Reflective Blog - week 1
It was challenging to view myself as a working professional for the purpose of the health check. In a way I have almost formed where I want to go and I have been putting things into place but I know I am not quite there yet. As someone relatively new to film making it has been challenging for me to know if my skills are high enough to be considered a working professional that can charge for their skills and knowledge. As I thought of the answers to the target questions my confidence in my plan for how I want to develop my business has grown and strengthened.
The more I learn the more I can clearly see the networks I need to develop within my business to complement everything I do. One area that I haven't thought about a lot was how important fans can be to your career and work life. I think it is an underutilized relationship that can be highly rewarding to both the film maker and the fans. In this day and age films are not successful just from how well the critics view the art but how well received the audience and the fan base see's it. Fans and the general public drive the box office success of films in a way that movie critics can't.
This has changed how I view my relationship with the public in regards to my business and my general plans to create. I am starting to think that a couple of free tickets to an advance screening would be of better value to my business success by being given to someone who loves my work than a film critic. I'd rather know what my fans think of the film than a film critic because they are honest about their tastes and what they do and don't like. The bonus is if they loved it they will promote it and in some cases pay to go and see it multiple times.
Everyone likes to feel included in some way and special. That's why we like winning free tickets or special screenings. How greater is my reach if I have fans world wide who are demanding to be able to see my film in their country? Where I may not be able to secure a screening location in the past I may be able to get one because the public are demanding to see the film. Every cinema is going to want to screen a film that people are demanding to see because they know there will be good ticket sales.
I feel more directed and my vision is clearer going forward from today. I know how important strong network connections are, how important it is to look after them so that they look after you and to always remember to honour those who support you.