Thanks for the Monday morning inspiration (I think your first tenet is working). And the group that I produce shorts have been talking a lot about many of these, especially making the film-making process more fun and building a healthier environment in production - and how we can be more generous to everyone that is a part of it. How did so many people start out wanting to go into filmmaking because it was fun growing up, and then it got super intense and serious with zero fun? At least that was my story, being inspired by Steven Spielberg and making movies with my friends and siblings from around 8 years old through all my middle school and high school years, and then feeling like being on set had to be intense and high stakes. I'm excited to be along the ride as you continue to share you thoughts!
Love these tenets, Ted. Lots of alignment with what I’m trying to build so it’s great timing.
It is interesting how the different communities that pop up quickly become self-promotional. I think it’s because so many are desperate to find any way in or ahead, that they toss aside patience because they believe “this might be my only chance!”
The community you’re speaking of likely ends up behind an invite-only or paywall. Which isn’t ideal because it would initially be just for those who are already on the inside.
A forum or community like IndieHackers.com seems most aligned with what you’re walking about. Would be an interesting project to have a place for indie filmmakers and producers. Those making the films.
My guess is there are Reddit and Facebook communities but I don’t spend much (any) time on those platforms so I’m not sure.
What I love most is your desire to change things for the better. If we’re not doing that, what are we doing?!
Was reading A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander this evening (it’s about towns, buildings and construction…) and this quote felt timely:
“This is a fundamental view of the world. It says that when you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must also repair the world around it, and within it, so that the larger world at that one place becomes more coherent, and more whole; and the thing which you make takes its place in the web of nature, as you make it.”
I love all of these tenets and will be sharing with my fledgling production company in our next meeting. I think you’re right about implementing guiding values like this right at the start, knowing they will evolve but like having a moral roadmap to refer to as we scale. We all need to hold ourselves accountable to be better humans, especially if we start seeing success. I see a vicious cycle of good humans getting caught up in “the game” because it’s the only way to have a sustainable career (BUT IS IT? AND ARE THEY?!).
In my experience from trying to get funding for my own films the FUNDS themselves are the biggest barrier. We need to find a way to get more money consistently to independent filmmakers. If the USA cared about films as one of our top exports and had a national endowment for the arts like other countries do, that could help. Another idea is perhaps going forward the producers/execs of huge tent pole movies who claim to care about saving independent cinema could commit to investing a percentage of every Marvel sized film to that studio’s “indie fund.” Like maybe for every marvel film, they commit to making 5-10 indies? There seems to be better luck finding slates of films rather than a one off. Writing it out, it feels a little naive but it could help! I also read the filmmaker mag article that Jon shared, and the takeaway is that overwhelmingly films under $50K or over $1.5M have a better chance of turning a profit. This obviously makes any film between that range (ie most indie films) something most investors would run from! The more info that comes out the more it makes me think the system needs to be completely rebuilt. Naomi McDougall Jones (who wrote the article) has been genuinely pushing for a way to change the system. Maybe you should join forces! She’s a friend so lmk if I can connect you.
Hi Jaclyn, Yes I talked to Noami, several years ago when she had traveled across the U.S. with her cast and crew in an RV, advertising her feature, and screening it in towns and cities throughout the country. She had started an exciting new group to change the world of filmmaking, which I originally was very interested in. I ended up working with another group that met in L.A. and started a new International Studio Without Borders or Walls. I would very much like to touch base with Noami again and see how we could work together. Also, would like to work with you Jaclyn, let's talk. firstfeatures@mail.com
No coffee I have ever tried has brought out early morning tenets, precepts or even a meager and quickly forgotten credo from me. Please share your brand!
Also, if you haven't heard of the Hollywood Climate Summit, please look at their website: hollywoodclimatesummit.com. Started by my daughter and her girlfriend, it is the world's leading resource for moving the industry (quickly!) into becoming sustainable, as well as encouraging a vast increase in climate storytelling on screen, that presents positive solutions and not post apocalyptic failure scenarios.
As the philosopher said: "We need to be here, to change here."
Ted, if I donate 80.00 here, will you accept my connection request on LinkedIn.com? It has now sat in a state of pending longer than the Exxon Valdez payments did!
Hahaha. No bribes needed, but sorry that I don't pay more attention to the LI platform other than posting what you can subscribe to for free here. But go ahead and donate if you wish! It will feel good and make the world a better place eventually.
