First and foremost, film is a business as much as it an art.
If you don’t take the time to recognize that up front, then you are missing a big part of the equation.
Sure, that’s crass. But that’s the business.
Every movie has a value. It might be hard to hear what the value of your movie is. You might hear people tell you that it has no value. Or that your movie is, “execution dependent”. What does that mean? It means that they can’t value the movie because it all depends on whether or not you make a good film.
It’s a hard game to play.
Some movies are quantifiable. Some films with certain actors in certain genres you can peg a number to. And that number will help you figure out what the bottom line is. And if you do better, then great.
But before you get in too deep, it’s worth taking the time value your film. It’s part guess work and it’s part talking with people who do this for a living and can give you the advice you need.
Find people who can help you. Talk to distributors and sales companies. Talk to other producers.
Then aggregate that information and make your decision — there’s bound to be some gut decision still in there before you say ‘action’. But do the homework.
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