We were lied to.
The vast accessibility of high-speed internet was going to level the playing field: Anyone with talent could put their project into the world and find an audience. Only, that isn’t what happened. Instead, entrenched players in Hollywood have taken over online films and TV with their own streaming services. For a little while, this led to a “Golden Age” of – and I apologize in advance – “Content.”
But now that streaming services have matured, the production of new shows and films has slowed and at the same time, the market for indie projects has cooled. Just to be clear, it has never been easy to make independent film make sense financially. As a result, most of these projects have other reasons for existing: A filmmaker with a deeply personal story they want to get out into the world, or an up and coming talent making a project that opens doors.
These are stories told because someone felt they had to be told. With no offense to those making a living on the sets of $300 million comic book movies, the fact of the matter is, those films are made because the studios need a hit, not because of deeply personal stories that need to be told.
And so at Scrappy Cinema, our belief is that the world could benefit from more ways for these independent passion projects to find an audience.
At the same time, independent filmmakers can be, well, independent. And so we also strive to create a community of filmmakers, bringing together and sharing what they’ve learned.
Join us, won’t you?
So this is our chance, filmmakers and viewers alike, to help support and create exciting, unique projects, and bring them to a bigger audience! Follow along, and reach out, as we build this community!
Leave a Reply