My donation to this worthy cause is in! Please check your LinkedIn InMail later for a message. Don't worry it's not a movie pitch! :) Just a couple of blog ideas.
I think we need an online community that can pair scripts with producers. This should have an eye towards quality and not simply a quick buck. Slated promised this, but their script scoring process is ridiculous. It doesn’t take into account vision, which is what you’ve been talking about.
I read so many terrific scripts every year and nothing happens with them. There’s something wrong with that, when there’s a graveyard of great scripts (film and TV) and all that gets made is the work of a few creators.
I think we need more producers. Which means we need a better system so that new producers can actually see that it is sustainable profession. Now producers are all asked to work on speculation that it will eventually get made. Granted we all need to do some of that; I do a ton of that. But we also need some way to earn a decent living in the process. The old way was to chase hits. A good picker generally used to be able to assume that in 1 of 8 they'd hit a 10x multiple. That doesn't work these days. Those good scripts won't get paired with the person that can get them made until we can show that producing is a viable career again for someone other than those that made a fortune elsewhere first. But it can be done!
But, I also think for this to be a thing, we really have to change the current thinking and means of distribution, because for the EP to do it (out of a motivation other than "losing money is fine because this Cinema matters") we need to make it economically sustainable (kinda what you, Ted, already mentioned). I read this article over the weekend that echoed much of what's been said on this Substack, but really gave some numbers: https://filmmakermagazine.com/120384-truth-about-independent-film-revenue/#.ZDQhxy_MJBw
But, it also shows that the system is broken in such a way that lends itself to radically and revolutionary innovation. Now, it's our job to figure out a realistic implementable innovation. I can feel its imminentness and it's exciting. I just don't have the knowledge base of the distribution ecosystem at this point.
Yeah, that's a great article, but I wish it was a wider sample -- but then again it's kind of remarkable they got what they did. And I concur, it's SOOO broken now for all films that are not first & foremost designed to be 100% widely commercial, that radical experimentation makes more sense than ever.
Thank you Jon for sharing that article! Having done my fair share of “free range” indies, I’ve also seen the trend of distribution deals going from 5-10 years to 15, 20, and even more. Once the distributor works the title for the first couple of windows, it just sits on AVOD platforms until.... ? These long deals are seemingly only to build a library they can possibly sell? I did a 5 year deal back in 2015 and was able to get it back and re-release the film, but the rest who knows. I’ve also seen that my films make money, but by the time everyone else gets their cut, the film has to gross at least 2-3X the budget for us to break even, even with a pretty minimal MG and marketing spend. A new, more equitable system would surely be nice :)
Roadmap Writers, Stage 32, and Inktip were (are) platforms for pitching to producers. They all want your money and it's a toss up if you're being read by an intelligent, honest, relaxed producer who's not in a hurry.
Hi Ted... new subscriber here! Just dropping a note to say how much I appreciated and enjoyed your Industry ZOOM "Ted Talk" last Wednesday. I'm a working director/writer (many commercials, one feature film and shorts) about to go out with a new script. I will def take some of your suggestions to heart. Wish me luck! Appreciate it! 🙏 My best, Andy G - Rebel Robot Films
Thanks for announcing the USC Screening of "Jerry Brown: The Disrupter" and supporting its production! Saw it last night. What an amazing and inspiring story. A Must See documentary. Happy to hear it is coming to PBS in the Fall.
The Hope For Film Tenets did not really inspire me. I would be more interested in the Future of Film or the Evolution of the Entertainment Industry. I know Hope is your name, but maybe it would be better if it was not necessarily centered around any specific personality. I am sure I have a lot to learn from you about running a business, but I am a creative producer, not a line producer, I write, but am not necessarily a social person. I am into housing, building, construction and the films I am presently working on are heavily into that world. I would say first build a strong foundation, choose your material for construction carefully, making sure it is strong, and will weather the elements and at the same time be attractive plus hold up over time. Get the best designers and contractors as possible for a small, low-cost home. Build it in as short a time as possible, which will also keep the cost down. A 10-day build will always cost less than a 10 week build and if you are able use less workers and build most of it indoors under controlled conditions, your finished product can still be fantastic without all the bells and whistles that a luxury product would entail.
There seems to be confusion here between processes and philosophy. What you call a 'process of structured consideration' leaves out the most obvious culprit in all this- liberalism. The industry is liberal. The films are liberal. Indie film is liberalism on steroids or valium. Yet for fear of getting political, no one touches it. That's because liberalism is two things: a mode of thought, which is private; and a form of government, which poses problems for liberal thought because it can't imagine any other form of government. So it ends up restricting private thought to the point where there's no sites for creative discourse. People fear losing their jobs because they don't want to face liberalism's harshness.
