Jan 12, 2021
This past week, and so far during this one, between processing the reality that Sundance has moved to virtual, as has the EFM at the Berlinale, and after sitting on countless zooms where various folks in the industry were attempting to make solves for events, festivals, meetings, screenings, theatrical releases, film shoots and other things altered by Omicron (and the attendant recognition that Covid will continue to turn your best plans into rubbish for the foreseeable future), I kept having a recurrent thought – band aids.
As in, that’s what everyone is still applying to the wounds of the film biz, when we need triage. And none of this would have happened with some planning, or in the band aid world – preventative healthcare. Just like in healthcare, no one wants to invest in what’s needed to make systemic solutions to our problems, nor do they want to plan ahead for the possible/likely reality that things could get worse. Likewise in politics, as the Democrats continue to bury their heads in the sand over what’s coming in the lead-up to 2024 (what’s taken place is nothing compared to what’s next, but that’s another post if not another newsletter).
There’s also an ongoing avoidance of facing the realities that the business has changed, dramatically. Things I was predicting were going to happen back in 2011 are happening now (I was guilty of thinking too far ahead, perhaps). Which means we don’t need band aids, we need tourniquets, or an airlift to somewhere better equipped for what we’re facing. Such solutions aren’t exactly easy – especially if you are a typically cash-strapped indie/arthouse business, but they also aren’t that hard once you recognize the reality of the situation.
For starters, that means realizing that it’s not just that covid, streaming, the attention-economy and other big picture shifts are here to stay, but that they bring entirely new ways of doing business, being creative, and finding success, and thus we need entirely new mechanisms and systems, that might as well be build as if we were starting from scratch. For example, not all film fests or exhibitors will disappear, but those that survive are going to need more than a bolted-on, half-assed streaming/live-streaming option or a drive-in. Not that the latter can’t be part of those solutions, and I should be clear hear that I am not referring to Sundance in the former situation, as they’ve gone a bit further than most with their online portion. But if you’ve attended even a handful of online/hybrid festivals or markets, you understand that they are more like flea-markets than the Gropius-Bau.
Heck, while we’re on the subject of markets, it would probably cost less than $500K USD to build an app, connected to a streaming platform, that would handle all global film market activity better than holding multiple film markets around the world each year (sharing drinks and other social necessities aside). And this wouldn’t look like any of the “virtual screening rooms” and markets that anyone has already built, but would instead re-introduce curation, transience and an auction/bidding vibe in the virtual world that one-up the real-world experience, making those global treks obsolete (and the business less fun, and expensive, I know…).
Anyway, the point of today’s newsletter isn’t to propose a bunch of systemic solutions, but rather to say that we need a lot more of them than I can think about or write up one week/post at a time. I hope that perhaps, some other smart folks will think hard about this stuff and either convene groups who can address these issues, or just raise some money and build these new solutions. I’d love to be part of any of those conversations or plans (and truth be told, I am in a few of them, but would love to hear about more).
In the meantime, there are several people thinking and writing about this, and I try to link to some of those stories in the news items (below) each week. This week, two articles came out that I think put forth some of this bigger picture thinking, and I recommend reading both. They are Dan Mirvish’s piece for Variety on the need for changes in the world of film festivals for talent discovery (written up below),Eric Kohn's piece on VOD and Fests at IndieWire (also mentioned below), and Screen International’s look at Nine Trends for 2022 for the Global Film Industry, (not below as it came out today) which also hints at potential big changes for the future. If you think for much time at all about what’s put forth in either article, you just might have some solutions ready to launch before the end of 2022. That’s my goal, at least.
