Major Project Pre-Production | Greenlight Pitch

Life in Kamstang Pitch Powerpoint

I decided to open up my pitch presentation with an introduction to the community center that I grew up in. I wanted to give everyone an idea of exactly what it is and how it came about, escpecially since everyone thought that I was a Buddhist myself; which is actually incorrect. My main idea for the doccumentary was to actually explore the reasons into why 'Benchen Karma Kamtsang' exists in the capital of Poland, a very conservative country. I then came to a realisation after some feedback that this wouldn't be as instresting as diving deep into how it influenced my own life and touch up on how the community is in the capital of Poland - but mainly focus on my story and my split family religion.

I have to start digging deep for some old footage and photos of when I had been at the community and what I did exactly. The interesting fact about this whole doccumentary is that my father is a Buddhist and the rest of my family is strongly Catholic so they disagree a lot on many topics, which would be very interesting to explore. I have find contributors that will discuss these topics with me, I also have to plan my budget and travel since I have to place myself in the community to explore their enviroment. I want to also potray the contributors in a light which eliminates the typical stereotypes/views on Buddhists - which would include my Catholic family.

The one thing I forgot to add onto my presentation/pitch is my target audience and platform.

Platform - Prime Video (Amazon Exlusive)

I wanted to aim my Doccumentary to Amazon because it is a fairly new, it features a range of content aimed at a range of audiences. Amazon Prime is very broad and offers a lot of material, it also includes a lot of doccumentaries that are very similar to 'Life In Kamtsang'. Prime Video also offers a lot of autobiographical documentaries about famous people, atheles, actors etc.

Target Audience - I am planning to aim my doccumentary at an audience of the age 18-35.

I have now started a draft script for my doccumentary since I know this is my largest weak point.

Simons Feedback -

Overall, this has the potential to be a strong project and good one to explore your role as multi-skilled documentary maker. 

However, at the moment there is not much more in place other than the place you want to make a film about. Its perhaps also possible to say that permission will be possible.

By this point though - you need to be further along. We need to know much more about your intensions for the story. We know the place of the story, but you have to look for a much more interesting question than "Why does it exist?". You need a much deeper sense of what your film will actually be about and what it will explore. You have a strong connection to the subject matter, so how or what will be your POV on this story? You should be open to, or at least consider the prospect, that this film could be a personal journey for you. Finding out more about your family, your relationships etc.

What story are you telling? What kind of documentary are you going to make? This is the area which needs most development, and it needs to happen asap.

Research is going to underpin all of your decisions you make. 

You should be researching documentaries and documentary makers. Case studies. Make the research relevant.

Think about your output for the film - what platforms are there for your film?

I am concerned as to HOW you will make this film on your own. You need to consider the crewing of this project.

This feedback is very helpful and I will starting planning ahead for this, I need to definitely have a crew with me as well as travel sorted. I do know for 100% I have access to the location as well as filming there, I have to also confirm my contributors - which I have to make sure are interesting and relevant. I definetly agree with the fact that I should not foxus on why the community exists, I should focus on my personal journey and how it inflicted my family. I feel like throughout this doccumentary I will find out a lot about myself as well as the religion and my family.