• 

  Ten Predictions (Hopes) for Branded Content in 2020

  • Posted on 19th Dec
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  I’ve been writing top-ten prediction lists for film and media since 2006 – yes, back when my predictions included the final end of VHS (!) and what Google buying Youtube (Oct. 2006) would mean for indies. Last year’s predictions included Netflix buying a theater (pretty much), more brand studios (yes, again), and that Amazon would buy MoviePass and merge it with Prime (nope). Ok, sometimes I strike out, but my list is as much a wish-list as a prediction, so without further ado, here’s my inaugural Top Ten Predictions (and Hopes) for Branded Content in 2020. This full article is running on the BrandStorytelling Newsletter as a Guest Post - read the full post there. Here's prediction number one:

  1. More brand docs will qualify for the Oscars in 2020, and one will make the short list –

  Stuff I'm Reading

  Film Didn't get into Sundance? Filmmaker Magazine's Scott Macaulay has an OpEd for that, and he's updated it a bit, and it has lots of good advice for surviving the let-down and what to do next.

  

  The Best Undistributed Films of 2019 - Including the Grand Prix winner of SXSW 2019. Indiewire reports on the other issue in indie film - even getting into a festival and winning is still not a guarantee of distribution. Some great films here (and some meh, but hey...).

  Netflix's speed-watching trial joins a long history of content cramming, but may be bad for artists and viewers - Speed reading for the new decade. Here's a quote from Woody Allen,  “I was able to go through ‘War and Peace’ in 20 minutes. It’s about Russia.” Once again, artists are up in arms, but let's face it -people will watch things how they want to watch them. Heck, I remember speed watching two Kurosawa films at the same time on an old fashioned VHS edit system back in film school when I was on a time crunch for an exam. 

  More than Half of 2020’s Sundance Dramatic Competition Films Directed by People of Color - Change is happening (slowly). Maybe the Golden Globes could follow suit and nominate some women directors??

  Watching The Irishman on Netflix Is the Best Way to See It - No less a critic than Richard Brody chimes in to defend watching The Irishman on Netflix - he liked it better than in the theater. Good article in defense of home viewing (but not opposed to theatrical).

  

  Doc Orgs Sue the US Gov't over Visa Rules that hurt filmmakers - The Doc Society (Good Pitch) and International Documentary Association are doing some heavy lifting, along with help from some Academic centers - and suing the US Government over Visa rules that are hindering and potentially endangering visiting filmmakers. The short of it is - the State Dept and DHS are requiring filmmakers to give access to their social media accounts - over 20 of them, potentially - to visit the US. This is bad for privacy, but could be bad for some people's lives -  these are doc filmmakers who take great risks daily, and many of their home governments aren't exactly friendly t critique. Read IDA's Simon Kilmurry's Op-Ed in the LAT explaining this in full. As he says: "So where does that leave our filmmakers? Either they stifle their speech online or they choose not to come to the U.S. to share their work. Either choice deprives American audiences the opportunity to hear new ideas and engage with original contributions to artistic and political discourse." And if you need to still make a year-end gift...IDA is a nonprofit that needs/accepts donations.

  Branded Content PYPO Tries Twist on Branded Content With Frederick’s of Hollywood - Smart marketing from a lingerie brand to create content that puts female creators front and center.

  

  That $120,000 banana taped to a wall shows the limitations of zeitgeist-y advertising - further showing how fickle the zeitgeist wave can be for your brand (You either come off as clever and 'with it, or lame and behind). However, brands attempting to capitalize off the popularity of the art piece might be the entire point and intention of its creator, as the New York Times outlines. 

• 

  Some Facts from the Streaming Wars

  • Posted on 6th Dec
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  A few tidbits from the streaming wars, just this week:

  • It is now estimated that the major streamers - Netflix, Apple+, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max - will spend more than $30 Billion on content in 2020. This doesn't even include Peacock, CBS All Access or the numerous other platforms. 
  • And in the fight for eyeballs to watch that content, they're pouring billions into advertising, making up for the decline in advertising from other sectors (see below);
  • But less of that money is going into films, as more of it goes into episodic (tv) shows, originals and licensing of major library titles. Netflix's film library has now dropped 40% since 2014, according to StreamingObserver. in 2014, Netflix had around 6,500 movies, and now it's got 3,849. 
  • Yet even with that drop, Netflix dominated the "indie" Gotham Awards - winning more than half the awards given this week.
  • One could lament this fact, but let's face it - one of those awards was for When They See Us, by Ava DuVernay (who was also honored), and while Netflix and other SVODs may be lessening their support for indie film overall, they are leading the way with diversity. This is no small matter. 
  • And let's face it - Netflix is also a data company. If there was a compelling case for investing in buying more films - especially indie/arthouse films - they would be doing it. The data is showing them that too few people watch these films. The StreamingObserver article above makes it seem like film is losing out due to original content spend, but it's losing out because that's what people want.
  • Meanwhile, 3853 feature films were submitted to Sundance this year. Yes, that's 4 more than Netflix offers. Let that sink in for awhile.

  Stuff I'm Reading

  Film

  

  What is a documentary anymore? asks Dan Schindel in Hyperallergic - when you can arguably find great examples within video games, VR, video essays and even art exhibits. He gives this Sight & Sound link to many "best of" examples, and I went down a couple-day rabbit hole on Youtube and Vimeo catching up on the form. Great stuff. Dan's looking for great examples too, so check out the article if you are interested in and want to explore/debate the changing nature of this form.

  The Sundance 2020 Feature Line-up has been announced - Some great looking projects have been accepted. This year, they accepted 118 features from 15,100 submissions. 3853 of those were features (the rest, shorts), and for perspective, 1698 of those were US features. Of the 118 feature slots, just 65 were open in theory to US narratives (open, not all of these were programmed that way). I can't really run percentages/acceptance rates without knowing how many of the features submitted were narratives vs. docs, etc. But the odds were against you. Kudos to those who made it, and kudos for Sundance on good diversity numbers (broken down in the link). 

  Matt Stoller explains exactly why the DOJ scrapping the Paramount Consent Decrees is a bad idea - because we still have monopolies in the film business, it will hurt smaller chains and indies, and makes no sense. Or as he says,  "At any rate, I’m sort of glad Delrahim has done something so stupid and obvious. The exhibition business is already very concentrated. Imperial Disney is doing what it’s doing, and streaming is basically designed under the current public policy framework to become a fight among monopolists over market power. It’s time to have a real conversation about vertical integration in the big media industry. Much as China’s clumsy censorship of the NBA’s Houston Rockets executive made the stakes of our China policy obvious to policymakers, the proposed end of the Paramount Consent Decrees could spark a more open debate among artists in Hollywood about whether they want to have a creative industry anymore, and how political they are willing to get if they decide they actually do."

  Martin Scorsese on The Irishman: 'Please, please don’t look at it on a phone' -  Scorsese, like most auteurs and cinephiles, cringes at the notion you might watch his film on a smaller screen. I agree, but it's a lost cause, as evidenced by the shots of people watching it on their watches in the article. Or worse:

  

  Streaming

  How To Build A Great Video Streaming App - Oh, if it was only this easy. But it's a good primer on the terms, and the basics of how streaming apps work

  How Home Entertainment Companies Are Navigating the Streaming Apocalypse -  DVD, especially 4K UHD DVD, isn't dead, in fact sales grew last year. But it's a tough business. Cinephiles will spend for higher quality, but will anyone else?

