By: Jeremiah Birnbaum, President – San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking – Films are mass media. They are perfectly designed to be seen by as many people as possible. And with that great equalizer, the internet, anyone can upload their movie, making it available to millions of viewers (on the net people aren’t people, they’re viewers or eyeballs). In the early 1900’s, waaaay before the internet, movies were looked down upon as mere entertainment. Movies (and the people that made them) weren’t even allowed in the same room as “high art.” With the invention of Hollywood and the studio system, movies became big business.  They were also pap for the people., a momentary distraction from the dull misery of everyday life. It wasn’t until the middle of the century, when the French taught us that films could be art, that we started taking film seriously. The French turned B-movies from the 1940’s & 50’s into Film Noir, they turned Hollywood directors like Ford and Houston into auteurs. The art house audience was born..

As filmmakers – auteurs – where does “the audience” fit into to our craft of filmmaking? When do we consider them and when do we turn a blind eye? I believe first and foremost must make films for ourselves. We are the first audience member that must be satisfied with our movie. But, what about everyone else? Films are too expensive and they take too much time to make them for an audience of one. (As a quick sidebar – never fall in love with your film – it’s creative death. But that’s for another blog post….)  I look at the audience through two sets of lenses – or maybe it’s better to think of it as wearing two types of hats – either way, look at it two ways.

The first way to view your audience is as a business person.  Filmmaking is a business and consistent filmmaking requires it to be a sustainable one. If you want true freedom as a filmmaker, your films should make money.  For that to happen lots of people need to pay to see it. Woody Allen makes a film every year and he has his financing in place BEFORE he has even written his script. His films consistently make their money back and sometimes, like VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA and FROM ROME WITH LOVE, they make a lot of money. Look at the filmmakers that have the most creative freedom – Scorsese, Spielberg, Aronofsky, Boyle – most of their films make money and some have made a lot of it.  Unless you are making micro-budget, self-financed movies (a great way to go if you’re built that way), your films should make money.

Okay, so you’re wearing your fedora and thinking like a stylish business person, when should you starting considering your potential audience? It’s vital you begin in the development/pre-production stage. When you are raising money for your film, especially from private investors (as most indie films do), you must have a clear understanding of who is the audience for your film. If your answer to that question is “everyone” then you haven’t done your homework.  What age range is your potential audience, where do they live, what do they like to do besides watch your movie, how will they be seeing your film (theater, VOD, YouTube…)? The latest buzz word these days is “audience engagement.” How will you be engaging them – screenings, partnerships, social media campaigns? One of the benefits of using a kickstarted campaign to raise money is the fact that you begin to engage your audience at a very early stage in the filmmaking process.  How are you building buzz for your movie, so that people are excited to see it when it finally comes out? The more you understand your audience, the easier it will be to convince an investor to put money in your crazy project, and the better chance you’ll have of to reach an audience, any audience, when your film is finished.

Audience engaged – check! Now what? Well as you start production, take off that fedora, put on your baseball cap, and DO NOT think about your audience while you’re shooting the film. You’ve thoughtfully considered the audience in your pre-production and script development, now forget about them. Be present and shoot the film with only one audience member in mind – you.  As I’ve mentioned before, a filmmaker should bring with them GREAT curiosity to the production process. And curiosity demands exploration – with your cast and crew. Worrying about your audience will only get in the way of this journey.

The next time you should be seriously considering “the audience” is when you’re in the final stages of editing.  As you contemplate these eyeballs, put on your auteur’s hat (could be a beret or beanie depending on your level of Francophilia). One of the most challenging things for a filmmaker to do is see their film as someone who is seeing it for the first time. As the filmmaker, you know every shot and moment. When you watch your film, you see all the things that DIDN’T work, everything that didn’t turn out like you’d dreamed it would. The good news is your audience doesn’t see that film. They are virgins to the story, living blissfully in a state of innocence to the “sturm und drang” that it took to create those images. Your job in this stage of the process is to think like an audience member – get in their head and see the film as they will be seeing it.  What is working and what isn’t? Are they following the story? Are they feeling what you want them to feel, when you want them to feel it? Show your film to select people you respect (both filmmakers and lay people) and ask them for HONEST feedback. You should start to see patterns in the feedback – listen to it.  Finding the right balance between stubbornly sticking to your guns and listening to feedback is tricky. It’s an essential craft of filmmaking and becomes easier as you develop your personal voice as a filmmaker – as you become more of an auteur.

At the end of the day, your job is to create the best film your movie can be. A film that tells the story you want to tell, makes the audience feel what you want them to feel, and works for both you and all those millions of viewers out there.