Building an Engaged Core Audience for Your Impact Film. #74

How do you successfully release an impact film?  If you're an upcoming filmmaker, an independent film producer or, you just want to know how to reach an engaged core audience,  then this episode will help you. 

During the episode, I mentioned a project called Take Heart. 

You can find Take Heart on Youtube 
Take Heart takeheart.tv
Take Heart takeheartrhd.com
and if you'd like to read the impact evaluation you can find it here 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome back. Do you ever look at a successful person in your industry, find out how they've paved their way, and then kind of scratch your head because you've been told you should follow in their footsteps and mirror what they did because it worked for them, right? And it sounds so logical. But in reality, the way that they went about getting started is not gonna be the way they do things now. They got started a while back and you know, frankly, the world has changed. For example, perhaps they made a start way before social media was a real thing. Yes, there was a time before Facebook, and it was kind of recent history, so many of the now very successful filmmakers actually got their start before social media had the power that it does now. They might have worked in the old system of, you know, when you had to submit your films to film festivals and awards and now dated funding models. Heck, the way I now produce Impact Docs wasn't even thought of 20 years ago. I don't even think the concept of impact docs was a thing two decades back. So this process, it just might make you feel like you're inside a bottle trying to read the label. So today I am stepping you through how to find your film's audiences in this day and age. Because it's essential that if you're making an impact film, to have this figured out before you get too far along with your projects. And I know if you've been listening in on this podcast for a while now, you have definitely heard me talk about this before because it's going to be hugely beneficial for your marketing, distribution, and outreach plans if you know who your audience is before you get started. Welcome to the Moonshine Moonshot Podcast. I'm your host, Sue Collins, and if you've landed here, it means you're wanting to find out more about how to make filmmaking a sustainable career. And you're also curious about how to make meaningful work that fills your cup. You're ready to learn how to make movies that matter, build a sustainable career, and have a positive impact on your audiences so you are in the right place. Filmmaking has so many parts, and I'm sharing what I've learned over the past 15 years producing impact films that reach their intended audience and support real-world change. So let's get started. As I mentioned, there are a few parts to why you need to find your ideal audience, as it will determine how you go about marketing, outreach, and distribution for your film, and these are essential elements for the successful release of any impact film. This episode I'm really focused on how to find your audience because well it's really the first step, and it's super important before you can work out your marketing outreach or distribution plans. So why is working out your ideal audience so important and why do I bang on about it so much? Well, because if you want people to connect and engage with your work, you need to make sure you can get it in front of an audience that want to see it. And if you know who they are before you begin, you can be sure that the messaging you create and the stories that you tell through your film will actually speak right to them. So when you're figuring out who your ideal audience is, just remember it's going to help you to craft your message. It's going to help you to work out how to tell your story, the people that you interview, the places you film, the social media platforms that you choose to promote the work on, how you message your website, how you build your marketing distribution and outreach plans, literally everything will be so much easier and more effective if you can identify exactly who your audience is and how ready they are to take on board your story. So to give you an example of why I believe this is just so important. For oh gosh, it's got to have been 10 years ago, I maybe even 12 years ago, I began a journey with my partner in all things my kill to create an impact film on rheumat heart disease, which is also known as RHD. Now, if you're not familiar with rheumatic heart disease or RHD, it is a completely preventable disease that causes at least 200,000 to 250,000 premature deaths across the globe every year. It is also the major cause of cardiovascular death in children and young adults in countries that have poor medical attention and it's completely preventable. So initially we were looking at producing a global impact film to highlight this disease and encourage governments to implement prevention and treatment programs. Then we learned that Australia, my home country, has one of the highest rates of RHD in the world. Huh. Well, yeah. Australia also has one of the best medical systems in the world. So it makes no sense. So we learned that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were the ones who were dying from this preventable disease. Two kids per week. Yeah, what the you just you you just agar in disbelief. And when we started, we thought that this audience for this project was going to be global. But we quickly shifted the project's focus onto Australia first. And why? Well, because for one thing, we could make a tailored film to reach the audience, and we had the support and resources to begin in Australia. So who was the audience? Well, we learned through research that there were actually a number of different audiences, which is why I'm telling you about this, because we're talking all about audience this morning. The broader Australian public to raise awareness of this issue, how could you not be outraged into action once you learned about this? If we could build support, then we could advocate to the government to implement effective prevention programs. So initially we were looking, as I said, at the broader Australian public. But we quickly realized that the audience was actually a little more nuanced than that. It was not that broad, but there was a core audience of women aged sort of in their 30s to 50s age range, generally working in public health or health workers and majority of them being mothers. But there was also a second and very significant audience, and that was the communities in the top end of Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children lived. They needed information about RHD and what prevention measures they could implement to protect their children and also to support the children who already had the disease to stay well. Now, if you'd better like to understand RHD and the work that we did, you can easily jump over to Take Heart RHD on YouTube where there's loads of short films, and I'll put the links in the show notes. So don't worry about that part of it here. But if you're curious about what Take Heart was and what work we did, you can certainly explore that on both the Take Heart RHD website and YouTube channel. So this project, Take Heart, has gone from strength to strength and it has had a very significant impact in Australia. And you can find an academic evaluation of the impact of the film on the project's website, Takeheart.tv if you're interested. And again, I will put that in the show notes because if you're interested in impact film, you might find the learnings from the academic evaluation incredibly interesting because they really show the impact that that film had. But the film has also grown. And in 2022, we released a sequel to Take Heart, Deadly Heart. Sadly, one film wasn't enough to solve this issue, so we created a sequel. And to support, really, the sequels to support the ongoing efforts to rid Australia of this preventable disease. We also produced many short films and resources, including a study guide. It's screened in festivals, cinemas, broadcast TV, on video on demand, and we are not stopping there. We are currently producing a version specific to far north Queensland where they have a high burden of disease. Now I'm sharing all of this by way of example because knowing who your audience is is so important as demonstrated by this project Take Heart. If we'd persisted with this idea that our film was for a broad Australian audience, we would have completely missed the very critical outreach approach that we took when releasing these films. And the outreach is where the impact really does happen. And next week I'm doing a whole podcast on outreach. So tune back in next week for more on outreach. Now, cycling back to my earlier comments, that you know it's really hard to learn from other filmmakers because the way they started is not the way they do things now. Or should I say, it's really hard to learn from established filmmakers by looking back at their careers because what they did at the beginning is not the same as the way they work these days. And this is also true of my work. The way I approach figuring out who the audiences were for our projects here at Moonshine Agency has changed and evolved with every project. We get better and better at it, but the fundamentals are the same. So I've got a question for you. Do you believe that you can create positive social change with your film? If so, then you just need to do this work to make sure your film does reach the right audience and get the recognition it needs to have an impact. Oh, I was just looking for a place where I could learn everything I need to know to make an amazing film that changes the world. It's such a shame that that place doesn't exist. Oh what? Hang on, it does. Oh, if you're looking for inspiration, ideas, tools, and ways to learn how to make movies that matter, head to Moonshine Communications Academy over at Instagram and all your problems will be solved.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Warning, results may vary depending on the questions, and success is not guaranteed. Always read the label.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