The lack of places for discourse should tell us something: one, that we're not very good at it (how can you be good at something you don't practice every day?); and two, that in our culture, more force and energy is put into undermining creative discussion. Once upon a time, friends used to supply this. Why then are so many people searching it out on machines? The soil is barren and is not going to get moisture unless the atmosphere changes. Questioning the liberal order from start to finish seems to me the only way. (It's coming regardless of what you or I say). Therefore, what you're suggesting, that every group gets its share, is only going to create a less liberal order. I've said this in the past and will say it until it's dealt with..
So let's have tenets, but not for immediate action only. (That's always been an American trap). Let's have some tenets that deal with underlying contradictions and false assumptions, something we Americans are not very adept at. The journey can't be the destination, because both are changing. The destination is contingent upon the journey. And that destination, what you call 'ambitiously-authored cinema', depends on how deeply we're willing to shed our liberal illusions.
I'd love to read your tenets for this Michael. And I agree with most of what you say in your second paragraph, but some of that questioning, particularly when embedded within any work of art, may want to have a very gentle and quiet hand. All film is political, particularly that which some think is precisely not political. But it does not need and shouldn't suffer from being quietly so. I find it very entertaining for folks to promote the world they want, whether they do it gently or aggressively, but I don't want a diet limited to either. How to facilitate a creative culture open to wild ideas and bold thoughts? Perhaps it starts with getting more people to enjoy a broader spectrum. I am willing to play both the slow long game and the fast short -- simultaneously, and next to the loud/quiet.
Thanks for the Monday morning inspiration (I think your first tenet is working). And the group that I produce shorts have been talking a lot about many of these, especially making the film-making process more fun and building a healthier environment in production - and how we can be more generous to everyone that is a part of it. How did so many people start out wanting to go into filmmaking because it was fun growing up, and then it got super intense and serious with zero fun? At least that was my story, being inspired by Steven Spielberg and making movies with my friends and siblings from around 8 years old through all my middle school and high school years, and then feeling like being on set had to be intense and high stakes. I'm excited to be along the ride as you continue to share you thoughts!
Love these tenets, Ted. Lots of alignment with what I’m trying to build so it’s great timing.
It is interesting how the different communities that pop up quickly become self-promotional. I think it’s because so many are desperate to find any way in or ahead, that they toss aside patience because they believe “this might be my only chance!”
The community you’re speaking of likely ends up behind an invite-only or paywall. Which isn’t ideal because it would initially be just for those who are already on the inside.
A forum or community like IndieHackers.com seems most aligned with what you’re walking about. Would be an interesting project to have a place for indie filmmakers and producers. Those making the films.
My guess is there are Reddit and Facebook communities but I don’t spend much (any) time on those platforms so I’m not sure.
What I love most is your desire to change things for the better. If we’re not doing that, what are we doing?!
The IndieHacker.com is an interesting model. Yeah, I would definitely like to see the film version of that. Good tip Daren!
Was reading A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander this evening (it’s about towns, buildings and construction…) and this quote felt timely:
“This is a fundamental view of the world. It says that when you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must also repair the world around it, and within it, so that the larger world at that one place becomes more coherent, and more whole; and the thing which you make takes its place in the web of nature, as you make it.”
Certainly applies to how we create films.
I love all of these tenets and will be sharing with my fledgling production company in our next meeting. I think you’re right about implementing guiding values like this right at the start, knowing they will evolve but like having a moral roadmap to refer to as we scale. We all need to hold ourselves accountable to be better humans, especially if we start seeing success. I see a vicious cycle of good humans getting caught up in “the game” because it’s the only way to have a sustainable career (BUT IS IT? AND ARE THEY?!).
In my experience from trying to get funding for my own films the FUNDS themselves are the biggest barrier. We need to find a way to get more money consistently to independent filmmakers. If the USA cared about films as one of our top exports and had a national endowment for the arts like other countries do, that could help. Another idea is perhaps going forward the producers/execs of huge tent pole movies who claim to care about saving independent cinema could commit to investing a percentage of every Marvel sized film to that studio’s “indie fund.” Like maybe for every marvel film, they commit to making 5-10 indies? There seems to be better luck finding slates of films rather than a one off. Writing it out, it feels a little naive but it could help! I also read the filmmaker mag article that Jon shared, and the takeaway is that overwhelmingly films under $50K or over $1.5M have a better chance of turning a profit. This obviously makes any film between that range (ie most indie films) something most investors would run from! The more info that comes out the more it makes me think the system needs to be completely rebuilt. Naomi McDougall Jones (who wrote the article) has been genuinely pushing for a way to change the system. Maybe you should join forces! She’s a friend so lmk if I can connect you.
