Really... where do we now stand in TheFKATheFilmBiz?
Considering "The Givens" I shared earlier, what IS reality.
When you are ill, how often should you take your temperature?
Let’s face it, we — the so-called Film Biz — are beyond sick. In case you missed the telegram, we are already dead. Do we still need to take our temperature?
But if we are dead, how are we here right now, chirping away like the little hummingbirds we are? Are we zombies? For real??? Or have we risen and become the new thing, the butterfly that shed the chrysalis?
When I try to understand why there are still so many of our brothers and sisters who aren’t emailing me or calling and asking whether they can help us construct the better thing, the only answer I get is that…
… they must not get it yet.
They want it to be like it once was… even though it never again shall. They are holding onto the past and not entering the present, let alone the future.
For a recent post on what the FKATheFilmBiz really now is, for key art I used a lock from Death Row as I was trying to illustrate the cage we are in now. In it I listed The Givens that define our world and why there is nothing really “film” or “cinema” left to our business. This is where we do the math and see where those Givens leave us.
But here’s a hint: you know how Substack finally recognized that “Film & TV” should no longer be a subcategory of culture for them? The opposite has happened to our industry that happened to this newsletter platform: The FKATheFilmBiz is nothing more than a subset of the tech business, both figuratively and literally — and it doesn’t seem to care or maybe even notice.
Maybe I should have saved the Death Row Lock to illustrate this post insetead. Except this post is more the fuel I hope to rocket us up and out of this hole. I think you know that I am willing to share my thoughts generally with anyone that is curious. Outside of FilmStack I find most in our biz or field don’t want to talk about the fact that the film business has ended. In fact, the ones that want to talk about it the least, are the ones that call themselves producers. Sorry, friends, but it is true.
I think my producing siblings need to recognize where we really are. Their silence means the rest of us have to talk up even louder. Their refusal to use megaphones to address media consolidation is why it will likely succeed. Their refusal to demand to treat the Global Streaming Platforms as utilities who have to provide access to their platforms for independent suppliers is why things won’t work out better than they have. Their refusal to build the infrastructure needed for the new decentralized and disintermediated distribution era is why they will be left behind. We need to prioritize where we put our energy, don’t you think.
Silence is an enabler, but for the dark side. And it really doesn’t have to be that way.
NonDē is a positivist movement. We can build it back better together.
OVERVIEW & MINDSET: How Theirs Will Join Ours
The numbering is a continuation of the prior list on what TheFKATheFilmBiz truly is right now.
22. “This is not a transition; this is a rupture.” This is where the ecosystem truly splinters in two.