  US lagging on mobile video streaming due to spectrum crunch - The US is falling far behind on the video experience, because we allow monopolies to control our broadband internet and mobile, and they still suck. Ditch those channel subscriptions, but you are still stuck with the same evil assholes for your internet streaming speeds.

  Branded Content

  Everyone's moving to branded content because advertising doesn't work, especially in an SVOD world...except for the actual SVOD players, who are spending billions on ads, reports the WSJ. Analysts estimate SVOD platforms will spend multiple billions on advertising, helping to fill a gap where others slow down. Pretty soon, perhaps we'll just have SVOD and ads for SVOD, and nothing else? Or will SVOD have to start doing product placement in their own shows? Crazy times ahead!

  The most disturbing horror film of the season is Peloton's new commercial -  A must watch, and as creepy as the headline and the comments. And it even impacted their stock, which dropped 9% in one day after the ad dropped. And they say advertising doesn't work...

  

  ET go home: why Spielberg’s alien shouldn’t be flogging wifi - Spielberg Sells Out ET for a commercial -and a shitty one at that. WTF? Have you no decency, sir?

  VR/AI/Gaming A Go Master (the best) has quit because he can't beat AI - A South Korean Go Master quit because AI is that much better. And I've recently seen a film (coming out soon) about an AI that can beat humans at debate!  

  Then again, there's a lot of AI snake-oil, and this slide deck (PDF) shows you how to recognize it. (HT to Unsupervised Learning for both of these links)

  Reports Say Amazon Will Enter Game Streaming: Should Competitors Be Worried? -  No surprise here, but Amazon is about to control game streaming as well as everything else we do.

  Social Media

  Mass media vs. social media - A good corrective to the narrative that social media handed Trump the presidency, when mass media was doing its own (crap) job at covering the news correctly. Which had more impact? Definitely the regular news.

  Miscellany 

  TikTok has 1.5 billion downloads, and is beating Facebook and Instagram. It is 3rd in downloads only to WhatsApp and Messenger. I still bump into film people and marketers who don't even know what TikTok is, in spite of the press and popularity. Yes, it's a young person's (and mom's) medium, but it's one to know well.

• 

  Surviving Sundance Notification Time

  • Posted on 27th Nov
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  Short newsletter this week due to the US Holiday. It's that time of year again – when filmmakers and their colleagues pretend to enjoy Turkey over Thanksgiving while waiting for the notification from Sundance on whether they are accepted or rejected. Literally every film person I know is waiting to hear. Some heard already - mainly no's but a few yes's, but most people tend to hear over Thanksgiving weekend if they were accepted, and just after if not. 

  This year, I am somehow attached to about ten projects stuck in this limbo - from a mix of clients to personal projects, both indie films and branded content, and let me tell you - the wait sucks. There's no getting around it. Even filmmakers who won't truly have a good cut until February, 2020 (after Sundance) or later usually submitted anyway just in case (I don't like this strategy, but it's common). And while they've called everyone they know and tried to position their films with sales agents or whoever, it basically comes down to the taste of a small group of programmers, and you don't have much control over that process.

  So once again, for all of you waiting – try to relax, and don't worry if you don't get in. Remember, there are other festivals. The programers make mistakes...a lot of them. Nearly every year, I know of at least ten films that didn't get in that are better than ten other films I see at the festival. But even when they are "right" in rejecting your film, there are other paths to an audience, and sometimes those other festivals and strategies can be better for your particular film. You can't worry too much about something so out of your control. 

  That said - this system sucks. We need a better one. Last year, over 14,000 films submitted for about 120 feature slots and maybe another 60 short slots. That number will surely go up this year. And that's just for Sundance, not all the other festivals (estimates are as high as 60,000 unique titles submit to festivals via Film Freeway and similar services annually). We all know this system doesn't work, but we keep on doing it. Of course, I don't have a solution either, so here we are, pretending to use a system that doesn't work well, to determine what gets seen. I say pretending, because a large number of the accepted slots are not programmed out of the general entries, even at Sundance.

  But yet - it's the best system we have now, if you think of it as just a sampling of what films are on offer for 2020. Sundance does a better job than most at curating a decent selection of what's coming out, and that's why we all follow it and copy it, and obsess over it. So, for those of you who do get the good news this weekend - kudos! I can't wait to see your films in Park City, and hope at least one of the projects I know about gets in too!

  Stuff I'm Reading

  Film 4 ways the consent decree decision could impact the movies - Polygon takes a look at four plausible scenarios. Bottom line - this decision could limit choice, stifle indie voices and enrich monopolies. Most of the summaries of the impact of this decision have focused on the majors, but its the rest of us that will be impacted. One would think there's a service org to fight this? Is AFM A Waste of Time and Money? - Evan Littman gives the low down on how AFM works and how it doesn’t. Short version: don’t go  unless you already know the people you want to meet. Can a movie bring about major corporate change? -  The Guardian looks at whether Dark Waters might help or hurt Dupont, and the verdict is mixed at best. Their stock price has already been hit, but then again, Wall Street analysts feel it will get the problems out of the way. Can any film make a difference? Yes, and they give a few good examples.

  

  What does the first official Netflix cinema mean for Hollywood? - Netflix saved the Paris Theater - what does that mean for Hollywood, asks the Guardian? Well, they have a home for The Irishman after it finishes at the Belasco. Wow, the possibility of streaming sure is killing those ticket sales (not). I'm glad Netflix is renting its way to the Oscars, because they are saving some awesome theaters along the way.

  Streaming Netflix, Apple+, Disney+ and Amazon Prime - winners - all the others - Quibi, Hulu, HBO, Peacock, etc. losers - that's the word from Scott Galloway, not me, but I agree (though for different reasons at times). While quite a d-ck, Galloway is one of the smartest folks out there on business and marketing. I agree with most of what he says, but think Netflix will stumble more than he thinks along the way. It's content is merely an afterthought for me these days. But regardless, this is worth reading, as is his newsletter - if you aren't already a subscriber, you should be. HBO Max wants to be the next cable bundle - as opposed to HBO. Says John Stankey in a Recode interview: they are unbundling to rebundle.  “At some point there will be platforms that re-aggregate and rebuild. ... We’d like [HBO Max] ultimately to be a place where re-aggregation occurs,” The Mandalorian has already dethroned Stranger Things for most streams - according to Business Insider and Parrot analytics. And the numbers are pretty stellar: ""The Mandalorian" had over 100 million demand expressions during the week of November 17 to November 23, according to Parrot Analytics, while "Stranger Things" had 81 million."

