ENDNOTES
1 Noel Burch, film theorist and historian, coined the phrase “zero point” in terms of filmmaking to denote the straight-match-cut style of filmmaking that preserves the illusion of spatial and temporal reality. It connotes a “status quo” approach to filmmaking.
2 In other countries, there is the dual dynamic of filmmakers aspiring to their native film industry while casting an eye to the lure of Hollywood.
3 Seven mega-corporations now control the vast majority of mass media worldwide: Film, music, television, radio, Internet, newspapers, books, and magazines. They are: AOL-Time Warner, Viacom, Walt Disney, NBC/Universal, Sony, News Corp, and Bertelsmann. Of note, the wireless industry is considered by many to be the next media pipeline, and is now exhibiting the same pattern of consolidation with the recent acquisition (as of February, 2004) of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, creating the largest wireless entity yet. Also noteworthy is the fact that as of midyear, 2004, Vivendi Universal became NBC/Universal and in reality a General Electric company. Thus, a mega-corporation was assimilated by another, larger entity. Readers are urged to seek out a copy of the PBS produced segment of “Frontline,” entitled, “The Merchants of Cool,” one of the best documentaries on marketing in the modern age that explains the relationship between mega-corporations, mass-media and consumers. For more, see:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool
4 There is an excellent article by Reed Martin, “The Price of Promotion,” in the fall, 2003 issue of Filmmaker Magazine. In it, the economics of marketing, promotion, and public relations are broken down as they apply to film. Highly recommended.
5 This is exactly the way it occurred most recently in the music business with hip hop and before that, punk and of course, “race music,” or more popularly, rock ‘n roll. Because of the relatively lower barriers to entry, musicians have always been able to (more) readily connect to their audiences. Filmmakers need to open their minds entrepreneurially and think creatively in order to connect to their audiences. Thus, one of the most salient examples to would-be filmmakers is the pioneering hip hop DJs -- who knew they had a market despite early industry rejection. Those DJs then went directly to the audience in the form of house & block parties, clubs, dances… with mixtapes, and in the process conducted first class market development. Moreover, in finding and connecting directly to their audience, the DJs exerted outside market pressure upon the music gatekeeprs, the one surefire way for outsiders to make oligarchs take note, regardless of industry.
That is an entrepreneurial approach to art and leads to yet another salient point: That filmmakers must be open-minded and not get locked into thinking and identifying themselves solely as filmmakers. Further, they should avoid looking exclusively at other filmmakers and at worst, the Hollywood lottery, for examples on how to go about pursuing the arduous task of constructing a career making movies. The founding fathers of hip hop (in music, it was to my knowledge a male DJ dominated world) prove my point: They are perhaps the most on point and profound example of the SIB philosophy.
Technology, in the form of DV on the front end and editing and burnable DVD on the back end, is now in place to enable filmmakers to more readily deliver their product to audiences. But we can have revolutions in technology forever, and nothing will essentially change unless filmmakers stop giving over their energy to the Hollywood lottery. The critical point is this: What’s missing for filmmakers is a change in their thinking. From the beginning, filmmakers must consider who their audience is, and what methods and costs will be associated in connecting to (marketing) and distributing to their audience.
6 One of the better known of these outreach programs is Fox’s Searchlight, which receives “thousands upon thousands” of submissions to its training programs. To put Searchlight in perspective in regards to the Hollywood lottery, there are about 25 opportunities a year. It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that those are terrible odds, just for a training program.
7 “[Tyler Perry has] been writing plays since he was 18. As of March 2005, his 8 plays have grossed over $75 millions in tickets and DVD sales.
Before becoming a successful film-maker with 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman,' he is already the owner of a successful play company that tours the country and caters to African-Americans. His plays are also recorded and sold as DVDs.” [sic] Source: www.imdb.com/name/nm1347153/bio
8. With the release of his “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price,” in November, 2005, Robert Greenwald solidified his position as one of the leading lights of the SIB approach in independent film. The release of “Wal-Mart” capitalized and built upon the model he employed with his previous film, “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism.” (2004)
With “Outfoxed,” Greenwald – and his production company, Brave New Films (http://www.bravenewfilms.org/) – utilized a great marketing and distribution model: strategic partners. By forming an alliance with MoveOn.org, he was able to readily tap into MoveOn.org’s 2.25 million members. Once his audience was primed, he moved “Wal-Mart” out to an unprecedented opening of over 7,000 screenings.
9 As further evidence of Cajayon’s and his cohorts’ entrepreneurial approach: “The writers/director of this movie had no help in promotion, so they promoted their movie by going to stores and hanging up posters, as well as distributing flyers. This film was never picked up by a major distribution company. Instead, the producers organized a grass roots effort to self-distribute the film. Three years passed between initial principal photography to opening, and another three to have the film travel and screened across the United States. A total of six years before the film made it to DVD and home video.”
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163745/trivia
10 To stimulate thought and encourage readers, one only has to spend some time looking at the thousands of virtual communities in Yahoo groups, each one centered on an interest. For more, see: http://groups.yahoo.com
11 Film schools pose a particularly special, and puzzling, piece of the Hollywood lottery, if only because they ostensibly represent the one place where outsiders should be able to obtain practical information on the business aspects of making movies. Tragically, film schools typically consist only of production, history and critical theory courses.
12 This does not mean that studios should abandon developing talent; on the contrary, studios should indeed do what they can. However, as we have seen, the demand far exceeds the availability of opportunities. The small is beautiful model solves this problem by providing independent filmmakers a fighting chance to ultimately do what they want to do – make movies - without wasting energy and time playing the “studio outreach lottery.”
13 A salient point that should not be lost upon those who seek to tap into the burgeoning ethnic minority markets. For example, the American Latino/Hispanic population is now the largest ethnic minority at over 35 million and helps explain the number one radio show in Los Angeles being a Spanish language program.
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