Many producers, either before or after producing their own documentary, will ask a series of important questions regarding the marketing of a program. We will attempt to answer a few of the most frequently asked questions. Some of these answers will apply to your questions and others may seem obvious. We have written for a broad audience, so please feel free to skip around to the sections which most apply to you. If your question is not answered here, feel free to contact us directly, at info@solidpgms.com.

Q. What kind of documentary should I produce?
A. That depends, what subjects do you like? This may seem like a very basic approach, but go after a subject you have passion for and some knowledge about.

Q. What is the best selling genre?
A. Wildlife. But unless you have the experience of waiting 3 weeks in a tree for a rare timber wolf to walk by, we don’t suggest attempting to produce in this genre.

Q. What makes a successful documentary?
A. Story, story, story and great images.

Q. What type of documentaries work in the international marketplace?
A. Ones which are image based do very well. Too many talking heads hurt salability. Does this mean no interviews? No, not at all - but it’s important to know that your program will eventually need to be reversioned for the French market, the Italian market, the German market, etc. Produce the story with good visual elements, along with interviews and sales will come much easier.

Q. Do I need to reversion my documentary into several different languages?
A. No. Broadcasters prefer to renarrate or sub-title themselves. Don’t go to the expense of having a program translated when ultimately it will be redone by the end user – the broadcaster. It’s simply a waste of money.

Q. What kind of revenues can I expect from the international marketplace?
A. First, look at a five year term. Second, assuming it is produced with the international marketplace in mind, how many territories will be licensed? Is it a subject that will have broad appeal? Third, what makes this program unique? Having said all that, we would urge you to go to the Realscreen.com website and look at the various license fees. Look up the 2000 Pricing Guide. Our best broad stroke estimate is: total sales over a five year span for any one-hour can be estimated between $5,000 - $180,000. If your subject supports it, multiple episodes can also increase earnings.

Q. What is a good running time?
A. An international television hour runs 50 minutes, plus or minus 2 minutes. Try to stay in that range and you’ll make the distributor’s job a whole lot easier. Half-hour programs are just not as marketable, unless they are packaged as a series of 13 episodes.

Q. Technically, what do I need to provide to the distributor?
A. Your final broadcast master should be delivered on Digital Betacam, NTSC. No commercial breaks should be included, just the straight program. Your audio configuration should include separate Music and Effects tracks, preferably Channels 3 & 4 Æ no narration, just the music and effects. Finally, include all your textless materials at the end of the program. Meaning, anytime we see an English identification in the lower third of the screen, you should provide that image without any graphics, this way the international broadcasters can add an identification in their own language.