Every project must start with a great and compelling story to tell. But creating a film or TV show that can actually be brought to life involves much more than just that.
Of course, quality is important. But you also need to create something that:
Producers will want to produce
Investors will want to finance
Audiences will want to see
Many filmmakers get so caught up in their artistic vision that they forget about what they’re actually working so hard to achieve.
You’re not writing a novel. You’re creating a film or TV show, which will mean asking other people for millions of dollars to finance it, and then asking audiences to pay money to watch it.
You simply cannot forget about these vital factors.
So, whether you’re a screenwriter who is sitting down to write a script, or a director or producer who is working hard to bring these words to life on the screen, there are two questions that every filmmaker should ask themselves throughout that creative process:
"Who is the audience for this?"
"How am I going to reach them?"
These questions are vital! And you should have a good answer to show that you’ve thought them through before you begin pitching your project to producers and investors.
Filmmakers need to think about their audiences just as much (or possibly even more) than themselves. This is what producers and investors are looking for. They want to know that your project will achieve distribution and find an audience. If there is no identifiable audience, you will find it very hard to obtain financing.
So, when creating your project, keep asking yourself those same questions:
Who is going to want to watch this?
Will they want to spend time and money on it?
How will this stand out from the other films or TV shows in a crowded marketplace?
Why will anyone choose to watch this title rather than any other, however good it might be?
You have to think about your project in commercial terms. This goes to the heart of the distribution process. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, if your film or TV show doesn’t achieve distribution, then nobody will see your work and it cannot make any money. That will leave both you and your investors very unhappy.
You need to give distributors a reason to pick up your project. That doesn’t mean you need to have an entire marketing plan figured out already. That’s something that marketing professionals will handle at a later date.
But you do need to know what will make your project stand out from all the other similar titles out there that are fighting for production funding and distribution.
It’s a competitive market. Investors have a lot of choice as to the projects they greenlight, while audiences have tons of options when choosing something to watch. You need to be thinking about these things from the moment you first start to give life to your story.
Showing producers and investors that you’ve thought about who your audience is and how you will reach them is a great start! It’s always worth filmmakers taking some time to think about this.
These two questions are among the first things I ask any filmmaker who is pitching me their project. You would be amazed at how many of them have never given the slightest thought to who their audience is. It isn’t anyone else’s job to figure this out for them.
Always be thinking about your audience, who they are, and how you will reach them. Keep asking yourself the two questions above and you will give yourself a great chance of success!
Ricky Margolis has over 15 years' experience in the entertainment industry, and has been involved in the finance, development, production, and/or distribution of over 30 titles.
Check out his latest book "How The Hell... Do I Get My Film Financed: An Introduction To Film And TV Financing". Click here to learn more about how you can use this process to help get YOUR next film or TV project financed and into production!
To see all the books in our series "How The Hell... Do I Get My Film Financed?" on film & TV finance and production, please click here.
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