Perhaps we can come up with a better model than just philanthropy for features: https://tedhope.substack.com/p/how-to-return-investment-in-first-0de
Hi Jaclyn, Yes I talked to Noami, several years ago when she had traveled across the U.S. with her cast and crew in an RV, advertising her feature, and screening it in towns and cities throughout the country. She had started an exciting new group to change the world of filmmaking, which I originally was very interested in. I ended up working with another group that met in L.A. and started a new International Studio Without Borders or Walls. I would very much like to touch base with Noami again and see how we could work together. Also, would like to work with you Jaclyn, let's talk. firstfeatures@mail.com
Thanks First, will connect over email!
No coffee I have ever tried has brought out early morning tenets, precepts or even a meager and quickly forgotten credo from me. Please share your brand!
Also, if you haven't heard of the Hollywood Climate Summit, please look at their website: hollywoodclimatesummit.com. Started by my daughter and her girlfriend, it is the world's leading resource for moving the industry (quickly!) into becoming sustainable, as well as encouraging a vast increase in climate storytelling on screen, that presents positive solutions and not post apocalyptic failure scenarios.
As the philosopher said: "We need to be here, to change here."
Ted, if I donate 80.00 here, will you accept my connection request on LinkedIn.com? It has now sat in a state of pending longer than the Exxon Valdez payments did!
Hahaha. No bribes needed, but sorry that I don't pay more attention to the LI platform other than posting what you can subscribe to for free here. But go ahead and donate if you wish! It will feel good and make the world a better place eventually.
My donation to this worthy cause is in! Please check your LinkedIn InMail later for a message. Don't worry it's not a movie pitch! :) Just a couple of blog ideas.
I think we need an online community that can pair scripts with producers. This should have an eye towards quality and not simply a quick buck. Slated promised this, but their script scoring process is ridiculous. It doesn’t take into account vision, which is what you’ve been talking about.
I read so many terrific scripts every year and nothing happens with them. There’s something wrong with that, when there’s a graveyard of great scripts (film and TV) and all that gets made is the work of a few creators.
I think we need more producers. Which means we need a better system so that new producers can actually see that it is sustainable profession. Now producers are all asked to work on speculation that it will eventually get made. Granted we all need to do some of that; I do a ton of that. But we also need some way to earn a decent living in the process. The old way was to chase hits. A good picker generally used to be able to assume that in 1 of 8 they'd hit a 10x multiple. That doesn't work these days. Those good scripts won't get paired with the person that can get them made until we can show that producing is a viable career again for someone other than those that made a fortune elsewhere first. But it can be done!
Maybe it's time to pair Producer with EP?
But, I also think for this to be a thing, we really have to change the current thinking and means of distribution, because for the EP to do it (out of a motivation other than "losing money is fine because this Cinema matters") we need to make it economically sustainable (kinda what you, Ted, already mentioned). I read this article over the weekend that echoed much of what's been said on this Substack, but really gave some numbers: https://filmmakermagazine.com/120384-truth-about-independent-film-revenue/#.ZDQhxy_MJBw
But, it also shows that the system is broken in such a way that lends itself to radically and revolutionary innovation. Now, it's our job to figure out a realistic implementable innovation. I can feel its imminentness and it's exciting. I just don't have the knowledge base of the distribution ecosystem at this point.
Yeah, that's a great article, but I wish it was a wider sample -- but then again it's kind of remarkable they got what they did. And I concur, it's SOOO broken now for all films that are not first & foremost designed to be 100% widely commercial, that radical experimentation makes more sense than ever.
Thank you Jon for sharing that article! Having done my fair share of “free range” indies, I’ve also seen the trend of distribution deals going from 5-10 years to 15, 20, and even more. Once the distributor works the title for the first couple of windows, it just sits on AVOD platforms until.... ? These long deals are seemingly only to build a library they can possibly sell? I did a 5 year deal back in 2015 and was able to get it back and re-release the film, but the rest who knows. I’ve also seen that my films make money, but by the time everyone else gets their cut, the film has to gross at least 2-3X the budget for us to break even, even with a pretty minimal MG and marketing spend. A new, more equitable system would surely be nice :)
Where's that 'radically and revolutionary innovation" going to come from if one is not questioning liberalism itself?
