Market Research
Market research is designed to help shape the outline of the entire Marketing Strategy. It is a prominent tool, without which, movie marketers would be guessing an outcome of a film, and the success to failure rate would be a complete question mark every time. Market research is just as important as any other element in a movies existence because it has to do directly with people, and films are made for people, regardless how independent or new-wave a filmmaker may consider themselves. The fact remains, films are made for the general public, and based on their opinion, that is how a film is viewed later on. It may seem harsh, but that is just the way it is, especially in the entertainment business. Most movies have a very short theatrical life, where a film is screened on average between 6-8 weeks, therefore, if a movie receives negative feedback after its opening weekend, it is almost next to impossible for it to resurrect. Thus, referring back to the relevance and importance of market research which takes place before a film is screened to the public eye. For independent films, who may not have money to carry out test screenings and other popular forms of market research, film festivals are their best way to see how people react to their film, allowing them to make considerable changes before an attempt to distribute their works, if the reactions of these primary festival viewers are not promising enough altogether.