Neil's Newsletter

Welcome to my new newsletter! The world is a mixed up crazy place where the artist has the duty to inject beauty for the minds, the souls and the bodies of their culture. It’s an effective and powerful counter to the cooky things we see going on. This newsletter is designed to assist you in the mission.

AN INDUSTRY IN FLUX
Independent Film is on the Rise

INDEPENDENT FILM

Independent film is surging.  It’s evident in the Academy Awards with the multiple wins for ANORA and the win for best animated feature FLOW.

Why is that?

I am no super analyst of the film industry but after having been in it, in one capacity or another, for close to 40 years I can tell you I may have a few insights.  Or… maybe not.

Either way, I am going to write about them.

Now this letter may be a bit biased since I have been working in the independent part of the industry for close to 15 years now.  All of my acting work was with the big studios but since I started directing full time back in 2010, it’s been indy all the way!

That indy work, believe it or not, mostly took place in Kenya and a bit in Canada. And, shocker, it was all TV - well, except many shorts and a feature.

Everything I worked on was owned independently and licensed for distribution.

To further my bias, I have 5 independent feature films in development, 4 of them on the same investment ticket.

ACADEMY AWARDS

This year’s Academy awards were dished out mainly to independently produced and owned productions.  ANORA for live action took home 4 awards including Best Picture and FLOW took home 1 award for Best Animated Feature.

Some have argued that because ANORA had a huge budget for promoting the film for the award of best picture, that it is not independent.  I don’t agree.  The movie was financed and made independently of the big studios.

The independent producers who made the film managed to secure funding to promote it to the Academy and beyond from an independent distributor.  The marketing, distribution, and awards campaign for ANORA were funded by Neon, the indie distributor who released the film in the US, with a budget of $18 million, which was three times the film's production budget. 

Bravo! I say… Bravo!

The combined budgets for these two films, ANORA and FLOW, came to approximately $10 million.  That’s 1/15th of the MOANA II budget and, coincidentally, 1/15 of the Wicked budget.

Let’s look at this math shall we?  MOANA II and WICKED budgets combined come to $300 million.  FLOW and ANORA combined budgets come to $10 million.  Potentially, there could have been 60 movies made with the budgets for MOANA II and WICKED.

I am not implying that MOANA II and WICKED were not good movies.  They obviously were loved by many around the world. But when you can make 60 movies for the price of 2, something seems to be out of whack.

Is the film industry reflective of our modern day world where 1% of those in it own almost as much wealth as the other 99% of the population combined?   I mean to say, are the top 1% in the film and TV industry paid as much as the remaining 99% on any given project?

I don’t think anyone keeps track of those statistics but by looking at the above examples there could be something like that in play.

The way I look at it, there are artists and producers out there than can make incredible movies for a fraction of the price of those who are paid gobs of money.  ANORA and FLOW are two great examples.  There are many more.

The internet is the independent filmmakers playground.  Being smart about making your movie for $4 to $6 million also means you can be smart about building an audience for less than your total production budget to shoot it.

I haven’t tried this idea I am about to tell you but I am on the road to do so.  The financing I want to secure to make my independent movies will be double the cost of making them with the other half of that budget put into marketing via the full utilization of the internet.

That includes free social media, paid ads on FAST channels, paid adds on YouTube, paid ads on Ad supported streamers like Tubi and any other that have it including Netflix.  I will be hiring a marketing team that will find my audience where they live and they will not only know about my movies they will be exhilarated about their release date.

ACTORS AND INDEPENDENT FILM

As you know, I have been training actors for over 30 years. I have a soft spot for them because I know first hand as an actor myself the struggle it can be to build your career.  I will always be including some kind of segue relating the topic of my newsletter to actors.

Actors, get involved with the independent film makers and the independent film industry as a whole.  Find them in your city.  They are there.  They are in virtually every city in the world.  Support them in any capacity that you can.

Build relationships with these people who love our industry and are risking whatever it takes to bring a vast number of elements together so you can get your work filmed for all the world to see.

There is also the other obvious choice for you.  Make your own films to star in.  You wouldn’t be the first person to do this nor will you be the last.  Start with a short film that’s written specifically for you to play a character in situations that bring out your very best work.

Not only will you have a broader understanding of how filmmaking works with your hands on experience of being a producer, you will have some kick ass footage of your acting strengths without waiting around until that magic happens of a great script landing in your lap and you, through a series of auditions, booking that supporting or lead role.

I have helped several actors do this and their careers launched to a new level much sooner than waiting around for the right mix to happen.  It’s a strong investment into advancing your career and, with the independent climate as it is, the intellectual property of your short film could develop into a feature film that you own and star in.

Don’t wait around while the independent film industry is on fire.  Get out there and take action.  You will never regret it.

If you read my last newsletter, you know about my 3 minute animation Maxus: The New King. Now you can stream it on Fox SOUL directly at this link: https://foxsoul.tv/maxus-the-new-king/