|
|
Film
Recalibrating the Festival Calendar around Discovery: Dan Mirvish, a filmmaker and co-founder of Slamdance, wrote a great think-piece for Variety this week where he discusses the state of the film fest marketplace and some changes that need to take place. His argument is that many of the Fall film fests (Toronto, NYFF, etc) are too focused on showcasing Academy Award hopefuls, and that the main film fests for discovery of new films (in the US especially) are Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca, which leaves a big gap between them where it's become tough for new films/filmmakers to be discovered. This is true, and the situation has been exacerbated by covid and changes to the fest market. I am quoted aplenty in the article, so I won't add more thought here, but I think this is a hard problem to solve, as it's not like any one fest can just raise its hand and become the next major fest, but we definitely have a problem that needs to be addressed. (BN)
Is VOD the "Best Thing" to Happen to Specialized Film Distribution? And other future thoughts from IndieWire: Eric Kohn of IndieWire has a new article out on this question, and it's the start of another new series they've launched for their anniversary on the struggles facing the business. Or as Eric puts it well: "with great struggle comes great opportunity," which is a mantra I certainly believe and espouse here. In this week's article, he looks at the way Sundance's online component - now the only one they have - fits well with the new reality of our VOD world. Even those who love the big screen will often find the best films on VOD for myriad reasons. He documents how a few distributors resisted Sundance's requirements to hold online and IRL screenings from the start (which is dumb), but argues that the best way to sustain the business in the long term it to embrace the new order. Amen to that. Now, if we can just get everyone to do that with better and more interactive marketing. (BN)
The Doc Distribution Toolkit: My friend Rachel Gordon has a new book out on documentary distribution. As she told me in an email, her "goal is to empower and prepare filmmakers to distribute their documentaries in an effective and strategic manner." To do this, she "interviewed over 200 people worldwide to provide everyone a sense of how to get things done domestically, and internationally. It's important for producers to have a resource that educates them about basic information that may not be available in a class." I agree, and while I haven't had time to read the book yet, I recommend checking it out. It's available everywhere, but the best place is the publisher's website. (BN)
Andres Serrano’s Shocking New Film Delves Into the Chaos of the U.S. Capitol Riot. He Thinks Trump Will Love It: American artist and photographer Andres Serrano (known best for Piss Christ and other transgressive art) is releasing Insurrection, his first-ever film, about the Jan 6 U.S. Capitol riots. Serrano says the film could be “one of the most violent and controversial films ever made.” Coming from Serrano, I say it’s time to buckle up. Insurrection “spans a much longer time span, stretching back over 150 years of American history, juxtaposing a range of often unexpected musical scores with historical footage that deliberately mashes up celebratory events and disturbing instances of violence, all of it serving as a backdrop and ominous lead-up to the January chaos”, explains Eileen Kinsella, writer for artnet news. Give her piece a read for Serrano’s thoughts and some jarring stills pulled from the film. “I’m taking you there [to the violence ever-present in our Nation’s present and history]. I’m locking you inside those people, like it or not” — Andres Serrano. Find the programming dates surrounding the film’s release here. (GSH)
The most depressing thing about 'Don’t Look Up' (isn’t what you think): Don’t Look Up spoilers alert! Most of us can agree that though the movie was funny, it was also depressing — Jennifer Lawrence’s and Leonardo di Caprio’s characters, both scientists, alert their president (a Donald Trump-like Maryl Streep) that a massive comet is on its way to destroy Earth. Don’t Look Up was depressing for a number of reasons, including it ends with our planet shattering to bits. But Andrew P Street, contributor to Independent Australia, argues that the most depressing aspect of the film was Ariana Grande’s character (a celeb-singer called Riley Bina). Though she’s arguably the most influential figure in her country, her art “ultimately changes absolutely nothing” which Andrew Street says is “clearly a deliberate allegory for the film itself…. [Don’t Look Up hosts] global superstars like Lawrence, di Caprio, Grande and Meryl goddamn Streep!.... And yet, as Bina’s song shows, even they [the filmmakers and superstar-actors] are aware that their effort and talent is almost certainly futile [in averting our very real climate crisis]. It doesn’t matter how powerful a song you write — or film you create — to send a message of awareness. And that’s because… leaders and institutions are immune to attacks from pop music and Netflix.” Pretty depressing, right? I’m finding myself disagreeing with Street, though maybe it’s because the alternative is too dark for me to handle. (GSH)
|
|
Branded Content
Register for the Brand Film Certificate and Attend the Virtual Brand Storytelling Conference for Free: Brand Storytelling, like Sundance, has gone virtual and there are limited slots available. But some of those are now being held for anyone who registers for the new Brand Film Certificate program. You must register before Jan 25th for this offer. Learn more about the program and the virtual conference here.
