Adam Leipzig, the former President of National Geographic Films and a longtime indie producer, recently wrote that we are entering into a new Golden Age of Cinema. I would love to hear opinions. Here's Adam's article: http://www.culturalweekly.com/welcome-golden-age-of-cinema.html
A New Golden Age of Cinema? Thoughts?
- Thread starter TodHardin
- Start date
Depends how one defines "golden age". If the definition is a financial one for the big, mainstream producers, then he's probably right. If it's supposed to mean a wide spectrum of films finding distribution and turning a profit, then he's living in a fool's paradise.
I'm gonna define "Golden Age" to mean that a whole bunch of really awesome films are being made. I have no idea if that is a legit definition, but if it is, I think we're in a new Golden Age. 
Depends on what you mean by, "Golden Age". If he's talking of a time when there's a boom, then I'd say no, because the world economy is in an age of sub-normal growth - the US, for example, will grow at 2% annually instead of the normal 3.5%. If, however, he's talking of profits being on the upswing, along with greater creativity, then maybe. I would say profits will go up, but I'm not sure executives will have greater creativity.
IMHO, the article is putting way too positive a spin on the situation! Read the comment by Jon S. and the author's agreement with it. I certainly hope we are about to enter a golden age of filmmaking but if we are, we're only knocking on the door at the moment rather than walking over the threshold.
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I'm sure others have already thought this, but here we go: yes and no, we're entering a golden age.
Yes, it's never been so possible to make a movie. Anyone with a middle-class income can afford the gear to shoot and edit a movie of professional quality. You don't have to raise tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. And one difference today is that, with websites like YouTube, Vimeo, et al., it's more possible than it's ever been to actually get your movie seen by people other than your family and friends.
Alas, it's never been so hard to make a living as a movie-maker. Hollywood locks up theatres more than ever, and arthouse theatres are going under left and right. Video-On-Demand services are becoming more professional ... which means more profit oriented ... which means less open to indie efforts. And, of course, BitTorrent makes it easy to acquire an extensive movie library for free (though I don't think every download represents a lost sale, as anti-piracy lobby groups insist).
But if you're willing to do it at a loss, you can make any movie you want about anything you want. Sure, we see a lot of people trying to be Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie on a five-grand budget. I think every 22-year-old makes the same movie about a bunch of 20-something boys who throw a house party and fail to connect with the women in their lives. And we've all seen our share of post-apocalyptic sci-fi road movies.
But there are also some really interesting movies out there -- movies that probably wouldn't get made if not for the creator's obsession and bloody-mindedness in doing it. The pile of garbage may be bigger, but the absolute number of diamonds among it is higher too.
Yes, it's never been so possible to make a movie. Anyone with a middle-class income can afford the gear to shoot and edit a movie of professional quality. You don't have to raise tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. And one difference today is that, with websites like YouTube, Vimeo, et al., it's more possible than it's ever been to actually get your movie seen by people other than your family and friends.
Alas, it's never been so hard to make a living as a movie-maker. Hollywood locks up theatres more than ever, and arthouse theatres are going under left and right. Video-On-Demand services are becoming more professional ... which means more profit oriented ... which means less open to indie efforts. And, of course, BitTorrent makes it easy to acquire an extensive movie library for free (though I don't think every download represents a lost sale, as anti-piracy lobby groups insist).
But if you're willing to do it at a loss, you can make any movie you want about anything you want. Sure, we see a lot of people trying to be Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie on a five-grand budget. I think every 22-year-old makes the same movie about a bunch of 20-something boys who throw a house party and fail to connect with the women in their lives. And we've all seen our share of post-apocalyptic sci-fi road movies.
But there are also some really interesting movies out there -- movies that probably wouldn't get made if not for the creator's obsession and bloody-mindedness in doing it. The pile of garbage may be bigger, but the absolute number of diamonds among it is higher too.