How to Make Money in the Film Industry

When it comes to the realm of going digital, film seems to have a disadvantage.  We are living in a time when most people realize that having your content available on the web is absolutely mandatory. Having it available for free is almost just as vital. However, when it comes to things like the films and television shows that you regularly like to watch, you may be spending much less money than you realize.

For the world of music, it’s becoming almost second nature for artists to release the albums, or at least several songs off of their albums for free. People can then go to iTunes and purchase any remainder of the album they wish, or more often than not, they will seek out the rest of the songs elsewhere on the Internet also for free. But artists can still make revenue by offering other things. You can’t download merchandise, and who doesn’t want a t-shirt with their favorite band’s name on it? And concert tickets still need to be purchase. More and more bands are doing more touring these days in an effort to keep revenue up, and are offering special incentive packets to fans for a little bit extra money. While mega-artist tickets, whose price value is already quite expensive, are finding themselves asking even more now. So even if music is being gobbled up for free, there are still ways to make money.

When it comes to the world of books, you would be very hard pressed to find a place where you can just download books for free like you can music. And people don’t seem to have a problem purchasing their books for digital readers such as Kindle or Nook. And comic books have yet to really embrace being fully virtual, so their physical sales are still in good spirits.

But for the film industry it’s hard to actually find ways to make money. If people aren’t going to the theater, merchandising can only go so far, and even then it only works for certain films and franchises. Episodes may be rented or purchased at sites like Amazon Instant Watch. And there are paid options like Netflix or Hulu Plus, but you are still only paying a fraction of the cost (and for more content.) The film world as a whole has to seek out more creative ways to boost revenue and not let digital freebie’s completely run them into the ground.

 While the provided chart, courtesy of The Numbers, shows an increase in revenue this is only because of the increase in cost of the movie tickets. You can actually see that the number of tickets purchased has gone down and in order to keep things even, the cost of attending a theatre showing has had to increase drastically.

As Adam Davidson, a columnist with the New York Times, pointed out, two reasons why the film industry has such a hard time with making money lately are as follows:

1.) It is a guessing game. Even when researching trends with moviegoers, it’s hard to truly know why people saw a movie, why a film did so well, and what people want to see in the future. Just because super hero movies seem to be doing well a particular time, does that mean that people like seeing them at that time of the year? Or do people see them simply because that’s what’s available and considered to be “summer blockbuster” material? And it’s very easy to get overly saturated and irritate people with too much of a particular kind of movie in the theaters at once. Or a particular gimmick (think 3-D.)

2.) Everyone wants to believe they were the reason the movie was successful. It’s true that Hollywood is filled with a lot of egos. But it’s hard to every be able to cash in on what makes a film successful when everyone is thanking themselves for it. Was it the acting? Directing? Lighting? Or a multitude of reasons that made a certain film come together and really shine? Not knowing what to forecast for the future is part of what makes the film industry ping-pong with its success.

In order to truly take advantage of making money in today’s market, the film industry will have to seek out new solutions for making money digitally, and also be able to get good reasons under their thumb for just what is making them money. We are in a time when studios can’t afford flops, and definitely more than one in a row.

Is Television Hurting Politics?

The powers of television and social media are more prevalent than ever, but with the impending presidential election, do they do more harm than good? Presidents and presidential candidates are no strangers to utilizing all the power at their disposal to aid in their campaigns and their images, so it was no surprise that when the invention of television cam out, that this was added to their arsenal as well.

In the past weeks we have seen two presidential debates come and go, and both had a lot to say about the images of those involved, the most outstanding being Vice-President Joe Biden with his large smile and animated gestures. Many say that this was show boating in order to throw off his opponent, and ended up being the most discussed topic about the debate rather than the issues themselves. It even spawned a joke Twitter account called SmilingJoeBiden. We seem to be living in an age where these are the things that pick up the most attention from viewers, especially those in the younger generations. It is almost as though they keep themselves informed through television in order to find the next funny thing to joke about on the Internet.

