This is one of my favorite articles you’ve written Ted. It reminds me of Noam Kroll - he’s not on Substack but he has successfully grown and leveraged an audience through newsletters that translate to affiliate purchases and viewership on films.
So true. This is what I worry about and cringe over. I worry that I'll become a better newsletter writer/publisher at the expense of being a better filmmaker. Still, this is the world we live in. It's what's required of us now. So be it.
Ted, what you've written here is so true, which is exactly why it is SO alarming that Substack is now actively trying to become just another social media platform. Notes is becoming just another social feed (without ads sure, but for how long?) and the "Follow" feature is depriving writers of subscribers who can be reached via email or moved off the platform if and when we decide to leave. Anyway, hope Substack listens to our concerns. Love HFF and looking forward to seeing Invisible Nation at some point, legally and ideally on a big screen (but I live in Hong Kong & pretty sure it won't get released here given current political climate) I have Taiwanese friends in HK who would also like to see it.
On another note, Kris Collins shared on TikTok that she has is making her first movie. She is the top followed TikTok person in Canada, and top 50 in the world with 15 million followers. I will be very interested to see if that following translates to success in film for viewership. Will her audience follow her from 15-60 second videos for a full narrative feature?
This is one of my favorite articles you’ve written Ted. It reminds me of Noam Kroll - he’s not on Substack but he has successfully grown and leveraged an audience through newsletters that translate to affiliate purchases and viewership on films.
You: "No one wants to be a huckster."
So true. This is what I worry about and cringe over. I worry that I'll become a better newsletter writer/publisher at the expense of being a better filmmaker. Still, this is the world we live in. It's what's required of us now. So be it.
Oh, and check out my newsletter at www.angrygaygrandpa.com.
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PS. See what I did there?
Thank you! Great post 😊
Ted, what you've written here is so true, which is exactly why it is SO alarming that Substack is now actively trying to become just another social media platform. Notes is becoming just another social feed (without ads sure, but for how long?) and the "Follow" feature is depriving writers of subscribers who can be reached via email or moved off the platform if and when we decide to leave. Anyway, hope Substack listens to our concerns. Love HFF and looking forward to seeing Invisible Nation at some point, legally and ideally on a big screen (but I live in Hong Kong & pretty sure it won't get released here given current political climate) I have Taiwanese friends in HK who would also like to see it.
❤️
On another note, Kris Collins shared on TikTok that she has is making her first movie. She is the top followed TikTok person in Canada, and top 50 in the world with 15 million followers. I will be very interested to see if that following translates to success in film for viewership. Will her audience follow her from 15-60 second videos for a full narrative feature?