  Branded Content   Native Advertising has a trust issue, but the problem isn’t the format -  So, here’s the big question. "How can we use Native advertising to its full advantage, without being seen to deceive the very people we’re trying to sell to?" The writer thinks yes, if you are transparent, focus on the audience and have a good strategy. Me, I'm not so sure. I always hate stumbling into native content, and would always prefer a partnership that shows me good content, not just a longer ad, disguised as content. VR/AR/Gaming Vader Immortal is what a ‘theme park film’ actually looks like, and it’s great - If were looking for something just for fun "Vader Immortal uses its limited interactivity to build a compelling illusion of physically engaging with Star Wars’ fantasy world. And ultimately, that’s the point of a theme park — not just the spectacle and the inevitability, but the sense that you’re actually in the middle of it all." Social Media How removing ‘likes’ from Instagram could affect our mental health - "But, Instagram is making this change, even if it hurts business." CEO Adam Mosseri, explained recently at the Wired25 Summit that anxiety and social pressures that come from the app “are becoming more acute, particularly with young people, particularly in a mobile-first world. The idea is to depressurize Instagram,” Instagram’s Mosseri said. “We’re trying to reduce anxiety, we’re trying to reduce social comparisons.” Miscellany  What does the future hold for LGBT+ media? -While the present may be looking bleak with certain publications being shut down, LGBT+ will be on the uprise with new Revenue Streams and Brand Partnerships. Expect the latter to be key... kinda like all media. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

• It's time for Branded Content to Break the Rules

  • Posted on 21st Nov
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  I wrote another guest post this week for BrandStorytelling - check out the full article there, but here's a teaser:

  As more brands move into long form branded content – meaning feature length documentary or narrative films around 90 minutes – brands increasingly have the same plan - to premiere at Sundance or another top festival and then “get onto Netflix”. These are worthy goals to be sure, and I’ve sold multiple brand client films to Netflix and other distributors. But this is just one strategy for distribution, and I keep hoping more brands will wake up to the reality that maybe they don’t need to follow “the rules” and go down this path to distribute their films. Perhaps it could be better to break the rules of the old-school film world and forge their own paths.

  This might seem counterintuitive, but if part of the goal of premiering at Sundance/SXSW and then landing on Netflix is to show prestige and break through the noise, you might be picking the most crowded path of all.

  Read the Full Post here. And in case you're wondering - yes, this applies to indie filmmakers as well, but brands are better capitalized to take control of their distribution. And no, I'm not saying you shouldn't keep in mind the realities of the marketplace, or best practices, but I am saying that a lot of those aren't working anymore, and we can explore new models, especially if you are a brand with a loyal following and marketing know-how.

  Film

  The NYT is moving more seriously into feature documentaries - according to Digiday, the NYT will start making more feature docs intended for SVOD and other major release. I worked on a feature doc for the NYT two years ago, so it's good to see them moving forward more aggressively now. 

  ‘Maybe Adam Driver Can Help Set Things Right’: Jenny Holzer on Why She Teamed With Amazon to Promote a New Political Drama. Great to see Amazon Studios working with a great artist, who specializes in word-play, on this campaign. 

  

  The Justice Department is getting rid of the Consent Decrees - according to multiple sources, this one being the NYT, the Justice Department is getting rid of the Paramount Consent Decrees, rules from 1949 that stopped the Studios from controlling exhibitors/theaters (contrary to public perception, it didn't actually ban them from owning theaters) as well as from engaging in many bad business practices, such as block booking, where the Studios force theaters to play all their films if they want the good ones. People in the business are very worried about what this means for independent and smaller theaters - studios could force them to show their films instead of arthouse films if they want the latest Star Wars, for example. DOJ argues they will stop block booking for a couple of years and make sure the Studios don't do anything disastrous, and say that with Netflix, etc. we need to allow different business models to flourish. The argument against this move is probably best laid out in Forbes of all places. It seems the main concern at the moment is Disney - they could use their blockbusters to force theaters to play content that might go direct to Disney+ for example, but this could end up happening with all of the major players. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

  Why the Rich Get Richer as AFM Hits Schlock Bottom - The Hollywood Reporter reports on the latest AFM, where just like the rest of the business, only the Top 1% were making sales. But the AFM was built on B-Movies. As noted in the article: ""It feels like MIFED toward the end," notes one veteran buyer, recalling the once-mighty Milan-based film market that shuttered in 2004. "It takes a long time for these things to die. But our business is changing fast, and unless AFM does something to adapt, it won’t be around for much longer."

  Streaming was supposed to kill original theatrical movies. Don’t tell ‘Ford v Ferrari.’ -  “I think the message is this kind of magic still works,” said Bruce Nash... “For all the talk about the popularity of streaming services and all the talk about [theatrical] reboots, people still want to see big movie stars tell an original story on the screen.”

  Netflix board member Ben Weiss writes an op-Ed against Fithians disgrace comments, which I lambasted earlier. I guess we agree. The Disney+ launch was hacked - ZDNet reports that not only did Disney+ have lots of technical issues at launch, but a lot of accounts were hacked. Russian, and other, hackers were selling account logins, and people reported being frozen out, having their details switched, movies added, and other fun stuff. Disney prepared well by buying BamTech, we all thought, but launching an SVOD is harder than it might seem.

  

  Branded Content

  What brands need to know about Douyin - or looking to China for hints on how to use TikTok - China Film Insider has a great little interview with Arnold Ma of China's Qumin agency about how Douyin differs from TikTok (it's more mature), and how consumers and brands are using it in China. Given that teens are leaving WeChat for Douyin in China, and China is roughly a decade ahead of us in this industry, it's a great thought piece on where things might go here. As Ma says:"We think Douyin is here to stay, and it’s growing at a ridiculous rate. And now is the time for brands to take advantage of it. Imagine if a brand built a WeChat presence six years ago or a Facebook presence 13 years ago — today the brand would have the most powerful channel for its marketing."

  ‘Ford v Ferrari’ is a two-hour unofficial car ad that Ford’s pretty happy about

  Instagram is still the most lucrative platform for branded content deals, even without 'likes.' Here’s why, according to influencer-marketing experts.

  VR/AR/AI

  Can Apple make VR mainstream? -  The Week argues that Apple's approach to AR should focus less on augmentation and more on ambience: peripheral information that guides or informs.

  370 lucky ‘Rick & Morty’ fans can put themselves into their favorite show.How they did it is our future in 5G - "Sliding down a giant Morty barfing slide and then riding a hot dog like a riding bull are not things every festival can offer"

  Miscellany

  The New Dot-Com Bubble is here and it's called online advertising - Jesse Frederik and Maurits Martijn, in The Correspondent, delve into the fact that no one knows what's working in online advertising - even the measurements aren't up to snuff, and the more you dig, the worse it gets. You could say this about any advertising, but this article does a great job at looking into the biases that make us want to believe this stuff works.

  Bay Area folks - check out Josh-A-Palooza - One of the first films I worked on as a junior programmer at the Atlanta Film Festival was HAIKU TUNNEL by Jake and Josh Kornbluth. Much later, just a couple of years ago, I was happy to get to work with them as producer on their film LOVE & TAXES. And now, Josh has a new theater piece, about Ben Franklin, and there is a full retrospective of Josh's work (alone and with Jake) in December, in Berkeley. Check out the details and go see this new Ben Franklin thing, as these political theater pieces tend to get popular fast. 

  TheatreFIRST is proud to bring back Bay Area treasure Josh Kornbluth for the first-ever JOSH-A-PALOOZA, a festival of his work in theatre and film. This December, come down to the intimate Waterfront Playhouse to see such theatrical hits as BEN FRANKLIN: UNPLUGGED, LOVE & TAXES, and CITIZEN JOSH, as well as screenings of his films HAIKU TUNNEL, LOVE & TAXES, and THE MATHEMATICS OF CHANGE. Every event is followed by a Q&A with Josh, and benefits the work of TheatreFIRST. Whether you’ve enjoyed Josh’s work before or are coming in fresh, our limited seating promises a unique opportunity to get up close and personal.