While television has had its advantages with presidential hopefuls, such as the iconic debate between Kennedy and Nixon, has its power begun to fade? The most obvious advantage is that television allows us to be able to see our president and the opposing candidate. We can see their mannerisms, how they react under pressure, how polite they are or if they are the type of person to barrel into a conversation or debate when it pleases them. These are all subtle indications of character which can help the American people feel more confident in choosing who they feel would be best to run the country. And yet, television can turn entire debates into a mockery, when people begin to talk about what someone was wearing as opposed to their stance on foreign policy.

It is more than obvious that the political system will never go back to the way it once was, and both television and social media have created a vital part of politics that we cannot do away with now. But when the issues begin to be overshadowed, there should be new ways to help combat this, or new protocols to deal with conduct when on television. It should be used as a fruitful tool and not a gimmick for attention.

Broadening Horizens

With Halloween right around the corner, it has made me realize what a fantastic time of year that it is for filmmakers to shine! I’m not strictly talking about bringing the latest spine-tingling horror film to your theaters, but in many non-traditional ways. A lot of times when the word filmmaker is tossed out, it is in direct relation to the producer or director of a film. While I was in film school, working my fingers hard on no-budget student films, I was taught that if you work on making any aspect of a film, you should consider yourself a filmmaker. If one cog is out of place in a machine, the final product will not be the same. Therefore, the makeup artist should be shown as much gratitude and respect as one would show the director.

And here at Halloween is a fantastic time for all filmmakers to show what they are made of! With the addition of Halloween Horror Nights to both Universal Studio Locations, it gives a lot of extra people an opportunity to show off their talents. Not only does it prove to be a fruitful time for actors, but anyone who has a passion for aspects of the film industry. Here are just some of the ways:

•  Set Builders: construction is a vital part of any film, and when you are building haunted houses, what better construction crew to get than one especially tailored for film? You don’t want it to be able to be a solid, standing structure forever, like you would get with a traditional construction crew, you want it to be able to be solid enough to be used yet have the luxuries of false walls and other film tricks to enable your ghouls and goblins to scare and move about adequately. Then at the end of a month’s time, you want it to be able to come down just as smoothly as it went up.
•  Make-Up and Costume Artists: this seems to be the most obvious job to me that really gets to thrive around this time of year. How scary would that witch be if their make-up looked cheap and unconvincing? If you saw a group of zombies coming at you with mildly tattered clothes, and a few smears of blood here and there, you would probably think that you stumbled into an amateur zombie walk, and not exactly get your fright. Having amazing make-up and costume construction is part of what makes these scares so believable and so worth it!
•  Lighting Crews: those houses need to be lit in just the right spooky way. Even if you’re not in a house, if you’re doing a haunted walk through the woods, there needs to be enough light to where you can see what’s actually scaring you, without revealing too much and keeping the eerie air of mystery. And there needs to be fog, lots and lots of fog! You can never go wrong with a professional lighting crew, simply because lighting is one of the most dangerous aspects of film. You want people who really know how to balance out their power, appropriately attach everything, and keep the equipment (and people) safe in situations like damp spaces or sudden thunderstorms.
•   Directors and Production Managers: yes this is even a perfect time for the top dogs to shine, because amidst all of the creepies and crawlies, you need people to actually keep things in order. No matter what you still need that “above the line” managerial team who can help coordinate where everyone should be and what they should be doing! Even if there isn’t a set script, it’s always nice to have that directorial touch to help actors get into character and give them new ideas for how to portray any lines they do have.

And haunted houses aren’t just for Halloween anymore! With the introduction of Eli Roth’s Goretorium in Las Vegas, Nevada, people get the opportunity to experience the thrills and chills of Halloween all year round! While his is more-horror based and less of a Halloween theme, the same key players are all important. And no one knows that better than someone who has years of film experience under his belt such as Eli Roth. It’s just one more opportunity out there for those in the film industry to stretch their legs.

So remember not to fret if you don’t find yourself immediately bouncing from set-to-set, keep your options open and to always look for those off the beaten path opportunities such as haunted houses, which will allow you to still stretch your legs and display your talents!