This weekend I had the privilege of sitting on a prestigious panel at Film Independent’s Filmmaker’s Forum event. The opportunity came up at the last minute, and after getting the call late Friday, was quite chuffed to take my seat on the main stage at the Director’s Guild on Saturday evening, flanked by no less than four of the most influential people in the movie business.

Not being a Hollywood vet (by any stretch of the imagination), I have to say I was a little nervous, but also excited, about the pending conversation as we went through the usual LA schpiel of having photographs taken in front of the proverbial publicity panel and taking our places on stage. To my left sat Richard Klubeck, head of business affairs for the motion picture department at UTA.  To my immediate right was Michael London, CEO of Groundswell Productions and famed producer of Sideways, Smart People and host of other great flicks. To his right sat Oscar-winning producer (and current Mandalay Pictures President) Cathy Schulman (Crash, Darfur Now), and to her right, The New York Times Hollywood correspondent and industry vet, Michael Cieply.

Debating the future of Indie flicks

So what was I doing in the company of these industry giants… well, call it a case of serendipty (or perhaps just dumb luck), but it turns out the industry is really searching for answers about what the future of marketing will look like for studios and independent filmmakers alike, and this just happens to be the area we’re focusing on at SocialNotions. This is what I learned from our short time together:

• Yes, the industry is in a state of flux – perhaps even massive flux – but the market for traditional movie viewing format of kicking back in comfy chair in a large dark room with a massive screen and 200 strangers isn’t going anywhere. There may be less variety on offer in theatrical these days, but economic downturn aside, titles with mass market appeal are still doing well.
• The news for independent producers vis-a-vis funding is not great… gone are the days of coming up with a great idea and having a ton of people clamoring to give you heaps of money to make it a reality.  It reminded me a little of the start-up market in Silicon Valley these days, where angels and bootstrapping are the words of the day.
• The pioneers are out there, and continue to surface. Guys like Arin Crumley of Four Eyed Monsters fame, and Lizzie Gillett from The Age of Stupid should be lauded for their efforts.
• DIY is a topic bandied about when it comes to how Indie filmmakers have to operate these days, but really the right model for these times is not DIY, but rather DIWO (do-it-with-others), with collaboration among and between filmmakers and film-lovers powering the act of conceiving of and bringing to market a wide variety of films people want to see.
• Although the Internet nand online video is still, in many ways, a poor cousin to film and television in its traditional form, it won’t be for long. Within 3-5 years we’ll stop talking about these things as though they’re different media, and instead see them for what they will soon be… different sized screens.
• Hollywood still seems to think that social media is only for the young, and that despite GenY slated to outnumber the Boomers within a year, most people other than the Millenials and Generation Z aren’t doing the whole online thing. For my money, I’m not so sure this is the right way to look at the world… you only have to take note of the fact that Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is Females 55-65 years old to realize that it ain’t just for the young ‘uns.
• Hollywood’s business leaders are smart, talented individuals who grasp just how important finding one’s audience online is – even for the purpose of marketing traditional format motion pictures – but the industries digital marketing teams continue to have a collective blank stare when it comes to tackling this problem. And it’s not like there are people rushing to their rescue from Silicon Valley either. Yes, there are some innovators, but this problem is still largely unsolved.

Filmmakers are dying for a better way to find their audience online

We also discussed Paranormal Activity and the innovative model they’ve adopted, asking cities to petition for the chance to see the flick. This is a definite step in the right direction if you ask me, and if Arin and Susan (Four Eyed Monsters) hadn’t done it a couple years ago – out of pure necessity I might add – would be a wonderfully innovative marketing move. It’ll be interesting to see how Paramount’s experiment with Paranormal plays out and whether, as some cynics postulate, this is a “look, we’re cool too” marketing gimmick on the part of a studio as opposed to a genuine development in the way movies are being promoted.

While at the Forum, I took in the chance to hear from other pioneering Indie producers, and was lucky enough to sit in on a (Skype-based) interview with Lizzie Gillett from London, one of the tireless souls who made The Age of Stupid happen. Another wonderful example cutting edge independent film production, marketing, distribution and exhibition. Proof that, for passion areas at least, crowdfunding and ground-breaking theatrical innovation are still very possible, albeit with a lot of work.

So, what’s next for Indie? Well, you’ll get no predictions from me on that front… I leave it to those with the industry cred to back up a forecast. I will say this though: to me it smells a lot like social media. Your nose picking that up too?

-D

P.S. Huge thanks to Dawn Hudson from Film Independent for letting me crash the party.