Filmmaking
The future of (Genre) FIlmmaking
17/10/11 20:55
I spent the weekend at Con*Cept, a small Montreal Science-Fiction convention. I was invited to participate in a panel with fellow colleagues Sv Bell, Brett Kelly, Eric Bilodeau and Keith about the future of Genre Filmmaking. I was not officially listed as a guest but my colleagues were kind enough to invite me to join in.
It turned out to be a VERY interesting conversation. And inevitably it gravitated towards the death of medias in general. Piracy was of course brought up. Various reasons were given for the slow and brutal demise of most medias. Yet no one seems to have a really clear answer as to why it is happening. There are a lot of factors at play here and I think the issue is more complex than simple piracy.
More on the subject soon!
Comments
Is the future of independent films a mere Hobby?
25/09/11 12:50
This is something I posted a while back when I was trying to find a viable business model for the future. Ironically, it is a huge chunk of the business structure I use for my current project, Heroes of the North. And ironically, it has been a very fun ride. However, it is probably even more handwork at the moment for lesser returns. Keep following this blog for more information on the process as it unfolds.
I have been reading about the future of the film industry (and medias in general) for a while now. I have seen a lot of creative ideas (crowdfunding, Artemis project, CwF+RtB, etc.).
I am a filmmaker and I used to earn a decent living selling my films worldwide. In the last few years, the bottom fell out and the prices are dropping so low that making the films become unsustainable. Everybody is scrambling for the exit and looking for a new business model or looking for ways to go back to the status quo. While I agree that it is impossible to stop piracy and pointless to sue for that, I however wonder about the viability of a CwF+RtB (Connect with Fans and give them a Reason to Buy) models and other propositions, like crowd funding (which is a legal grey area and I believe it is only a matter of time before that plug is filled).
So as far as I can tell, the reasoning goes a little like this: spend years building an audience for your film, in order to convince them to finance you and your film, keep them posted on the progress, shoot the film, give it for free along with some reasonably priced swag they can't download, and keep promoting the shit out of it until you eventually (or more realistically hopefully) break even then start again... Fun perhaps, but at this point, it's not a business it is a hobby! You cannot sustain an industry like this!
If you factor in all the time and effort to make the film, plus all the time you spend "connecting with fans" and providing them with (free) added value, you end up making less than a quarter of a penny an hour for your time! I love my job but I also need to pay my bills! Under the CwF+RtB model, not only do I need to raise the money to make the film, a difficult proposition even under the "old" model, now I also need to find cash to finance the schwag ( and the warehouse to store it - you can always go "print on demand" style, but the costs are higher, diminishing your chances of selling it unless you want to make pennies of profit - and let's face it, only the hard core fans will buy the swag!) and spend even more time connecting with the audience than ever before, plus add all the support time of maintaining what is now also becoming a retail business!!! I fail to see how it is sustainable for indie filmmakers with limited resources to begin with. It does not appear to make economical sense to me. Maybe I am not understanding it right but feel free to enlighten me. I'd like to understand what I am missing.
I have been reading about the future of the film industry (and medias in general) for a while now. I have seen a lot of creative ideas (crowdfunding, Artemis project, CwF+RtB, etc.).
I am a filmmaker and I used to earn a decent living selling my films worldwide. In the last few years, the bottom fell out and the prices are dropping so low that making the films become unsustainable. Everybody is scrambling for the exit and looking for a new business model or looking for ways to go back to the status quo. While I agree that it is impossible to stop piracy and pointless to sue for that, I however wonder about the viability of a CwF+RtB (Connect with Fans and give them a Reason to Buy) models and other propositions, like crowd funding (which is a legal grey area and I believe it is only a matter of time before that plug is filled).
So as far as I can tell, the reasoning goes a little like this: spend years building an audience for your film, in order to convince them to finance you and your film, keep them posted on the progress, shoot the film, give it for free along with some reasonably priced swag they can't download, and keep promoting the shit out of it until you eventually (or more realistically hopefully) break even then start again... Fun perhaps, but at this point, it's not a business it is a hobby! You cannot sustain an industry like this!
If you factor in all the time and effort to make the film, plus all the time you spend "connecting with fans" and providing them with (free) added value, you end up making less than a quarter of a penny an hour for your time! I love my job but I also need to pay my bills! Under the CwF+RtB model, not only do I need to raise the money to make the film, a difficult proposition even under the "old" model, now I also need to find cash to finance the schwag ( and the warehouse to store it - you can always go "print on demand" style, but the costs are higher, diminishing your chances of selling it unless you want to make pennies of profit - and let's face it, only the hard core fans will buy the swag!) and spend even more time connecting with the audience than ever before, plus add all the support time of maintaining what is now also becoming a retail business!!! I fail to see how it is sustainable for indie filmmakers with limited resources to begin with. It does not appear to make economical sense to me. Maybe I am not understanding it right but feel free to enlighten me. I'd like to understand what I am missing.
The future is in flux...
25/09/11 10:26
I have been a filmmaker most of my life. I started making films with my brothers and neighbours in our backyard when I was twelve years old. I never really stopped. I still do it. I am one of the lucky few amongst the independent filmmakers that can say that he earns a living doing it. At least I used to - well, technically I still am but it has gotten harder than ever - and it was never easy to begin with... But now, the world is changing.
Technology is responsible for the change. It gave us wonderful, lightweight cameras that rival the beauty and resolution of film. You can now edit an entire feature in your bedroom for less than the price of a used car. And that is wonderful. It also means that the medium has finally been democratized: cheap and accessible means that everybody can do it. And they do! By millions, if not billions, filling servers at YouTube with countless cat videos, amongst more interesting content. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that - I am glad it is happening. I have discovered fresh faces, innovative ideas, seen beautiful stories well told I would most likely have never seen otherwise in the old order of things.
Conversely, technology has made possible a distribution model with a cost of near zero, a way of making virtually identical copies of media and henceforth, just like music before it, print, film and video business models are slowly eroding and should, for all intent and purpose, disappear down the line.
Some say it is evolution in a way and I agree. Things change, whether we like it or not. Things were not easy before however, and they are about to get way harder.
This is why I am staring this blog. To think out loud. Exchange with others. To find new ways. New directions. I don't think we are near a definitive answer yet - everything is in flux. And things will get way harder before they get any easier.
Technology is responsible for the change. It gave us wonderful, lightweight cameras that rival the beauty and resolution of film. You can now edit an entire feature in your bedroom for less than the price of a used car. And that is wonderful. It also means that the medium has finally been democratized: cheap and accessible means that everybody can do it. And they do! By millions, if not billions, filling servers at YouTube with countless cat videos, amongst more interesting content. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that - I am glad it is happening. I have discovered fresh faces, innovative ideas, seen beautiful stories well told I would most likely have never seen otherwise in the old order of things.
Conversely, technology has made possible a distribution model with a cost of near zero, a way of making virtually identical copies of media and henceforth, just like music before it, print, film and video business models are slowly eroding and should, for all intent and purpose, disappear down the line.
Some say it is evolution in a way and I agree. Things change, whether we like it or not. Things were not easy before however, and they are about to get way harder.
This is why I am staring this blog. To think out loud. Exchange with others. To find new ways. New directions. I don't think we are near a definitive answer yet - everything is in flux. And things will get way harder before they get any easier.