How to Beat the Entertainment Business at Its Own Game

Performers, Writers, and Artists Unite!

Current State of Industry
We have seen how the industry handles creativity/talent. Somewhat as disposable entities. Take a look at the writers and actors strike. “In Content Creation & Ownership”, I wrote about how entertainment companies are scrambling to buy up new or existing content. Ownership is key. If you own it, you make the money.

The Problem
 “Work for Hire” and the “Intellectual Property Clause”. What does this mean? These terms basically state that if you work for a business, any ideas or content you create becomes the property of the company you work for. If this language is buried in the contract you signed, you are screwed.

In the case of the show Squid Game, Netflix made over $900 million. The creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk got the standard paycheck as the writer, forfeiting all intellectual property rights, and received no residuals.

The Marvel movies, Infinity War and Endgame generated a combined whopping gross of 4.7 billion dollars. The true creator of these properties (Captain America. Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, and the Avengers), Jack Kirby, was considered a work-for-hire employee back in the 1960's. After his death in 1994, his family had to take legal action to get a slice of the pie.

Granted, in order to maximize profit you need full control of the property, but why not spread the wealth a bit more with the actual creators?

The Deeper Problem
It seems that the industry is set on a select few to reap the rewards, and they are not creators but are recipients/acquirers of the content.

One of the concerns of writers is that they will be replaced by AI. With a large enough database of stories, that could be possible. Do you recall when Netflix was looking for AI specialists with an average salary of 900,000?

Actors are afraid that their likeness can be mapped to a motion-captured stand-in. These deep fakes are becoming more and more convincing.
 
 
A Solution
So if you are dealing with entities that don’t value or diminish your contribution, what do you do? Band together and form your own production company. Actors do this all the time to get promising projects made. Michael B. Jordan, Brad Pritt, Adam Sandler, Reese Witherspoon, Viola Davis, and Ice Cube are a small list to name a few.

Ice Cube said wisely in an interview, “We got the idea that you don’t have to spend $100 million to make $100 million,” he said. “If you got a good story, good actors, people willing to work, if you can keep the budget down, at the end of the day everybody’s happy and you get a chance to do another one.”

If you can figure out your own marketing/advertising strategy and distribution you are set.

Social Media & Crowdfunding
So you are not a name actor with deep pockets. What do you do?
Crowdfunding is a possibility to get funding for your film. Who would have thought that Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe could be viable platforms for film funding?

The use of social media is a way to market and advertise your movie. TikTok videos and YouTube have been used to advertise just about anything to great effect when done properly. The use of the Facebook Groups community is another way to generate interest. Building up anticipation with your fanbase is the way to get the ball rolling.

The Budget
The budget is the thing that will make or break your filmmaking odyssey.
Going indie means you have to keep your costs down. A low budget does not mean low quality. Roberto Rodriguez filmed “El Mariachi” on a budget of $7225. His little film got him a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures, set off his career as a professional filmmaker and allowed him to create his own production company, Troublemaker Studios.

Robert Town was a frustrated black actor who maxed out his credit cards to co-write, produce, and direct “Hollywood Shuffle”. The movie was not only a smash hit but paved the way for future stars like Keenen Ivory Wayans, Anne Marie Johnson, Damon Wayans and John Witherspoon.

So-called Micro-Budget movies when executed properly can give a big payoff to the producers/writers/directors involved. The Blair Witch Project, Clerks, Eraserhead, Night of the Living Dead, Pi, She’s Gotta Have It, Following, Roger and Me, and Paranormal Activity are all prime examples that started the careers of Kevin Smith, David Lynch, George Romero, Spike Lee, Chris Nolan, Daron Aronofsky, and Micheal Moore.

Tyler Perry is a breakout producer and studio owner who didn’t let a lack of funds keep him down. Perry had nothing but a dream back in the 90’s sleeping in his car wanting to be in entertainment. He started writing stage plays and built that success into movie production and studio ownership.

“Don’t wait for someone to green light your project, build your own intersection.” — Tyler Perry

What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you think Hollywood can be beat at its own game? Let me know for a follow-up on this.


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Check out Part II of this article here.


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