Further down the road sits a paid executive hoping to keep his job for another week and an accountant looking at the returns of a failed blockbuster and wondering if they get rid of the executive plus him and her, will it save the day.
Away in the Hills, besides his pool, lazes the Head of a Hedge Fund who denies all knowledge of the industry and claims there’s no more money, what ever it is you’ve got.
In a basement sits a failed college grad working on the next Internet Global Market Place concept, without realizing he could possibly solve Hollywood’s distribution dilemma.
No this is not the concept for a new script but the reality facing the film industry, the changing aspects that no one can control, it is a question facing each and everyone who wants to be in the movie industry; what next?
Since the onset of the Credit Crunch, the first shoots of a recession and the lack of confidence in every aspect of every industry, people have adopted the Headless Chicken Syndrome as the latest craze, particularly as you can pick up one free at any newsstand or see a new one on any TV News broadcast.
But just as in the movies of past decades the dust of the cavalry can be seen in the distance, but unlike John Wayne’s last minute rescue plan the cavalry is likely to ride straight past and into the distance.
Why, because Opportunities are missed everyday. Courage to do something different is something other people do, and to take risks by going outside when a hurricane is blowing, must be the actions of a madman.
The film industry was started by and will survive by creative people being creative. That’s something almost overlooked by the recent studio financiers, the accountants, the suits, the investors and many inside the industry.
At the centre of the industry is a core of creativity. Sure greed infections still affect many people who claim to have the industry at heart when in fact it is their wallet, but true devotees have creativity, which is what drew them to the industry in the first place.
As a scriptwriter I must write to meet the market place, create concepts that require lower budgets, smaller crews and can be filmed in less locations.
Be prepared to meet the producer and director on a level financial playing field that works for all participants, and contribute in other creative ways if desired or possible, such as marketing concepts, re-writing and tailoring to match what is available.
The film industry exists because of creativity and today it needs creativity as never before.
Is it time for a new United Artists?
When you consider the initial success of United Artists. No not the one restructured a few years ago with Tom Cruise, and is dependency on the financial stability of the “Mother Grabs More” organisation, affectionately known as MGM, but the United Artists that dates back to the days of Monochrome.
The organisation created out of “The Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers” which was founded in 1941; by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Orson Welles, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Alexander Korda, and Walter Wanger.
Many of these became the founders of United Artists and although it wasn’t exactly an Indy set-up it was formed to be a solution to the monopolistic practices of the major film studios of the time and to provide a vehicle for new, young and exciting producers, directors and writers.
Is it time for a modern equivalent but not formed with such aspirations to challenge the studio system or replace mid budget Independent production organisations but to encourage people who love film and can contribute to a group of filmmakers and who want to make low budget movies for the fun of it.
No, this isn’t an invitation to make cheap YouTube masterpieces or porno movies for college graduates but a cry of help for someone to create a collective of like-minded individuals who want to make films to entertain and movies that others will want to watch.
Years ago when cinemas use to show two films in a presentation, one of the movies would be affectingly known as the B-Movie and many wonderful film gems were created as the support movie for the main feature.
From classics such as “The Night of the Living Dead” to pictorial statements of an age like “A Boy and His Dog. Giving opportunities to filmmakers like Roger Corman, actors such as Jack Nicholson, writers like Robert Towne, and directors as famous as Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron.
Perhaps such names now firmly established as pillars of the film industry could take such a step, considering Francis Ford Coppola set up Zoetrope and Kevin Spacey with Dana Brunetti created TriggerStreet a few years ago as Internet sites for budding writers, it is obvious some major players realize the importance of nurturing the grass roots of the industry.
The short sighted approach of theatrical owners, years ago, was to drop the B-Movie so they could squeeze in an extra showing of the main feature, therefore generating more revenue, but in doing so they destroyed the testing ground for new writers, directors and actors.
Is now the time to re-introduce the B-Movie concept in cinemas, providing opportunities at a time when opportunities for adventurous unknown filmmakers are thin on the ground?
