Another independent film conference, another major missive diagnosing the state of the industry and the drastic need for filmmakers and distributors to shift gears in order to follow the changing needs of consumers. The above chart is attached to part one of a report at indieWIRE by distribution consultant Peter Broderick, published today to coincide wit the launch of Independent Film Week here in New York. Broderick says Mark Gill (the man responsible for associating the current trend of indie film hand-wringing with the phrase “the sky is falling”) was looking at the state of the industry “from the perspective of a seasoned Old World executive.” Broderick says he comes instead “from the filmmaker’s perspective,” and proceeds to layout ten binary oppositions between the Old World and New World of film distribution.
I’m already buried so deep in conversations online video, alternative marketing, the new self-distribution, etc, that much of what Broderick says seems so obvious that I really can’t come up with an immediate response. So: look at the chart, read the story, and tell me what I’m supposed to think. Thank you.
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is the basic premise for many tales of woe. Shakespeare’s tragedies are largely built around the idea that a particular character overheard a snippet of a conversation at an inopportune time or had the misfortune to be arriving at the tail end of an epic age, one that they’re unable to sustain on their own weakened shoulders.
Likewise, it’s always disappointing - albeit sometimes hugely entertaining - to watch the ego-besotten fall, victims of their own hubris. Take for instance the recent severe contraction of the independent film distribution market and the announced feature film, said to star Colin Hanks, chronicling the rise and fall of Tower Records, of all things.
It’s with this in mind that August is, with some notable caveats, a compelling movie. …Read more
Blogger, Convergence Culture author and MIT professor Henry Jenkins just gave a talk on Web 2.0 and fan communities at a marketing conference called the Forrester Consumer Forum, and our friend Chris Thilk from Movie Marketing Madness blogged it. There’s a lot of great stuff, including a Four Eyed Monsters a shout-out; check out Chris’ complete notes here. My favorite line? “Any network that can be used to share cat pictures can be used to bring down a government.”
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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