So at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year the catch phrase was "survive til 25!" then since then I've heard it downgraded to "Exist til 26" as if 2025 is already considered a wash by many in the industry. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not interested in waiting for the establishment of the film industry to feel like they've sufficiently broken and punished the workers and creatives for wanting a better living, so that things can get back to "Normal". What is "normal" for the film industry from the independent point of view today? We are nothing to the studios, they are now closed eco-systems where our presence isn't welcome, like an invasive species in their coy pond, they are protecting the pretty things they've invested in and calling in exterminators. There used to be room for most in the industry to get their piece, granted as you went down the tier to low budget independent that piece got small, but was yours for the taking, and you could, if industrious and creative eek out a living. Currently there are very few ways to make an independent film and make money for your investors. I'm looking to rebuild the industry from the ground up, like in the dark ages I'm going to do it from the left over infrastructure abandoned by the Roman Empire. These are the dark ages for independent film in America, we were hyped in the 90's as a cultural phenomena and they made money off that independent film brand. We were assimilated into the industry in the 2000's, forgotten in the 2010's, and now in the 2020's we are chum for the sharks in the water. We need to have some serious conversations about walking away from the current system and being truly independent in every way. That means independent in equity, production, and distribution. Exhibition is where that Roman infrastructure comes in, we have to align ourselves with the theater chains and create our own pipelines, and only license our films to streamers that are willing to give a fair deal for our movies. The old saying is you can 10% of something or 100% of nothing, well when was the last time you were offered 10%. #indiefilmrev
