Is it better to do a low budget wide audience feature or a target audience feature?

[Kholi]

that's exactly what I would do as well. make the sort of movie I want to see, THEN identify why that is and seek out the audiences that share those reasons. buddy of mine made a doc about mma fighter Jens Pulver. he crowdfunded the budget and sells dvds and downloads to mma fans.

I'm a firm believer in letting the fans pay to fund it. That's what I'm about to do with this fan film for sure, just need to decide on which one I'm going at.

Naturally, some niche's or communities will be larger and more receptive than others: an MMA community is more likely to actually PAY for content afterward, versus pirating, than a video game or anime community. Especially anime, which sort of lives on piracy for the most part stateside. Communities like these, you should get them to crowdfund the project so everyone wins.

 

[Lliam Worthington]

Whoa, whoa, whoa...lol

I have three very important words for you in the form of a title --

Let me introduce to you, Sir Peter Robert Jackson's...

Meet the Feebles

:undecided

LMAO, absolutelY!

I have wondered about this question. But for me it's putting the chicken before the egg. So hard to come up with a wonderful idea and script. That if you do... I'm not stopping because I'm concerned the audience might not be as broad. Finding a story that I think can work is the #1 priority...

However sure, if given a choice between TWO great scripts - (Good problem to have that one lol ) then commercially, I may well choose that which could reach a bigger audience...
And then probably make the other one afterwards anyway.





my conclusion is that you just have to focus on making a film that you think can be great first.

 

[Brian_Rice]

I'm a firm believer in letting the fans pay to fund it. That's what I'm about to do with this fan film for sure, just need to decide on which one I'm going at.

Naturally, some niche's or communities will be larger and more receptive than others: an MMA community is more likely to actually PAY for content afterward, versus pirating, than a video game or anime community. Especially anime, which sort of lives on piracy for the most part stateside. Communities like these, you should get them to crowdfund the project so everyone wins.

For me one of the keys when doing a fan film is to do something that is similair or somehow represents your creator-owned stuff. For instance, Collora after doing Batman: Dead End *presented* his creator-owned feature Hunter/Prey as being part Predator part Star Wars (and it was really barely either -- it was Enemy Mine if it was anything), but he knew he had a Predator-based audience. And, in fact, if he would have done something in the comic book genre (instead of just straight sci fi), I think he may have been even more successful bringing people from Dead End to Hunter/Prey.

So if the guys who did the COD fan films (frozen crossing, etc) come out with a military-style feature, it will be easy for their fanbase to eat it up and ask for more.

 

[Eric Boellner]

I don't think I quite understand the "make a film I enjoy" thought, because I assumed that was a given. I have plenty of scripts/concepts that I would love to make as films, but the problem is prioritization - do I work on this corrupt cop story or do I work on that skateboarder film I've been thinking about? (fake example ideas FTW)

I said earlier that I think genre filmmaking (corrupt cop story) is better than niche filmmaking (skateboarder film) for breaking into Hollywood - in retrospect, I don't necessarily agree with myself (this happens a lot...). I think if you can pull off something that has elements of originality and style, while telling a well-structured story with clear conflict and resolution, then regardless of who your audience is, you'll find someone who recognizes your skill in storytelling. There's actually a chance your artsy skateboarder film could get you more attention than your cop story. There's also a chance your cop story could get good distribution, pull solid numbers and land you some street cred with investors.

The interesting thing to think about, and one I haven't really thought out (so I'm not making a point here, just musing) is that from what I've seen, it seems that both ways really are solid avenues for future career opportunities. For your popular film, you get good numbers and thus investors are interested in funding your next film. For your artsy indie film, you get good reviews and actors watch and enjoy your work and then want to work with you on your next film, and then come the investors. The trick, I think, is to combine the two - a well-told, original story with a unique style that works on multiple levels and has wide audience appeal. Make that and you're set to go.