"NonDē filmmaking is the beating heart of Hollywood."
The Ankler's Richard Rushfield's TAKEOVER of HopeForFilm!
Ted’s note: I get false credit for being the/a FilmStack OG. Sure I am closing in on three years in, but… There wouldn’t be something happening here if it wasn’t for The Ankler. And The Ankler wouldn’t be here but for founder and author Richard Rushfield. He’s a fantastic writer, with personality to spare, and the courage to speak the truth to any and all. I was pleased he had me on his video meetup “Lunch” as his first guest, very honored that he agreed to do today’s HFF TAKEOVER, and 100% enthused by what he has chosen to share today.
Intro:
It's an honor to be here, speaking my mind on this page which has become such a vital cornerstone for a corner of the industry that means everything to me, and should mean everything to the industry. Writing my column for The Ankler, which speaks to the entire spectrum of entertainment professionals, I have repeatedly written that if NonDē films (to honor our hosts preferred nomenclature) were to die, all of Hollywood would follow and I feel that to be true more and more as the industry's crisis deepens.
NonDē filmmaking is the beating heart of Hollywood. It is the organ which pumps blood and oxygen into the rest of the system, keeping it alive and vital. Call it the farm team or the skunkworks or whatever you like, it's where the experimentation takes place that are very hard for Hollywood otherwise to do on an industrial scale, but without them - entertainment festers and starts to disintegrate. NonDē films are where the new ideas, the new imagination and new talent enter the bloodstream.
Lately however, the skies have looked dark. When I started writing my Substack-based column on and to the entertainment industry eight years ago, it was with a simple promise: I would always just lay out the truth as best I could see it. Lately, keeping that promise has been tough. Not because of any fear of reprisal but because on a lot of days, the state of things has seemed so grim that I fear depressing the hell out of my readers. The conversations I've had of late with folks in power make me feel that every subscription to The Ankler should come with a supply of Prozac.
But bleak as things seem, when I take stock of the fundamentals around NonDē filmmaking, I can't help but feel like something big is coming – in a good way. The darker things get for the rest of the industry, the more it feels like space is being created for a NonDē resurgence. To me, it feels like the art house world circa 1987…when elements were coming into place that would soon combine, ignite and start a revolution. We're not there yet, and there's many a slip betwixt the cup and the lips and all, so don't pop the champagne yet. But when I look at this sector, I get strangely optimistic, which definitely isn't a feeling I have looking at any other corner of the industry.
I'm not a fan of Hope - the emotion, not the man. The man, our host, I'm an enormous fan of and feel the whole revolution might spring from the work he is doing here. But to me, hope, the emotion, is not a plan and I much prefer plans to sentiment. But on a number of fronts I see elements falling into line that open the doors for an explosion, and today, on my takeover, I wanted to just lay out that case and explain why, on multiple fronts, if I were buying stock today, I'd put my money in NonDē filmmaking right now..
For my takeover today, I'd like to briefly touch on four areas where I think the great forces of the universe are changing the landscape and making conditions perfect for the NonDē uprising. Followed by a poem.
1
Putting the Fun back in Fundraising
This is where it all starts. Control of the capital available to films was Hollywood's original advantage. And it takes a lot of capital to make even the smallest of films.
Today not only do you not need as much money, there are more ways for filmmakers to get their hands on some working capital, without desperately pleading their case to any dentist or realtor you can get in a room with.. Every time I turn around, I'm hearing about a new group that is crowdfunding films - and not just individual movies, but full slates. Eli Roth put together a fund last year - partially by promising featured extra parts to investors ("“I will give you a bespoke death. It’s not like you’ll get massacred in a crowd. I will give you that death that, for the rest of your life, everyone will be like, That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.”
Sam Pressman of Pressman Films raised $2 million from 370 investors to finance a development slate. They recently paid back their investors with profits and began a new fund to finance investment.
These are just a couple examples. The point is there are all sorts of new tools and means for filmmakers to develop relationships with potential investors. In fact, you're in one right now- a Substack newsletter allows artists to build direct relationships with supporters, and create a community around their plans. And more importantly, on Substack, unlike social media platforms of yesterday, creators own and control their lists, can take them with you, and no one has to ever come between you and your community again.
