The Indie Landscape
Penguin July 13th, 2009
James Stern gave the keynote at LAFF. You can listen to the mp3 or read it at Variety.
From January through May 2008, four studio films grossed more than $100 million dollars. This year, that number is eleven. Almost triple.
Meanwhile, in the same period, the number of indies that grossed over $1 million dollars went from 16 to six. Less than half.
Make Smarter Movies
What I mean is crafting a disciplined process that results in a smarter product. Smarter process means designing movie projects with really clear target audiences in mind from the very beginning. Doing that takes coordination among all parties involved, from finance to creative to production to marketing to distribution. Having a clear target in mind determines the process and the range of budget that needs to be financed.
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Patrick Goldstein of The LA Times describes the difference between “making better movies” and “making smarter movies” this way:“The real problem with the indie business isn’t quality, but discipline. We have a generation of filmmakers who feel entitled to make personal films… and a generation of executives who’ve been willing to essentially use specialty films as a loss-leader to launch their division or win awards. If people in the indie world want to start making money again, they have to start treating their investment like a truly precious natural resource, not like Monopoly money. Discipline is not antithetical to art.”
Respect the Money
The point is, talent and money have to be on the same page. If you as a producer buy a giraffe and the director brings you a giraffe, it’s your fault if you decide you now want a zebra because market conditions have changed and zebras are in.
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a good movie losing money – is the one unpardonable sin in our business. Everyone’s going to make mistakes and occasionally make bad films. But if a movie really works – but then people don’t get their money back – financiersdon’t understand. We have to make sure that, especially when we get it right, everybody gets paid.
Think Markets
Most businesses have a complete plan from the start of a project, which includes the whole chain from manufacturing through distribution.
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I was blown away when I found out that the # 32 film on the all-time documentary box-office list is a little 2005 film I’d never heard of, called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. (It’s about wild parrots living on Telegraph Hill, by the way.) Can you imagine how tiny the market sliver is of people willing to take a night out to go see this peculiar-sounding film?Well, the filmmaker did imagine them. Rather thoughtfully, in fact. And then proceeded to use viral marketing to rally those people into the theater, by making the film an event for every bird-lover on God’s green Earth.
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You can target market segments as long as you’ve created something appealing to them.
It’s a great speech. Take the time to read or listen to the entirety.
- Penguin
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