Independent Film Maker Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory
The Independent Film Maker Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start an Independent Film Maker business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.
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Many artists strive to become independent filmmakers with their visions of the scripts that they create and produce. One of the nice things of being an independent filmmaker is that once an individual establishes themselves as a director or producer – they are generally able to raise the necessary capital for ongoing projects as time progresses. One of the most important aspects of developing independent film production business is developing an audience for the produced content. However, in the last 10 years it has become far more easier for people to become independent filmmakers given popular video sharing platform such as YouTube Vimeo. These platforms allow independent artists and producers to upload their produce content that can be seen by potentially billions of people. As such, the barriers to entry for the development of a new program that can be seen by millions of people has dropped substantially. In years past, independent filmmakers needed to showcase their productions at varying film festivals and among will known producers in order to have their content find an audience.
Now, popular content can be created and distributed within just a few days and with the use of social media and audience can be found very quickly. This is spurned a number of independent filmmakers to make specialty content that is specific for either a broad audience or a very targeted audience. As it relates the income that can be generated, independent filmmakers can now generate revenues from advertising, licensing, and streaming downloads of the content they produce and upload to the Internet. Once an independent filmmaker developed a very strong branding themselves, they can develop an extensive following that allows for millions of people to follow them on an ongoing basis. As such, the ability for an independent filmmaker to thrive in today’s world is substantial.
It should be immediately noted that most financial institutions will not put up the needed capital in order to produce media content. This is primarily due to the fact that while millions of people may view this content, it really has no salable value until it begins to produce income. As such, only highly established independent filmmakers can typically receive funding for a bank once a business operations have been launched and they are able to show multiple years of profitability. Almost all content production is done either by bootstrapping the development or by sourcing funds from private investors. If an independent filmmaker is going to source funds for private investor and they are going to need a business plan.
As with all business planning documents, this document should have a three year profit and loss statement, cash analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. Special attention should be paid to the incomes that are generated through advertising licensing as this will be the primary way in which the independent filmmaking business will develop their early revenues. Most firms, again, upload their developed content to platforms like YouTube. Google, and Vimeo.com in order to produce the necessary revenues at the onset of operation. The gross margins generated from advertising licensing are extremely high. And there is no underlying cost for uploading a video, the gross margins are near 100%. Additionally, if an individual is going to upload their content for streaming, the filmmaker typically receives a 70% royalty from all sales. Platforms such as Apple, Amazon, and Google typically take a fee equal to 30% of the produced content. However, this is subject to a significant amount of fluctuation.
In conjunction with the business plan, an independent filmmaker SWOT analysis should be produced. As it relates to strengths, independent filmmakers once they have established a strong audience can continually release content that is immediately seen and produces revenues for the business. The barriers to entry are considered to be very low, the startup costs are very low, and the gross margins generated from advertising, licensing, and potential sales of intellectual property are very high.
For weaknesses, the competition within this field is substantial. There are many established multinational media companies as well as other independent filmmakers and content producers that are vying for the same audience. As such, the content that is produced by the independent filmmaker need to find an audience very quickly in order to recoup the initial cost of the production. The cost relating to producing content can be extremely high especially of special computer graphic images are going to be used in conjunction with production. There is always the possibility that a piece of content that is developed does not produce does not produce any revenue. These are commonly referred to as flops.
Relating to opportunities, independent filmmakers are able to produce an unlimited amount of new content that can be shown to their audience. Once the following is received via YouTube, Vimeo, FaceBook, Twitter, and Google plus – is very easy to begin to generate additional revenues from ongoing new content. Additionally, advertising revenues allow millions of people to see the content without having to pay anything. As such, the revenues are generated from the sale of advertisements on uploaded content is relatively immune from negative changes in the economy.
As it relates to threats, beyond the competition that is faced within the content production industry – there are very few threats that it would impact the way that these companies do business. Of course, it is incumbent upon the independent filmmaker to continually integrate new technologies that are coming out on a yearly basis into their productions in order to remain on the cutting edge of technology. This is not going to be one of the field that is overly impacted by automation given that people want to see other people acting and producing content that they have an interest.
An independent filmmaker marketing plan needs to be developed as well, and in many respects this will be the most important part of the business plan. This is primarily due to the fact that the competition in this field is substantial and independent filmmakers must find ways in order to create a significant amount of interest in the films, television programs, and related media content that they produce. Foremost, almost all independent filmmakers need to make use of online video sharing platform such as YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, and related platforms.
It is also extremely important that the independent filmmaker maintain expansive profiles among all major social media platforms. These social media platforms allow people to share links to video platforms where the content is located. Beyond social media platforms, many independent filmmakers also stream their content via services from Amazon, YouTube, Google, and Apple. However, many people do not want to pay for shorter media. As such, only independent filmmakers that have made feature-length films or large-scale documentaries will typically upload their content for a fee that is charged directly to the customer. This is one of the key things to note when developing the business plan given that many independent filmmakers initially thrive by developing content that is going to be licensed with the intent to produce income from advertising revenue and related sources. However, there are certain programs that are available that allow customers to make contributions, donations, and pay for monthly fees that allow their independent filmmakers to produce content on a weekly or monthly basis. These donation platforms have become ever more popular given that the quality of independently produced films has increased significantly given that the cost of technology for doing so has decreased substantially as well.
One of the ways that many independent filmmakers can further boost their visibility is by hiring a social media consultant or specialized marketing firm that focuses specifically on produced media content and films. However, these consultants and marketing firms are expensive and they are usually only hired once the initial success of the independent filmmaker has been established. Again, it is imperative that the independent filmmaker begin to generate an initial stream revenues so that people can enroll and view content on ongoing basis. Once established, an ongoing following from a number of people online will almost ensure that future content can be produced profitably.