It's best to define your audience as early on as possible. But even if you're in the middle of production, it's worth it to stop and think about who is going to see your piece. Who do you want to see this movie? Who do you think would be most impacted by your work? Different films appeal to different people and you can make your film in a million different ways depending on whom you are targeting. These targeted groups are your audience. Be critical when defining your audience, because it may be a much more specific group than you would first assume. No one film is interesting to or appropriate for everyone.

Here are a few questions to help you define your audience:
- Who are the people most affected by the issue addressed in your film?
- Do you want your film to "preach to the converted" or to reach people who have never been exposed to the issue in your film or your point of view?
- Where do they live?
- How old are they?
- Do they work? Where?
- Where do they gather as a community? (churches, malls, etc.)
- What language do they speak?
- Do they already know a lot about the issue(s) of your film?
- What other issues concern them?
- Who are the people who have the most power to affect the change that you want your film to make?
- Which organizations work with these types of people?

One very valuable way to judge your piece's effectiveness is to have a rough-cut screening. What this entails is showing your film to a group of people in your target audience during postproduction, before your film is absolutely finished. In other words, you are at a stage when you are open to feedback and you are still able to make changes. For more on knowing your audience, please read "Know Your Audience: Youth Media Distribution Tips from Sundance" by Nicole Betancourt.