  

• 

  The Film Fest Database is Live

  • Posted on 14th Nov
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  The 2020 Film Festival Database is live! Thanks to Michael Forstein for creating it. It's a super handy resource for filmmakers, production companies, brands making films - anyone who needs to submit projects to film festivals. 

  Michael is an independent filmmaker who made the first version of this database on his own because he needed it, and then he made it somewhat open-source for anyone to use for free. It's a labor of love, and while he now has a small group of sponsors paying him for some of his time (kudos to them), you can and should donate to the project if it's something you are going to use. My staff and I use this almost daily as we help our clients submit to festivals. For now, it's US centric - Michael hasn't had time to go in and list all of the international festivals, which would be a great addition, but hey, it's a volunteer effort from one guy!

  Which brings me to the bigger question - why did it take one indie filmmaker getting off his butt to do this for free to make this happen? Where are all these supposed filmmaker service orgs when we need them? (The Film Fest Alliance and Seed & Spark are the only ones I see, and the latter is a for-profit).  It's literally more useful than 90% of the non-grant programs that any film-nonprofit offers. It's a shame they haven't helped out and taken this under their wing. So my suggestion - send your org membership dues to Michael this year. 

  WHAT I'M READING: FILM

  

  The Great Streaming Battle is Here, but how do you compare the services, and what's the real story on what consumers want? The WSJ has the answers, and one of the best breakdowns of the difference in each service's offerings. (possible paywall). And over at the NYT they have an interactive, six question quiz that tells you which services you need to see your favorite shows and movies, and how much it will cost you. Smart stuff. (I’m at $43 and 7 services, with no Netflix).

  Only 159 documentaries qualified for the Academy Awards this year. Yep, that's right, 159. I couldn't watch them all if I tried.

  

  How Parasite became the most talked about foreign language film of 2019: The Guardian reports. The answer - Neon is a marketing master. Look no further than the Jessica Jingle and other memes. 

  Disney+ Added 10M subscribers in 24hrs - making it the fastest growing streaming service ever. 

  Should we break up the Disney Monopoly? - That's what Matt Stoller thinks. I don't agree with all of his arguments, but it's worth a read.

  Viacom bucks direct-to-consumer streaming trend with new Netflix deal for Nickelodeon - With every corporation and brand racing to create their own streaming service to serve their individual IPs, Viacom is trailblazing their own path through their continued partnerships with Netflix. The streaming bubble will burst, but perhaps this is one way to hedge your bets.

  And from the Onion on the James Dean CGI: ‘No, God, No!’ Screams Agonized James Dean Disappearing From Heaven As Filmmakers Finish Constructing CGI.

  WHAT I'M READING: Branded Content

  Vudu Struggles to find an audience and a model - Digiday has the rundown on the issues facing Vudu, not least of which was having a WeWork office in LA, as opposed to a more seemingly permanent home. 

  How Buzzfeed has built a creators network for branded content - Buzzfeed is moving away from treating creators as commodities, but rather as collaborators. Really smart way to keep generating effective content while actually being a company that creatives want to work with (not work for). 

  

  Nike smartly uses TikTok to encourage Sports Activity  - Nike noticed an issue with women in Milan not wanting to hear traditional “get active” messaging from brands, so they worked with social influencers and elite athletes for some fun collaborations, and it worked, with 100M views and over 600M readers about the program. Brands looking into how to use TikTok, here’s your case study.

  WHAT I'M READING: Miscellany:

  PBS has a new brand - not branded content, but actual brand logo-type and design. Bringing them from a “flip-phone to an iphone world,” as Fast Company reports.

• 

  "It's a Disgrace" or Netflix vs. Theaters, again.

  • Posted on 7th Nov
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  The Irishman opened this past Friday, and I finally saw it this week at the Belasco Theater. This is not a review, but it was great, and not just because it’s a Scorsese film with a great cast (Joe Pesci in particular), but because I saw it on Broadway, in a storied theater, that was a much more pleasant experience than seeing it at AMC, Regal or any other big chain theater. I mean, heck, there were only 2 pre-show trailers, no ads and it cost less than most movies in NYC. And Netflix added great touches, like phone booths in the lower lobby that played clips from the film, actual print newspapers with Hoffa headlines and funny fake ads, and some gag props on the bar that referenced key scenes in the movie (no spoilers here). A great experience all around.

  And of course, the big theaters are not too happy with this situation, as the NYT reports. As you probably already know, the big chains usually want a 90 day window between a film’s premiere in theaters and its premiere online with Netflix (or anyone else). This doesn’t mean they will play the film in theaters for 90 days, but that they think too few people will go on day one if they know they can see it on SVOD just 90 days later (cuckoo cachoo). But this time, a couple of the chains were willing to give some ground and give a window of…wait for it… 60 days! Netflix rightfully said F-U, and is launching the film to subscribers just 26 days later. Which is about as long of a window as any consumer can possibly be expected to wait.

  John Fithian, the head of NATO (no, not that NATO, this one represents all the big theater chains), was all aflutter, saying it was “a disgrace” that Netflix wouldn’t compromise with the theaters. No, John, a disgrace is me walking up ten floors at an AMC/Regal where the escalator is broken, to stand in line to pay astronomical prices for a popcorn from the only kid on duty for 20 theaters worth of patrons, only to sit in a broken recliner seat, with sticky floors and a movie being projected too dimly and with the AC only intermittently working. That’s a disgrace. It’s also a disgrace to blame Netflix for your idiotic windowing system.

  Scorsese tried to make this movie in the studio system, and no one would put up the $159 Million budget. Netflix would. And that means it’s up to Netflix how it releases its films and how they window their films. The theaters tried to strong arm them, but Netflix found an elegant solution in the Belasco and smaller theaters. The chains were afraid of losing the 60-90 day window for all other movies, but in their short-sightedness, have just given consumers a “window” onto an alternate, better way to see movies than the usual crappy multiplex experience. They’ll likely remember how much better this was, and hope for it again. Luckily, Netflix is also renting out the Paris Theater in NYC for other films, and the Egyptian in LA as well, meaning we’ll get plenty of opportunities to see a film in a better venue. And they made deals with many smaller theaters in NYC/LA and across the country – and while they usually aren’t the Belasco, they are usually more pleasant experiences, so there are alternate options and better approaches here.

  What would be smarter for the chains would be to step up and behave like Netflix – in reverse. Sure, AMC’s stock price isn’t as strong as Netflix’s, but they need to make major moves to stay relevant, and they need to start spending money on something other than 4DX seats that spit on you, shake and spray perfume. AMC (and Regal, Cinemark, etc.) should start funding movies and make them only available in their theaters and to their AMC Stubs (or similar) members. AMC is already launching a streaming service to its Stubs members anyways, with most of the Studios offering library content, and while the only have 20 million households as members now (compared to Netflix’s 158M), this would be one way to increase that number, while taking control of their destiny and getting some true cinematic masters like Scorsese to make films for them. They have the makings of an alternate system in place, so why not use it to their advantage, much like Netflix uses their subscriptions to their own?

