Hope For Film

Hope For Film

Share this post

Hope For Film
Hope For Film
How do we win?

How do we win?

When taking action, under the current circumstances, there is no other alternative than winning.

Ted Hope's avatar
Ted Hope
Jul 02, 2025
∙ Paid
22

Share this post

Hope For Film
Hope For Film
How do we win?
12
8
Share
Really: you’re sooo cute

I have been writing here on the HopeForFilm Substack for about two and a half years. I have been working on the argument for why we need to build a new cinema ecosystem and trying to paint the picture comprehensively. I think I have got it down.

Or rather, I am now ready to get it down. How did we get here? What is here? What should be our priorities? Who are we? Where do we want to get to? What will is there? What are the known unknowns?

I am thankful so many of you have been willing to explore this with me. It truly helped. I couldn’t have gotten this far with out you. And I have been working hard. If only that was enough…

I have also been hoping. Yes, Hope is hoping. Hoping and hoping and hoping… hoping that things would get better, hoping that a leader would emerge, hope that some of the bigwigs or platforms might come around and do the right thing. So much for dreams. But the hope helped too.

There are signs of progress. But we aren’t really there yet, right? And I think it is time to accept that THEY are never going to come around. But that doesn’t mean you won’t, or even better, are already there.

I do see steps forward in the United States, particularly among the producer class. I trust there are similar movements in other territories too but would love to know better of such actions. It is hard to find them from these shores. You’ll tell me about them when you see them, won’t you? That helps. The launch of both Producers United and the Future Film Coalition in the States is huge. We’ve needed both for a long time. You saw that I mentioned each in my 20 Things That Define The Cinema Industries In The Present Era? And yet… we still need something more. And soon. Very, very soon. How is that going to occur?

Perhaps the question we need to ask now is “are we ready to take action?”.

HopeForFilm depends on you, my friends. We are in this together. If you like what I am serving, please let me know. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. And if you want it all, but can’t currently afford it, let me give you a gift. Just let me know.

Yes, I want to get to that; I really, really want to get to that. I want to take action. I have never been a patient person. I think – generally speaking – action is always the best alternative.

That said, I think it is even more important to fully recognize that once we begin the transformation towards change, there is no turning back. There is only one way to play this game and that is to win. So that is the real question: are you ready to play to win? If you are not, I don’t think you should be in this game anymore. I think there is a stadium full of players ready to take your place on the court. And that goes for me too.

You — we — have to be willing to stop at nothing. It is a full-on mission. Sounds fun, right? It will be, but you can’t be half-assed. It also sounds a bit scary to go full on, but aren’t most good things so? You’ll need to be prepared, mentally, physically, and with whatever it is that drives your creative spirit.

Okay, you might also need a manifesto first. I thought I’d have seen a few by the time we got here. Did I miss them? And what about songs? Do we need to have something to dance to too?

Our recent times have had the largest protests the world has ever seen. But we haven’t seen change, have we? In The States, be it from Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, The Women’s March, or No Kings Rally – it seemed like something was going to happen. People reached the tipping point; they rallied. But then… what happened next?

Are we still trying to sort that out? Did it just help the opposition organize better? The limited results doesn’t mean protests don’t work, but that the path to change is changing. If we are honest with ourselves, the one movement that worked was Trump’s MAGA one, the one that is now dismantling democracy and paving a path towards authoritarian rule. Sad but true.

So here in our somewhat more limited cinema world, perhaps we need to accept that although awareness and community are certainly needed, those attributes alone will not be the strategy that will win. What will be that strategy? Let’s figure that out now first, okay? Or is there something we need to do even before that too?

Do you know what we are against? I hate to say it, but I think we need to draw lines. One side or the other, friend. On the bus? Or get off? I’ve already told you what we are for, but sometimes we need to peer into the darkness too. Although I think we need to know this – what we are against – first, I am going to get to that second instead. Why? Because I think people want to know that they can win before they usually will engage. And I know this is win-able.

Watch this space for what NonDē is against in an upcoming post, but today we are talking about why we can win this thing, why we can lift the cultural conversation up, why we can make the world safe for ambitiously authored cinema, those that make it, and those that love it. This is about why we know that cinema is about to go through The Great Becoming.

I do believe we are all in this together, but on the other hand, I don’t think any of us can wait any longer to take action. I think many of you already agree with large concepts I’ve thrown out there previously, but most of us just keep on keeping on despite the circumstances. Admit it: you’ve been just like me – hoping, hoping and hoping. And nothing really changes, other than continuing the downward slide. So let’s stop sliding.

I know you are ready. I know you want this. I know you are ready to make a full commitment.

This is why we are going to win.

Share


How does NonDē win? 20 paths to one outcome.

  1. Accept that the prior system is now permanently broken and will not be fixed. America destroyed its entertainment industry. Non-corporate films will no longer be the cultural course correctors, they once were. The GSPs utilize anti-competitive business tactics and will not reward you in success. The support organizations promote a transactional short term approach to cinema which is antithetical to sustainability or aesthetic courage.

  2. If you are a person under 40 years of age, you will never have the career in cinema you’ve dreamed about under the current cinema system.

  3. Recognize if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Your neglect of making things work better for the cinema you love, is preventing you from accessing that cinema and having a sustainable career making it. Sure, to some degree it is “the system” that hurts you, but even more so it is “you in the system and the system in you” that is doing the harm, and you can control that.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Hope For Film to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Ted Hope
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share