2
Stop or We'll Shoot! Production For Sale! Cheap!
While there are lots more ways to raise money, on the other side of that coin is that fact that filmmakers need a lot less. They don't need to raise vast millions to buy film stock anymore, or rent trucks to lug equipment the size of a Sherman tank across town.
I'm possibly violating HFF protocol here by linking to one of my own pieces, but its not my own words. In an interview I did a month back with documentarian RJ Cutler he described the ethos needed and possible for a filmmaker today.
“I don’t think I would encourage going to film school. The great thing about film school 20 years ago was that you could easily obtain the necessary equipment. But now, here it is (holds up his phone). There’s your camera, better than any camera you could have gotten hold of 20 years ago. There's your editor. Your editing facility is right here. You can edit it here. And if you need higher-stakes equipment, in the spirit of the bank robber mentality, buy that equipment from Amazon, use it for 29 days, and send it back to them. They’re happy to take it back. They’re not going to be upset with you. They say you can use it for 29 days and return it. And make your first movie, so that you can make a lot of first movie mistakes, and then make your second movie, and then make your third movie, which is going to be even better than your second movie, because you’re learning. And that's my advice, absolutely, to anybody who's in any creative pursuit. Make a film, and God bless you for doing it.”
What's more, all that talk you read about the flight of studio production away from LA and the US, is a terrible thing for the industry, but a huge opportunity for NonDē filmmakers. Like an enemy camp that was abandoned in haste ahead of a descending foe, the studios are exiting the field and leaving behind, literally everything - stages, equipment, talent, craftspeople - the entire infrastructure that can't be shipped to Malta is sitting here, now available at discount rates.
3
The Seatz
This can be the most challenging part of releasing a movie. If you don't happen to have an army of executives with long standing relationships with every regional theater exec in the country, it has meant, worse deals, worse screens, often a fight to even get paid.
If there's one thing in the digital age that should be a lot easier and less cumbersome, it is distribution – particularly as it can all happen digitally now, with no prints or even floppy disks to deliver around the world. But this is the area where long-standing arrangements have proven extremely durable.
Once again, however, the studios retreat has created an opening. The lack of films, and the sameness of films has created a desperation in theater owners for new products, and more diversity in products. Just this week, right here on Substack, Stephen Follows wrote up the results of his survey of 246 theater owners and the results are practically crying out for NonDē Filmmakers to ride to the rescue. Asked what it is they need now, here were the first two responses:
“1. Tell new stories. Audiences and cinemas are fatigued by sequels and reboots, and are crying out for fresh, original films that surprise and engage.
Make films for a wide range of audiences. Cinemas need films that appeal to families, older viewers, women, and underrepresented audiences, not just the usual blockbuster crowd.”
"Not just the usual blockbuster crowd." Did you hear that?
With the history of the past ten years, there is no love lost between the theater owners and the studios, who are more than ready to welcome new suppliers into their cinemas.
And to help you navigate the vast landscape of moviehouses there are new systems and products coming onto line tailored to do just this. To cite one example that I know of, The Fithian Group, run by John Fithian, longtime head of the National Ass'n of Theater Owners, is building a company that will create a customizable turnkey distribution system for NonDē Filmmakers, allowing them to designate - I want to open in these eight markets and have this much marketing budget - and let them step into a boilerplate agreement with whatever combination of theaters they want.
https://www.the-fithian-group.com/
Where there is opportunity, other products and developments will follow. And there is too much opportunity to imagine that will not come soon, and opportunity will mean that filmmakers will have options beyond leaping at any streaming offer thrown their way, only to see their film buried in some distant corner of a vast service.
4
To Market! To Market!
And if there's really a piece of the old studio system that is vulnerable to creativity, it is marketing. The studio formula of "Spend tens of millions on TV ads" is crumbling before our eyes.
To be clear, it is not easy to get the public, even a sliver of it to pay attention to something new that they've never heard of. That was never easy but as the human attention span is under continuous assault from digital stimulation, the bar rises and rises.
That said, the solution to that is not - spend even more money on TV ads! - but to be smart and clever and find ways to bring your film into people's orbit. That takes ingenuity and flexibility, but the good news is, ingenuity and flexibility are available to bootstrap filmmakers as much as they are to studios.
