Where are we now?

Let's do a full body scan on The State Of The Cinema Industries! 20 conditions!

let’s get to work

It’s that time of the year again. Or at least I decided it was for me. Half way through the year…

Let’s look at where we really are. What is the current state of the cinema industries? What defines us right here right now?

Make no mistake, this is not a challenge to the FilmStack Challenge Of The Month; but…

I am getting excited to answer the FSCOTM (as I suspect it to launch today, if it has not already). But this is also something I’d like to see, and suspect it will take most more than a single sitting (unless you have already made such analysis part of your practice). It is something much different that than the thing most can do in a single sitting. If you tuned into my chat with Zach Arnold last week and you wondered how I had so much on the top of my mind about the state of cinema today, it’s because of exercises like this.

So let’s do it. Let’s see if we can each define 20 aspects of where we are now in the cinema industries. I’d love for you each who are reading this — particularly if you have a newsletter — to truly give this a try. C’mon, FilmStack! Perhaps I am being selfish, but it just really would be such a great joy to read many differing perspectives . I do hope you give it a try. I definitely found doing it helped calm my anxiety this morning. Everything feels worse than it is.

If you are a regular reader I think you know this is part of my recommendation for a creative practice:

Look at the Big Picure.

1. Do it for the world.

2. Do it for your industry.

3. Do it for your community.

4. Do it for your relationships.

5. And do it for yourself.

What defines every aspect at this present time? Don’t look back at what you captured last time (at least not until you finish today’s list).

Here’s mine. Please show me yours. If you don’t have a FilmStack, place yours in the comments. If you don’t have a full twenty, supply what you do. If you do have your own FilmStack, please place a link in the comments. Let’s make this Think Tank sing and dance!

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20 Defining Aspects Of The State Of The Cinema Industries, End of June, 2025.

1. We need artists and their work more than ever, yet it is very hard to think cinema matters. With the rise of authoritarian powers and their tactics of chaos, distraction, and confusion, with people being attacked, power being brandished boldly, and war in every corner, most people’s first instinct is to flee, nestle, and protect their own. The role of art has always been to comfort the inflicted, and provoke the powerful. You are needed. We are needed. We can do this together.

2. We are in Cinema’s Fourth Great Disruption — and it is Utter Chaos. It shouldn’t really be a surprise that things are such a mess here in cinemaland. We see how sowing chaos is the plan across the land, but let’s examine our field, shall we? First there was sound. Then there was television, and color no less. Home entertainment changed the business even more. Now though it is a perfect storm of multiple forces. We have initially thought the rise of the Global Streaming Platforms was an equal disruption, but as they enter a second phase, we are hit with AI, the Distraction Industry, the Era Of Abundance, Wall Street’s dominance, and total disintermediation. Not to mention a horrible global geo-political situation, economic recession, and national polarization. We need a plan for all that.

3. The Era Of Abundance. This has been with us for quite some while, at least a decade as the Global Streaming Platforms adopted a strategy of Peak Content to drive their new business goal of audience acquisition. The reason it is still so pressing to address is that we still haven’t truly changed our business and creative practices for it. It is truly unfortunate that we have not developed recommended practices for dealing with such an onslaught, because we ain’t seen nothing yet.