What works in the Industry vs What Doesn’t

I pitched three films in Bangalore recently. A commercial potboiler, a crime comedy, and an edgy dark drama. I thought I knew which ones would get picked up.

I assumed the "quirky entertainer" was a sure thing because that is what the trade says is working today. The dark drama was just a passion project I had very little hope for.

But the most interest and intrigue I’ve generated in my narrations is for the dark drama.

It goes against everything the trade tells you to write, or for a producer to fund. Yet, people are interested. Why? Because the "trade experts" are usually chasing a ghost.

By the time a "trend" is identified, it is already dead. Look at what is happening now. Every office you go into, people are discussing a horror-comedy because they think that is where the demand is. But if 20 horror-comedies come out in the same year, the demand drops. The audience gets bored. The same experts who called it a "sure bet" will then dismiss it as a fad.

The movie business is as much art as it is commerce. You don't change the films you make to fit a trend. You make what is in your heart and figure out how to make it palatable to an audience.

The trade looks at what worked yesterday. As a filmmaker, you have to look at what will work tomorrow. The audience isn't looking for a particular genre. They are just looking for honesty.