Why are we so unsuccessful???

trueindie

trueindie

Just a general question. Why the heck can't we (or maybe 'I') get it together? What does it take? How come so many people here know so much about so many things, and we still can't beat the industry? What is it that we don't know or have? I know we could use more money.

But if I did spend say 10k on a movie, and supposing it was any good, how would I take it anywhere, if I didn't want to go through festivals?

Also, one other thing to consider. I don't know if you've seen the movie "The Killer Inside Me." I think it's one hell of a movie, but it made just north of $3million worldwide. How is that possible? It has Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson and some other people who were all very good in it. Directed brilliantly by Michael Winterbottom. If you were in charge of this movie, what would you do to make sure it had a wider audience.

I don't ask these questions in jest, and I'm not trying to be cute. I'm just trying to figure out if there is any point to this effort, or if I'm just going to get old chasing my own tail. Which is okay. But I'm just trying to figure it out.

Thanks.
Aveek
 
Zensteve said:
You are using this definition just for yourself, right?
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sure, if you'd like it that way. But it can just be a definition for the sake of argument. It doesn't have to be accurate or apply to anybody in particular or to you.

How do I make a feature that is seen by a million people can be the question. I don't mean anything deeper than that? It's a practical question, not an emotional one.
 
trueindie said:
Let's define it then, for the sake of argument. Let's say

success = You directed/produced/wrote a feature film seen by a million people.
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That doesn't define what independent film is, although I share your dream. How many people get into the NFL? Not many.
 
CamVader said:
That doesn't define what independent film is, although I share your dream. How many people get into the NFL? Not many.
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I know. I defined it just to keep it simple and limited. I just want to get there man.

It doesn't feel like I'm trying out for the NFL. It seems a lot more achievable than that. And then sometimes it feels like I'm trying out for the NFL I guess.
 
We can't make it big because we don't have millions nor thousands of people working for/along us. And quite a bunch of us don't have the talent we think we have.
Now, in numbers, I think is not THAT hard.
If you take succes in a wde range of subjects, you'll find that people that achieve that are not in the millions.
How many engineers would love to start their own multinational R&D firm, and can't make that happen?
How many archtects live their whole lives designing houses, and wishing to, one day build a skyscrapper...
I could go on!
College football stars that give up their dreams of major leagues to end up as lawyers or accountants?
 
Elephant_in_the_Room.jpg


Most of us aren't very good at it. :(
 
Cracker Funk said:
Most of us aren't very good at it. :(
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I agree. Completely!!! But let's just say you directed "The Killer Inside Me." Let's say you made that movie. Let's just say ONE of us is good enough to have made that movie. How does that person make a million people watch that movie?
 
Why are you so intent on comparing the indie features being made here for $10,000 to a movie made for $13 Million? I've never seen the film, but since it has name actors, I'm going to assume there's something not so great about it, or it would have been picked up for wider distribution as well as had actual marketing. I've never even heard of this film until this thread.
 
SinEater said:
Why are you so intent on comparing the indie features being made here for $10,000 to a movie made for $13 Million? I've never seen the film, but since it has name actors, I'm going to assume there's something not so great about it, or it would have been picked up for wider distribution as well as had actual marketing. I've never even heard of this film until this thread.
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Well, the intent is to find out if there is something about marketing that I don't know about. Because that's exactly the kind of movie I want to make. Then if I made it, how would I market it? That's all I'm intent on finding out.

The movie is actually really good, and I mean really good. You should watch it. It had really bad press because of a very violent scene, so nobody really wanted to pick it up.

Anyway, the intent is to discover, how I would market my film, supposing, just supposing, it was any good. That's all. Nothing sinister.
best,
aveek
 
There are many definitions of successful.

Will you be unhappy - not a success - unless you create films that gross nine figures? Then you'd better blow your brains out right now, because the odds are very, very much against you.

However, you can make a nice living doing something that you enjoy. For the most part filmmaking - and especially its small screen counterpart - are about creating entertainment product. And let's face it, it's called the entertainment business for a reason; it is a business, and the purpose of a business is to make money. So if you can get off of your high artistic horse you can make a decent living in one of the entertainment industry crafts.

You learn how to handle all of the aspects of your chosen craft professionally, on-time and on-budget. You earn the respect and confidence of your professional peers. Then you may have the opportunity to do something "artistic", whatever that means. But that isn't my definition of success (although an Oscar, or better yet, a CAS Award would be nice :D). For me it's doing something that I enjoy and being able to provide for myself and my family.
 
Good night guys and gals. I didn't really mean anything by that question. I was just looking for some therapy I guess.

And "The Killer Inside Me" is not an "artistic" movie. It's just a damn good movie. And every time I see it, it depresses me. It tells me that if they couldn't do it, I have less chance than a snowball in hell.

Good luck to everyone.
Aveek
 
Assuming we have made a good movie, the reason is that we don't have the companies backing us which would distribute it widely and let the whole the world know about the existence of that movie playing in a theater near them through heavy advertising on tv, in popular magazines, in theater previews etc.

And just to put it out there, The Killer Inside Me is damn good movie irrespective of the purposes of this thread.
 
It's going to be difficult to read this but the truth is: you need money to advertise if you want to be seem en masse when it comes to feature films. There's no way around getting one million people to pay for your product. It costs money to make money, and it's no industry secret.

And, remember, you may not initially be good at something but spend enough time on it and you can be.

You can't teach talent, but you sure as heck can teach a skill.
 
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