You have the script. You have the team. You have the vision.
And yet, meetings with funders fall short. Distributors do not call back. Foreign co-producers remain polite but do not sign.
It's not your film that's the problem. It's what you say about it, or rather, what you don't say.
What buyers are really looking for
A funder, a distributor, a broadcaster: these are people who take risks with money. Their first question is not "is this film beautiful?". Their first question is "does this film sell?"
And to answer that, they need to know: to whom? where? how?
Most production files come with a solid answer on the first point: the film itself, its story, its artistic strength. But they remain silent on the rest. Not out of negligence. Because these questions came too late in the process, at the moment when the structural decisions had already been made.
The moment when everything is at stake
The development phase is the only one where you still have flexibility. This is where positioning can be adjusted, where format choices can take into account the expectations of the target markets, where the financing strategy can be built on real data rather than on intuitions.
A marketing study conducted at this stage gives you concrete answers: who is the audience for this film and what is the size of this market, which territories and platforms should be prioritized, how have comparable films performed, what are the arguments that will convince a certain type of buyer in a specific market.
These are not abstract questions. These are exactly the questions your interlocutors are asking before signing.
What it changes in the room
Imagine two files on a funder's table. The first is solid on the creative side. The second presents the same project, and adds a market analysis: identified target audiences, territorial comparisons with similar films, recommended distribution channels, clearly formulated points of differentiation.
The second file does not just say "here is our film". It says "here is why your investment makes sense".
It's the difference between a pitch that asks for trust and a pitch that establishes it.
When to conduct this study?
Ideally, as early as the development phase. Even before the final budget is finalized. This is when decisions still have flexibility, positioning can be adjusted, and format or target choices can take market realities into account.
A study conducted after filming comes too late to influence structural decisions. It can still serve the release strategy, but it has missed its window of maximum impact.
What most productions do not yet know
There are funding mechanisms, in France and at the European level, that explicitly evaluate the marketing strategy of a project. Not as a bonus. As a graded criterion.
Producers apply every year without knowing it. And they lose points on elements they could have mastered.
What do we do at Éclats?
We work with producers who understand that their film is both a cultural project and an economic project. Our role is to build the market analysis from the development stage, so that every decision made afterwards is aligned with the reality of the audiences, territories, and buyers you are targeting.
The result: files that answer the real questions even before they are asked.