‘Brands follow where people are’: An oral history of the evolution of in-game advertising: Digiday’s Alexander Lee interviews a series of experts in the video game advertising industry to learn about the evolving relationship between brands, video games, in-game advertisements, and consumers. Some key movements in this history are as follows: At first, “original in-game ads were hard-coded directly into games, and were usually the result of developers or their hired agents directly wooing skeptical brands to place their products into the game.”...“As technology began to catch up with gamers’ thirst for consumption, in-game ad firms made a comeback, adapting newer and broader adtech applications such as programmatic advertising to function within game worlds.”...“in-game advertising is no longer a vehicle to get players to purchase physical goods. These days in-game ads [help] drive the consumption of entirely digital items”...“In the race to build the metaverse… many of the in-game ad companies of today are looking to become the in-metaverse ad firms of tomorrow. (GSH)
|
|
Miscellany:
Check out the Comcast RISE program for women-owned Small Businesses - that means you, owners of cinemas, digital media companies, production facilities, etc. - I was recently tipped off by a regular reader regarding this Comcast initiative which launched with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. The program is starting it's 2nd year and beginning Jan. 16th they are opening applications for women-owned businesses regardless of race or ethnicity. If you're in one of Comcast's 44 markets, and own/operate a for-profit cinema, or a digital media company, or production facility or photography studio that is marketed to the public....take a chance and apply for their free support. Here's the info on the program. (BN)
Some Problems with NFT's: This week's Unsupervised Learning newsletter pointed to a recent and pretty great summary of many issues with NFT's by Moxie Marlinspike (who just stepped down as CEO of Signal). There's a lot here, but among the problems I've had which are brought up here is that most of Web3 and NFT's are "run off servers and not clients, and most people don't want to run their own servers." So most of what we're building will be run by centralized actors, and you are also at their mercy. Of course, there's already a detailed response to these critiques, but even that author notes that many of these problems remain real, for now. I'm honestly still getting my head around all of this, but these are both worth a read for anyone interested in this space. (BN)
Genesis Noir: Video game cracking best of 2021 lists made by RIT alumni: “Genesis Noir, an indie game with an unmistakable look, has found itself cracking a number of “best of” lists for 2021.” Dan Gross for Rochester First.com brings us the news (it so happens the game was made by an RIT alumni). “Genesis Noir follows the journey of a time keeper/watch salesman/detective trying to save god himself, and for the player to do that, [they] have to stop the Big Bang, depicted as a gunshot.” The concept of this game is incredible — I’ve never seen anything like it. Set before, during, and after The Big Bang, Genesis Noir presents an experience where cosmic, noir, jazz, and avant-garde aesthetics combine to form a striking universe. Check out their release trailer here. (GSH)
Forget Making Art in the Studio. Artists Are Now Developing Their Latest Works in the Metaverse: Check out Zachary Smalls’ piece on artnet to learn how artists are experimenting with virtual tools to create identities and interactive worlds with their art. One artist, Cassie McQuater, “uses a tour feature on Google Earth to wrap geographic features with her digital art in a project called Landscapes.” Another, a Mohawk artist and pioneer in the field named Skawennatiwas, “creat[ed] chat rooms in the 1990s as community spaces for Indigenous people before creating her own island in the online world of Second Life, where she creates videos using in-game production tools for a project called Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace. The new (virtual) tools that we can harness are transforming art today, though, ““Art has always been about the imagination of virtual worlds,” explained Tina Rivers Ryan, a curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo with expertise in digital art. “Some people have argued that the concept of virtual reality is as old as cave paintings.”” (GSH)
Can Social Media Alter a War? The short answer is Yes. Definitely, yes. Andy Kessler, writer for the Wall Street Journal brings compelling points to the table. For instance, in a 2019 military exercise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Strategic Communications Center of Excellence spent “only $60 on Russian bots and [used] only open-source data… to learn the usernames, phone numbers, emails and identities of soldiers. They also engaged with them on Facebook and Instagram…. According to the report on the exercise, they could “pinpoint the exact locations of several battalions” and track troop movements.” Even scarier, “The level of personal information we found was very detailed and enabled us to instill undesirable behaviour during the exercise…. Every time we attempted to manipulate behaviors, we succeeded”, explained one NATO StratCom director. There’s a bunch in the article to parse through, though Kessler’s big takeaways are as follows: (1) The question is no longer “Will social media elect a president?” Now it’s “When will social media alter wars?” (2) “Is Facebook ready or even willing to help during a hot war?” (GSH)
Black Hair in Video Games Is Terrible. These 3D Artists Are Changing That: Representation in gaming is a major issue. It’s a problem that manifests in numerous ways including how poorly designed a Black avatars’ hair is compared to that of their white counterparts. But “last year, Oakland-based artist and UC Santa Cruz assistant professor A.M. Darke had had enough,” explains Trone Dowd for VICE. “She started recruiting Black artists for the Open Source Afro Hair Library, the industry’s first free database of 3D-modeled Black hairstyles.” “Artists have forever been working within the limitations of the available technology and pushing them to the limits, to meet their creative aesthetic goals,” Darke said. “And so the problem there is that it's a lack of imagination, an impoverished view of blackness. So if you can't imagine blackness, then you're not going to make it.” The library will be the first of its kind and will launch on Juneteenth, 2023. (GSH)
GSH = Articles written by Sub-Genre's Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman, not Brian Newman (BN)
|
|
|
Like This Newsletter? Subscribe & Past Issues
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
