There’s little doubt in today’s world that documentary films are a hard sell. It’s main target audience is niche yet diverse, expansive but particular, and growing yet scattered throughout. While there is a clear need and viability of where documentary films lives for consumption independent filmmakers have to become solid salespeople in distributing such content to a diversified audience seeking education and information along with entertainment. As a platform for advertising and marketing and a new means of effective and consistent communication social media has proven to be a common language source for independent filmmakers and their distributor’s to sell documentary film content regionally and globally. Moreover, selling a documentary is much easier when completed. So, in today’s media-saturated landscape the biggest challenge for new and old filmmakers is to sell a great documentary film idea to funders, organizations, executive producers, film production companies, nonprofit businesses, distributors, etc. with a target audience in mind prior to it being completed.

In pitch meetings, production/creative meetings, and marketing meetings the term “target audience” is the constant refrain for producers, directors, and distributors of documentaries. “Who is your audience?” becomes the primary if not only call to question in many of these kinds of meetings. But, just who exactly commands the tidal wave of the next big documentary to break through? How can each and every single documentary film reach the right audiences in due time? Can a business model exist for targeting a niche, diverse audience of documentary film enthusiasts for the right distribution stream for producers and directors alike? Target audiences is paramount in pre-production of a documentary film. It is the impetus of the motivation to begin a project, the prime inspiration to finish it up, and the selling pitch for a distributor to bite on it and take on the business risk of getting the finished work out to a targeted rather than a general, mainstream audience. Unless a documentary film at the start is a passion piece bent on fulfilling the ego, pride, and enthusiasm of a given person or group—most documentary film producers and directors must account for a target audience for their upcoming project through the whole filmmaking process on a given title.

A documentary film audience is much harder to pinpoint and narrow down than any other genre of films. The next Disney or Pixar animated movie has a generalized children audience that they consider. The Hollywood action-packed thriller movie with the big-name star that fills up movie theatres every season accounts for the teenage, young adult as a prime target audience. Even the comic book hero movie, slapstick comedy feature, and the coming-of-age romance film knows their potential audience for anticipated consumption. The same goes for television networks, cable TV channels, and the V.O.D. Platforms like Netflix and Hulu who have recently just started putting out original programming. The list goes on for a target audience for media/TV/Film/video content providers/creators to consider upon today’s numerous global platforms. However, documentary films with its appeal in educational markets, information-seekers, activist groups and their frontlines, nonprofit work, value in raising awareness on news issues and hot topics, and some who simply find such content suitable for entertainment and an easy-learning watch has a harder terrain in evenly prescribing a target audience. For a lot of producers and directors much is left to surprise to the new audiences who watch documentaries either in the theatres, film festivals, online, or the comforts of their homes. And, since documentary film interest and the production value of its completed work seems to be growing and greatly improving target audiences are more and more by the daily falling into the gray area of projected categories and avenues.

Every passionate filmmaker in all genres would love to say that their film is “for everybody”! But, years of market research, algorithms into demographics of target audience of movies often concisely come to the realization and understanding that indie films even Hollywood blockbusters are usually narrowed down to a set specific audience viewership—whether another group of diversified members spills outside the boundaries outlined. The stylistic look of camera angles, the color saturation employed in each frame of recorded video, the music selection and sound effects added to the film for emotional effect and even the language in narration and interviewees is the driving force of a documentary film bent on appealing to the most number of potential viewers. Of course, these elements are employed subtly and sometimes—consciously.

However, there is a thin line of appealing to eventual audiences that is to easily crossed for independent filmmakers completing a documentary film. On the one hand—mainstream appeal with suspense music, graphic design that helps plug in viewership, and standard documentary film camera interview setups are all beneficial if not necessary for a documentary to maximize viewers in an open market. On the other hand—too much of an overview appeal that extends niche boundaries may make storytelling too broad, vague, unnecessarily relative, and a product of solipsism. Michael Moore’s infamous documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, is a solid example of solipsistic work that bordered on propaganda in getting his overall message out. The popular, online 2014 documentary, The Culture High, is another example of appealing to a large audience of “everybody”. While the producers were attempting to tackle the widely popular topic of marijuana usage in American society today and the legal policies currently dictating it the elements used parlayed on an overview of the subject matter that went in multiple directions and off on tangents from its initial thesis. Examples of this was commentary and narration in the film went on to criticize the U.S. mainstream news media system, the “corporatization” of national politics, and the troubled U.S. Healthcare system—among other things. While it may have done solid in its distribution route once completed and compelled the viewer with solid graphic design and stunning visual, HD cinematography the documentary failed to grasp the very crux of the current issue for understanding the polarizing debate on the legalization of marijuana and its present and future government policy-making. This adds to another challenge documentary filmmakers come across in their works. As important as a return on investment is on their given project once complete—for the sake of pursuing future projects—documentary filmmakers want to leave an intellectual impact and tangible educational product that is engrossing, didactic, and informing. Brett Morgen’s 2015 HBO biographical documentary, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, fell in the limited guise of appealing only or largely to a targeted audience. The film flowed well for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana fans who knew all too well the minute information on Kurt Cobain’s biography—from his childhood upbringing to his ascendancy as the lead man in his music group. However, for the “new” audience of documentary film enthusiasts interested in learning the story of Kurt Cobain’s life a lot of holes were made and later unfilled by the filmmaker in not elucidating Cobain’s musical accomplishments and understanding more on the nuances in his character. Morgen seemed to be more interested visually on camera to articulate Kurt Cobain’s profound artistry rendered by a troubled childhood to early death rather than the wholesome work of a completed narrative on a complex man, his development and mainstream appeal. This could only be accomplished if Brett Morgen and his producers were wantonly appealing exclusively to a targeted audience. Clearly, for the sake of wide distribution a clean and profound dance between the lines of targeting audiences should be adhered to. While this is not an appeal to illustrate target audience projections as black and white producers, directors, and distributors of documentaries should not easily go too much in either direction in mainstream or niche in their storytelling process.

Some audience members may go watch a documentary or buy its DVD for the sheer sake of supporting an issue, cause, or filmmaker. Other audience members may be enthralled by the films’ overall message and appeal to raising awareness. A good number want to be informed and educated on a serious note as a break from mainstream film content. And, a growing number of audience members may just be “wowed” by a documentary film readying itself for mass appeal. All these scenarios are accounted if not thought of for producers and executive producers of such documentaries. Social media platforms of Facebook pages, Twitter profiles, and Instagram accounts make clear the following and potential if not realized audience of a given documentary film work. However, what is called into question is in formulating a business model to exploit the film for monetary profits by bringing distributors (networks, V.O.D. platforms, theatres, etc.) to take on the business risk of print & advertising, a viable social media push, and all other marketing elements to ensure success of a finished work. Perhaps, these are undefined areas that are still left to be explored or for the many working in the documentary film world– “uncharted territory” which the industry has “barely scratched the surface”. Nonetheless, film producers and distributors must operate in a trial experiment or a business-employed risk to varying markets for documentary film titles.