Two examples from last year - The Substance, distributed by Mubi with a marketing budget initially of, probably a couple posters and a half-filled penny jar, through sheer buzz became the decade's most unlikely cinematic sensation, ending with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
The second one is Terrifier 3, released by Cineverse with a marketing budget under $100,000 went on to gross over $50 million in the US, entirely through promotion on Cineverse's in-house under the radar collection of podcasts, Go-Pro channels, gamer networks, etc..a collection assembled to appeal to horror fans.
https://home.cineverse.com/about-us/
Ingenuity and ability to speak the language of the digital streets is the coin of the realm, and in that NonDē filmmakers can be richer than any studio.
5
It's Raining Film
Everywhere I look I am seeing excitement about film bursting out of every corner. In a time and place where people are striving for connection and meaning, the most immersive, connecting, humanizing of artistic experiences is calling to audiences and making new fans, even as the medium's obituary gets freshened off in every day's trade reports.
Just look at what is going on in the Grand Film Ecosystem today:
You've got Filmstack, of course - the most vital marketplace of ideas the filmworld has seen in decades.
You've got an explosion of revival theaters - people can't get tickets to revival screenings in LA these days despite a new venue opening it seems every week.
You've got Fathom Events. Outdoor film shows have become America's official evening pastime on warm summer nights, with makeshift outdoor film series popping up in every mall parking lot and cemetery grounds.
You've got Letterbox'd which is bringing the connective excitement of social media to the film community, bringing people from all over the world into a shared culture.
You've got The Sphere adapting Wizard of Oz to 10,000 feet tall Sphere-o-Vision.
There has maybe never been a better time to be a film fan and all that excitement is hungry for new titles to get excited about.
Afterword: The Ball's In Your Court NonDē's
So despite the general atmosphere of gloom, when it comes to NonDē filmmaking, there's a lot of reasons for optimism and even for hope (The emotion and the man, both).
But just because something can happen doesn't mean it will.
What remains is for NonDē filmmakers to step up to the plate and to meet the challenge of entertaining audiences again - audiences bigger than family and friends. And I have to say, from my experience at festivals lately, the NonDē world needs a kick in the pants to get focussed on that mission once more. With too few exceptions, reaching beyond the insular film nerd world has not been where their heads have been at lately. In recent years, one got the feeling that with too few success stories lately, the NonDē world had given up trying to communicate with a broader public, had stopped frankly, reaching for success.
The opportunities I describe above, but if what the NonDē world meets them with are films that feel like homework, daring the public to drag their family to the multiplex and be lectured to with Eat Your Vegetables filmmaking, then they will discover that these doors can close even quicker than they are creaking open; that it is the easiest thing for the public to put their heads back down and return to their phones.
But the opening is there, and so is the excitement. Filmmakers, start your engines!
And in the meantime, I just want to let everyone here know about the program we’ve got at The Ankler for upcoming, aspiring and would-be filmmakers of all sorts. The Ladder is a members-only community for entertainment professionals in the first decade of their careers. Benefits include one discounted annual subscription for access to curated content from The Ankler, the ability to meet and connect with others in the entertainment community, in-person mixers, panels with industry professionals, access to a private Substack chat, merch, a private job board, monthly Zoom AMAs with Ankler staff, virtual and IRL one-on-one coffee chats and more. Membership costs $49 a year. The Ladder has had successful events in New York and Los Angeles and are looking to do lots more in the very near future. Sign up at The Ladder and let us know you heard about from Hope For Film.
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Great list, Richard. Outside of horror, many American nondē filmmakers rely on grants that implicitly require an "Eat Your Vegetables" agenda to win funding, which in turn yields films that are rarely crowd-pleasing. Layer on the rigid identity categories festivals have embraced in recent years, and you get a set of perverse, anti-commercial incentives in an already parched ecosystem. If we’re going to move into the next phase, either these institutions will have to reopen themselves to a broader range of work, or they will need to be replaced by something new.
Everything you say applies to the documentary world, not just Hollywood. Nice to get a dose of hope and inspiration amidst all the doom and gloom. Thank you, Richard!