Marketable Elements: What your target audience wants to see

• Genre  Each genre such as comedy, action, thriller and romantic comedy attracts different audiences and those audiences can be further fragmented.
• Concept Think of the originality of Blair Witch, Shallow Grave, and waydowntown.
• Tone  Best illustrated by examples: Compare The Red Violin to Fubar.
• Attractiveness of the protagonist to the audience This hook doesn’t refer to a good-looking star, but to whether the target audience sees themselves reflected in the protagonist. Kissing Jessica Stein, which grossed seven times its budget in its U.S. theatrical release, didn’t have a star, but the target audience highly identified with the protagonist.
• Subject matter Each of Hotel Rwanda, Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and Bowling for Columbine attracted a different audience because of the subject explored.
• Additional elements covers hooks such as sex (Lie With Me) or use of music (C.R.A.Z.Y.)
• Special interests Saint Ralph is not primarily about running or faith; it’s actually more a coming-of-age story. However, the film contains enough material about these elements that a marketing plan could include running clubs and faith groups.
• Source material If a film is based on a real event, a best-selling novel, a cartoon or other source material, an audience may already exist.

Be realistic