CBS News reported on Sept 23, 2009 that Sally Potter's new film, Rage starring Jude Law, would be available as seven episodes on the Internet and for mobile devices.
As the autumn movie season of 2009 approached, two film critics sat down, via email, with seven key players in the independent film business. The resulting article appeared in the NY Times on Sept. 13th, 2009 and covered a number of topics that should be of interest to filmmakers and film students.
"The ways films were financed & sold for the last fifteen years are no longer do-able. Audiences don't consume the way they used to. There is no acquisition market and no business model has emerged for earning significant revenue on the internet."
"It's not enough to have a good story well told anymore. Cinema is over one hundred years old and stories can't just have a beginning, a middle, or an end.
"[E]mbrace the other aspects of filmmaking beyond content and production."
"The independent sector doesn't have the money to fool people to think that their mediocre work should be seen. More work needs to go into both making our films better and into how to reach and engage with our audiences in more rewarding way. Unless a filmmaker can demonstrate both of those qualities, they shouldn't be shooting their film. Failure in either department brings all of us down with it. We are all connected and only the best work lifts us (don't get me wrong, we can't have gate keepers determining what or who "is ready" to make a film -- we just have to be more demanding on ourselves)."
