Sarah Calderón, Raquel Cabrera and Celia Fumanal of Madrid’s The Film Agency have written a fascinating guest article in Film Independent.

In order to assist their film marketing activities, they have used “design thinking tools and empathy maps to identify and shape at least 10 consumer profiles of indie cinema lovers.”

They profile three main audiences:

• Indie Movie Selectives
• Hyper-connected Movie Addicts
• The Silver Audience

Of the Selectives, they say:

 “This group is mainly composed of women over 30, highly educated, living in urban areas. They prefer the experience of going to the movie theatre; they like drama (but not too much suffering, they also appreciate feel-good fare!), value the empowerment of women and non-archetypical female characters in main roles, and are highly selective with the content they watch.”

Of the Addicts, they say:

“This group encompasses mainly men over 25, highly educated, living in urban areas. Unlike the previous female-equivalent group they prefer the VOD experience (not always legally), as opposed to movie theatres. They are very eclectic, taking in all types of genres in films and series.”

Of the Silvers, they say:

“Mainly women over 60, with an average level of education, living in urban areas. This group has a great deal of time on their hands during the week to enjoy culture and take in the opera, ballet, classic concerts and feel-good films about the “Golden Age.” They are classical in their choices, reject edgy narratives and appreciate the beauty of music and the arts.”

In addition, they profile more niche indie audiences:

1. The Genre Fan with “a clear preference for horror movies, thrillers, slashers, gore and B-grade schlock”
2. The Eco-friendly Film Lover with “a clear preference for documentaries about the environment and how we live in it”
3. The Spiritual Guru who “watches indie content from time to time when it touches their soul”
4. The Activist who “watches politically-charged documentaries”
5. The LGBTQIA Community who “appreciate content where non-archetypical LGBTQIA characters are in main roles”
6. ‘Cream of the Crop’ Cinephiles who “adore the cinema screen and the great auteurs, new and old”
7. Indie Animation Fans who “love art, illustration, drawing and visual arts.”

In total, that’s ten distinct indie film audience profiles.

My take: This is well worth the read. Finding the audience for the film remains the biggest task of an indie film, after realizing a fantastic script, of course.