  They could even do it as a joint venture, like they did with Fathom, which is a JV between AMC, Regal, and Cinemark. If they’re willing to cough up $160M for a Scorsese movie and keep it in theaters for 90 days before putting it on AMC Stubs and Regal Unlimited, then they would make back the majority of the box office and any subscription revenue – while giving subscribers a reason to stay subscribed, or to join in the first place.

  Sure, there are some legal hurdles to this, and a lot of logistics to overcome - not least of which is the fact they only know how to pop popcorn, not make something creative (see their pre-show advertisements), but these are obstacles they need to destroy before the streamers destroy them. (Ok, I actually think theaters are gonna be fine on revenue from other blockbusters, but you get my point). But, no, I suspect the main reason they won’t do this is that they know they would soon have first-hand data telling them their customers can’t wait 90 days either, because no one should.

  WHAT I’M READING: FILM/ STREAMING:

  Walmart Eyes Vudu Sale - Seems like huge news to me. Yeah, I know not as many people use Vudu as the others, but they actually have a pretty strong offering, with early access to titles, lots of bundling and deals, and it is a solid VOD and AVOD offering. With lots of potential - when tied to Walmart - for direct linking of sales from videos. But apparently the world is not just embracing streaming, but abandoning transactional enough to make it a losing proposition for Walmart. 

  DocNYC runs Nov 6-15. Check out the website for full details and showtimes. Also make sure to check out the panels and talks at DocNYC Pro. My faves of what I've seen: American Factory, The Biggest Little Farm, The Elephant Queen, Honeyland, Midnight Family, Midnight Traveler, and Searching for Mr Rugofff. And that I want to see: Buster Williams, Bass to Infinity, Kifaru, Letter to the Editor, and The Story of Plastic.

  How to Dissolve your Film's LLC? - Lindsay Spiller recently wrote a nice, easy to understand break-down of the step's you need to take to wind down and close up your film's LLC after it's great success. Very helpful stuff (I'm following his rules on a project now). 

  Streamers chasing subscribers are giving it away free- in hopes they can hit their targets and maybe you'll subscribe in the future. I see a subscriber bubble ahead

  The Women Who Helped Build Hollywood- the New Yorker reviews a few books on the history of women in early Hollywood, and they had many more important roles than you might expect given the inequities we see today.

  

  James Dean being digitally resurrected for a new film - Collider reports on how an agency has licensed his likeness for becoming a digital character in a new movie. I’ve been saying this is coming for quite some time, and before long, “new” actors will have trouble getting work, as it’s easier to add in a more famous digital player. And before long, a robot will craft most of that scene too. As the author puts it best: “Running through my head in all of this is the iconic Jurassic Park line from Ian Malcolm: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

  Character posters are ruining film marketing - says the Guardian,and I agree. These are those annoying posters like “Florence Pugh is Amy in Little Women” with a big blow-up of her face. A terrible marketing trend that is becoming overused. Not as bad as the twenty faces on a poster version, being used to satisfy actor’s egos, but pretty close. 

  Some Film Fests are Exploiting Filmmakers - The Hollywood Reporter ran this long piece on “under the radar” festivals that are either fake or close to it, and who charge a lot of money for screenings, passes, hotels, etc. It seems like everyone I know has been sharing this on social media, but the funny thing is they didn’t even name some of the more egregious examples out there. Most seasoned filmmakers/producers and industry folks know these bad ones and will tell you off the record of who to avoid. Make sure to get references from other filmmakers on any fest you aren’t sure about - look up their catalogues online and pop an email to a few filmmakers to get info if you don’t know the festival’s reputation. There are a lot of scams to avoid.

  WHAT I’M READING:  BRANDED CONTENT

  

  9 tips for brands on commissioning short films or series: A great post on BrandStorytelling by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason of Redglass Pictures who recently made History of Memory with HP, and won the TribecaX award as well. They break down all the things you need to think about before you even call a producer/filmmaker. It's also important for filmmakers generally to read this - great tips on thinking about your story, your audience and your distribution strategy.

  Check out BrandStorytelling ‘s new BrandVoice in Forbes - a new resource for all things brands and content. From the site: “We believe that a new era of media and marketing is rapidly emerging, one empowered by technology and driven by creative storytelling. What we see are brands taking a bold stride away from interruptive advertising towards content that provides value in the way of information and entertainment. Our mission is to encourage a higher level of collaboration amongst advertisers, agencies, media partners and creators, leading to a richer media environment for all.”

  WHAT I’M READING: Miscellany

  We Company may be imploding, but it’s also launching a gaming company - The Verge reports that the company has been filing some patents and posting jobs for “Play by We,” which looks like a housing/training facility for gamers, and maybe games later. If they exist at the end of the year, that is.

• 

  Getting Real about Brands and Impact Films

  • Posted on 31st Oct
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  This week, I wrote an Op-Ed article for the BrandStorytelling website and newsletter on the topic - Getting Real about Brands and Impact Films. This is the first of a series of articles I’ll be writing for them, and I wanted to start with a topic I think is super important for brands, but that also applies to filmmakers - that you can’t just make a social impact film, you have to do the impact work (or hire someone to help). Here’s the intro paragraph, and a link to the full article:

  As more brands move into making content, especially long and short form film, many are starting to make films intended to have social impact. While films and media made for impact aren’t right for every brand, they increasingly make sense for brands wanting to share their values with consumers who consistently say they want brands to take a stand. But while many brands are making impact entertainment, too few are actually doing what it takes to have an impact, and need to start thinking harder about what impact means – before audiences (consumers) begin to see this as more cynical “purpose-washing” and brands meaning to truly have an impact have difficulty rising above all of this noise.

  Read the Full Article over at BrandStorytelling

  What I’m Reading: Film

  

  Discover the future of film and storytelling at [Future of Film] Summit, the essential event for creators and businesses looking to succeed in the new landscape. Taking place at BFI Southbank, London on 26th November, the event will feature world-class speakers behind works such as AD ASTRA, BLADE RUNNER 2049 and BLACK MIRROR as well as hands-on sessions on the latest tech / strategies including virtual production, worldbuilding, interactive storytelling and brand-funding - plus amazing networking across film and media.  The full schedule and tickets are available now.  I've participated in other events from Future of Film, and the organizer, Alex Stolz, always puts together a stellar line-up and event. Highly recommended if you can attend.

  How will HBO Max compete with Netflix and others? BGR has a quick run-down of how HBO Max will work - which is as a stand-alone offering, where you don't even need cable, and you get everything that's on HBO Now and HBO Go (confusing) as well as a ton of other content... for around $15 a month. T'ain't cheap, but that's a lot of films and shows.

  “Don’t make me have to call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this,” (Apatow) wrote. “Save me the time. I will win but it will take a ton of time. Don’t fuck with our timing. We give you nice things. Leave them as they were intended to be seen.” That's Judd Apatow as reported in The Guardian, just a little angry with Netflix for trial testing a feature that lets users watch films at different speeds on their phones. This should be fun to watch.

  Are Memes Ruining Television?- GQ reports on the ugly phenomenon of shows having characters behave wildly just to get a social media meme going. Yuck, but apparently a new trend.

  Disney Is New to Streaming, but Its Marketing Is Unmatched - The NYT breaks down the myriad ways that Disney can market its new service - everywhere. Kinda crazy, but smart too.

