Fifteen Ways To Help Cinema Flourish (maybe!)
AKA Translating the current industry press into "To Do"and "Don't Do" Lists
I was going to publish something other than this today. I have another edition of The Round Up ready for you, and as that depends on currency, it was stacked for GO!
It included Variety’s recent effort to convince us of a box office rebound — as well as some well thought out counter-wisdom from others. But as I slept on it, something ate at me. So much for trying to maintain a regular daily schedule of column types! Oh well, and onwards!
I think my third collision with a big idea occurred for me in high school. “Find the bias,” my history professor encouraged. “All history is written with bias.” It blew my mind, and I suspect you can see its ramifications in a great deal of my writing to this very day.
Our industry’s trade press is filled with bias. So are must of our “recognitions” about the way things are. I get a big kick out of trying to unravel these for myself and my readers though. Anytime it becomes apparent that the majority thinks one way, it is worth of trying to understand precisely why they do or might think this way. The majority opinion and the status quo is not the gospel, and for that matter… neither is the gospel.
That said, although the accepted truth or the encouraged accepted truth may not be accurate, a lot can be gained by examining it. And that’s what I give you today, instead of another round up. I give you a little examination of some of what is lurking underneath Variety’s assertion that “Movies Are On The Rebound”
This is also really a plea to, to make more news, news one can use. There’s a lot of advice and warning both in Variety’s article, but none of it really pops or even lands. Should every article be followed by a TL;DR list of bullet points? No, but some should. And I think that recent Variety article should have been. So that’s what I provide that for you now.
But of course it wasn’t that just that that I was working away on as I slept. It was the realization that if you are a regular HopeForFilm reader, you’ve already read each each and every point that Variety had to offer as recommendations as how to restore the FKATheFilmBiz. Why? Because I wrote about them years ago. Or maybe a few days back!
We know these things. The Gatekeepers know these things. Our audiences know these things too. And yet we don’t do these things. What’s up with that, friend? Why does Variety’s recommendation of the fairly obvious read as news, or with a little redraft could be “news you can use”.
I am not sure if you should read mine or Variety’s post first, but…
DO
Links to some of my prior posts on each specific recommendation are included for further exploration on the subject…
Make great movies. In today’s marketplace, quality is no longer optional. If audiences don’t love a film, they’ll tell everyone immediately.
Make films that feel fresh and original. Audiences are rewarding originality over repetition, even when it comes from first-time filmmakers.
Produce a diverse slate of films. A healthy industry needs a broad mix of genres, budgets, and voices—not just tentpoles.
Produce enough movies. The industry flourishes when there is a steady pipeline of theatrical releases across a variety of genres and audience profiles. More films create more opportunities for audiences to build moviegoing into their lives. Just don’t make them all the same.
Protect meaningful theatrical windows. Exclusive theatrical runs create cultural urgency and increase a film’s long-term value across every subsequent platform.
Support bold voices and emerging filmmakers. Every generation reinvents cinema. Younger creators are bringing new audiences and new forms of storytelling. We have a bad habit of neglecting those that do something differently.
Design films for specific audiences. Not every film needs to be for everyone. It’s better to become essential to one audience than merely acceptable to all. A regular cadence of supply at a consistent quality is part of how audiences are built.
Serve audiences that are currently underserved. Women, older audiences, Black audiences, Hispanic audiences, and others represent significant opportunities when films genuinely speak to them.
Treat theaters as destinations and cultural events. Moviegoing succeeds because it offers something impossible to duplicate at home: a shared communal experience. Yet we still can make it better. Much…
Build direct relationships with audiences. Filmmakers who understand and cultivate their communities are increasingly outperforming those who rely solely on traditional marketing.
Give audiences something worth talking about. Cultural conversation has become one of the most valuable forms of marketing.
Innovate instead of trying to recreate the past. The audience has changed. The business must continue changing with it.
Back bold ideas when audiences show they want them. Don’t let fear and risk-mitigation be the driving force. Confident investment produces bold filmmaking. Fear produces safe, repetitive decisions.
Recognize that theatrical success strengthens every other revenue stream. Theatrical isn’t separate from streaming and home entertainment—it enhances them.
Allow filmmakers the time to create exceptional work. Great films cannot be manufactured on rushed schedules. Invest in filmmakers, not just films.
Please recognize that these are not the be all and end all. This is just the list in that Variety article. I have many more recommendations, and some that I think are more important than these listed here.
These fifteen lessons largely emerge from five continuing Hope For Film arguments—quality, abundance, bespoke distribution, direct audience ownership, and long-term investment in artists. I guess I find it nice thatVariety article independently is finally arriving at the same conclusions.
But you know what they are really saying with this piece, right? If they have to say what’s already been being said for a good long time, and they call it news, what are they really saying? Someone is not doing their job. A lot of people in this business aren’t doing their job.
Before calling this post a day though, it probably makes sense to harvest the negs from that same article, right? What should we all be avoiding in the here and now — particularly if The Old World may have once allowed for it.
I mean why say something once, if we can say it perhaps better in the way it lands. I’d love it if some Paramount exec could cut this list out and put it on Ellison’s desk for his morning read.
