Ira Deutchman on a “Public Option” for Indie Filmmakers!

Check out this great post from Ira Deutchman’s blog.  Tyler Davidson makes an interesting comparison between the recent debate in health care reform and the effects of industry change on independent filmmaking:

After my last post about the “Indie Summit,” I began an email correspondence with indie filmmaker Tyler Davidson. I found his thoughts provocative and encouraged him to write them up so I could share them with the rest of the indie community. The following is from Tyler:

A PUBLIC OPTION FOR FILMMAKERS

Just as a few U.S. insurance companies have a stranglehold on our country’s healthcare system, so too do a few Hollywood studios on our film industry.  Instead of exploding healthcare costs and millions of people uninsured, our industry sees a once-flourishing independent film community decimated and a substantial swath of independent  filmgoers underserved.

Despite increasing efforts to more creatively and aggressively utilize new media and grassroots marketing to reach its more niche-oriented audience, independents simply can’t compete with the marketing spends of the major studios and lose market share by the day.  And without that demand — or rather, that opportunity for demand — low budget film investors continue to lose their money, subsequently disappearing in droves from the independent purview.  Independent producers who somehow endure in the business are forced to scale films to budgets that sacrifice the livelihoods of those who make the films possible.  This is today’s independent film industry, and it is not sustainable.

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King Corn is Amazing. How filmmakers should help each other.

So I finally saw King Corn, I know long overdue, especially since I know the filmmakers.

Ted Hope is always commenting on how we have to help curate each others films to help each other. Here is what I did to help King Korn:

I twittered about it – which then went on my facebook updates.
I gave it 5/5 on Netflix (where I watched it)
I went to IMDB gave it a 10/10 and wrote the review below.
I cut and pasted that review and posted it on Amazon and gave them 5/5 again.
Filmmakers need to do this for one another. It does take a little time but as we all know these rankings matter and it can only help.

My post on IMDB:
This film is a must see for anyone interested not only in food
production and food policy in the United States, but also what ailes
(sp?) us as a nation. The US government, and the agricultural industry
has unfortunately created a system that is out of whack. While we spend
less than at any time on food, we are spending more and more on
health-care (the one point I wish the film had made more directly).
This film should be seen by all Americans. I saw another comment that
quiblbed with the particulars in the film. The film is not a doctoral
thesis, it is a piece of art trying to raise awareness. I also thought
the device of the two filmmakers staking out an acre of corn and
following it through the year as a spine to the story was quite
wonderful, as well as the animations that they did with a still camera.
As far as I know you can also get the film to screen in your community
from the film’s website. I highly recommend it – would be great food
for thought.

Which now that it is on my blog, has been posted 3x.
Jon
But to make up for it I did the following things which took me all of 6 minutes.