The GOOD Things: Some Additional Add-Ons

The initial list only had 29; this is how we got to 54.

Back last month I sent you a list of the GOOD things I felt had occurred in our Cinema Ecosystem this past year. I then followed it with a colossal list of all that I found BAD in that very same ecosystem. I am still posting that list. It’s enormous.

It made me feel bad that I saw so much negative. So as I was rounding out all that I saw wrong, I kept mining for more good. I had to reach out to a few friends and associates to get a different perspective on things knowing I had missed much. It was worth it. I took the good from 29 initial points to almost double that. But I kept just folding it into the old post. So unless you went back and checked the list once or twice, you missed a lot that was pretty nice.

So that’s what this list is. All the GOOD things I missed on my first draft. These are the add-ons. Enjoy. Let me know if it is tasting good, won’t you? And it should be a nice sojourn from the negative that’s been accumulating.

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All The Additions I Found For What IS Good In The Cinema Ecosystem, 2024

1. Active Distribution is now firmly in the filmmakers’ tool kit… at least it is in mine and SHOULD be in yours. Many filmworker friends are speaking of it, albeit primarily because they have stopped believing there is some shining knight coming to rescue them, and not because they recognize it is a superior tactic if they are making bold or challenging cinema.

2. Celluloid sells! Seems like 35mm and especially 70mm is as good a marketing tool as vinyl has been for the music industry. This year when I went to a true FILM screening, it always was sold out. When I wrote up my plans to revitalize exhibition, it had a branded Kodak theater that only screened celluloid prints. (HT: Hank Blumenthal)

3. Community: As filmmaker Crystal Moselle stated: “I see filmmakers helping each-other out more than I have ever seen before. Original thought is in danger so supporting each-other is crucial.”

4. The Creator Year (2024): Evan Shapiro pointed out that “Over the last five years, Big Media has grown at an average of 5%. Look around at the chaos… THIS is what +5% growth looks like! On the other hand, the last 5 years, Creator Media grew an average of 25%.”

5. Discovery: Are audiences finally used to finding what they want to see online regardless of whether they are on a major platform or not? With all the tools and platforms available (see below) are audiences willing to leave the land of Amazon and Apple for them? I have had more than just my friends at those alternative platforms tell me they are. As Neil Williams pointed out “the difference between watching something on Netflix or Kinema or Jolt or GATHR or a filmmaker's website kind of disappears”.