Improving the Q&A Format
Instead of answering every question in the order of hands raised, filmmakers or other illustrious types on a stage for a Q&A should have three or four people ask their questions, and then pick the best and answer that one. Or go on an extemporaneous riff that touches on all of them. Then they’d call on three or four more people, and pick the best of that batch as well. And so on, until their half-hour is up.
This would allow filmmakers to skip the boring questions like “How much was the budget?” “How long was the shoot?” and “Did you let the actors improvize?” in favor of the more intriguing questions that might have been overlooked in the swamp of raised hands. It would also accomodate people who have comments rather than questions (“Is there a question in there?” the audience members with actual questions grouse), since the comment wouldn’t need to be responded to at all.
The downside is filmmakers might use it as an excuse to skip over inconvenient questions that they don’t want to answer. But how often are those asked anyway?
1 year ago