This document summarizes a workshop on connecting stories to target audiences. It discusses why considering the audience is important at each stage, from development to distribution. Case studies are presented of films that targeted specific audiences through their story, production choices, and release strategy. Intelligent Lives focused on parents of kids with disabilities and raised $650k for support groups. Drawer Boy targeted Canadian theatre fans and had a theatrical run. Bite Me used strategic casting and micro-targeted ads. The Body Remembers Whenthe WorldBroke Open screened at major festivals and was picked up by Netflix. The workshop outlines tools for research on keywords, hashtags, influencers and target communities to effectively connect stories to audiences.

1. STORY+ AUDIENCE
A Practical Workshop for Filmmakers
withAnnelise Larson
Vancouver International Women in Film Festival
#VIWFF2020
March 6, 2020

2. Why
STORY + AUDIENCE?

3. STORY AUDIENCE+
Why STORY+ AUDIENCE?

4. Why STORY+ AUDIENCE?
Create story with awareness of the
audiences’…
• Specific global context
• Specific emotional connection to
the characters/actors/subjects/
narrative/genre/etc
• Specific shared passions,
interests, life experiences,
culture, etc
• Specific expectations

5. Why STORY+ AUDIENCE?
Allows writers to…
• Create more specific, authentic
& surprising stories
• Better protect stories
• Be more connected to
audiences who love what they
write the most (& who are
willing to pay & share)

6. Why STORY+ AUDIENCE?
Allows producers to…
• Make better informed,
strategic choices about which
projects to focus on
• Package & pitch stories more
effectively
• Better target an international
market

7. Why STORY+ AUDIENCE?
Allows funders to…
• Better support a more healthy
film industry with out-of-the-
box, global, audience led
thinking
• Invest their resources more
strategically
• Invest their resources more
successfully

8. STORY + AUDIENCE
Case Studies

9. STORY:
Three young American adults with intellectual
disabilities challenge perceptions of
intelligence. Narrator Chris Cooper uses the
emotional personal story of his son Jesse, as
the film unpacks the shameful & ongoing track
record of intelligence testing in the US.
AUDIENCE:
• Parents of kids with intellectual
disabilities
• People with intellectual disabilities
• Support & advocacy organizations
for the above
IntelligentLives (2018)

10. STORY:
Ontario - 1972. Miles, a young theatre actor
from Toronto, arrives in Huron County at the
home of two aging bachelor farmers. Miles
gathers stories about rural life to make a play
abut it. All three of their lives are irrevocably
altered when art attempts to imitate life and
the line between truth and fiction is crossed.
AUDIENCE:
• Canadian theatre fans (esp of this
play)
• Rural audience
• Stakeholders in the Canadian film
industry
Drawer Boy (2018)

11. STORY:
Recently divorced and rooming with an
extremely religious coworker, IRS agent James
Thayer is surprised when an audit of a church
introduces him to Sarah. Sarah is a self-
proclaimed vampire trying to win her case
against the IRS to avoid paying backtaxes on
her church, the House of Twilight.
AUDIENCE:
• Real-life vampires
• People who like to cosplay (esp fans
of genre franchises like Harry Potter)
• Other indie filmmakers
Bite Me(2019)

12. STORY:
After a chance encounter on a busy street, a
woman decides to bring a pregnant domestic
abuse victim home & encourages her to seek help
to navigate the aftermath of the traumatic event.
AUDIENCE:
• (Urban) Indigenous people, esp
women
• Other BIPOC, esp women
• Other alt filmmakers & film buffs (esp
those with a fondness for 16mm)
The Body Remembers Whenthe
WorldBroke Open (2019)

13. STORY + AUDIENCE
& the Lifecycle of a Film

14. Development& Financing
• DO tie audience research to
story & character research
• DO be specific & authentic
• DO lurk & gather intelligence
• DO package both in funding
applications & pitches
• DO plan & budget for
narrative extras

15. Production& Post
• DO casting & contracts with
target audiences in mind
• DO recorded interviews with
team about connection to
story
• DO create narrative extras
• DO start to establish/grow
filmmaker presence online

16. Festivals &Domestic
• DO specialized “PR”
• DO submit to specialized festivals
• DO start to share narrative extras
online
• DO create special event
screenings
• DO micro-targeted domestic ad
buys
• DO engage with domestic &
international relevant influencers,
conversations & communities

17. International& Streaming
• DO keep going
• DO reshare narrative extras,
reviews & other assets
• DO find new content to share
• DO international ad buys &
engagement with relevant
influencers, conversations &
communities
• DO align next project with
work to date

18. STORY + AUDIENCE
Case Study Results
(so far)

19. IntelligentLives (2018)
• $900K US production budget
(crowdfunding & sponsorships)
• 25+ festivals & 430+ other screenings
reaching over 40,000 people
• Broadcast during National Disability
Employment Awareness Month on 160
public TV stations with 30M reach
• 60+ media stories & reach of millions
through social media & website
• Used to raise $650K+ for support orgs

20. Drawer Boy (2018)
• $200K CA production budget
(crowdfunding & arts council grant)
• Filmmakers focused on CSA’s so did
theatrical run (min. 5 nights in 2
Canadian theatres)
• Got 2 CSA noms (1 win); 13 more
festival awards
• International VOD release on
Highball.TV, DVD sales & Amazon
Prime release in US

21. Bite Me(2019)
• $500K US production budget
(crowdfunding, tax credit & private
investors)
• Strategic casting
• Joyful Vampire Tour (40 cities & 52
screenings with special events)
• Micro-targeted FB ads & event pages,
evites, local influencers & meetups
• Seed & Spark VOD & other TVOD

22. The Body Remembers (2019)
• $1M CA budget (Canadian public
funding & int’l co-pro partners)
• Berlin, TIFF, VIFF & other festivals,
many screenings across Canada & US
• 8 awards, 14 more noms, incl 6 CSA
• Picked up by ARRAY
• Media stories incl Vogue, NYT, etc
• #TheBodyRemembers trended on US
Thanksgiving
• Netflix & CBC streaming deals

23. STORY + AUDIENCE
Tools & Techniques

24. Tools &Techniques
For Keyword/Language Research:

25. Tools &Techniques
For Hashtag Research:

26. Tools &Techniques
For “Competitive” Intelligence:

27. Tools &Techniques
For Influencer Research:

28. Tools &Techniques
For Conversation/Community Research:

29. Tools &Techniques
For 3rd Party Supplemental Content Research:

30. Tools &Techniques
Additional Research:

31. Tools &Techniques
Even More Tools:

32. Final Questions
& Thoughts

33. AnneliseLarson
Veria.ca & StorypreneursUnite.com
Coming to a podcast platform near you
Tuesday, March 17, 2020!!