  Think you’re going green by streaming everything? Think again - Streaming isn’t green - it takes a shit-load of electricity and it’s a problem. And while this article doesn’t go into it, the same thing applies to cloud computing, gaming and bitcoin mining. We humans find clever ways to screw with the earth. Can’t wait til the robots take over and realize they don’t need to worry about climate change, as only we will die.

  What I’m Reading: Branded Content

  

  Porsche, Lucasfilm To Jointly Design Starship - MediaPost reports on a new branded content effort where Porsche designers are teamed with LucasFilm artists to design a starship, with Wired documenting the process. It’s all at this website as well. Nice way to promote design thinking and a car.

  United incorporates Star Warsinto its safety videos - that's some content marketing that might make you watch a safety video, and buckle up for the flight.

  The New Yorker launched a documentary channel. It might be good. Couldn't tell you though, because it had a big, long ad in front of it that couldn't be skipped.

  Miscellany:

  Kickstarter Co-Founder Yancey Strickler has a new book out: And it's high on my reading list. Yancey was not only a smart business leader, he's one of the smarter people i've been lucky to meet. He's introduced me to several authors I like, I imagine he'll join that list soon. Here's the blurb from Amazon, where you can buy it: 

  A vision for building a society that looks beyond money and toward maximizing the values that make life worth living, from the cofounder of Kickstarter.  Western society is trapped by three assumptions: 1) That the point of life is to maximize your self-interest and wealth, 2) That we're individuals trapped in an adversarial world, and 3) That this is natural and inevitable. These ideas separate us, keep us powerless, and limit our imagination for the future. It's time we replace them with something new.

  

  The Rap Guide Series by Baba Brinkman hits SoHo Playhouse - Baba Brinkman is a genius - he puts together rap performances around intellectual concepts - evolution, climate change and neuroscience among others - and makes them into entertaining, comedic and educational performances. He’s premiering a new one on Culture and revisiting all of his past ones at the SoHo Playhouse in November. A must-see if you live in or are visiting NYC.

  

  Terry Allen doc on iTunes - Ok, I was ashamed when I finally watched this film and realized I didn’t know anything about Terry Allen. I’m glad Scott Ballew (of one-time client, Yeti Cooler’s film division) made this doc about him and his music. It’s available for pre-order now on iTunes. Here’s the description: Cult musician and artist Terry Allen is revered by the world’s creative elite, but is far from a household name. Fringe even in the fringe world of artists, musicians, and renegades of the 70’s, Terry’s voice is perhaps just now reaching the audience it deserves. ‘Everything For All Reasons’ sheds a comprehensive light on his body of work and life, and is punctuated with songs from a star studded concert at Austin’s Paramount Theater. Almost the antithesis of the Rock N Roll cliché, Allen shares the stage with his wife of 55 years, two sons, and life-long friends. The film includes behind-the-scenes rehearsals and interviews with legendary musicians that collaborate and have been influenced by Terry -David Byrne (Talking Heads), Joe Ely (Flatlanders), Lloyd Maines, Charlie Sexton (Bob Dylan), and Ryan Bingham. All pieced together to answer the question who the Hell is Terry Allen, and why haven’t you heard of him?

• 

  The Upcoming Crisis in Arthouse/Indie Film

  • Posted on 24th Oct
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  More from the best of times, worst of times files. Three articles hit this week that obliquely touch on what I think is a big crisis facing the indie film sector - in the middle of a golden age for content - and the need for us to build more mechanisms to support indie and arthouse narrative films.

  First, Variety reports on the rising costs of scripted TV series as the streaming wars heat up. What does that have to do with arthouse cinema, you ask? Well, the article points out that not only are all of the streamers paying top dollar and attention to scripted originals - which means they are acquiring less of everything else - but that this practice also means that everyone in the industry has more options and their rates go up. Whether you’re trying to hire a director, cast, or a stunt person, or a Grip, or a publicist - they all have plenty of work and don’t need to scrimp by working on smaller indie films. Point being - a crowded marketplace can hurt smaller films in many ways.

  Second up, Matt Zoller Seitz penned a nice piece in Vulture yesterday on how Disney is extending its habit of locking things away in the "vault" instead of allowing repertory screenings, and is now blocking many theaters from playing older Fox titles. It's possibly a ploy to get you to subscribe to Disney+, but also a threat to the bottom line of many indie theaters. While this is a little complicated, it has a big impact on what gets shown and the possible livelihood of arthouse and indie film. As Zoller Seitz writes - and it’s worth quoting this passage in full:

  There might be a tendency to see all this as a niche issue, one that only affects nostalgists and people who are still enamored with the theatrical experience. But Escobar (Chris, of Atlanta’s Plaza Theater and Atlanta Film Society) and other theater owners interviewed for this piece point out that the estimated 600 independent first-run theaters left in the United States are the only reliable incubators for independent filmmakers who are unlikely to have their work screened in multiplexes dominated by Disney and other major distributors. Many of them are international filmmakers, documentary filmmakers, and filmmakers of color who are going to lose access to these venues unless they’re subsidized by other events such as repertory screenings of old movies that can be relied on to draw crowds. “These kinds of theaters are the only places where women filmmakers and other members of underrepresented groups can go and see themselves, the last frontier space,” Escobar says. “The more the means of making, distributing, and exhibiting films are controlled by a handful of companies, the fewer entry points those voices are going to have.”

  Yikes. And then, Bilge Ebiri, also writing in Vulture, about the controversy over Scorsese et al dissing on Marvel, points out this little gem:

  There’s one thing Scorsese said that really sticks out: Speaking of Marvel movies, he said they were “creating another kind of audience that thinks cinema is that.”(emphasis mine)  All great films create their own audience, in a sense; you can’t really broaden the art form’s range of expression without teaching your audience new ways to experience and think and feel about what’s onscreen and, by extension, the universe beyond the frame. Citizen Kane does this; Rashomon does this; 2001 does this; Jeanne Dielman does this; Do the Right Thing does this. (And it’s not just the capital-M Masterpieces that do it, either. Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits does this; Chloé Zhao’s The Rider does this; Robert Greene’s Actress does this. I could go on, but we’d be here all day.)... (and he continues later):

  Action blockbusters have always been successful, and the industry’s more independent-minded artists have always struggled to get around the financial imperatives of what is, after all, a business. But the last 15 or so years have seen rapid monopolization across many industries, and these types of releases have become dominant in what is increasingly looking like a zero-sum game. While lots of other films get made — more, in fact, than have ever been produced before — all the oxygen in the room gets sucked out by the big ones, leaving the smaller ones to choke.

  Indeed. And if we lose those films, we’re gonna lose all sense of what cinema is and can be. As the blockbusters and “original content” fill every screen, we’re losing precious space for other voices.

  

  As I read these reports, I was also coming down from the high that is The Good Pitch, earlier this week. Six documentary projects pitched to a room of 400+ supporters who might fund, help distribute, or help them have impact with their films. It’s a great endeavor, and it’s just one small part of what has become an entire ecosystem supporting documentary films for social impact. Sure, theaters and screens are getting overbooked by blockbusters and new shows, but these films will be seen and will have an impact - and the filmmakers can scrape together a living - because the documentary field has built this ecosystem of support over time. It was hard work, and it didn’t always make sense, but here we are after some decade or more of tinkering, and we kinda have a system that works.

