Do you have a great idea for a film but you don't know where to start? In this
video I will share with you five questions to ask yourself before start
building your film strategy. Coming up.
Hello all and welcome to another video, my name is Ani Asfura and if you are new
around here, I share with you the best tips and tools
to build your film and strategy. This channel is all about film business for
independent filmmakers and producers. So if you want to be part of this industry
and this community consider subscribing. Now let's jump into the video.
Before we start I like to mention and say that everyone makes including myself at the
beginning of my career, and that is building the strategy once you have
finished your film when you're starting the distribution process. That's the worst
thing you can do because you have wasted precious time months or even years, to
build your audience and to plan the steps that will make visible you movie
to the world. So you have to build your strategy at the beginning, when you have a
script or even when you have a synopsis. This will be the crucial moment that
will define the framework where your movie will come to life. That been said
let's jump into question number one. What is your goal with this film?
This could be a tricky question because probably we have a lot of goals with a film project,
but if you're starting in the film business and you are putting like a great amount
or effort to make this dream come true, you have to prioritize and have in mind
just one big goal. Is it money? Maybe you're thinking that this film could be
a economical success so you can finance your next big project. Or maybe you're
thinking more like a career lunch and it's all about film festivals, win awards, have
great reviews. Or maybe it's just spread the message to the largest always
possible and have a great impact in the world so you can start your building
your legacy. Or maybe you're thinking more in a long
term and you want to start building a connection in a relationship with your
audience and your fans so they can be part of your journey as a filmmaker.
Whichever is the case you have to define one big goal at the start so you can
know where the ship is going to.
Question number two. Which is the genre of your
film? This sounds pretty simple, right? Could be action, drama, comedy, thriller,
horror, sci-fi, documentary, you name it. But once you have find
the genre of your film, you need to do some research and find out how this
genre is working in the current film market. Is it a trend? It's like the
horror and thriller films that people are watching right now. What about the
film festivals, are they part of the official selections, have they won awards,
do they have like a good record in the box office, or in which distribution
windows you can find these kind of movies or what sales agency are the best
ones to this particular genre and so on. One thing is to define the genre of
your film but the biggest accomplish here is to understand what the genre
involves and how it relates to its audience. Which bring us actually
to question number three. Who is your audience?
We usually determine our target by the demographics information, like age, gender,
social class, income, education and so on. Even though this could help us to have
an idea of our audience it's not enough to really know them and to build a
strong relationship with them in the long term. So what you need to build is a
film consumption profile. You need to find your target by their behaviors and
their hobbies. So think about in which niches you can find them. Is your
audience more into eco-friendly films or into social and political films, is your
target the silver audience or the genre fans or animation fans? You also want to
think about how you can reach them and where you can engage with them. Which are
the social media platforms that they're using? Are they using social media at all?
Maybe your target is the silver audience and you need to know where they hang out,
how you can reach them and connect with them to bring your message. This is one
of the most important steps in the strategy and it takes a lot of work
because it's mainly the foundation of your strategy. That is why in this
channel and the upcoming videos I will dive deep into this so you can be able to
build your own film consumption profile. Question number four.
What is the production value of your film? What makes you film different, what
makes the audience, the distribution companies, investors be willing to give
it a shot. In the business world they will say; what is the unique competitive
advantage. Think about what motivates people to invest, buy and see your film.
So do you have any talent like actors, writer, directors, recognizable faces that you
can work with. Or maybe this is more like a compelling story, something socially
relevant or emotional or maybe the story is shocking and controversial in any way.
What about the technology. Is this a virtual production? Or maybe you're
working with amazing the effects. What about the esthetics, the photo, the art, the
locations. Is this movie will be shot in another country? So you need to
find the uniqueness of your film and understand how that can help you to
attract in the first place investors and finally the buyers and the
audience. Question number five. Where it's going to be shown? First you need to
define the territories and of course that depends on the story. If your story
is to local you will probably have a national release but if the story
appeals to an international audience then you have a big market to cover.
After that, think about the distribution windows. Is this film for a theatrical
release? Is it worth it? Or maybe you just have to thinking about in a digital release
only. As you can see, all this questions that we have developed in this video
will help you to follow a clear path into the long, exhausting but magical
process of making a film. And finally, a bonus tip. The key to build a strong film
strategy is to keep your film in a niche and understand how that niche
works and evolves in time. The more specific you can be, the more effectively
you can use your resources in the process of making your film. So thank you so much
for checking out this video and if you thought it was valuable
hit the like button and if you're new around here I invite you to check the
other videos on the channel. Keep crushing it and see you next time.