Is this the moment?
Ask not what the indie film business can do for you...
This week several programs, thoughts and initiatives were unveiled concerning the Indie Film world, while we were treated to new works by new and established filmmakers alike via Sundance 2024. Though responses to these were varied, everyone agrees on one thing: indie film can’t go on like this.
Dear Producer published a call for Sundance to become a road show of sorts, most of all because it’s become too costly for even the privileged to attend. For the first time in over a decade I stayed put and watched online, after sharing a bedroom with a festival friend in 2023, sleeping in what must be children’s beds, and this year, being offered a bunk bed for the low, low price of $2500, I passed. Don’t get me wrong, I am not above sleeping in a youth hostel if that is what is required, just not for several thousand dollars.
Ted Hope continued his clarion call for a new distribution model, as all the money belongs to the streamers and no one is funding films anymore, especially social justice docs. Brian Newman summarized all of this well in his newsletter (both Hope for Film and Brian’s Sub-genre newsletter are worth subscribing to) and estimates change in 2026, when not coincidentally, Sundance and Park City come to an end of their agreement, Anthony Kaufman, among other wise words, gave the press (and horrific lack of good film criticism) a spanking which was well-deserved as the reviews for some Sundance films seemed written by a frat bro who probably lists FINDING NEMO in his top ten all-time greatest films (no offense, Dory).
And there were also some great news items: The launch of Tribeca Films, which purports to create what we all hope folks will sign up for: a streaming platform to showcase indie films widely. Will they pay fairly? Will it be a junk heap of unwanted things to see as past efforts like this have been? Time will tell, but I hope not. Just Films (part of the Ford Foundation) announced over four million dollars being given out too many documentarians worldwide for social justice films (hurray!), something that has been discussed as far back as almost decade ago, and Keri Putnam, former CEO at The Sundance Institute released the start of her research as a Harvard Shorenstein Fellow, parsing out for us all how the festival, art house and streaming echo system is really doing. Using actual data.
All of these folks are far smarter than I am, but having worked in entertainment for more years than I care to mention, and having done so as a performer, producer, festival director and art house director, in and outside of high education, a few things from the ground up warrant addressing. Because depending on where you are in the US, audiences are not roaring back, and yes, the strikes were necessary but COVID and the strikes only weakened a patient that had an unhealthy immune system anyway.
Most festivals and art houses are still just scraping by. There is a profound lack of financial capital keeping them afloat, and the circular firing squad between the exhibitors, filmmakers and distributors isn’t helping. The fact is that no one is getting rich. I have listened for so long about how much festival fees cost, watched ticket sales evaporate to go to high percentage distribution deals, or patiently explained to patrons a long list of things small nonprofits cannot afford to deliver. So, the finger pointing has to stop, please. Festival fees at most fests cover less than 5% of their revenue. I had board members want us to pay bonuses to staff after Barbie this past year, when the take on each ticket after high distributor fees, taxes (remember when tickets for nonprofits weren’t taxable?) and our already reduced prices amounted to maybe a two-dollar profit per ticket. No. one. is. getting. rich. Full stop.
At the local level this has to do with a complete lack of advocacy for Film as Art. If your community would like to have a theater, ballet, symphony or museum, you have to write a check. Few donors I know make their largest give to their local film organization. It usually goes to a museum, which is like a Ponzi scheme for the wealthy and a very different model. You need civic, corporate and individual donor support for nonprofit film exhibition. If not, an art house or festival is not sustainable. It is just that simple. And by support I do not just mean dollars. I mean curiosity about how our strange little business operates, and how much revenue that festival or theater is driving into the local economy. Take a snapshot of a street with a boarded up movie house. It is usually not a thriving area economically.
That said, leadership at local film organizations could stand to take a page from those other more august arts organizations. Capital campaigns for rainy day funds (because every day has been Seattle weather for film, yes?) that throw off interest, true, well-written progressed capital budgets that plan accurately for the replacement of projection equipment and building repair, these all have to be mandatory and up to date. Basic internal policies regarding cash handling, sustainable growth, etc. are all over the place. Stabilizing this across the field would draw trust from donors as well as sponsors, if and when corporations return to arts-giving as they once did.
Likewise, investing in film education, from makers to critics to film curators is imperative. Journalism, writ large, is on life support. But this does not excuse lazy writing, and reviews written by people that clearly lack a breadth of film knowledge. I include small film organizations in this as well. I have worked in organizations where staff don’t know who John Sayles is, much less Gordon Parks or Eisenstein, for that matter. But who can blame them? There is little in the way of training out there, and a PhD in Film Studies is a costly investment. So you may have an enthusiastic but unstudied person giving notes to audiences about films from their limited, unstudied perspective. Only in film do we think this is OK. Usually because it’s the best we have got for the pay we can offer. But even without a degree in film education, thousands of hours of film watching and a good deal of curiosity is required, and can make up for the rest.
Film organizations are usually great at offering youth screenings, but we also need continuity when engaging our young audiences, from grade school through high school with real, tested pedagogical approaches. It cannot be a one and done endeavor, which it often is. Cities where the state college boasts a film curriculum generally have better film ecosystems than those that do not.
And then there is fundraising. Why do the Twin Cities have 70-80 working theaters in the US? Because it has one of the best children’s theaters in the country and therefore a sustainable audience of theatergoers and donors. It has one of largest populations of working theater professionals outside of the coasts. What does it not have? A reputation for a sustainable film ecosystem, despite hardworking folks making their lives in the North. Seriously, when I moved here, I called an old friend at the MPA and asked what he thought of Minnesota, and his response was “We don’t think about Minnesota”. One reason why could be that the largest of those aforementioned 70-80 theaters has a working budget of approximately 34 million. If you combine the working budgets of the largest nonprofit film organizations working here, they come to less than 5-6 million. Enough said.
Lastly are the filmmakers. We have to stop pretending that it’s the streamer, film company and distributor’s fault that you didn’t attend that festival you love, or whose board you serve on, or in your hometown. You just need to insist, because you are the artist, that you are attending and screening your film there. And when that festival goes away or is on life support, remember how you caved, out of fear, which is understandable, and took your film elsewhere. Or you sent the film but did not attend, which always makes it harder for the festival to sell seats. It takes huge courage to birth an indie film. Be brave all the way throughout the process. If Nancy Buirski could do it with her first big film, THE LOVING STORY, so can you. And many people who supported where I have worked in the past have as well. Or you came and spoke to young people. We paid you when we could. You know who you are. Gratitude.
I’d like to be the genius that figures out the new model that catapults us all to the next step, because I deeply love independent film, most especially nonfiction. And when that model presents itself, I will be here, sleeves rolled up, ready to help. But let’s not ignore basic, necessary repairs that have to be made to the entire system, and most of all, when we want to complain, let’s all make sure we all do our part before saying it is someone else’s fault, otherwise we get the film ecosystem we deserve.