Saturday, May 4, 2013

Business plans are harder than screenplays

Not really.  But it sure feels that way.

After taking a course via filmspecific.com I'm trying to write a business plan for my micro-budget film Dany Boy to give investors.  It's a fascinating job in a way, but not one I went to film school to learn.

You can get people to write business plans but this will cost you upwards of $2500 and I'd rather put that money on the screen.  (I'll probably have to spend that on an entertainment lawyer to vet the plan anyway.)

Doing the business plan confronts a film maker with the reasons they are making the film and who they think will actually want to see the film.  I think that is probably the biggest question film makers DON'T ask themselves.

I recently attended a film festival industry panel and posed that question to the panelists:  who was their audience for their film and how did they plan to reach them.  They all shrugged and didn't seem to care.  Somehow they got their films made and the audience would find them.

I just don't think that's a guarantee in the current marketplace which is chock full of content looking for viewers.

So writing this business plan is forcing me to think long and hard about some important questions because if you can't answer them, why would anyone want to invest in your film?

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