What will we do now?
What are we gonna do with all the undistributed films? More and more I get articles and stories sent to me about the state of independent films and how none can attain distribution. Good, interesting, unique and inspiring works are being disregarded. Why? It’s easy – Nobody goes and sees them. They aren’t a good investment and the people who run distribution companies don’t love films. They are businessmen. So what do we do now? What do the people who strive to push this medium in a new direction do? The people who want this art form to not disappear and become TV. It is hard. But the truth is – We can’t blame the business. We have to blame the people who are not interested in having a new filmatic experience.
I decided to be a filmmaker when I was 15 for one reason. When I left the theater, after watching a powerful film (New or Old), I felt completely different than the way I walked in. If the movie made me sad, happy, confused, anything I felt satisfied. To feel a new feeling is more valuable then all the money in the world. I worry that not enough people strive for this. I feel nothing when leaving the theater after watching a mainstream film.
So here we are now. On the brink of something new. As more studios shut down the independent/artistic arms of their businesses and distributors stop buying more and more films we step closer to change. What will the new movement be? What will be the next change? The next creative new? It is up to us to answer this question. I’m just putting the questions out there. The sooner we figure it out – The sooner it begins and I promise you – the feelings it will bring will be priceless. Prepare. Think. Create.
