ACT 3 of 4: "The Heist" Don't let your filmmaking dreams become a nightmare! Manage the risks with the Filmmaking FundamentaLIST

ACT 3:

The Heist

As a new filmmaker looking to make a name for yourself and hoping to win the illusive and revered Golden ticket; our all access pass to the ‘Council of Bankability’;  you must understand that to win the ticket for yourself, you must first steal the opportunity from another.

In a saturated market with an abundance of multi-genre choice, you can’t simply make a Film and expect success.  You must identify the key values that give audiences a reason to watch it.  You can take advantage of the catalog-mining Gold Rush being driven by streaming platforms but recognize that in a historical context, this temporary peak will be a statistical outlier.  Whilst taking advantage of the streaming “Gold Rush”, try to tether your films to a model with proven longevity.  Build a solid foundation for your career by focusing your early films on a ready audience set with popular viewing habits.  Develop a relationship with this audience and nurture it over time.  Only once this relationship is firmly set should you even consider making films outside the bankable norms, as only now will your audience be primed to invest in your next film, regardless of the Usual ‘contextual’ Suspects.

You can go the festival route if putting food on the table is not an immediate concern but be aware that though the accolades, adventure and network you can garner are plentiful, the financial potential of even the most “Award Winning” titles is oftentimes quite limited.

Statistics are all around you, even if not in plain view.  Just look at the most popular channels on television.  What is the content that pulls in the viewers?  Look at the advertising where applicable.  Which times have the most ads and what films are they in?  How many Horror, Comedy, Drama, Action, Adventure etc.? Look as a whole and forget the Studio / Independent differentiation for this exercise.

Take into account what’s trending on streaming platforms but more importantly look at the volume of content in each genre and further break it down to understand, in detailed terms, the types of stories people are asking for within those genres.  Understand that there is a reason why streaming platforms are increasingly funneling their content into distinct subsets.  The funnel effect of AI for content research and product development clearly defines for us the key characteristics of popular and therefore “Bankable” films.  Use this readily available information as a formula to identify popular current affairs, sub-plots and social, political or historical themes that resonate with audiences.

As a new filmmaker, budget is a constraint and will determine whether or not you will be able to access the talent required to sidestep some of the targeting discipline and still effectively offset risk.  

If you take some time to analyze these simple pointers, they will guide you to make a film worthy of an audience and thus, valuable to the Industry; a targeting blueprint to help you successfully plan your own “Filmmaking” Heist.