What business models are working for cinemakers right now?
Can we list the ways? I've got 10+ to share today.
I didn’t really tell you, but… I quit the FKATheFilmBiz at the end of last year.
I am now going full hog in another direction. And I haven’t — until now that is — told you that either. I don’t think we have to know everything each other is doing, do we?
You might recall that I did say that the FKATheFilmBiz was over. So that was pretty close to saying that I was done with it. And since many of you don’t really know me that well, you may not fully get what I am saying when I say the “FKATheFilmBiz”. Lemme ‘splain, pleaz…
You may know that I don’t use the phrase “Indie Film” any more other than to use what existed prior to 2020 (even though I think it would be more accurate to draw the line at 2015). What the mainstream media and lay people call “Indie”, I prefer to label SC-Indie, short for “so called Indie”, but really is just non-studio farm-team fare. That’s what the American-side of the FKATheFilmBiz’s SC-Indie apparatus supports. That’s what Sundance, Gotham, FilmIndependent, SXSW, and Tribeca support. It’s not “Indie” and it is certainly not NonDē, but it does clarify why we needed some new terms.
Businesses need working business models to qualify as actual businesses in my book. Although one could still live on the fumes of a prior era, by the time Peak Content and Streaming’s Golden Elevator Ride arrived around 2015, what once passed as The Film Biz was pretty much worthy of being pronounced dead on arrival. The Global Streaming Platform’s land grab let most delude themselves for another five year cycle that all was okay; I had the pleasure of riding the wave of Amazon’s experiment in those years, while many others enjoyed relatively high budgets and fees. But meanwhile, as good as the delulu felt, yes, it was too good to be true. They pulled that rug as soon as they were confident that they had the public fooled. The TechBroCos beat The Studio Big Wigs yet again.
It is virtually impossible now to predict financial success on a movie’s revenues alone. I know many of you have been fooled into believing that was how it has always been — but that’s just not so. My first company made 44 features based on a predictive return. We got almost another decade on having better than average faith that we had a secure product in the movies we made. But I would say that we have had ten years now — or rather two 5 year cycles (2010-2015 and then 2020 onwards) where the business model for an individual film no longer works for the lion share of cinema. There are always exceptions though.
The 10+ Business Models That Currently (Sort Of) Work For Filmmakers, 2026 Edition.
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The Hollywood Studio Producer & Director Model
Okay, this is an elite class, and they probably aren’t letting many more in anyway. And even those that are in it, aren’t happy with it. But let’s face it: they make a lot of money and are still getting films made. To most of us, that would be considered “working”. Sure, the conditions have worsened and it doesn’t look sustainable but virtually everyone I know would gladly trade their position to be included in this club. My beef with it is that is not the type of film I want to make or be part of; you do have to consider that still, right?
The Live (or Make It) In Europe, Asia, or LatAm Model
