Filmmaking by committee

I struggled today, trying to explain the basics of this process to a friend. The common criticism being, "That's simply filmmaking by committee." The difference is, filmmaking by committee would be giving each audience member a vote, and going with the option that gets the most votes. Instead, Lean Filmmaking would be using the audience as a barometer for what's working and what's not, and then using that information to make calculated changes that you feel that will better the final film.

Example being stand-up comedy. Comedians routinely talk about writing new material at home and not knowing how it's going to do, until they try out the material on stage. Over many months on the road, they hone the new material, trimming, rewording, rephrasing, moving elements around, or attacking the subject in an entirely different way to achieve the desired result of a happy audience. No one would say that the comedians material is written by committee. But it is honed and fine tuned by audience participation. That's the same process I'd like to co-opt for indie film.

When the audience doesn't respond to a scene or part of the film in the way you want, you don't automatically give each audience member a vote as to what would make the scene work better - because they have  no idea. And you don't automatically appeal to the lowest common denominator either. It simply means that you, as the filmmaker, haven't communicated effectively, and need to make an adjustment. You have found a problem, which you need to fix. This is extremely valuable information to have, especially pre-production. This can literally save millions, and make a break a film.

I know filmmakers that have spent $100,000 making their dream indie film, which was made in a bubble, without audience feedback - and at the end of the day, after submitting to film festivals and not getting picked up, they have a VERY expensive DVD sitting on their shelf. That's not a gamble I'm willing to make with my money, on my first movie, and I truly believe there's a better process for independent film. Get feedback early on, before production, and adjust the storytelling where necessary.

That's crux of this process is: gathering more information than traditionally, testing hypothesis about the material either via short films, webisodes, live theater, or other with yet to be determined means,  and find out if audiences respond to your material. If they don't respond, you've saved a hell of a lot of time and money. As opposed to "testing" your hypothesis with a fully produced final film, released into the general public, which generally costs tens of millions of dollars.