The good folks over at Tribeca asked me to post on the NY State Film & TV Tax Credit debacle. So I did and surprisingly I was able to come up with a few more things to say…
My gist is we all have to be a hell of a lot more vigilant about the issues that may effect us if we want to be able to earn a living working in this field. I list out a starter course, but really the question is what can we go to dinner on? And let me know what you think I left out.
Net Neutrality—Our ability to access and distribute work and ideas, organize around it, is dependent on this core democratic principle.
Media Consolidation—The lack of an antitrust action has created an environment that is virtually impossible to compete in.
Labor Union Stability—The unrest of this year across the guilds has helped no one.
Copyright Law Revision—The rules are antiquated, protecting corporate interests over the creators, while limiting the audience’s access to new art forms.
Copyright Protection—The blatant disregard for artists’ rights across the Internet make a bad situation even worse.
Government Funding For The Arts (or lack thereof)—The only work artists can expect to be compensated for are the most blatantly commercial endeavors.
Social Network Rules—The Draconian control different networks exert over user content does not bode well for community hopes of sharing information and content.
Data Portability—Everyone’s right to the information their work generates is a necessary principle if artists are ever going to have a direct relationship with their audiences.
Demystification of Distribution and Exhibition Practices—The last twenty years were about demystifying the production process, but there will be no true independence unless the cycle is made complete.
Exhibition Booking Policies and Practices Revision—Distributors require exhibitors to book on full weeks, restricting their ability to become true community centers, providing their audiences with what they want, when they want it.
New Blood Recruitment for Distribution and Exhibition—Since virtually all of the specialized distribution and exhibition entities are run by people who came of age in the days of pure theatrical exhibition, they yearn for a return to those days and are resistant to new practices. Or are they?
Ratings Structure—The current system is not applicable to the diverse work being made today.
Loss of Film Critics’ Old Media Platforms—Our critics were our curators, letting audiences know what to see when, and now most have been fired. Where will our new curators be found? We’ve started HammerToNail to help audiences find the best in true indie American narrative work, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Filmmaker Re-education for this New Media Universe—Let’s face it, we are all a bunch of Luddites. Until we recognize what tools are available and how to use them, we are depriving both ourselves and our audiences from the quality of work we all deserve.
Creation of Indie Film Promotional Portals—How can we see good work when we don’t even know it exists?
Broadband Availability and Strength—America lags behind the rest of the developed world not just in terms of broadband penetration, but also in the quality and level of that broadband service.
Digital Film Archive—As more and more filmmakers move to a digital medium to both originate and finish that work, how will this work be preserved for future generations?
Indie Film History Archive—The history and process of how this work we are now creating will be remembered will be impossible without some joint effort to preserve it.
