Maybe they just built it completely backwards… Or rather: the way the world is now compared to the way it was then is so profoundly different that it might as well be the Bizarro world where red is yellow and yellow red. Backwards is forwards, and forwards backwards?
It certainly seems like it is backwards. We spend all our money and effort to get people together AROUND existing content. We try to make them WANT
Part of producing is engineering serendipity. At least part of good producing is. How do we elevate work to the higher levels? How can we bring the mediocre into magnificence? Good producing comes from both the practical side and what many seem to think is the magical side. You have to know how to make basic shit happen on a consistent basis and then you have to learn how to make the rare occur as much as it ever could. It is not magic, but it goes far beyond being practical.
To make the positive aspects of the rare occur more frequently, I have
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If we want to move forward, we need to recognize where we are currently standing, and adapt our behavior to the reality we encounter.
Warning: Such recognition, often makes people think everything is getting worse. That simply is not true; that is just nostalgia playing havoc with your perception. There never were good old days because back then people still needed to find best practices too. They did not know then what you know now, just as those coming down the pike will have full benefit of all your excavation tomorrow. So be it.
So…
We have lived so long in the era of the inverted pyramid that we don’t yet recognize that the pipes have all burst. For the last twenty-plus years the number of movies made each year increases, but the number of movies theatrically distributed remained around the same. But theatrical release — or even a festival premiere — does not a movie make.
No matter what camp you sit in — artist, audience, or industry — the onslaught of titles now available to you is nothing short of devastating. We miss more than we see, and forever will. It is a flood and no one is throwing us life rafts.
All the new digital platforms and social media tools have effectively crushed the dam. It was a barrier that needed crushing, but
By Reid Rosefelt
Many of you are at Sundance now with a new movie. Congratulations and I wish you the best of luck. I know you’re overwhelmed with the experience and it might seem a ridiculous time to ask: “Will your film still be watched in 2043?”
With the advent of digital streaming, movies available for round-the-clock viewing have already become needles in haystacks as high as Everest. Netflix claims to have 90,000 DVD titles and 12,000 streaming ones. Add to that, movies from other streaming sites like iTunes, Hulu, Amazon, CinemaNow, Mubi, Fandor, Snagfilms, Crackle, YouTube, Indiepix, Crunchyroll, and apps like HBO to Go, that even allowing for overlaps, it becomes numbing for most people to pick a particular movie out of the pile. In 2043 there will undoubtedly be hundreds of thousands of films and TV show episodes available instantly, but all current indications suggest it won’t be a comprehensive list or include the best films. The lack of selection isn’t an issue today, but I believe that future cultural and technological trends will lead the mass public to select among what is most convenient and instant, and only the most discerning viewers will seek the best of cinema history on plastic discs.
I was invited to contribute to the “Wish For The Future” series on Good.is. This is mine:
When do we stop just thinking about ourselves and instead start working together? I am not talking about saving the world; I am writing about preserving and advancing ambitious film and media culture. It’s threatened, and no one individual will ever rescue it. My wish for the future is for the creative community, locally, nationally and globally, to work together to build the better indie infrastructure that is now possible.
