Why isn't filmmaking a stable business?

A

anthonyronnie

A lot of the directors/producers in the industry hardly make ends meet on the financial side.
I was reading a thread on here that said "theater sales make zero profit".
Why is that?
Such people like Donny Deutch say "run from the film industry... there is no profit there".
This is stranger, because EVERYONE watches movies.

Can someone explain to me why being a filmmaker is such as risky thing, and why some people dream of making it... but never do?
 
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If you make it into the industry at a studio level I'm sure financially the industry is on your side. Creativly may be a different story but I'm sure anyone on this forum would run towards the Industry with open arms if a studio deal was possible.

The reason film making is such a risky business is because only a percentage of a percentage of people get a studio deal and the fat pay check that comes with it. You said people are watching movies all the time and that is true but 99.8% of the movies they are watching have had a lot of money spent on raising awareness to the general public that a) the film exists and b) it is worth spending money to see it. I guess we would call this marketing.

However 90% of the movies that are made by small production companies simply do not have the money to raise significant awareness to the general public that the movie exists. So say your movie cost you 150k to make and it is great and gets accepted into festivals and gets a small distrubition deal. Lets go way out there and lets say it even got released in theaters at the end of the day what are people going to go see:

A Bitch with a Gun
Starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp: It is a great movie about a bitch with a gun who's husband was killed over a rivalry chess game. Thirsty for revenge the bitch goes on a mission to kill every chess player in the world untill there is one left but along the way she meets a chess master yeah you guessed it... It's Johnny Depp but it just so happens that Johnny's character is the bitches long lost brother and he teaches her the art of Chess so the climax of the movie is one thrilling CHESS battle between The Bitch and The dude that kills the bitches husband.

Sound confusing? Well least we know what its about because the trailer has been on T.V 25 times per day.

Your movie
I don't know what its about... I don't even know what its called because i have no idea it exists so the only chance of me seeing your film is the odd chance i might pay to watch bitch with a gun and then once its finished stroll into your movie because the ticket holder is in the bathroom. But even if i do that your not going to make any money out of it.

I guess at the end of the day i'm saying no matter what product your selling if people aren't aware of it they aren't going to buy it. Most films that are made don't get accepted into festivals and the ones that do rarely get distribution anyway so if your movie is ever in direct competition with Bitch With a Gun consider yourself really really lucky and talented.
 
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You’re right - everyone watches movies. But no one watches every
movie. So some movies make money - the ones a LOT of people pay
to see - and some movies lose money, the ones few people pay to
see.

Deutch said there is no profit in the film industry but that
doesn’t mean his statement is true for every single person and
company. I know a lot of studios and prodCo’s and people who have
made a profit in the film industry.

I’m not famous but I have made my sole living in entertainment my
entire working life. I’m glad I didn’t run from the film
industry.

Can someone explain to me why being a filmmaker is such as risky thing, and why some people dream of making it... but never do?
Click to expand...

meaneye made great points. It’s difficult to get people to pay to
see a movie. That’s why it’s a risky thing. And some people dream
of making it but never do because they don’t have the talent or
they don’t meet the right people or they can’t find an audience
for their work. For each person with the dream who has failed
there is a different story.
 
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Well when ir ead this question even i started thinking about it and i thought there will be lot of long long stories but DIRECTORIK hit the target by saying

they don’t meet the right people or they can’t find an audience
for their work.
Click to expand...

once i read that for being successful you not only need to be talented but you also need to be at the right place at the right time
 
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So, my dream of being a small Post Production and VFX company specifically catering to Indie film makers probably won't amount to much then? Good thing I have my military pension to live off of when I do retire in a few years. But seriously, is this a viable goal for a small business? Or is this just as risky? I have no desire to be an actual film maker, but I do wish to help out the small Indie producer by providing affordable quality Visual Effects to make their films look like big budget productions. there's a lot of good scripts out there that could use a little extra "wow", but from my own research, really good VFX facilities charge a lot more than most Indie films budget for, which is where I come in- at least according to my Business Plan anyway. Any comments on my business idea as it has a direct correlation with film making being a stable business?
 
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I think it will probably depend on how specialized you want to be.. if you're good and open to doing other things than vfx and/or title work for small indie films, you might be able to generate a decent amount of motion graphics business for TV commercials and the like that would help keep you afloat during slower periods. And that's pretty similar work in many ways, so it wouldn't necessarily be forcing you to have too large a scope (which would generally be setting oneself up to fail -- trying to be too many things to too many people, etc)

Ultimately though, I think that like any business venture, the more effort you put in the bigger the reward, so if you're determined and put in all the work needed to generate business (ideally repeat and refferal business) you should be just fine. And, worst case scenario -- you are trying to do something you really want to do, and even if it doesn't work out in the end you've still got your military pension to live off of. :)
 
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The film industry is a collection of craftspeople, tradespeople, artists, and businesspeople. If you are talented and lucky and most of all driven, you can and most likely will succeed. Its only a little different than most industries in that there seems to be a much larger percentage of self-employed participators.

But seriously, I want to see Angelina Jolie in a movie called A Bitch With a Gun.
 
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EvsFX08

there are many seniors in this website so my comments might not be identical to thos of them.but i think in the whole world US has the biggest quantity of india filmmakers. and if they get good VFX etc for special charges(i means low rates) they will definately be attracted but again you need to make them awar that your pro house exists......

Wideshot

can you tell me what did you meant when you said

most of all driven
Click to expand...

Regards
 
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Will Vincent said:
if you're good and open to doing other things than vfx and/or title work for small indie films, you might be able to generate a decent amount of motion graphics business for TV commercials and the like that would help keep you afloat during slower periods.
Click to expand...

Thanks Will, I was thinking about getting into small business commercials specifically for the slow times you mention, so it's good to see at least I'm thining in the right direction. I've been dabbling with sports highlight reel productions for high school kids wanting to get into college, but I'm finding out through the amount of work that I'm getting that highlight reels are in more demand than the Indie film industry right now and is an industry itself. But like you said, working with Indie film makers is something I really want to to, and yes, I do have a back-up plan for income (kinda nice to only have to worry about producing quality products, not quantity to make a living). The college videos are nice little easy jobs and do supplement my income, but it's the film and movies I really enjoy working with. thanks to everyone else who offered comments as well. We'll see how it goes when I retire.
 
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There are a few Indie clubs in Georgia and Alabama, and there are two Indie companies in Atlanta that have atcually produced several films, however, overall, I haven't seen much activity on the forums I belong to. Instead, I'm currently working on two projects with an individual in Florida. So, to answer your question, in my immediate area, there is not a lot of Indie films being produced that I know of. Hopefully, when the economy changes, maybe we'll see more.
 
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Making an independent movie has always been a HIGH RISK business venture for sure. But now with the availability of cheap, high quality digital cameras there is an OVER supply of independent movies, and that has driven down prices paid for movies (by distributors). Then you have so many people getting screwed over by distributors - It's almost the NORM that distributors skip out on their tab and only pay you pennies on the dollar. Then on top of that you have illegal file sharing. The younger generation is not paying for music or movies anymore.
In order to make money you really have to get your movie into theaters and LOTS of stores. That's where the real money is made. Unfortunately there is VERY limited shelf space. Even if you do get a store like Best Buy to take a chance on an indie title they will only order like 3 copies for 20 of their stores.
The bottom line is that in this day and age movies have to be made by big companies (like Paramount Pictures, etc).
 
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