How Indie Filmmakers Can Actually Make Money
Movieguide® Contributor
A recent film market panel highlighted trends and changes that create distribution challenges for indie filmmakers.
“Top film executives from Europe and Asia convened at the Busan Asian Contents & Film Market to dissect the evolving landscape of cross-continental film distribution and sales, highlighting the growing importance of social media, the enduring significance of film festival awards and the delicate balance between established auteurs and emerging voices,” Variety reported Oct. 7.
VIPs from Europe, Hong Kong, France, China and South Korea gathered at the conference.
“When we acquire art house films, especially non-English language territories, it’s very important for the film to have a very universal story,” Felix Tsang of Hong Kong’s Golden Scene said, citing ANATOMY OF A FALL’s success in Hong Kong.
“We literally just posted the argument scene on social media,” Tsang said of Golden Scene’s strategy for the movie.
Tsang notes that social media is critical for promoting movies.
“That conversation really generated a lot of comments,” he said. “Everyone was actually sharing their own stories of having different arguments in relationships. Threads is huge in Hong Kong. People don’t even use Facebook anymore. It’s all on Threads and Instagram.”
“We are trying to acquire more and more Asian content,” said Jeanne Loriotti from the European company Memento International. “We always try to find new voices. And we just want to make the story elevated.”
Jung Taewon of South Korea’s Jinjin Pictures said, “We are trying every effort to bring people back to cinema.”
Manuel Ewald of Germany’s Plaion Pictures reported a significant change in audience demographics.
“We have seen that films from important auteur directors that have festival experience still have a home in cinema,” Ewald said, adding that it’s challenging to attract younger audiences and that, unlike Asian markets, European adults aren’t keen on animation.
Vivian Lou from China’s Teamer International Media said, “Right now, we are losing interest in going back to the cinemas.”
She noted that micro-series shows with episodes as short as 90 seconds are popular in China.
“The panelists engaged in a lively discussion about the animated film ROBOT DREAMS, which performed differently across various markets. Tsang noted its success in Hong Kong, attributing it partly to the film’s lack of dialogue, which minimized language barriers. Jung said that in Korea, they marketed it as an arthouse title, focusing on the relationship between the robot and dog characters,” Variety reported.
“The discussion underscored the ongoing challenges in the global film market, including recovery from the pandemic, changing audience behaviors, and the need for innovative distribution strategies in an evolving landscape,” Variety continued. “The importance of film festival awards in attracting audiences was a recurring theme throughout the discussion. The panelists agreed on the importance of adapting to new technologies and platforms while maintaining the essence of storytelling that resonates across cultures.”
Jung and Sinarskia agreed that expectations should be lowered for audiences when it concerns specialty films.
Dutch Filmmaker Martin Koolhoven pointed out this year that indie movies from a few decades ago would have all gone to theaters, but now, there’s a “gap.”
“Even in Holland where we have great distribution, only a few do well and only a few even get distributed,” he said. “Even with Oscar-nominated films. There seems to be a gap between the quality of movies that win awards and audiences.”
Film Festival Circuit highlighted the example of a $120m indie film, MEGALOPOLIS, directed by Francis Ford Coppola with a-list actors Adam Driver, Shia LeBeouf, Aubrey Plaza and other big-name actors. It’s a dark, R-rated, sci-fi story about a man set on transforming a destroyed city into a utopia. And the key reason why there’s no hype about it, despite the budget, quality, and big-name actors and director? Because it only appeals to a few adults. Families can’t enjoy it together, and it seems devoid of good values.
Movieguide®’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry proves again and again that movies with moral and family values do the best at the box office, whether indie-made or not.
Movieguide® founder Ted Baehr has provided guidance on how indie moviemakers can make money with the “Who cares?” factor:
Ask yourself, “Who cares?”
There are millions of people paying to see movies and buying or renting DVDs every week. So, who cares if you make a “Christian” horror show or another anti-U.S. military diatribe? Don’t bother! There is no audience out there waiting with bated breath for the next “Christian” vampire movie.
Mel Gibson made the ultimate Indie film with “The Passion of the Christ.” He invested $30 million of his own money, was turned away by the major distributors and made $611 million worldwide because he had a very good idea of who his audience was and he made a movie huge numbers of people would care about. Before the movie even opened, millions of people cared because the press implied that “Christians are bad if they like this movie about Jesus dying for their sins. The “who cares” factor went off the charts.
On a far smaller scale, Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA ventured into the filmmaking business in 2003 with “Flywheel.” They simply wanted to reach more people with the gospel and saw that a lot of people attended their local theater every weekend. Their primary target was to reach the people who attend the Carmike Cinema in Albany. Their budget was miniscule, their image quality poor and their acting only passable, but their story was incredible. It’s the kind of story Christians care deeply about. The movie made money in Albany alone. It made it onto television, into Blockbuster stores and has become a favorite for church “dinner-and-a-movie” nights.
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