Riot theater hits the capital - I think the photo above sums it all up pretty nicely.
Here I was with a whole list of things to tell you this week, but I shoulda known better – it’s not like this was remotely a surprise - you can’t compete with this news. But I also can’t launch into this week’s newsletter without at least acknowledging the madness of what’s going on in the US right now.
It’s hard to take seriously, isn’t it? Even though it’s deadly serious. I’m typing this on the left side of my computer screen while the news of the treasonous insurrection plays out on the news on the right, but with the sound off. And what I see doesn’t look like much more than a group of crazy white people at the state fair, taking selfies for their grandkids, posing on Pelosi’s desk, getting their shits and giggles, clowned up in their riot costumes, as they burn down our democracy.
The vibe is nothing like the seriousness and heartfelt trauma that was coming out of the BLM protests. You know, the largely peaceful ones the police stomped down with the force of a giant boot not so long ago, and that were supported by the majority of Americans, unlike this shit-show?
This is a newsletter devoted to my prognostications on film, not politics, but the latter has inevitably intruded a bit this year – my apologies. I don’t know what to make of all of this. But I’m quite sure it’s not stopping anytime soon; and we’ll look back one day and see the last four years as a prelude to something much darker than anyone expected in the next.
There’s a role for filmmakers, artists and those adjacent in all of this. But I’m pretty sure it’s not in continued preaching to the converted and rallying the troops, which is most of what we’ve gotten. More on that in the weeks to come, but for now, I’ll close with thoughts on a related idea which I think plays into our future as filmmakers in these times. This is taken from a longer piece I was gonna run today on what we’ve learned from 2020. But in light of the Coup going on, I’ll stick with just this one:
The revolution will not be streamed
With props to Gil Scott-Heron, 2020 taught us that the revolution will not be streamed (neé televised). All of the major content platforms are owned by multi-national companies that need to do business in, or raise money from, countries that don’t want to hear about any revolutions. China and Saudi Arabia to be specific. Reed Hastings can say he’s not remotely upset about making sure to keep a Crown Prince happy – “We’re not in the news business,” Hastings said. “We’re not trying to do ‘truth to power.’ We’re trying to entertain… We don’t feel bad about [pulling the ‘Patriot Act’ episode in Saudi Arabia] at all.” (as reported by Variety) – but you can bet that’s not the only self-censorship going on at these streamers.
Do you think Bezos or Disney want to piss off China? Or the administration (and its anti-trust “watchdogs”)? Do you think they’re gonna address the continued monopolization of media going on today? Or all the power these CEO’s have? Sure, they’ll air a doc about diversity or attacking Trump – those are popular discontents that bring on the subscribers. They’ll show a movie like Nomadland, but that’s a film that almost celebrates the hobo lifestyle our overlords have put upon us – Fern (the main character) is happy to be paid minimum wage for hard labor at the Amazon distribution center. It’s not attacking the freelance serfdom, “on-demand jobs” world that these conglomerates are building for us. We're not getting in-depth reporting of anything we shouldn't see here.
This wouldn’t be a problem (perhaps…) if the streamers and major conglomerates didn’t dictate most of what we watch and learn – who the heck watches or reads news anymore? (Unless it’s a breaking story like a coup-attempt.) But in this modern world, you can say goodbye to any quality investigative journalism from these places. This was evidenced more recently with Apple cancelling its Gawker show at the behest of Tim Cook’s feelings, and with no one being willing to buy The Dissident, Bryan Fogel’s film on the killing of Khashoggi.
The problem is compounded by the fact that even if Foundations and private funders help fund investigative journalism and documentaries, they won’t be able to find a home to stream – and thus actually get seen - if they investigate anyone in power that might make the suits at the home office get a little uncomfortable.
And that’s going to be a big problem as we move into the next phase of crazy land – not just here in the US as Biden tries to glue back the pieces of our democracy, but around the world, where a lot of bat-shit crazy stuff is going on. It’s hard to truly speak truth to power when the means of disseminating that voice are controlled by a handful of companies and CEO’s that are more interested in keeping us entertained than properly informed. Sorting out how we address this problem is one of the core issues we should focus on for 2021.
Now, back to the Coup-News we goes...
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Film
Best Film Fest Idea Ever - Isolated Cinema: I've always been a fan of the Goteborg Film Fest in Sweden, and now I love them even more. Given an ever-shrinking potential audience quota from health authorities, due to coronavirus, they've made a festival for one - one person can enter their contest and watch 60 film premieres over 7 days, alone with no phones or anyone else - on the isolated island of Pater Noster. For real. You can see the rules and enter the contest here. Of course, they're also doing a virtual fest, and they have two other isolated cinemas in Sweden, not just the island, but it's a brilliant idea, captivating marketing campaign, and I'd love to be the winner (I'm not applying). A smart brand would partner with them, or another fest, and sponsor editions around the globe, and the "isolated" cinema-goer's reports (which are required), will likely build more buzz for the films than the press we're actually seeing out of virtual fests thus far. Kudos to the creative team on this one. (reported all over, but I learned about this from Variety).
IFP Rebrands as The Gotham. Don't know what that headline sentence even means? Don't worry, nothing to see here. A group you don't know changed its name to something you won't remember.
Ok, I'm being mean, especially as someone who worked at IFP and actually loved it, but seriously...Missing an S? Launching such a big name change... but you didn't finish the website in time? The week before your biggest, almost identically named event (during a day we knew was going to devolve into a coup!)? And you make a video (in the Indiewire article) that doesn't make much more sense? You can't rebrand without truly making a change worthy of the new letterhead. I've done it, and I'm pretty sure this needed more thought. I'll give them a chance for a year, but this is an organization that needs a lot of change, not just a new name. More on this in Deadline.
Quibi, Dead, Selling Content to Roku - In a not great sign, Roku is in talks to buy the licenses to Quibi's content for its Roku channel. The NYT reports (among others). I'm a fan of Roku generally, but the Quibi content wasn't rated very highly, isn't likely worth much given that the licenses are brief (rights revert to creators quickly), and these deals are more often a sign of bad planning than actual strategy. Surprising that Roku would come to Katzenberg's rescue with some cash.
Netflix is Touting Big Numbers on... Crap: Netflix wants us all to know that it doesn't mind losing The Office to Peacock or Natgeo to Disney, or any other losses... because some 63 million households watched Bridgerton in the last 4 weeks, and 44 million watched We Can Be Heroes. With just two minutes counting as a view, this doesn't tell us much more than how Netflix wants to position itself in the streaming wars, but indies and arthouse lovers - take note of how little they mention "quality" titles anymore the next time you tell me your film is destined for Netflix. They seem to want romance and millennials, or both. Adweek reports.
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Branded Content
Agency Pain Continues: The ad industry is projected to lose another 17K jobs in 2021, after losing about 35K in 2020 according to an article in AdWeek ostensibly about which jobs will remain and thrive. But given that they predict mainly junior roles growing, and a lot of freelancing, things aren't looking good. This is only branded content adjacent, but the larger trends don't bode well for the entire industry.
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Miscellany:
What Changes and Doesn't in 2021: (A)VC Fred Wilson writes his predictions for 21, including: climate is the new cloud; we'll all celebrate being able to do things, but will go back to covid-style at-home habits, which is big for streaming; and more.
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