I recently happened about this question on LinkedIn answers. It’s a great question for marketers and marketing professionals. The question should also be relevant to film composers as well.
Many times as a film composer I am asked to work on a project for very little money or no money. Film composers do it for the love, but we still need to pay bills like everyone else. However, I always wonder are the directors and producers putting the horse before the carriage? It seems odd that film composers are the ones subjected to budget restraints.
Most producers today have put strategy before budget. In a sense this is smart but what good is a plan that you can’t execute?
If we do things the other way around we will stifle creativity and imagination due to lack of funds.
I’d like to see filmmakers create a strategy, figure out the budget and then execute the hell out of it. That means raising the funds to pay for all members of a production crew. If you can’t afford the strategy then work your budget and figure out a strategy from there and stick to it.