Spreading the word...

Just caught up with an article We Are All Scabs: Some Contradictions in U.S. Independent Film Culture by Donal Foreman in 'The Brooklyn Rail'

This excerpt rings especially true of film conferences and industry events everywhere -
Out of over 100 panelists speaking at the Filmmaker Conference, it was striking how few were filmmakers and how many were agents, publicists, distributors, and festival programmers—reminding me of the quip that the most lucrative consumer base in the indie film world is indie filmmakers. The impression was that the New World hadn’t made these roles redundant so much as forced their renegotiation. Several of this year’s distributor-panelists stated that they weren’t interested in acquiring a film unless its makers had already “built” their audience and achieved a powerful social media presence, effectively offloading a layer of their marketing duties as a positive externality.

It is useful to reflect on this given the €1.8 billion that the EC is going to pour into its new Culture and MEDIA programmes - intended to support the exploitation of culture rather than the people who originate it.