  But as great as it was to realize this,  it also reminded me of an even greater absence - of any similar ecosystem in support of arthouse and indie film. Sure, we have Sundance and all the film festivals of the Film Festival alliance, and whatnot, but there’s nowhere near the same level of support, or thinking about new models for support, going on for narrative films that aren’t blockbusters. All the rest of these films have never been easy to make - but now they are being made in a market where it costs more to attach talent and crew, and where the biggest platforms and distributors are focused on ever bigger projects and at keeping other films off screens, and as audiences begin to think there’s no issue because nothing else is showing up anyway, and hey, there’s Thor coming at me. 

  I call this a crisis, and it won’t just be for the makers and lovers of niche cinema. Our culture needs independent voices - telling different, more nuanced stories - and it will be poorer in their absence. I think this is a topic we should be talking about at conferences, festivals and inside every nonprofit in the space. Because we need some novel solutions, and soon.

  What I’m Reading: Film

  How High Frame Rate technology ruined Gemini Man - Bilge Ebiri, one of the smartest film writers out there, gives a good break-down on Vulture, of why Gemini Man doesn't work at the high frame rate projection that Ang Lee prefers. 

  Netflix tracks shows by measuring ‘starters,’ ‘watchers,’ and ‘completers’ - the Verge breaks down new data from Netflix on how they measure a view. More insight than we’ve had for awhile.

   Why do we re-watch films over and over? The BBC’s Clare Thorp breaks down the many reasons - nostalgia, familiarity, too much to choose from and more. Add this to the issues facing new arthouse films above as well. 

  Which Streaming Sevice(s) should you pay for? Time Magazine runs one of the first break-downs, of what will soon be an overflow of articles trying to help us wade through the services, so we can wade through the content…

  Disney+ announced its nonfiction line-up - It’s an odd-mix, to be honest - some older tiles, some relaunches, but also some interesting directors like Jeff Malmberg (of Marwencol). I think they’ll get to 80M+ subscribers soon on library titles alone, but I am scratching my head so far on this even being an announcement.

  A lot of great film criticism is now online to stream - I’ve long been a fan of the practice of using video as a form of film criticism and commentary - in fact, I think the whole Op-Doc trend should be focused on this format instead of what is has become - and now The Guardian has a great run-down of some of the better examples, and the new BBC iPlayer series Inside Cinema. Check it out.

  The D-Word and Peter Hamilton discuss all things Netflix:Netflix runs the wold, and is also a big black hole for most of the field - what are they funding, what are the terms, how can you break in, what's working, etc. Well the D-Word - an online member community for doc filmmakers that you can join for free (and should, it's great) is running a week long forum on this subject. From their announcement:  we're so fortunate to have Peter Hamilton, a veteran documentary business consultant who has written the ultimate guide to Netflix, leading a special 5-day topic starting today on The D-Word: Dealing with Netflix: What you need to know NOW!  Go there, read and learn.

  

  Film I recommend:  Light from Light, starring Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan opens NYC Nov 1st from Grasshopper Films at the Quad (and then elsewhere). 

  Gifted with sometimes-prophetic dreams and a lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Marin Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. It’s there she meets Richard (Jim Gaffigan), a recent widower who believes his wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually pulls in Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to confront the mysteries of their own lives.

  I'm old friends w the director, Paul Harrill and think all of his films are great. I highly recommend putting this on your watchlist, or buying tickets to see it w some of the cast (and Paul) for the Q&A in NYC. 

  Branded Content

  Three Things to know about Brands and Impact: BrandStorytelling interviewed Shabnam Mogharabi of Soul Pancake to give three great take-aways from their joint study on brands and impact entertainment. It’s a six minute video – watch it at your desk, on the clock, as it will make your work stronger.

  A look at Roku’s Branded Content pitch: From DigiDay, a look at Roku’s push to have advertisers buy ad space on its home screen - to the right of its list of streaming apps, to promote branded content. No one is sure if anyone will click, but it’s a big piece of real estate to promote your shows. Or just another intrusive ad - we’ll see where this one lands in the public debate soon.

  Podcasts (and Video) may be hot, but don’t forget text: Adweek has a good article on why text is still important to your brand content strategy. As they say: “A fair word of warning for brands here is to ensure that this experience is in some way additive to your audience’s lives, which means not simply copying and pasting headlines from owned content efforts and calling it a day, but rather embracing a curator mindset.”

  

  A new award has been made for branded content that is “storytelling for good” thanks to BrandStorytelling and the Clio’s. Make sure to enter your films soon - I look forward to seeing the winners in January in Park City.

  How Pressboard is changing the way advertisers get content published - A dive-in from DailyHive, looking at how Pressboard works, why it was created and more from the founder. Pressboard is more of a marketplace for content marketing, but it’s a good solution for certain branded content. Check it out.

• 

  Why were you rejected?

  • Posted on 18th Oct
  • Category: Newsletter

  Why were you rejected? will you be accepted ?- fest service needed

  

  Free idea to anyone who wants to launch it. We need a festival advisory service that helps filmmakers (and brands) figure out whether their film is good enough for film festivals (and which ones), and what would make it stronger – and it needs to be made up of festival programmers.

  I work with a lot of filmmakers and brands, and one of the things I do is help them with their edit, and with submitting to film festivals. And when possible, I try to advise them on how good their film really is, and what I think its chances are for different festivals, and how they should strategically approach their festival run. But I can only do it for so many clients, I might be wrong, and sometimes people are going to submit even if they shouldn’t. In addition, when you get rejected from a festival, almost none of them will give you any feedback as to why – and they really can’t, as they get thousands to tens of thousands of entries. But at least once a month (as acceptance/rejection letters go out, or a deadline hits), I get a flurry of emails wondering about whether they should submit to X festival, or why they didn’t get into Y festival, or which one of two to accept. Should we hold it for this special fest, or ask this one to watch it, when we really want this earlier one. Etc. Etc.

  And there’s another couple of problems I know about – most festival programmers are underpaid and doing this job as a labor of love. And they are opinionated, but usually afraid of speaking to filmmakers they reject. Everyone wants to be loved. So why not aggregate a group of respected festival programmers (and former programmers too), and start a service where you can submit your film for review, and get solid feedback on what works, what doesn’t, what you could do to make it work better, and what might be the best strategy for your film – no holds barred, honest advice from people doing this day to day at the best festivals. For a fee of course, which would then be shared with these programmer/reviewers. And of course, the reviewers would be kept anonymous, but the service would list the overall portfolio of festival programmers represented and prove that they are working with good folks. And to make it fair, every programmer would agree to watch any submitted film with “fresh eyes” if it ends up submitting to their festival (I know many ED’s will shut this down anyway, but I can hope), because hopefully the films will get stronger.

  I know a few people who have offered somewhat similar services – but usually it’s feedback from one person or two people at most. And it’s not unbiased, and not coming from current programmers. Someone please start this, as I’ll send you five clients a month, minimum, and will use it for my own films too.

  WHAT I’M READING: FILM

  Streaming kills Physical Media - notes the WSJ. But Richard Lorber of KinoLorber begs to disagree: “Around here we say, ‘Blu-rays are forever...I would be a fool to claim that it’s a growth business, but for certain types of collectible films of enduring value, people really want to own them for so many reasons." But that's not true for everyone. Check out the arguments for and against at the WSJ.

