The first potential customer to test our assumptions about what niche businesses look like is Hilke Elisabeth Saggau of DigDoc Film Production, which (among other things) have specialized in documentaries on archaelogical digs. In 2006 she produced the remarkable documentary So süüt dat ut – Ausgrabungen in Hüsby (English title That’s the way it is – The excavation at Hüsby), which follows the dig of a bronze age burial mound through more than a year.
Elisabeth agreed to answer a few questions, and I’ve decided to quote her at length, because her answers give great insights into the life, work and challenges of an expert documentary producer.
Kaplak: Can you tell us a little about yourself, your niche community and your business?
Hilke Elisabeth Saggau (HES) : As a media producer I see myself not sitting in a niche but walking barefoot on a rocky yet scenic path. My various current clients have one thing in common: they can pay me only little or no money at all. Among others my topics are history, archaeology, ethnology, arts, religion and politics.
Kaplak: How did you get involved with your business?
HES : Growing up in the 50′es on a remote estate in Holstein, TV was my only window to the world. I always wanted to climb through that window and become a filmmaker myself. But I was born too early – film cameras were still expensive and unwieldy, and filmmaking was men´s business anyway. At least plan B worked out and I became an archaeologist. When video equipment eventually became affordable I bought a camera and an editing programme and started filmmaking in the late 90′es. In 2004 I got a chance to take part in FilmTrain, a two year’s German-Danish Interreg project for media start ups. In 2005 I founded DigDoc Film Production as an independent filmmaker.
Kaplak : What kind of digital product do you produce?
HES : I produce mainly video documentaries, but also music clips, image films and experimentals. Recently I started producing audio files for a digital tourist guide.
With co-producer Moses Merkle I just finished a 1h documentary “From Kiel to east of Warsaw” on the Australian musician Phil Conyngham. Also with Moses Merkle I am editing footage which we shot in Kosova. With editor Imke Scholvin-Watts I am working on a 1h documentary on the revival of a historic ferryboat on the Eider river. With Ahmed Rashid Mohamed I am working on Arabic subtitles and an additional Arabic booklet for my documentary “That’s the way it is” (2006). Moreover I am doing a very time and energy consuming research for a new documentary on the history of Buddhism in Schleswig-Holstein.
Kaplak : What, in your opinion constitute the greatest opportunities for your business on the internet?
HES : The distribution of my products will be easier. No need for burning DVDs, buying envelopes printing covers und bills, buying stamps… I could probably save time, sell my products for less money and still have a better profit. Probably much more people will come across my products and have an easier, direct access.
Kaplak : What is in your opinion the greatest problem for your business on the internet?
HES : Right now there still seem to be technical problems in launching my films. The access via mobile phone has to be improved, especially with regard to my audio tourist guide. People who are interested in the topic of my products tend to be very old fashioned when it comes to digital equipment and are reluctant to buy or to use it.
Elisabeth is an example of a niche producer who fits our customer profile near perfectly. She is an expert in her field. She has a recognizable problem, and one we’d like to help out with (earning enough money). She produces high-quality films. She has a website and seeks to promote her productions online, yet it is difficult to find information about her film and subject matter (visibility problems). She has interested markets globally (there are archaeologists, film festivals (of which So süüt dat ut has participated in a handful) and historically interested audiences all over the world), and therefore potentially could connect to and open new markets.
In addition to these things, there are a few other important insights to note. The first is the old-fashionedness and resistance of her market, which could be a problem. Are her customers currently using the internet to obtain films like this? No. Will they?
It’s also obvious that she is involved with a lot of different projects, so there’s something which will or could appeal to different kinds of markets, which means there’s a greater chance at least some productions will fly. It’s also interesting to note the conception of the internet as a means to save time, and the technical infancy of some product solutions, which reflects the insecurities of a new media landscape : what technologies will fly, and how? What formats should be used, so that customers will be able to receive and get the picture in the other end? This is also related to the need for subtitling, for translating a local language to languages spoken and understood at the receiving end (in this case, audiences in Arabic-speaking countries).
Lastly but not least, Elisabeth bears witness to the media revolution which has made digital cameras and other means of production so inexpensive and accessible, that it is even possible to create the films she produce.
