectations and knowledge the audience has.
The original ending was terrible. This one, though not as good as the ending in the book, is much better. It mirrors the lead vampire’s plight with Nevil’s and puts a different spin and perspective on these creatures.
I don’t know why they decided to make it more “commercial”. Did the studios think that the audience was dumb?
