Five on Friday - The Top Industry Stories of the Week 3/14
It’s been a minute since our last five on Friday!!! Let’s get into it & let me know what you’re thinking in the comments!
A week in the life of a baby writer
As always thanks to
for the inspiration for this little tidbit section!Meeting & Project Updates:
No meetings this week but had a great hang last week with a fellow writer who said they’d keep a lookout for any writing assistant gigs!
Writing:
My managers gave the GO-AHEAD on my pilot. They’ll be sending it out this week/next and hopefully within the next month I’ll hear if folks want to meet for a general because they liked my writing OR better yet, if they liked they’ll want me to pitch it to them or talk more about it
Managers also asked me to refocus on book which I did start so I just need to keep chugging along there.
Managers also suggested I turning a feature outline I did into a short story in hopes that it could gain some traction.
And lastly I’ll be marinating on some 30 minute dark comedy ideas because that’s what I want to write next!
Job:
Finished a mini-deck last weekend
Currently working on production companies website
Waiting for notes/feedback on a company pitch deck that I’m working out
Doing some theater work for a few indies!
Housekeeping:
Don’t forget to check out:
My Film Festival Series “Are film festivals still a place for newcomers to make a name for themselves?”
The step-by-step multiverse guides
Five on Friday News
1. Mark Duplass’ Indie Ask
The News
Here’s the full Seed&Spark Page for THE LONG LONG NIGHT
and his instagram post about it:
My takeaways:
Over the last two years, my interest in independent filmmaking has expanded beyond just the creative process—I’ve become fascinated (and frustrated) by the struggle to distribute these films. There are countless reasons for this uphill battle, but the one that stands out most to me is how insular the major studios and streamers have become. They’ve fine-tuned their algorithms to pinpoint “what works,” and they have little interest in deviating from that formula. Duplass talks about this a bit in the article - the obsession with “Mandates” and if something doesn’t fit said mandate, it’s a no go - whether the show or film is magic.
When I started in the industry in 2019, I worked for two veteran indie producers (Oscar noms, horror franchises)—who were still deep in the trenches of independent filmmaking - so much so that even their direct studio/streamer and investor partnerships couldn’t guarantee them their film would get picked up for distribution or even financed. Now if it’s hard for them that means it almost damn near impossible for the average/newbie filmmaker aka the breaking point is here.
IMO, someone is going to have to create an amalgamation of Netflix, Criterion Collection, physical media, and an A24-style membership model. Kinema, which is hosting the Duplass brothers’ The Long Long Night, seems to be striving for this, but it’s missing either the marketing dollars or the coolness factor to break through. Brand awareness is everything in this space, and this would force a load of folks to have learn about ANOTHER NEW APP (streamer, whatever) that ain’ttt cheap. And even on their website, you have to scroll ALLL THE WAYY down to get their “about” messaging, which isn’t bad but definitely should be a top of the line item on their website - snobby marketing web design notes coming through) My thought is something like this to take off, you need a critical mass of high-profile filmmakers not just signing on but actively promoting it and giving the audience some exclusive DVD style extras, interviews and IRL opportunities to convince them spend another dollar.
What do you guys think? What other platforms could compete in this way?
4. The ATTN Economy, AI and just how much the film/tv industry is lagging behind
The News:
‘Divergent’ Producer Launches AI Company That Aims to Make Studio-Quality Movies for $500,000