Armageddon?

Does the recent fall of Warner Indep. and Picturehouse, and Think Film's much publicized financial woes, spell impending Armageddon for independent film? Are we irrevocably destined to follow in the footsteps of the ailing music industry? Or is this simply part of a natural ebb and flow ?

Aside from overhauling antiquated, dysfunctional marketing and distribution strategies, the studios clearly need to streamline their business model. Much like the larger US economy, which is by all accounts broken, the film industry simply spends too much damn money at the top of the food chain (execs, stars, etc.).

Among the myriad of complaints about the evolution of "independent" film is the high price tag of making a movie. Keeping costs down is certainly at the core of any successful indie biz plan. But what about traditional distribution? Can independent films still achieve ROI via the standard platform route?

Film is the storytelling medium of the 21st century. There is a HUGE demand for this product. But people in the industry are running scared. I personally am having a helluva time accepting that we're simply in the wrong line of work. And there truly are legitimate opportunities for filmmakers to make a living making movies.

I'll be honest: Like many of my peers, I'm scared shitless. Burning creative passion aside, with five mouths to feed, I need to be thinking ahead. Is the music industry (and Warner Indep., Picturehouse, et al) the canary in the coal mine? Is Blockbuster (like Tower) going to go belly-up? Are filmmakers going to experience an even tougher time funding and selling their movies?

There's really no easy answer here. Once bandwidth catches up with technology, file sharing (aka piracy) could potentially sink an already ailing market. But, then again, it's hard to bet against capitalism. Ads, VOD, anti-piracy efforts -- where there's a will...

I'd like to believe that, if we can manage to get costs under control, and continue to make good movies, people will pay to see them. There's no question a re-invention is in order. But, as hard as I try, I can't shake this addiction called filmmaking. Whether it's fact or fiction, I'm obligated to believe that there's a future in making movies. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

New website in development

It's about fricking time, right?

Indeed, the old Summershines site still had a posting about the first fundraiser party we held for Quality of Life (in 2003!). Uh, yeah. Think it's about time to update the site.

Obviously QoL ate up a significant portion of my life. But I'm back! Just finished the first draft of my new script. (Yay!) Moving on to bigger and better things.

Big ups to my good friend Chris Jennings from Cold Coffee Media for building the new site. (Where would I be without Chris?!) Check it out. It will soon have all of my stuff on it, including the Quality of Life trailer and podcasts, our DVD and book, and updates about my new film, Mother's Milk. (See 'Filmography' for more info.)

Stay tuned!

Peas,
Ben