  AMC Theaters launches its own VOD Store - The NYT reports, and its about time. While I doubt they’ll do this well, AMC really could do something cool here by combining its data on movie-going with Stubs rewards and more. If my subscription got me movies in theaters and online… that would be a winner.

  

  Watch the Exodus of talent from Hollywood to Streamers - the LAT mapped it in a great little animation. And they are right, it is stunning.

  Film Delivery Demystified - Hey NYC area producers - delivering your film to a distributor is quite a pain. Luckily, Cinepointe and Goldcrest have two upcoming classes on that for you - check them out

  With Distribber going out of business,Peter Broderick writes a nice update on what filmmakers can do if they were snagged in this fiasco, as well as some good general rules for working with distributors. 

  

  Coming up in a few weeks at DocNYC-  SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF  - by Ira Deutchman - I've seen a rough cut of this film, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of indie/arthouse film in NYC - or any of the issues around such things. 

  From DocNYC:  Searching for Mr. Rugoff reveals the untold story of the creative genius behind 1960s-’70s film distribution company Cinema 5. Filmmakers, critics, collaborators and family members paint a vivid portrait of Donald Rugoff, a volatile, self-destructive and fearless champion of independent and art films. Drawing from a rich archive and colorful interviews, veteran distributor, producer and former Rugoff employee Ira Deutchman brings us closer to his legendary and controversial mentor, who took risks and fought for great cinema while facing personal battles of his own

  FIlm to support: Dan Mirvish, co-founder of Slamdance, and a friend, has a new film project that is raising funds on Seed & Spark, and it looks pretty cool. Check it out:

  WHAT I’M READING: BRANDED CONTENT

  Facebook Watch is expanding internationally - and The Drum has the story. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has ever watched, Watch, but know plenty of people who have made content for it, and been unimpressed with the experience. Let’s see if going international helps the Book at all?

  5 Movies that altered Advertising - not branded content per se, but from AdWeek - a look at five films that changed how we think of film and advertising, including the first product placement, the first trailer, and of course, the Blair Witch.

  For Axios, TV is its brand of original content - According to DigiDay, Axios is skipping the masses online and in standard editorial video and making quality TV with HBO and others. Smart move.

• 

  Get While the Gettin’s: Or the Vicissitudes of this Market

  • Posted on 11th Oct
  • Category: Newsletter

  

  A short one this week, as I’ve been on deadline for another article running soon elsewhere. It is a plumb crazy time in the film business – not unlike the financial markets, or our daily news.

  On the one hand, this moment in the film business reminds me of a quote I read from Ray McKinnon in Garden & Gun: “ I always said that if you couldn’t get a role in In the Heat of the Night in those days, if you were an Atlanta actor, you should strongly reconsider your career choice. I actually played a crack dealer one year and got killed, and came back as the town newspaper editor.” Point is, the gettin’ was good for actors back then (and now).

  And in many ways, that’s the case for anyone making films (or other “content” today). There are so many platforms throwing money around that it’s hard not to catch some. I get calls weekly from brands and platforms moving into this space and wanting help in funding content. And for once, Hollywood and smaller platforms are actually looking for diverse subjects and creators as well (still not enough, but better than it has been). Equity is running scared from the market and looking at film and media – everyone I talk to seems to be raising a fund, even for hard to sell content. Filmmakers I know who have been pitching the same project for years are finally getting traction. Money is easier to find than usual.

  On the other hand, while multiple platforms are launching (Quibi, Disney+ and Apple+, and even KinoNow, etc.), many others are failing (Topic) or consolidating (everyone), or will implode soon (Buzzfeed, Vice) because they can’t compete with these deeper pockets. And the big Streamers would rather buy library, safe-bet TV shows (Friends), or make “original content” than acquire anything new and indie. Peel the onion a bit, and only the biggest, sure-bet docs are the ones that perform – the rest are having a tough time in the market. And for every filmmaker I know who is riding the gravy train of SVOD deals, branded content, and pre-sales – I can point to five who are making projects that “aren’t commercial enough right now.”  It is pure hell for some while pure heaven for others. Kinda like the 1% all around, which I’ve written about before.

  This is called froth. It’s when lots of things are happening that don’t quite make sense. It usually means there’s a bubble about to burst. Prices become detached from value, and things start to become unstable. If you didn’t have enough to worry about after reading the news each day, now I’ve given you something else to stress about. Sorry. (And sorry for all the cliché jargon above and to come.) But it’s also, always, an opportunity. If you can figure out what’s behind all this and coming next. I have my thoughts on that – for another post – but in the meantime – buckle up and ride, because a lot of crazy, sometimes fun, shit is going on. But be cautious and have a hedge, because this won’t last. But my simplest advice for anyone not participating in the frenzy – partake. Do the projects that are getting funded. Get your foot in those doors while they are cracked open. You can always come back to the projects that aren’t getting funded, but only if you’ve taken advantage of this moment… and saved.

  FILM/STREAMING: 

  

  No-budget African action studio Wakaliwood is ready to take over the mainstream – AV Club reports on Wakaliwood – which I’ve been woefully out of the loop on – a Ugandan film movement led by Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey Nabwana (Nabwana IGG) . His fun, low budget films have been taking Uganda by storm, and closed out Midnight Madness at TIFF this year. A great read.

  Disney is reportedly banning Netflix ads across its entertainment TV networks – from The Verge - the streaming wars heat up as the Mouse-House bans Netflix ads across its networks. Ouch.

  

  Less Shaft, more House Party: Hollywood revisits 90s black film boom – Hollywood’s always looking for a remake, let’s just hope they don’t ruin any of these classics. House Party in particular was one of my college-day faves. The Guardian reports on a wave of remakes of classic Black films.

  ‘It’s a form of modern slavery’: MPs on Ken Loach’s film about the human cost of the zero-hours economy – A great Guardian article on Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You which shows the horrors of the gig economy. This was a fave of many at Cannes and I’m glad it’s getting notice – and can’t wait to see it.

  Branded Content 

  Do people 'f---ing hate' ads? Marketers look to embed brands in culture as aversion grows – MarketingDive reports from NYC AdWeek, where Boudica Chief Creative Officer and former Hearst content chief Joanna Coles stated “People hate advertising. They f----ing hate it … and it's all advertisers' fault." P&G’s Marc Pritchard was quick to agree. And everyone seemed to think brands need to step back and go deeper into content integrations- branded content – so expect this space to keep growing. Let’s hope it just doesn’t devolve into a lot of bad branded content – we need genuine approaches, not cloaked ads.

  Facebook agrees to pay advertisers $40 million over inflated video stat – AdAge on the stink that keeps coming from Facebook, this time in their BS view stats for advertising and other posts. Keep up the good work, Mark.

  VR/AR/MISCELLANY:

  Can Gaming and VR replace the Outdoors? Asks Outside Online. A fascinating look at a gaming detox center, and the problem of people spending too much time inside and online instead of outdoors. But the article also shows research that shows people might be able to get the same impact of being outdoors from VR simulation. Interesting stuff, but I don’t believe in complete detox programs, and I also think we should get outside more. Go read and decide for yourself.

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