I read this stupid article. I love how the producer declares his film commercial and is shocked how distributors aren't lining up to buy his film. What fantasy was he living in? And that sentence is meant to sum up the idea that even commercial films can't make it these days. What a load of crap.
To be fair, these downer stories in the paper aren't just about the film business. The whole world is tanking. Every industry is screwed. Film, even indie film, actually seems better off than most of the others. There's always a shake up of indie distributors every few years.
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posted by @ 11/18/2008 6:42 PM
I agree with you. And these woe-is-the-indie-filmmaker stories come in waves. I remember a doc made years ago, "To Heck with Hollywood," that also featured filmmakers losing their homes because of their films.
But you are right -- economic distress and "creative destruction" are not limited to film right now by any means. Although I do think, also, that the huge amount of production of recent years may be part of the larger bubble that has just burst.
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posted by Scott Macaulay @ 11/18/2008 7:34 PM
I'm not sure that the number of indie films was the reason that all these distribs went under. I know that seems to be the common wisdom, but it stinks a little to me. Sure, there were a lot of films getting made, but most of them didn't get any distribution in the theaters at all. A lot them made decent money on DVD, but that never gets reported. And a lot of the ones that got into the theater were just stuck into a theater in NY or LA with no intention of making any theatrical money. Remember, the "window" is shrinking and all that.
There may have been too many films from a distributor point of view, meaning that there was too much competition. But from my point of view, ie. the audience, there was barely anything out there to see. I could have used a few more films. Obviously, I don't live in NY.
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posted by clarax @ 11/19/2008 5:15 PM
