Beta Sooner Than Later
Sometime last year, I visited the start-up studio of a colleague who was marshalling an independent CG feature animated film. I was extremely impressed not only with the professional quality of the work environment, but also with the tale (relayed over lunch) of how they created a 3D animatic from their script on a shoestring budget and then used this to attract investors who were now partnered with them in full-bore production. The film was on track to come out in a year, at which point they would try to land a distributor at their film festival premiere. In short, where many people only talk and dream, they were actually making it happen!
“This is great,” I said to my colleague, “how many test audience screenings do you have planned between now and final color?” “None.” he said. I almost choked on my panini. “None? Not even a small theater in Long Beach?” “Nope,” he replied, “it is what it is, and we’re getting it done.” He seemed firmly set on this, and I wasn’t being paid to offer my opinions in any event, so I finished my sandwich and thanked him for the tour.
As I walked to my car, I couldn’t help shaking my head. How could they be keen-eyed on so many levels, but blind to the importance of putting their hard-won film up in front of an impartial, general audience? I thought of the illumination that test screenings brought, not only to the major studio productions on which I had worked, but also to the independent short films that I or my colleagues had produced. Although we “knew” our films better than anyone, we were also so close to the work that it was easy to grow myopic over time. The collective, impartial eye of a “beta test” audience never failed to surprise and inform us regarding what worked and what didn’t. Sure, it was scary (and always meant adjustments), but it was ultimately more valuable and less impactful to receive that feedback while the car was still “in the shop” than once it was on display “in the showroom”. And we were always free to disregard the feedback we didn’t care for. As John Vorhaus once said, “God may take advice from cherubim and angels, but in the end what God says goes.”
Cut to this summer. Their film is finished and has premiered at a major festival. I’m chatting at a party with a friend who worked on the project, and I ask him how it went. “Not well,” he replied, “the audience reaction at the festival was lukewarm, and they didn’t land a distributor. So now they’re furiously re-working and re-editing the thing.” “Did they ever have a test screening?” I asked. “You mean for a general audience?” he replied, “No, they screened it for the crew and the investors, but that was it.” “So the premiere was effectively their first impartial audience reaction?” “Yep,” he said, “and it wasn’t the one they were hoping for.” I wasn’t happy to hear this… but I also wasn’t surprised.
The morale of the story: “Beta sooner than later.” Get your work out there before it’s “finished”, and get some honest and unbiased feedback from a range of testers. You’re not obligated to act upon anything they say, but their reaction to your work just may surprise you - and inform you. You’ve worked too hard to settle for anything less.
Tags: story development