Film Comparables in Business Plans

Comparables give plot, genre, and rating reference points for investors and distributors. It's not enough to state the genre. Comparing it to specific films gives details that will tell others what to expect. To say that your project is a horror film, even if you qualify it with a sub-category, such as occult, suspense, slasher, etc, still lacks important details. However, comparing it to the Exorcist will elicit images of possession, devils, and exorcisms. Amityville Horror conjurers haunting, violence, and family betrayal. Ghost brings to mind ghosts, romance, untimely death, and karmic justice. The Others also contains ghostly and untimely death elements, yet its focus remains on other aspects such as the house, mental illness, and children. Texas Chainsaw Massacre creates images of violence, blood, and gore. All of them are considered to be in the Horror genre, yet each of them has specific elements that evoke a specific response from the audience. However, the comparables also invoke levels of language, violence, and sexuality perimeters. Ghost has more sexual elements than The Others. The Exorcist has more graphic violence than Amityville Horror. When properly used, comparables can be an effective asset. Within a few words, an expectation will be set that will attract the interest of some investors and distributors, while others will give it a pass. However, using inaccurate comparables will do more harm than good. Each movie that is referenced creates a presumption that if not met will reflect poorly on the project that is being promoted.

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Film Business Plan

The biggest fallacy in the film industry and in the business world as a whole is that if you write up a business plan, all you have to do is present it to investors and they will write you a check. Even if you have the greatest of all business plans in all of history, that's not going to happen. Business plans tell investors what you are going to do. The meeting and subsequent paperwork tell them how you are going to do it. The reality is that the business plan only gains the investors' interest; it is the presenter, in this case, producer, who gives them the confidence to cut checks. Whether the producers write the plan themselves or hire someone to do it, the greatest selling point is how well they know the material and how they present it.

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