Expert tips from Filmmaster Events for planning a hitch-free event

Create the Unexpected
Carla Marques says, “We need to always create the unexpected. As planners, the worst thing that can happen to you is someone saying it was an expected surprise. Entertainment is all around. We need to discuss more on entertainment value of every event so that it comes out of the stage and goes into every one attending.” She adds, “The world is watching India and getting inspired by it. India has set a benchmark for everyone, not only in the wedding industry, but also in terms of events and entertainment. A lot of global artists are now a part of the landscape of events in India.”

From conventional to unconventional
“The attendees at an event should have no idea on what they are going into. We as planners need to invent far beyond the message that we want to convey. It may be any event, reverse the experience and do something new and creative. Creativity has to everywhere. Just for an example when our team launched the new collection of the Swarovski jewelry, we brought the collection into life and did it in a very grand and a different manner,” says Ms. Marques.

Budgets and Team Size
With budgets and team size playing a key role in event planning, Ms. Marques shares, “It depends on events. When we launched F1 in Baku, it was a very complex ceremony and we didn’t have much time, but still we did a great show. For budget anywhere between three to six crores’ is a good budget to deliver something spectacular. If I talk about the team size, we have three main departments – The business team, the creative team and the production team. These teams are interlinked. Your prime goal should be to manage the expectations of a client. Whatever you do should fit to client’s expectation and go further to the taste and goals of the client and make it live.”

Adaptability
With the thoughts on the willingness and adoption of new ideas, Anna Montorsi says, “In everything that we do outside, we work as much as possible and we find the best local channels. We always work with partners to make it a good show. Exchange of information makes you learn a lot. Some nations are very difficult to manage, but we are very adaptable. It is in fact the most interesting and the most challenging part of the business”. She adds, “We have a core team is 5-10 members, but a lot of local talent is brought in depending on the location. We want our work to leave something behind us. We learn from them and we leave something back for them. I feel that there is a lot of learning, creativity and talent in India. Everything here has a story.”

Challenges
Ms. Marques shares, “There is sometimes a lot of pressure internally. Budget constraints, finding the right partner clients, changing and evolving competitors, etc. I feel that we need to learn to say no.”

Ms. Montorsi says, “Budget and time are big challenges. We say no to clients who want to change everything at the last time. Sometimes you have to defend your own ideas. We have to be consultants. In our business, some clients are very passionate as emotions, reputation etc. at stake. The more passionate client makes us even more passionate. It is difficult to say no if it is a good project, but there is always something that can empower that project. Ours is a very interesting relationship with the client. We need to convey it to them that their success is our success.” 

Working Together

Sharing the expectation from the Indian partners, Ms. Marques says, “On the business side, we are always willing them to give us a chance to learn and exchange knowledge. In the past, a lot of people have approached us from the Indian market, but we refused as firstly we were not ready to take the challenge and secondly the mindset was not on the same page. It should be like a marriage.”