From me. And probably others.
Roadmap Writers, Stage 32, and Inktip were (are) platforms for pitching to producers. They all want your money and it's a toss up if you're being read by an intelligent, honest, relaxed producer who's not in a hurry.
Thanks for sharing though! And you are right: how to find the IHRPWNIAH?
Hi Ted... new subscriber here! Just dropping a note to say how much I appreciated and enjoyed your Industry ZOOM "Ted Talk" last Wednesday. I'm a working director/writer (many commercials, one feature film and shorts) about to go out with a new script. I will def take some of your suggestions to heart. Wish me luck! Appreciate it! 🙏 My best, Andy G - Rebel Robot Films
Thanks for announcing the USC Screening of "Jerry Brown: The Disrupter" and supporting its production! Saw it last night. What an amazing and inspiring story. A Must See documentary. Happy to hear it is coming to PBS in the Fall.
The Hope For Film Tenets did not really inspire me. I would be more interested in the Future of Film or the Evolution of the Entertainment Industry. I know Hope is your name, but maybe it would be better if it was not necessarily centered around any specific personality. I am sure I have a lot to learn from you about running a business, but I am a creative producer, not a line producer, I write, but am not necessarily a social person. I am into housing, building, construction and the films I am presently working on are heavily into that world. I would say first build a strong foundation, choose your material for construction carefully, making sure it is strong, and will weather the elements and at the same time be attractive plus hold up over time. Get the best designers and contractors as possible for a small, low-cost home. Build it in as short a time as possible, which will also keep the cost down. A 10-day build will always cost less than a 10 week build and if you are able use less workers and build most of it indoors under controlled conditions, your finished product can still be fantastic without all the bells and whistles that a luxury product would entail.
There seems to be confusion here between processes and philosophy. What you call a 'process of structured consideration' leaves out the most obvious culprit in all this- liberalism. The industry is liberal. The films are liberal. Indie film is liberalism on steroids or valium. Yet for fear of getting political, no one touches it. That's because liberalism is two things: a mode of thought, which is private; and a form of government, which poses problems for liberal thought because it can't imagine any other form of government. So it ends up restricting private thought to the point where there's no sites for creative discourse. People fear losing their jobs because they don't want to face liberalism's harshness.
The lack of places for discourse should tell us something: one, that we're not very good at it (how can you be good at something you don't practice every day?); and two, that in our culture, more force and energy is put into undermining creative discussion. Once upon a time, friends used to supply this. Why then are so many people searching it out on machines? The soil is barren and is not going to get moisture unless the atmosphere changes. Questioning the liberal order from start to finish seems to me the only way. (It's coming regardless of what you or I say). Therefore, what you're suggesting, that every group gets its share, is only going to create a less liberal order. I've said this in the past and will say it until it's dealt with..
So let's have tenets, but not for immediate action only. (That's always been an American trap). Let's have some tenets that deal with underlying contradictions and false assumptions, something we Americans are not very adept at. The journey can't be the destination, because both are changing. The destination is contingent upon the journey. And that destination, what you call 'ambitiously-authored cinema', depends on how deeply we're willing to shed our liberal illusions.
I'd love to read your tenets for this Michael. And I agree with most of what you say in your second paragraph, but some of that questioning, particularly when embedded within any work of art, may want to have a very gentle and quiet hand. All film is political, particularly that which some think is precisely not political. But it does not need and shouldn't suffer from being quietly so. I find it very entertaining for folks to promote the world they want, whether they do it gently or aggressively, but I don't want a diet limited to either. How to facilitate a creative culture open to wild ideas and bold thoughts? Perhaps it starts with getting more people to enjoy a broader spectrum. I am willing to play both the slow long game and the fast short -- simultaneously, and next to the loud/quiet.
Here is a revealing analysis of indie film prospects since 2018. Perhaps you've seen this. https://filmmakermagazine.com/120384-truth-about-independent-film-revenue/#.ZDTQqezMJYj
And here is an essay that states my tenets. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/grievance-test-michael-lipscomb/?trackingId=xaxAWu1sSJSIotOJc0Z9Jg%3D%3D
Thanks for reading.