Audience and Purpose

Knowing your audience is crucial to a good argument. If you are unaware of who you are speaking to, your argument could fall flat. There are different strategies that can be used with different types of audiences. A speaker is not going to say the same thing about drunk driving to teenager as to middle aged parents.
A good thing to know is who your topic is going to impact. An increase in the film incentive would impact most of the state. It could possibly increase taxes; therefore all taxpayers would be affected. It would affect those who live in the Wilmington area greatly too. Seeing as there is a major studio here, many filmmakers would want to use this area. The people here would need to understand that shooting would occur where they live. It also impacts filmmakers and those who work in the film industry. A higher incentive means more movies. More movies means more jobs. This could be comforting to a lot of people who would be able to stay in the area instead of having to move to somewhere like LA.
You also need to know who is interested in your topic. The people who work in the film industry and want job security would be interested. This is because no one wants to lose their job and uprooting and moving away are not fun tasks either. Production companies would also be interested in a higher incentive. They are always looking for ways to cut down their budget and a tax break is a good way to do this. More studios would look to North Carolina as a viable location for shooting because of its competitive incentive rate.
The purpose of the side advocating for an increased incentive is to provide more jobs, stimulate the economy within North Carolina, and build a larger film industry in the state. They want to be a competitive part of this ever growing industry and want in on some of the profits.
The opposing side’s purpose is to protect the taxpayers. They do not want to be giving breaks to anyone who does not deserve it. They also do not want to have to raise the people’s taxes again, especially if the promised results take a long time to be seen.