What are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to figure out their ideal audience? I'll list them off for you. Number one, as I mentioned already, they think their project is for a broad audience. I am also guilty of this. Number two, they think their audience will think like they do. This is critical. You have to do some market research or some polling of your friends, colleagues, everyone in your networks, because you are often very surprised that they don't just automatically agree with your views on things. And that is so important to know and to be able to gauge where people's thinking on a particular issue is. So number two was people think that their audience will think like they do. Not always the case. The third mistake people make is that they think they should make their project first and then mark it to find out who their audience is. Fourth, it's the old build it and they will come. Sadly, that doesn't work in this day and age. Five, if you make it and share it with people, then more people will just want to see it. Not always the case. And I'm telling you about these five things because it took me a long time to figure this out and learn how to effectively find audiences for my own projects. And so sharing more detail with you here, because I'm hoping it will help you get a bit of a quick start to finding your success through dedicated and specific audience targeting. Look, everybody wants their work to reach the broadest possible audience. Of course you do. You put all of your time and energy and love and passion into it, and it should be seen. And it seems really counterintuitive by getting super specific and identifying an ideal audience, and you are not limiting your opportunity for success by doing this. You're actually improving your chances of having a hit dramatically. The key is that you have to be talking to an audience who share a worldview, shared interests, and that they are ready to hear the message you are telling them. Because that core audience, that is your ideal audience. You do need to drill down further than just demographics. And look, sure, age range, gender skew, where they live, look these these data points, they are very useful to get you started. And perhaps the most useful of the demographics is actually what industries your audience works in. But then you need to do the deep work. You've got to figure out what do they think, what do they care about? Values. I am talking about values and world view because understanding that means you can speak to your audience in terms that they understand, with stories that they will relate to. You're going to be able to reach them through all that noise and clutter that everybody is bombarded with every single day, and you'll get them on board with what you are trying to do. These people are going to be your ideal audience, your core audience. And from there, that's when you get the ripple effect. You'll reach the next layer of audience, and then the next layer of audience because you're starting with a core of super engaged, highly motivated people who really believe in your cause, and then they become champions for you, and it ripples out and it ripples out. And if you're really lucky, you will get all the way to that all-elusive, broad general audience. But again, the broad audience are not the ones that will really engage and connect. It's that core audience. They're the ones who will help you get the change that you're seeking. I did do another podcast on how to define your ideal audience, and it was number 69. So it's back a few episodes, but please jump back and listen to that if you're really serious about finding your audience because I think you'll find the info in there combined with this really useful because it's going to help you build an engaged core audience. It's how you can get started. Please don't hesitate to reach out and ask me questions over on Instagram at Moonshine Communications Academy or shoot me an email, which is also support at Moonshine CommunicationsAcademy.com. Next week I'm going to be back to talk to you about outreach and the five different ways you can go about creating outreach for an impact documentary. So the first step, which is what we covered today, is audience, why it's so important to find that audience. I hope you've gotten a few ideas from what I talked about here. But as I said, please ask me questions because that helps me to know where the gaps are in what I'm sharing with you. And next week I'm going to be talking about outreach for an impact film. So I'm really looking forward to speaking to you then. Thanks for staying with me today. Thank you for joining me today and every week here on the Moonshine Moonshot Podcast. If you're wanting a deeper dive into the topics being discussed on the show, then I would encourage you to head over to Moonshine Communications Academy.com and sign up for the weekly drop of moonshine via your email. Being on our newsletter community means we can support your filmmaking journey in a more tailored way as well as keeping you up to date with the resources we share on how to make movies that matter and so much more that we deliver inside your inbox every single week. So head over to Moonshine CommunicationsAcademy.com and at the bottom of the homepage you'll see a little box to add your email address and as a thank you for signing up, we'll also send you a bonus ebook to support your messaging. So voila, you'll be on the way to receive all the best content weekly.