Categories
Truly Free Film

30 Really Bad Things In FilmBiz 2014

IMG_9903It is now time for my complete list of The Suck In Today’s Film Biz. Earlier this week, I’ve dropped some bits on Keyframe and Filmmaker Mag. IndieWire picked it up. There’s so much that is wrong, it is easy to share the wealth. But here is all of those combined lists  plus many more. Can’t you hear everyone screaming “OMG, there is so much too fix! It is time we made this really work for ambitious and diverse film once and for all!”?  We wish, right?

I have been chronicling the negative in our film industry for sometime now — six years in these type of posts, but my original rant goes back to 1995 for Filmmaker Magazine.  Much of what I have stated in years’ passed remains still in need of getting done. Dig in to my past lists and when you combine them you will have well over 100 things that we could be doing better.  You’d think with so much wrong, more people would stand up and say “this has got to change!”. Where is the film industry’s national leadership? For the first time I believe we are capable of conceptualizing what an entire systems reboot could be — and one that looks out for ALL the stakeholders.  Isn’t it time for a international summit on this?

I have been also chronicling the good too, but today that’s for another day. Come back tomorrow for my comprehensive list of 30 Good Things In The Film Biz 2014.

By detailing what we have failed to do, done wrong, or continue to ignore, we build a road map of how we can improve things for the future. Here’s my contribution to that map for 2014.  Let’s build this better together.

  1. The “Winners Take All” Blockbuster Model Has Stomped “The Long Tail” Flat (in Hollywood). And as much as I hoped people would try to resist
Categories
Truly Free Film

Influence The Rules That Will Influence You

Copyright law, net neutrality, media consolidation, fair use, antitrust, DMCA — you have to not just know these, but know how you can influence the rules that influence you. Ultimately, it’s not just the laws that set the rules; it’s also the technology.  The good news is that history has shown that the community, particularly when they find the right leaders, can truly make change happen.

This episode of ReInvent Hollywood has it all:

Categories
Truly Free Film

2014: The Year The Film Biz Recognized Our Era Of Abundance

For awhile now, 99% of the films generated have essentially gone unseen. The film industry is finally waking up to this overall change.

Are we now prepared for the next step? And the appropriate one at that?

Categories
Issues and Actions

Media Consolidation Limits Competition

Filmmakers should fight the Comcast/Time Warner merger.

As the WGA points out:”Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable is bad for everyone: